Jean Claude Van Damme kicks up his heels once again in this action film. Van Damme plays Kurt Sloane, the brother of American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio). Having bested the best in the United States, Eric takes off to Bangkok with little brother Kurt to defeat the kickboxing champion of Thailand. However, while Eric wins the fight, his career is finished for good when his opponent, the malicious Tong Po (Michel Qissi) breaks his spine after the final bell sounds, putting Eric permanently in a wheelchair. Kurt learns the sport of kickboxing himself, so he can get in the ring and teach the Thai champ a lesson. An old man who is a master at kickboxing, instructs Kurt in the brutal art, along with gentle bromides of Zen philosophy and spiritual peace. Kurt finally becomes a pro and lines up a match with Tong Po, but to insure victory, Tong Po's cohorts rape Kurt's girlfriend, kidnap his crippled brother, and even kill his dog. But Kurt is unbowed and is ready for the champ to meet his match. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
This early effort by
Jean-Claude Van Damme sparked an entire series of sequels and remains one of the "Muscles from Brussels"' most recognized slices of martial arts madness. The young international action star dishes out repeated slow-motion kicks to the face like a pro while offering up his goofy charm with many hastily pronounced bits of dialogue genius, making Kickboxer a highly digestible man-movie spectacular primed for mid-day cable programming and video racks everywhere. Also of interest is the strange patriotic undertone that pops up most randomly with shots of a bald eagle edited in for no reason at all while constant reminders of Van Damme's American citizenry are shoved in the audience's face time and again. Besides the sweaty fights, the best thing that Kickboxer has to offer has to be the moment where Van Damme gets down with not one but
two young maidens in a butt-shakin' dance scene made infamous by viral videos spread throughout the Internet some 16 years later. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide