"Kickboxer" is one of the early films of Jean-Claude Van Damme and like his older movies, it's pretty good. The set-up is good....the finale, however, is pretty predictable and cliched.

When the story begins, Eric Sloane has just successfully defended his kickboxing title. With nothing interesting to do at home, Eric decides to travel to Thailand to fight...bringing along his younger brother, Kurt (Van Damme),as his trainer. Eric is overconfident and gets his butt whipped in the ring...and the evil Tong Po refuses to quit when the fight is called...and leaves Eric paralyzed. Not surprisingly, Kurt wants revenge and seeks out a local guy to train him.

When it comes to the final big battle, the film throws in every cliche known to martial arts films. Po's boss is determined he's going to win and has Eric kidnapped and help prisoner until Kurt throws the fight. Additionally, evil Po rapes Kurt's girl. So, apparently paralyzing the brother isn't enough....and the film threw everything into this one.

The best parts of the film are the fighting sequences. While he's no great actor (and his accent and brother's are TOTALLY different),Van Damme has incredible skills in the film....and it's worth seeing for this reason alone. So, ignore the cliches and just enjoy.

This simplistic yet effective exercise in action from Jean Claude Van Damme offers up pretty much everything you could want from such a film; there's drama, tension, romance, some really sleazy bad guys, a cruel, frightening villain and, of course, oodles of macho violence to enjoy. It plays a bit like BLOODSPORT, but with added plot which gives the film a better structure. Less fight scenes and more character development make this the better film.

Okay, so it has dated badly. Being a late '80s film, it's full of cheesy pop songs which pop up at every opportunity, as well as the expected leotards and track suits. Van Damme is probably the best actor in the film, giving you some idea as to the depth of the acting talent on display here. The older actors are more likable and the chief villain, Tong Po, looks extremely menacing, but everybody else is forgettable. Van Damme struggles with a thick accent but is on top form in terms of physical fitness.

Up until the last twenty minutes, this is pretty bland stuff. Some amusing training scenes showing Van Damme being exerted to the limit and a couple of fight scenes break up the momentum but it's standard all the way. Then the final battle commences and the film becomes superb. Just after you hear the line "...hands soaked in hemp and resin and dipped in broken glass" do you realise that this is going to be something good, and it doesn't disappoint. Exciting, adrenaline-pumping, and very extreme, it's a shame the rest of the film doesn't live up to this climactic showdown. Tong Po really does get his just desserts here as he faces a brutal pummelling from Van Damme before getting his skull cracked against a stone pillar.

Apart from the final fight, this is average Van Damme, with little in the way of budget or story to help out. In itself, the climax would rate a 5/5, but unfortunately the rest of the film drags the score down. Definitely worth seeing for fans of the genre though.

Eric Sloane is an arrogant brash champion of kickboxing in America. He and little brother Kurt (Jean-Claude Van Damme) go to Bangkok to destroy the local talents. Only the Thai champion "Tiger" Tong Po breaks Eric's back and paralyzes him. With the help of Taylor, an American living locally, Kurt becomes a student under master Xian. He trains to face the powerful Tong Po himself, and falls in love with a local.

This hits the trifecta of fight action B-movie. It's got cheesy acting, exotic locations, and an eastern fighting style. The music is full on 80s cheese. Van Damme does a reasonable job acting. The fights are a little bit disappointing. It's staged by experts but it needs experts to film it properly. Michel Qissi is a great villain in this. This is a B-movie that is better than most.