Definitely NOT my first time to watch this and (probably) won't be my last. But to be fair, this time, I _did_ fast-forward through all the boring parts (the romance, the hospital visits, the ride around Hong Kong at night, etc) and just watched the action parts. I mean, I've seen the movie; I know all the backstory and it's too cheesy to sit through THAT many times. I just wanted the fight scenes.

The fight choreography was stupendous in _Bloodsport_ . Far-fetched? Of course, but still a great martial arts film to disengage your brain and sit back and watch. Jean Claude van Damme still can't act (never could) but you don't watch films like this for Oscar performances. What JCVD can do (or at least, what he DID) is fight, and here he was probably at his best. (Although _Lionheart_ remains right there with _Bloodsport_ as far as fight scenes go.) This is just a great "fight" movie. The "cops" - or whatever they are - sent to retrieve Frank Dux and return him to the US Military are awful, as far as the storyline goes. They're too silly to be taken serious but not silly enough to seem like a cheesy joke so you're not sure whether to believe them or not. They just muddy up the story. Leah Ayres (as "Janice") continues to be awful and only adds to the atrocity of the story. Trust me, this is not a film you want to watch because of the storyline; you want to watch _Bloodsport_ only for that one thing: the blood-sport.

Bolo Yeung remains one of my favorite-ever Asian martial arts actors and carries his part to absolute perfection here. You can almost root for him, he comes across as so indomitable. I'm not sure how his English is but Yeung is one of the few actors I would genuinely enjoy sitting down and conversing with, if possible. He just plays his parts so well in every film I've watched him in. (As a side note, the dude is built like a truck; why would anyone go for his chest, shoulders, back, or legs in a fight? Stupid.)

Several of the fighter/actors in _Bloodsport_ are real-life martial artists and/or martial arts fighters, which makes the film that much more enjoyable. There's a hint of authenticity behind the choreography but watching this, it's easy to see why "mixed martial arts" - in the early days - never really got off the ground. It's completely awkward for fighters from two entirely different sciences to put on a "good" watchable fight; it's just too awkward. (If you don't believe me, go find the first 10 UFC cards on _ESPN Plus_ and watch them; you'll see for yourself how awkward it was for someone who was supposedly a black belt in karate to "fight" with a collegiate wrestler, and vice versa.) It's one thing to engage in combat when you have an idea of how and what your opponent is going to move but to try to combat a style you've never even encountered before is not only difficult, but very awkward...for both parties…but I digress.

Yes, it's very dated and the clothing, hair-styles, environment, everything is almost ridiculous (and I lived through this era!) but as far as the fight scenes go, this is still very entertaining. Not very realistic, no, but again, the fight choreography makes this fun to watch in spite of the poor acting. Watch the opening scenes, brace yourself to get through the "back-story" of Frank and his beloved "shidoshi" Tanaka, and then enjoy the fight scenes. You can skip through pretty much everything else but at least enjoy the fight scenes.

I've been pretty harsh reviewing Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, and even though he is significantly older than me, I have the feeling he can still kick my butt, so maybe I should back off a little.

Honestly though, this one is pretty watchable. Make no mistake, it is no Chinatown, but, who cares, it is a fun way to hit all the tropes of the martial arts genre and it does it in a way that you know is going to be copied, even if it was already kind of a copy of Enter the Dragon only without the art.

So, what you have is a bloody trope filled film that is fun to watch and vaguely (in the vaguest sense of the word vaguely) based kinda sorta on a true story that one guy said happened and was never really verified.

So.... sit back and pop some corn, you'll love this.

You told me to use any tactic that works, never to commit yourself to one style, to keep an open mind!

Bloodsport is directed by Newt Arnold and written by Christopher Cosby, Mel Friedman and Sheldon Lettich. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton, Forest Whitaker and Bolo Yeung. Music is by Paul Hertzog and cinematography by David Worth.

One of the earlier films that made Van Damme into a star, Bloodsport finds Van Damme as real life martial artist Frank Dux. Dux enters into the famed Kumite, a no nonsense tournament in Hong Kong and must overcome various hurdles to hopefully achieve his goals.

As is the norm for a Van Damme action movie, particularly where his late 80s and early 90s output is concerned, one has to be prepared for some at best average acting and a flimsy plot. Plot follows a familiar Van Damme trajectory, his character will yearn to overcome adversity, go through a strenuous training programme, meet and make friends and enemies, produce some outstanding martial artistry, and end up in a winner takes all fight for justice, revenge, honour...

Away from the seriously great fighting skills showcased by Van Damme and the other martial artists he comes up against, there's not a lot of artistic film making craft on show. But as fans of this sort of stuff will tell you, and I'm one of that number, it matters not, for they deliver exactly what we expect. Great fight choreography, a super Kumite montage, a vile villain who needs his ass kicked, and of course lots of Van Damage as we hurtle towards what we hope will be a triumphant finale. Hooray!

Though supposedly based on facts in Frank Dux's life, this has been called into question over the years, so best to just observe it as an energised martial arts film rather than a part biography piece. 7/10