JayDee's Movie Musings

Yeh he is brilliant in Dexter, his season (4) remains my favourite yet, one of (if not) the best ever characters on the show IMO.

I really need to see more of his films where he plays the villain, he was very good in Blow Out which I saw quite recently.

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Plot - Vietnam, 1969. In a small village Private Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) discovers numerous innocent civillians and fellow soldiers dead, all with their ears removed. He discovers the culprit to be Sergeant Andrew Scott (Lundgren) who has snapped and gone insane. Attempting to stop him, both men end up dead. The Hoover Dam, 1992. A group of terrorists have taken over the dam and are holding numerous hostages. A secret army project is called in, the Universal Soldier programme. The project takes dead men and re-animates them as the perfect soldiers. Deveraux and Scott are both members of this squad. They perform their duty admirably, but then the memories and personalities of both begin to re-emerge. Before long Deveraux is on the run with news reporter, Veronic Roberts (Walker) in tow and a renegade Scott hot on their trail.

Of all of Van Damme's cinematic output this is the one that has arguably accumulated the largest cult following. And with good reason. In it's own ways it's kind of awesome. I just want to be clear that I am in no way under any illusions about the 'greatness' of the this film. I accept that is pure B-movie goodness all the way. It plays like a budget RoboCop/Terminator hybrid, starring two B-list actors who never quite made it up onto the A-list with fellow action stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger. But yeah, awesome!

Pretty much from the opening moments the whole film is building up to the face off between Van Damme's Deveraux and Lundgren's Andrew Scott. And when it arrives it most certainly delivers. It's a thrilling and brutal smackdown between the two action movie legends. Just on normal terms it would delight, but with the characters amped up on muscle enhancers things move up to a different level. Fighting all over the farm it's a fun and tense battle, frequently teasing the use of dangerous farming equipment. It very much calls back to the film's opening, setting up a similar situation. And that opening scene also deserves a mention as it's a terrific way to kick start proceedings. Set in a suitably nightmarish and hellish Vietnam, we see Lundgren's character has snapped and is brutally slaying innocent villagers. Despite Scott being Devereaux's superior, Private Deveraux has no choice but to challenge his Sergeant. When he doesn't see reason Deveraux must try and stop him with force. Things go all to hell however, leaving Deveraux, Scott and an innocent girl Deverauz tried to save all dead. Other standout action sequences include Van Damme and Ally Walker being brutally targeted at a motel, and the tremendous bus vs truck chase.

It would be easy for me to be cruel here and call this the perfect role for Van Damme; a role that requires nothing from him but to be an emotionless, monosyllabic and monotone machine. Surely something that was made for his limited skills. And yes perhaps there is something to that, but as you may have gathered from the reviews in my Van Damme season thus far I actually like Van Damme and so don't really feel the need to take shots at him. While I don't hold him in the same regards as someone like a Sylvester Stallone, he is in that same sort of category with Sly and Arnie in that they are guys I grew up watching. And as a result I still hold Van Damme and many of his films with a great affection. And I think he's very entertaining here, and on more than one occasion he displays some nice comic timing.

Lundgren makes for a great villain; just his large, muscular presence alone sells it. But when you add in his bold, wild performance as the psychotic madman it really creates a memorable and colourful nemesis for Van Damme to battle. Oh and of course that colourful and memorable nature is only heightened by his necklace of severed ears; one of the creepiest things ever! My favourite moment of his was his ranting and raving in a supermarket, wasting anyone who dares to get in his way. Lundgren just seems to have great fun in the role, and I really like his match-up with Van Damme. Together they provide a nice contrast; the giant, muscular brute that is Lundgren versus the smaller, quicker Van Damme. And for me personally it didn't take much convincing that Lundgren could be a maniacal killer. Of all the big action stars he was always the one I'd least like to face in a fight. Yes Stallone, Shwarzenegger, Van Damme etc would all destroy me but I just always felt Lundgren could have quite a mean and sadistic edge to him. Oh and I have to give a mention to the lovely Ally Walker, who I just adore in this film. I find here to be really quite delightful here, terrifically feisty and charismatic. She takes a pretty nothing part but infuses it with lots of energy and turns it into something that really stands out.

While the action does thrill throughout, that's not all there is to the film however. It has a few nice emotional scenes when it comes to Deveraux just wanting to go home, a sentiment left over from his Vietnam days. And the film also features a nice little dose of humour, much of it coming from Mr VD (of that sounds unfortunate! ) and the clueless predicament that his character find himself in; highlights being his attempts to re-learn the ability of eating and his need to frequently get naked. Van Damme even has a little bit of a self-knowing prod at himself regarding his accent - “What accent?”

One of the great things about the film's concept is just how worryingly plausible a notion it is. I could honestly very easily believe that the US government has a special division of secret soldiers just like this. And they really are quite a menacing creation. They're not overdone in terms of design and still look human, but when we get our first sighting of them a little chill does go up the back. And the men they've got to fill the roles, including Van Damme and Lundgren, just help to sell the idea of these men being perfect killing machines

Conclusion - Fantastic B-movie entertainment. Enjoyable turns from the cast, some awesome action and stunts, a fun and tightly-scripted story - what more could you want really from a film of this nature? And now there really is only one way to end a Universal Soldier review.

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Plot – Jean Claude Van Damme has hit some hard times. Struggling with money problems, with his waning star status and with a custody battle over his daughter things don't seem like they could get much worse for the Muscles from Brussels, and then of course they do. Returning to his birth country of Belgium, seeking some kind of refuge he instead find himself caught up in an attempted robbery at a post office, becoming one of the hostages. And even worse the police think he is actually the person responsible. Forced by the robbers to negotiate with the police, the safety of all the hostages depends on his ability to follow their orders.

What a curious little oddball of a film this is. When I first heard buzz about this film starting to build, and was hearing about the notion of a Jean Claude Van Damme arthouse film, I was quite understandably sceptical, but undoubtedly intrigued. It sounded like quite a prospect and for the most part it lives up to it, it's far more than just a mere curiosity. As for its unusual arthouse credentials, it may not quite be as weird or surprising as Steven Seagal popping up in Michael Haneke's next Cannes-winning picture, but it's certainly territory I never imagined I'd see Van Damme venture into, and I can't imagine many other people did either.

And it's certainly not just an ego trip for Van Damme, he doesn't just use it as an opportunity to bitch and moan about where he has ended up. He sheds his ego and leaves himself completely exposed. Yes he's unhappy with the films he's making and he takes the chance to try and explain some of his strange behaviour, but he doesn't wallow in self pity. He owns up to his mistakes and shows the effect he has had on his family. The film borrowing much from Van Damme's actual life – the drugs, the financial difficulties, the divorces and the custody battle. And through it we get a commentary on the celebrity obsessed culture we live in, and how at some point people become more interested in reporting on your problems than anything positive; the only time Van Damme now gets any notice is due to a custody battle or apparently robbing a bank. The film also shows the toll this hero worship can have on people as they strain to keep up the façade of what we see on screen.

Film trivia – The film's concept was born out of an agreement Van Damme had with a producer to play himself in a movie. The original idea however was for Van Damme to play a more clownish version of himself. When El Mechri was brought in for a rewrite, he agreed to do it only on the condition that he could meet Van Damme beforehand. He wanted to know if Van Damme would be comfortable with the direction he wanted to try, so he wouldn't just waste six months writing for Van Damme to veto it. As a result of his script El Mechri was subsequently asked to direct.

Even though the film clearly establishes that this is not the movies, that this is the real Van Damme and this is real life, we still feel certain that at some point we are going to see Van Damme be Van Damme. He is going to kick some ass, save the day and be the hero. And knowing this, the film actually plays with these expectations. Towards the film's conclusion we are presented with a Van Damme fantasy where he disarms one of the hostage takers before delivering a trademark spin kick. He then plays up to the adoring crowd, flexing his muscles and pumping his fists as he receives the congratulations of the cops and SWAT members. The sequence is presented with a golden tint to proceedings, before the reel stutters to a halt and returns us to reality. And the reality of what occurs proves to be much less dramatic and heroic.

Anyone who has heard anything about this film will most likely have heard about the moment where Van Damme turns towards the camera and addresses the audience. It's a quite astonishing scene. All of a sudden in the middle of this hostage situation everything stops. Van Damme ascends above the set, into the rafters and breaks the fourth wall. He stares directly into camera and just talks to us for about six minutes or so. It's like a Shakespeare soliloquy. He sheds aside any pretensions of being an actor or a star, leaving himself naked for us to judge. He talks of his mistakes and his regrets, addresses issues regarding his family, his personal life and his professional life. It's such a personal and genuinely moving moment, I actually found myself getting a little bit choked up. Who would have ever thought I'd have that emotion in response to Jean Claude Van Damme acting?!!! But it's a quite wonderful moment. People will argue whether it's a great acting performance, or if he's just playing himself but I'm going with great performance.

Universal Soldier is great fun, and JCVD is the film that made me love Van Damme in the first place.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

Igo tconfused for a minute... I thought you'd already done Universal Soldier then realised it had been put on Tyler's action movie list lol!

Love Universal Soldier. Loving your JCVD series too, better than mine.

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Don't you even try to pretend that's not the most awesome thing you've seen in the longest time!

Wow really? I believe that's quite unusual, most people were Van Damme fans who wanted to see him in something different. Interesting to see it the other way round

Yeah Universal Soldier is great fun. And thanks Rodent, glad you're enjoying it. It now stands at 5 films, should be at least one more. What films did you do again (I'm too lazy to check! )? I remember Universal Soldier, Timecop and Sudden Death. Did you also do Hard Target?

Love his performance in Dexter. One of my favourite ever performances in either film or TV. And that's also my favourite season

And I can totally understand that. I wouldn't be surprised if my enjoyment of it improved with a repeat watch or two now that I know what I'm in for. I just wasn't quite expecting something that veered so close to 'so bad it's good' territory.

I did Hard Target, Sudden Death, Universal Soldier and Timecop in my JCVD run.

Plot – In the year 1994 the fantasy that is time travel becomes a reality. Almost immediately however the problem of individuals misusing it arises, necessitating the creation of the TEC (Time Enforcement Commission). Police officer Max Walker (Van Damme) accepts a position as a TEC agent, but on the same night he does so his home his invaded. Walker is saved by his bulletproof vest but his wife Melissa (Sara) is killed. Ten years later and Walker, still grieving for his wife, is still working as a TEC agent when he stumbles upon a plot by Senator McComb (Silver) to manipulate the past for his own financial gain in an attempt to fund a Presidential campaign. McComb is not about to be stopped however and sets out to have the threat eliminated. Now Walker must travel back and forth in time in his attempts to stop him.

All you Jean Claude Van Damme cynics out there, feast your eyes on this. This film contains a couple of surprises for you. The first surprise is the fact that this is actually a good film. While there may be a couple of Van Damme films I personally like more than this, I'm aware that a cheesy and cultish nature is to thank in those efforts. This however is just a really good film, with more than its fair share of brains about it. And the second surprise is that Van Damme can act! It's perhaps not so much of a surprise anymore with JCVD out there, but in terms of traditional roles I'd say this is without a doubt the best Van Damme gets. The man even manages to negotiate a few potentially tricky emotional scenes. There's one moment in particular that I really liked. Still grieving over the loss of his wife, Van Damme sits in his house watching home movies of himself and his wife. As he watches he mouths her words along with her; he's clearly watched it so many times to relive these happy memories that he now knows it be heart. Yes it's a scene that's been done a few times but Van Damme is able to make it into a touching little sequence.

As I mentioned near the start the film does display more intelligence than your standard Van Damme beat-em-up. I particularly enjoy its use of the time travel element. Though I'll admit there are some huge plot holes at times but with a time travel movie I'm more prepared to cut a film a break. Now if I was told I was about to watch a film starring Jean Claude Van Damme that included time travel my expectations would not match this finished product. I would have imagined they'd go down a fairly simple and obvious route; Van Damme goes way back in history and beats up some Genghis Khan-like guy and his armies for loads of action or goes into the future with robots armies to beat up, or goes back in time to fight himself (after all Van Damme playing more than one character is a surprisingly common occurrence in his films). Instead it takes a more intelligent and measured path, setting out an interesting story and dealing with the possible repercussions of time travel.

In doing so the film actually achieves a degree of social commentary and satire. Though with it being a Van Damme film I wondered whether it was actually deliberate or just something they stumbled across! It's not usually something I picture as being on the checklist for one of his films when the producers, writers and director meet - “Ok we've got some kick-ass fight scenes, lots of explosions, Van Damme showing his naked ass, some sex and breath-taking stunts. I think we're good...Oh s**t” We forgot the social commentary!!!” Ok it's not the most subtle or searing commentary you'll ever see but it certainly works. The big bad in the film is an ambitious politician who uses time travel to manipulate the past and make himself rich. His reasoning is that what gets a President elected is not their politics or the positions they take, it's the amount of money they spend and the amount of TV exposure they receive. So be wants to buy a TV network. It's a point that has arguably never been more relevant when you consider that Mitt Romney reportedly just spent $1 billion to lose an election! And then you take into account the politicising of the media through the likes of Fox News, Jon Stewart, Rush Limbaugh etc and it seems quite a prescient point.

When it comes to this kind of genre film, and pretty much every Van Damme feature, there are generally two types of villains you will find. You can have the vicious killing machine who will go mano a mano with Jean Claude; see The Sandman in Death Warrant or Lundgren's psycho in Universal Soldier. And then you've got the other villain template – the snivelling weasel in a business suit. And it's the latter that we have here, brought vividly to life by the sadly late Ron Silver. He delivers a great performance as Senator McComb, creating a character we truly love to hate. It's really fun to see him play two versions of himself; the sinister future McComb and the more bumbling McComb in the past. He also gets a great scene where he is able to insult and swear at the younger version of himself. He seems truly disgusted with what he used to be.

Action hounds who follow Van Damme purely for the screen carnage that usually unfolds in his presence may well be a little disappointed. It's certainly not as action packed as the large majority of his films, devoting more time to the story and the character of Max Walker. What action there is however is able to deliver. There's an entertaining fight when his home is invaded by two goons, concluding when Van Damme breaks out a spontaneous jumping splits move to avoid electrocution which zaps his opponent. And the concluding drama which occurs in the past at the moment of his wife's death is really quite thrilling and edgy stuff.

Up until a few months back if you had mentioned the name Peter Hyams to me, I would not have been able to tell you he was a director. Now however I have realised he was the director of two of my three favourite Van Damme films (this film and Sudden Death), and also seen the great 70s conspiracy thriller he directed, Capricorn One. He may not be a master craftsman of a director but the man knows how to make an entertaining, fun-filled romp. He brings a great energy and pace to the proceedings on screen, and handles the scenes of action very adeptly. I'll need to track down some more of his work; in fact I already have some blind-buys that are his – Outland and Running Scared.

Conclusion – Leaving JCVD out of the equation, this is arguably the 'best' of the traditional Van Damme films. It's got an interesting and surprising story, some actual acting from Van Damme, a strong villainous turn from Ron Silver, some nice effects and even a bit of emotion to get your teeth into. Great fun. Although it's depiction of futuristic cars has to be the worst I've ever seen!

Timecop is great, and along with Nowhere To Run, it's probably Van Damme's best performance in one of his action films.

Timecop is definitely one of his best. I think it's down to Hyams as director that the movie works as well as it does... Plank's best acting next to Universal Soldier too.

Thanks guys, glad you both enjoy the film and my review. Not sure if that will do it for the Van Damme season in terms of reviews. Considering the drop off in rep and feedback from something like LA Confidential I may have committed professional suicide with this season! Well professional if I was getting paid that is!

Working on a couple of reviews, neither a Van Damme flick. Hopefully at least one should appear tomorrow

Plot – In the near-future of 1996, the streets of America are plagued by a dangerous new drug called 'Crystal Dream'. Initially this seems of little consequence to long time friends Harley Davidson (Rourke), and The Marlboro Man (Johnson). When a friend's bar is threatened with closure by the underhanded tactics of a bank, the duo plan to get the money required by actually robbing the bank itself. However, when they rob an armoured car from the bank they do not find the money they were expecting, instead finding a large cargo of Crystal Dream. They have inadvertently stumbled upon the drug dealing enterprise of the bank's manager (Sizemore). Demanding the return of the drugs, the manager sends out a group of heavily armed assassins to retrieve them. What ensues are a series of deadly encounters between the assassins and the duo of Harley and Marlboro.

Quite a bizarre entry in the action genre this one. It may not quite be the equal of Bruce Willis' Hudson Hawk in terms of the 'out there' stakes, but it's certainly a weird one. It's one of those films that whilst still being recognisable, it appears to very much take place in its own little world. Set in the then-future of 1996 it features unique body armour and weaponry that are alien to us. And in a real echo of Hudson Hawk, many of the characters have peculiar names which are linked. In Hudson Hawk the names came from confectionery brands. Here the names are inspired by famous product names; so alongside Harley Davidson and Marlboro we've got Virginia Slim, Jack Daniels and Ol' Grandad.

It really is quite a daft bit of nonsense, and very much a real blokey film. It's very macho, testosterone-driven stuff which will put some people off who see it as trashy and overly violent. In my eyes however it's dumb, tacky and cheesy; which of course means it's a hell of a lot of fun! You've got lots of rocky music on the soundtrack, bar fights, big guns, explosions, motorcycles and sexy women in revealing attire. It's very much in that late 80s, early 90s mould of action films. And if that's your kind of thing (and clearly it is mine) then this could well be up your street. As long as you approach it in a guilty pleasure frame of mind.

Film trivia – While I may have enjoyed the film, Mickey Rourke's memory of it is far from as being positive. In numerous interviews he has admitted he signed onto the film purely for financial reasons, and that this in part is what fuelled his descent into self-loathing in the mid 90s because he began to “feel like a sell-out.”

For the most part the film's action takes place in the form of shootouts between Harley and Marlboro, and the gang that are chasing them. These shootouts escalate throughout up until the film's conclusion which occurs at a aeroplane graveyard; a fantastic location by the way. The gang that pursue our heroic duo are quite an evocative creation; with full length black cloaks made from kevlar and carrying some huge, kick-ass, futuristic guns they feel like they've stepped right out of The Matrix. And Daniel Baldwin and Tom Sizemore have no trouble when it comes to convincing as the villains of the piece; their smug, smirking faces easily sell it.

Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson play the title characters of Harley and Marlboro respectively, and they make for an entertaining duo with a fairly nice chemistry that generates a few good laughs. They're a classic movie buddy match-up; characters that clearly love each other, but at the same time they appear to infuriate each other like no other person in the world could. They feel very much like a modern update on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Indeed along with lifting pretty much the whole plot outline, there's more than a few direct homages to the beloved Redford/Newman western, such as recreating the moment where the characters are forced to jump from a great height into water to escape their pursuers, much to the anger of Marlboro. Throughout the film I actually expected it to break off into a road movie as the characters just seemed perfect for that kind of adventure.

Conclusion - “Young, dumb and full of...”, well if you've ever seen Point Break you know where I'm heading! And that would be a pretty apt description of this film. It really is a tremendously dim-witted, masculine piece of film-making, but one that makes for extremely entertaining viewing.

Plot – Jim Halsey (Howell), a young kid from Chicago, is driving along the desert highways of America on the way to San Diego when he begins to drift off to sleep. In an attempt to keep himself awake he picks up a hitch-hiker, something his mother told him to never do. And as they usually are, his mum was right! The hitch-hiker, John Ryder (Hauer), turns out to be a psychotic killer. He tells him he has already killed a driver who picked him up, and now intends to do the same to Jim. However Jim is able to escape Ryder's clutches by shoving him out the car door onto the road. The ordeal is not over for Jim however. Ryder continues to stalk Jim, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake and framing Jim for the murders.

An absolutely cracking chiller that is spearheaded by a fantastically intense performance from Rutger Hauer. The character of John Ryder that he creates is just a terrifying force of nature. The icy glare that Hauer shoots Jim when they are in the car together is amazing, just so unsettling and evil. He stares right through Jim's soul and through the screen so that it felt like he was staring right at me. Indeed if looks could kill, then back in the 80s, VHS copies of this film would have become notorious for achieving the same result as Japanese horror Ringu, anyone who watched it would have perished. A terrific showing from Hauer, the real dictionary definition of a psychotic serial killer.

I was surprised by just how layered the film actually was, going much deeper than you would expect from a standard slasher flick. When it becomes clear that Ryder has decided that he is not merely going to kill Jim, my initial thoughts were that he was just doing it as a form of torture; forcing Jim to suffer first. The longer it goes on however, and the more Ryder strives to get Jim out of the situations he originally placed him in, the realisation began to form that he was actually looking for Jim to kill him; a variation on suicide by cop. My mind even began to go further, conjuring up more and more outlandish scenarios. Perhaps Jim actually died on the road back at the start of the film and this is him travelling through hell or purgatory. Perhaps Ryder doesn't actually exist, he's just the manifestation of Jim's violent side. And as Ryder continued to show more and more unnatural strength (jumping from the police truck through the car windscreen for example) I began to attribute some sort of mythical and supernatural nature to him; could he even be Satan himself?

Film trivia – The role of John Ryder was actually offered to both Sam Elliott and Terence Stamp ahead of Rutger Hauer. Indeed producer Ed Feldman originally chose Elliott because he was so scary in his audition that Feldman was afraid to walk out to his car afterward. Elliott had to back out of the production however due to a scheduling conflict. Hauer certainly made the most of the opportunity that came his way afterwards, and C. Thomas Howell admitted that he was actually afraid of Hauer both on and off the set because of Hauer's intensity.

In the role of the tormented Jim, C. Thomas Howell gives a strong showing. In such a horrible situation he delivers a very sympathetic character as we watch him begin to crack and crumble under the nightmare that his life has become. And as the diner waitress who takes pity on Jim and helps him out, Jennifer Jason Leigh is a really likeable and endearing presence. She lifts her character to greater heights than it otherwise would have achieved.

The film pulls off that trick that most, if not all great thrillers pull off, that it makes you imagine yourself in the situation. And in a number of ways the film plays out like a remake of Spielberg's Duel, except that this time we are allowed to see the face of the tormentor. However as the film progresses it moves away from being a mere chase movie as the story takes a number of interesting turns. This allows it to avoid the trap that I felt Duel fell into slightly, that of becoming a bit repetitive. While it certainly scores high marks for being a suspenseful, cat and mouse thriller it is also very atmospheric and features a number of thrilling action scenes. And while its story may actually put you off taking to the open road, the film actually works as a really good road movie. And just as in Duel the setting plays perfectly into the films tone. The endless roads and loneliness that surrounds them, devoid of civilisation, make for the perfect breeding ground for a killer such as this. Someone who seemingly kills with motive because there's nothing better to do. And the sheer emptiness of the place actually creates the opposite feeling than you would expect, it feels quite claustrophobic as it seems like there is nowhere to run or hide from this seemingly indestructible bogeyman.

Oh and with my final thought I really should commend Mark Isham's score. Resisting the temptation to go big and over-the-top with a standard horror score, he instead delivers a more subtle effort which still proves to be terrifically unnerving and eerie, perfectly setting the tone for the horror to unfold.

Conclusion – A thrilling and chilling piece of cinema, with a powerhouse showing from Hauer as the eponymous hitch-hiking serial killer. And it's confirmed one thing for sure; I will never, ever pick up a hitch-hiker!!!

I absolutely love The Hitcher. Sure, it's not entirely plausible but the movie achieves a mythic quality as a Good vs. Evil tale. The performances are intense yet rooted in a kind of gritty ordinariness that keeps the characters on a fine line between mere plot devices and sympathetic characters. There's some depth to them, and a sense of humanity, even for Hauer's cold monster. The whole flow of events has an odd feel of inevitability yet the individual scenes are intensely alive and imbued with an existential gravity.

I also see a strong similarity between Hauer's Ryder and Ledger's Joker, a kind of wry malevolent humor and theatrical mannerisms.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

Thinking about it further, it seems as if the film gradually transitions from a more objective reality with an old school Westernish style into a subjective nightmare as Jim is put through the proverbial gauntlet by Ryder's psychological sadism. So by the end, Ryder is very much an incarnation of evil & chaos & darkness in Jim's mind, not merely a psycho but an almost supernatural embodiment of evil for Jim, and Jim's response is to become the opposing archetype and destroy Ryder.

I recall a line in the movie where the sheriff says there's "something going on between you two", and I think that makes it clear that both Ryder & Jim come to represent over the course of the movie something more abstract than mundane appearances and motives would indicate. Jim's superficial motives for killing Ryder may be revenge, but there's a deeper sense of closure in the act, beyond just that, and it's affirmed by how the climax is presented, which would otherwise seem exaggerated and unrealistic.

So in Jim's dark journey and transformation, thanks to Ryder as the catalyst, both characters become something larger, and their antagonist/protagonist relationship attains a kind of cosmic quality, a representation of chaos and order that is truer and bigger than the people caught up in it.

Nice to see you reviewing some of Van Damme's stuff. I was a big fan of his back in the day when he was quite a big star, and to be fair he made quite a few good movies, totally cheesy and daft but fairly good entertainment nonetheless.

Personal favourites of mine are Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Double Impact and A.W.O.L.

Not seen Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man for far longer than I care to remember, but I used to have it on video. Don't think I do anymore, but I remember it as a fun film. The Hitcher, as you know, is on the HK 100 and, therefore, is just ****ing great.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Before I saw JCVD, I hated Van Damme films. I thought they were pretty awful, but after I saw JCVD and the honest way he opened up and accepted his flaws, I went back and watched a few more Van Damme films and even a couple of the ones I hated, I accepted his flaws and I'm now a huge fan.

God damn Deadite, you brought some deep s**t there! And gave me a showing up in the process! Pwned in my own thread! I feel I should delete my inane ramblings and replace them with your insights.


Thanks gandalf. Glad you've enjoyed it. And yeah I really like Van Damme as well, I just find him to be someone that is easy to root for.

I've now reviewed my personal favourites (Sudden Death, Hard Target, Death Warrant, Universal Soldier, Timecop) plus discovered a new favourite in JCVD. Plan on watching a few more of his though don't know if I'll be reviewing any more of them.

Nice to see you return HK, I feel it's been a little while without your presence. Although to be fair I don't think you're a big Van Damme fan if I remember correctly (other than Hard Target) so I can maybe let you off.

I think Harley... was actually down to you mentioning it on here somewhere in the past. Had never heard of it up until that point