Gotta Play! Button Mash

Another day, another Los Angeles based barcade. As a child of the 80's and 90's, I grew up pumping quarters into machines at my local malls, mashing buttons to Street Fighter, Final Fight, X-Men and the like. One more recent addition to the LA scene is Echo Park's Asian fusion restaurant with a bar and arcade Button Mash. Just up the street from Union Station in downtown, Button Mash is located in a curious strip mall that holds a tropical fish store and a Domino's among other businesses. There's a small parking lot and plenty of curb side parking around the area. They were supposed to open at 4:00 PM but were actually in the midst of shooting a TV show, movie or online series whatever. Surprisingly, many an older person patron was waiting to get in as well and when I say older, I mean retirement age. I wonder what games they came to play.

The place is split up into a restaurant on one side and the arcade on the other. It's strictly beer and wine at the moment but there are several kinds of cider for people like me. Food wise you had a double hamburger next to chicken wings and tofu balls, all in, not too shabby. Then your check comes in a 90's area paperback which was a nice touch, if you ever see Governor Schwarzenegger, Party of Four, scrawled in one, that was me. Game wise it's token based and the selection is quite solid with the full X-Men, Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, Mortal Kombat II, WWF, Super Contra, pinball and more. The more I play, the more I find myself craving the Street Fighter Alpha series with it's faster action and ability to pull off super combos. But so far, that's only located at Shatto 39 not here, Eighty-Two, Blipsy's or my local burger joint that has games in it. I'm sure The One-Up has all of them on their beautiful emulator cabinet but it's not quite the same thing.

Playing MK II was a trip back down memory lane as I could not recall ANY of the moves but was quickly reminded how cheap a game it is as you can seriously just trip someone over and over again until they die. We looked up moves and before you knew it, it was all about Johnny Cage and the splits to nut punch. I'm not saying Jean-Claude Van Damme invented the move in Bloodsport but can you name me a precursor example that had as much impact? And for a place called button mash, it could use a lot more brawlers. But overall a cool joint I'd check out again.

The 12 Day Stretch

You may have noticed the ol' output on Dammaged Goods has been a bit muted in May. I had a huge office project crescendo and executed over the last 12 straight days. Time at the gym took a week long break while I racked up one 22 hour day, helped unload, place and move 10 truckloads of stuff, walked 30,000 steps on two consecutive days and didn't sleep more than 5 hours a night for nearly a week. But my efforts, planning, organization and fortitude pushed me through as I was called The Terminator, indefatigable and dubbed the guy who knew. Being mentally prepared always helps as once you get the scope in mind and expect a tough challenge, when it ends up being not so bad, your spirits are up instead of burnt out. I took pride in my efforts as my plan was always to have one day be the bitch or the bear so the rest of the project would be easier each day. Luckily planning the work and working the plan worked out. I had To Do lists and goals for each day along with projects everyone could work on.

Of course there were times I wanted to call people out for being less than helpful or not using common sense but in the end I never flipped my top as many around me thought I had every right to do. But our true character is revealed when we're tired or upset right? Getting pissed, throwing a hissy fit or getting demoralized wasn't going to help anything or anyone so I had to keep pushing, communicate, and follow up so everyone felt supported. Of course I wasn't the only person involved and was set up for success but much of directing traffic fell on me and as a natural dot connector, I just had to do the Damme thing. So remember, do the best job you can, have a plan and don't be afraid to ask for help or delegate. Take the wrap for mistakes, learn from them and move on and in the end, don't be be afraid to accept accolades. Until then, keep (figuratively) racking that shotgun and blasting that seemingly unstoppable machine a la Kyle Reese aka Michael Biehn or picking yourself up from the mat like Van Damme in life and Bloodsport!

Bloodsport with Sheldon Lettich

This month, Los Angeles viewers can catch martial arts classics on the big screen as the Laemmle Theaters proudly present a Kung Fu fueled February of Throwback Thursdays with The Legend of Drunken Master, Bloodsport, Kung Fu Hustle and Enter the Dragon! On Thursday, February 11th at the Laemmle NoHo7, Bloodsport co-writer Sheldon Lettich will attend for a post film Q&A. If you were in the audience during our Van Damme Triple Dip at The New Beverly in 2014, you know the man has great stories about Cannon Films, movie inspiration/tale teller Frank Dux and of course, star Jean-Claude Van Damme himself. One of the most popular titles in the martial arts genre, Bloodsport tells the then thought to be true tale of Frank Dux, American military operator, fighter and ninja. Trained as a teenager by the brutal Shidoshi Senzo Tanaka (Roy Chiao), JCVD's young Frank Dux travels to exotic and dangerous Hong Kong to participate in full combat at the Kumite with the world's greatest warriors. Befriending funny giant Ray Jackson (Donald Gibb) and bedding spunky journalist Janice Kent (Leah Ayres), Dux punches, kicks, splits and screams his way to the finals against reigning champion Chong Li (the massively pec'd Bolo Yeung).

Bloodsport was Van Damme's first starring role and launched him to worldwide fame and million dollar paydays. But it was nearly not to be after a rough cut was deemed unwatchable by Cannon producer Menahem Golan who did not believe JCVD was star material. Begging for a chance to recut the film, Van Damme and editor Carl Kress reworked the Newt Arnold directed, Christopher Cosby, Mel Friedman and Sheldon Lettich scripted flick into the influential hit it became. After opening at number one in France and Malaysia, Cannon released the film to American audiences in 1988 where it became one of their top grossers. Van Damme's star appeal is on full display between his eager earnestness and physical prowess displayed via shirtless scenes, jumping spin kicks and performing the splits 7 times. Multiple fighting styles like sumo, boxing, muy thai and karate are showcased, set to Paul Hertzog's terrific synth score and songs by Stan Bush and Michael Bishop. Bloodsport would go on to influence video game behemoths Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, professional fighting sport the UFC and superstar athletes like Georges St. Pierre and Mirko CroCop.

Of course Jean-Claude Van Damme would go on to box office hits, global notoriety and big salaries for Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, Timecop and Street Fighter. The young actor struck up a friendship with former Marine Lettich, who would co-write Rambo III for Sylvester Stallone and work with Jean-Claude on half a dozen films like Lionheart, Double Impact, Legionnaire and The Hard Corps. Most recently Mr. Lettich was seen in the Cannon Films documentary Electric Boogaloo and co-wrote summer success Max with friend Boaz Yakin.

I hope you're body's ready, your heart's on fire and you're ready to push it over the wire!

Tickets and info HERE. Online seller Goldstar has a few discount tickets HERE.

Tell Me a Question: Sheldon Lettich & The Summer of Max Cannon

Dammaged Goods recently caught up with Sheldon Lettich, the writer, director and military veteran who has contributed to such cinematic classics Bloodsport, Lionheart, Rambo III and Double Impact. It was a busy summer for our friend and first event guest with Warner Brothers' dog of war flick MAX hitting theaters in June while Cannon Films documentary Electric Boogaloo premiered across the country and is now available on DVD. In October, Mr. Lettich heads to San Diego for the G.I. Film Festival for a special screening of MAX being held at the Midway Museum.

MAX did solid box office, beating out titles with more hype and higher watt casts like Entourage, Aloha, Hot Pursuit and Paper Towns. Any expectations going into opening weekend?

We were getting industry projections that it would make between $8-10 million for the opening weekend.  Instead we made $12.2 million.  The folks at MGM said they would be happy if the film grossed $40 million in the US.  To date we've grossed nearly $43 million.  So overall we're all pretty happy with the results.  Had our PG-rated movie not been book-ended by two PG-rated behemoths -- Inside Out and Minions -- I think we might have done even better.  Even so, MGM is in the process of developing a sequel with Boaz Yakin and myself, a sure sign that they're happy with the results.

There's real heart in the film with the family and military dynamics. When was the first time you saw it with an audience?

We had a test screening in November of 2014.  The movie scored 100% in the Very Good to Excellent categories, which is an extremely rare occurrence for test screenings.  It was a great experience for me to sit there with that audience (the first time I had actually seen the entire movie without interruptions) and to see and hear them reacting to the movie exactly as we had hoped they would, laughing at the gags and the funny lines, wiping away tears during the funeral scene.  There was applause a number of times during the screening, and especially big applause at the end.

You're getting ready to attend the G.I. Film Festival in San Diego with a screening at the Midway Museum no less, what did you take away from the U.S. Marine Corps that helped you in life and in your career?

I took away a lot of stories and experiences which I have recycled back into numerous screenplays -- most of which have never been produced.  I wrote a Vietnam screenplay many years ago titled Firebase, which I got a lot of mileage out of as a writing sample.  That's the screenplay that got me introduced to Sylvester Stallone and resulted in an overall deal with his company.  It got me the co-writing gig on Rambo III.

Aside from story ideas and familiarity with military terminology, hardware, structure, mindset, slang, tactics, etc., as an NCO (non-commissioned officer) I learned some valuable lessons about leadership which came in very handy when I began directing movies.

You also popped up in Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films and attended the star and crew studded Los Angeles premiere. Do you recall how you got involved with Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus?

As I recall, I was first introduced to them by Leon Isaac Kennedy, who was involved with them on Penitentiary 2 and Body & Soul.  I had written a screenplay with Leon which was originally intended to be a sequel to Lone Wolf McQuade, the Chuck Norris film Leon had co-starred in. When he failed to get Chuck interested, Leon and I changed the title to Stryker's Force, and then tried to get the movie made at Cannon with Leon and Jean-Claude Van Damme co-starring.  Menahem liked the script and approved me as the director, but he did not want Van Damme to be the co-star.  This was before Bloodsport had been released, and at the time Menahem had little faith in the film doing well and even less faith in Van Damme ever making it as a movie star.  He wanted to make the movie, but with Michael Dudikoff starring instead (with Leon playing the co-lead).  I met with Michael, who had read the script but wasn't crazy about it.  The project sort of fell by the wayside after that. 

Then, after Bloodsport opened and did spectacularly well, Menahem did a complete 180 regarding his opinion about Van Damme.  Now he felt that Leon wasn't a big enough star to be the co-lead alongside Van Damme! 

I talked a lot about Menahem and Van Damme and Bloodsport when Mark Hartley interviewed me on-camera for the documentary.  In fact, I told that same story about Menahem and Leon and Van Damme.  Mark told me he had put together an entire segment about Bloodsport for the documentary, but at the last minute there was some kind of a legal snafu involving the rights to Bloodsport, and the lawyers at Warner Brothers told Mark he had to yank the entire segment.  Really a shame.  Bloodsport was one of Cannon's biggest surprise hits, but there's nothing at all about it in the documentary, except one very quick shot of Van Damme throwing a kick at Bolo Yeung.  Who knows, maybe Mark will manage to sneak it in as a special feature on some future Blu-ray?

You co-wrote Bloodsport and met Jean-Claude Van Damme, beginning a long and successful collaboration. What was it like in those early days? Did you feel like the film would be something special? 

Jean-Claude and myself and many of the people who were involved with the film felt we had something very special on our hands, but unfortunately the folks at Cannon Films did not feel the same.  Despite their misgivings, the film did spectacularly well when it was released.  I had actually tried to bet Menahem that the movie would do better than his pet project at the time, Braddock: Missing In Action 3.  His response to me was "You're dreaming, my friend!"  Well, history had proven that my prediction -- my "dream" -- was correct.  MIA3 grossed $6.2 million at the US box office, while Bloodsport grossed $12 million, almost double.  Since then it has never stopped making money.  I'm still getting residuals to this very day.

Many thanks to Mr. Lettich for taking the time to chat, he's a great storyteller and be on the look out for more Dammaged Goods presents events soon. Until then, Sheldon will be appearing at the USS Midway Museum for MAX on Friday, 10.16 at 7:00 PM. The G.I. Film Festival runs Tuesday, 10.13 through Sunday, 10.18 and showcases documentaries, narrative features and films from local artists.

Workout of the Day: Stair Finish

After a night of eating and dranking I had to hit the hotel gym before heading to Day One of Emerald City Comicon. The Crowne Plaza has a decent gym with free weights, a cable station and several different kinds of cardio equipment. Changing it up from my usual 4 sets of 8 reps, I went for more of the circuit motif to move fast with minimum fuss. The power of Jean-Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport on my shirt compelled me along with a bite of a protein bar. For Shoulders and Arms I selected three exercises for each and ran through as a giant set of 9 exercises 3 times:

Handstand Push Ups/Chins/Bench Dips
Side Raise/Concentration Curls/Cable Pushdowns
Rear Delt Cable/One-Arm Preacher Curl/One-Arm Reverse Cable Pushdown

The body weight exercises really give me a pump while the isolation exercises helped me zone in on the selected body parts. I followed up with some drop sets of Dumbbell Press and Hammer Curls along with forearms and Standing Calf Raises. Being on the road, your eating isn't always the greatest so a little cardio is in order. I hit the Elliptical Machine for a quick 6 minutes and followed it up with 20 flights of stairs. It's been a long time or maybe never since I've taken that many stairs and boy was my heart pumping! I was short of breathe and dripping sweat taking a single or two at a time on my way back to the room.

Gotta Eat! Pono Burger

It was a weekend of driving around randomly as I started in Playa Vista then up to Santa Monica over to West Hollywood down to Buena Park and finally over to Rancho Park. On Saturday we hit one of the few rent controlled yet most expensive cities in Los Angeles County, Santa Monica. I learned that Rent Control mainly impacts buildings constructed before 1978 but if your landlord wants to raise your rent 10% they're obligated to provide a 30 day notice. For 20% they owe you 60 days lead time. Anywho I've never really spent a lot of time in Santa Monica for one reason or another but it always just seems packed with traffic and people looking like they're heading to or from a yoga class. Bike lanes are a big thing there with bright green painted streets so I'm sorry I almost hit a cyclist while trying to park.

A former co-worker was speaking at an event in Santa Monica so a few of us decided to lunch it up. I searched for some spots close by and two popped up that caught my eye; Bay Cities and Pono Burger. Bay Cities is a pretty well known sammich shop that was even featured on Entourage. It's a deli and market known for their foot longs but apparently on a Saturday could be a bit of a sh!t show. We drove right past it and yup, sh!t show with some cheenius dropping someone off and blocking traffic when there was a metered spot right in front of them. As Bruce Willy as John McClane said, "f*cking California..." Right around the corner is Pono Burger. At first glance I thought it was Ponyo Burger, like that Studio Ghibli movie? Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyoooo or Porno Burger for you dirty minds. There was plenty of street parking but apparently they have 90 minutes underground by some apartments. Interesting set up as you go into one structure to get seated and there's an old shed/hangar thing next door. Beer and wine joint with one cider option. Wasn't a brand I'd heard of before but it was nice and crisp and not too sweet.

All of their burgers are touted as organic, grass fed, better for you types and mine came with onion rangs. I made it a double to get my G's up so it ended up being a very tall burger with 10 ounces of Medium cooked beef. It was a surprisingly simple and light meal (I always eat my burgers sans buns so I can eat fries and not feel quite as bad). Fries aren't included though but they have sweet or Russet options with aioli on the side. I think that's just like fancy mayonnaise right? Garlic, olive oil and egg yolks, yup, fancy mayo. Being in Santa Monica down from the beach and serving up healthier options, it's not an overly cheap burger coming in at $16 bones for a burger and fries. But nice place, service and good food so I couldn't complain. Plus everybody complimented my Van Damme with poofy hair Bloodsport shirt.

The Action Elite Presents: Icons of Action

Last week, The Action Elite unveiled their top 70 list of the Best Action Heroes of All Time. Main man Eoin Friel enlisted the help of fellow writers, bloggers, screenwriters, directors and #MovieBros to chime in with write ups of their favorite heroes. I picked up two Jean-Claude Van Damme performances, first as Chance Boudreaux in John Woo's 1993 shooting, explosion and face kicking fest Hard Target at # 46 (ahead of Tom Cruise as Mission Impossible's Ethan Hunt and behind Chuck Norris as Lone Wolf McQuade):

“Hunting season is over.”
While Jean-Claude Van Damme was never known for machine gun mayhem a la Stallone in Rambo or Schwarzenegger in Commando; Hard Target’s Chance Boudreaux comes dangerously close to pure action movie territory.
As a decorated former member of Marine Force Recon turned down on his luck sailor, Boudreaux stumbles into a deadly game put on by rich hunters. Their prey? Military veterans. When beautiful and smart yet out of her neighborhood lawyer Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) comes looking for her missing father, she uncovers the darker side of Dixie in the violent and seedy underworld of New Orleans.
Teaming with Chance, the pair take on the evil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen), his right hand man Pik van Cleef (Arnold Vosloo) and their small army of well-armed sportsmen (including Arnold’s buddy Sven-Ole Thorsen).
Recruiting Hong Kong action maestro John Woo for his first American film, Hard Target is full of violently slick, slow motion fight and shootout sequences that see Van Damme filling the bad guys with lead before finishing them off with a spinning hook kick to the face.
Like a greasy mullet’ed samurai in a denim shirt and tight jeans; J.C.V.D.’s Chance fights, chases and shoots it out with Fouchon’s crew using fists, pistols, shotguns, pigeons, gasoline, roundhouse kicks and one-liners. All of this while moto-surfing on a motorcycles standing up, outrunning a helicopter on horseback through Louisiana’s streets, back country and of course a warehouse to save the girl and take revenge for their dead comrades.
If that weren’t enough, Chance flexes his muscles, gets shot, doesn’t get burned by fire and drops a grenade down Fouchon’s pants during the explosion and bullet filled finale.

Followed by Frank Dux in the underground fighting epic Bloodsport at # 18 (ahead of Steven Seagal in Under Siege, suck it! And behind Robocop, respect.):

“You told me to use any technique that worked.  Never to limit myself to one style. To keep an open mind!”
The appeal of Bloodsport and Frank Dux is twofold.  The purported true story of a covert military operator who fights in secret no holds barred tournaments seemed tailor made for the big screen.  Especially an 80’s, Cannon Films produced flick starring a then unknown Jean-Claude Van Damme.
While many of Dux’s military and martial arts claims have been debunked, the tale of an underground competition to find the world’s supreme warrior and fighting champion has entertained and influenced a generation. From video game Street Fighter to Mixed Martial Arts giant the UFC, Bloodsport’s world warrior, style vs style inspiration lives on nearly 30 years later.
In J.C.V.D.’s breakthrough and signature role, the Muscles From Brussels combined his background in karate, weight training and ballet to create a powerful yet graceful onscreen presence that more than made up for his lack of acting experience.  As A.W.O.L. Air Force Captain Frank Dux, Van Damme puts his career and life on the line in order to fight in the Kumite, a full contact event held every five years.
With high kicks and the ability to do the splits at his disposal, Dux battles the best in karate, sumo and muy thai to try and be the best he can be while honoring his mentor and avenging fallen friends.
Whether enduring nearly inhuman physical training, doing the splits between two chairs, fighting blindly in the final match, running the streets of Hong Kong in a Mustard suit or telling another man “I love you my friend”; Jean-Claude Van Damme shows us how an action hero can be kick ass, yet sensitive.

It was a lot of fun and a pleasure to be included. The full list is fantastic and houses contributions from a spectrum of devoted action movie junkies. It skewed a little modern and of course male but John Wayne, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton and Uma Thurman made it in while we could have used some Lee Marvin or Kirk Douglas for The Dirty Dozen and Spartacus. And Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese aka the Father of the Future!

Ask Me a Question: Lionheart w/ Sheldon Lettich

Driving in Texas is rough. Only a two lane highway, lots of construction, accidents and cars on the side of the road. After a quick jaunt through the University of Texas campus glimpsing the huge stadium and Lyndon B. Johnson library, we arrived at our hotel in downtown. Only steps away from the bustling 6th street scene and the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, we imbibed a few dranks before grabbing snacks at the Iron Cactus next door with some special guests. It was beautiful outside, warm and sunny but not too hot. Not too many people out but hey, it was an early Sunday evening. Tough Guy Cinema was taking over one of the two screens at the Ritz with Lionheart and Only the Strong while new releases Foxcatcher and Inherent Vice played on the other side. I've never been to an Alamo so it was a cool experience with Only the Strong and Lionheart posters on the wall, arcade games in the lobby and artwork everywhere. The seats are all behind a long table/counter where you jot down your order and a server whisks by and then drops off. We opted for liquid dinners and their whiskey gingers were delicious.

Tough Guy Cinema mastermind Greg took the stage and told us how as a youth, he and his brother would scarf down pizza and watch Jean-Claude Van Damme movies on Friday nights. After I met him in Los Angeles and made the introduction to Sheldon Lettich, the duo made it happen and we were about to watch Lionheart on the big screen. While Universal doesn't have a print, the Academy Archives does. Sheldon took the stage for a quick introduction and said he hadn't seen the film on the big screen in decades. Home video releases were all in the wrong format and he's off to Germany next month for a special edition blu-ray release event with co-star Harrison Page. In a nice touch, trailers for Bloodsport and Hard Target played before the feature.

Lionheart tells the tale of Lyon (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a French Foreign Legionnaire stationed in Djibouti, North Africa who goes  A.W.O.L. when he finds out his little brother has been set on fire in a drug deal gone wrong in Los Angeles. Hopping a steamer, Lyon ends up in New York with no money or contacts. Chancing upon a street fight organized by the street savvy and hilarious Joshua (Page), Lyon wins a bout and ends up with a wad of cash to help him get to L.A. Needing a little more scratch, Joshua takes him to meet Cynthia aka The Lady (Deborah Rennard) a rich chick who puts on street fights in the parking garage of her swank office building for shits and giggles. Now dubbed Lionheart, Lyon puts Cynthia's designated hitter away with a punch to the nuts and grabs an extra $5 grand. Landing in Los Angeles, Lyon is too late as his brother has died and left a poor widow and child to fend for themselves. Not seeing any other way to help his family, Lyon reluctantly agrees to hit the fighting circuit where he battles kilt wearing Scots in a garage, a mountain of muscle in a racquetball court and a high kicking dude with long hair in a half empty pool. With Legionnaire investigators hot on his trail, Lyon gets set for a big fight against a killer named Attila who's already bagged 8 bodies. High waist white washed jeans, 80's rock, butt shots, roundhouse kicks and Kentucky Fried Chicken awesomeness ensues.

The print looked great and the film still holds up as one of JCVD's more solid efforts. It has Van Damme's trademark martial arts action and buff but not too developed body along with a surprising amount of heart and emotion, an early sign of the Muscles from Brussels being more than just a high kicking brute. Harrison Page steals nearly every scene as the broken down fighter turned promoter looking out for Lyon while you can really see the effort on young Van Damme's part.

After the film, Sheldon and Greg took the stage for Q&A:

- The butt shot was Van Damme's idea after doing several clothed takes. Greg's mom would forever take him to see JCVD movies because of it.
- Original story came from JCVD, he and Sheldon would meet up at a coffee shop on Sunset to discuss. After an altercation between Van Damme and the head waiter, a Sheriff showed up to tell them to leave.
- Sheldon's first feature so didn't attempt any crazy shots or tricks. Producers would have vetoed anything too extravagant to save money anyhow.
- Harrison Page is Sheldon's neighbor and long time friend. Most of the dialog was on the page but Harrison would take it and run with it, making it his own.
- Film picked up by Jim Jacks and Universal who didn't like Cynthia's scenes and trimmed them down. One was after Lyon asks to leave hotel to live like a fighter and she has a fit while another is her visiting Lyon at the hospital, knowing he's injured and setting up the final fight.
- Original title was Wrong Bet, Van Damme's idea. Sheldon didn't love it but had a hard time coming up with a better name. Released worldwide as A.W.O.L., Full Contact and Wrong Bet. Lyonheart became Lionheart at Universal.
- The film was a hit in America and abroad. Sheldon and co-star Michel Qissi were in France where Lion opened up against a Seagal picture. On the first night, Lion was in the small house while Seagal was in the big room. By the next evening, the films swapped as demand for Lionheart was much higher than Seagal's film and could have been the roots of Seagal's dislike for Van Damme.

- Mentions of the proposed Demolition Man pairing of Seagal as the cop and Van Damme as the villain. Neither would lose to the other so they both dropped out and were replaced by Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes who didn't mind losing to Rocky.
- Producers wanted to use synthesizers for the score to save money but upon seeing the film, put more cash in and used the Salt Lake City orchestra to give composer John Scott's work gravitas.
- Really tried to make it different than Van Damme's previous films which explains the lack of splits and a tournament or revenge plot. Making it more dramatic helped differentiate the film and is why it stands the test of time today. But their next film, Double Impact, went balls out with all the cliches.
- Costume Designer Joseph Porro went crazy with Cynthia's wardrobe with big hats, rhinestone jackets, etc since everyone else would be in drab sweats, jeans and suits. Went on to work on classics Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Tombstone, Independence Day and many more.
- Film shot for 39 days, mainly in Los Angeles and Las Vegas for the desert scenes.
- Lots of friends in the film, Lawrence Bender, Scott Spiegel, Kamel Krifa...

It was a great start to the evening with Greg's passion for the film shining through but still affording solid moderating and great stories from Sheldon. The lobby was hopping with fans and friends before Only the Strong as we popped out to roam the streets for a quick minute...

What the Chuck?! Forced Vengeance

On the back end of Turner Classic Movies' Underground programming of Miami Connection was another 80's martial arts opus, Forced Vengeance from 1982.  The flick opens with a stylized fight scene between the silhouette of Chuck Norris and an unknown attacker in front of a giant neon sign with Chinese characters complete with blaring music but no sound.  We have no context whatsoever and it immediately reminded me of future action flicks that would do the same thing, mainly Best of the Best 2 where it adds a little mystique to the credits and Dolph Lundgren's Direct Action where it pads out the runtime.  From there we meet Josh Randall (Norris) as he collects a debt from a Los Angeles scum bag and beats up a would be enforcer in the process.  There's humor right away as Randall's favorite cowboy hat is stomped on and there's a close up of him curling his fist before dishing up some pain.  Cut to Hong Kong, "a slap in the face that feels good" where you "make money as fast as you can" with an opening shot out of Enter the Dragon or reused by Bloodsport.  We meet Randall's benevolent, tai chi practicing businessman of Jewish heritage boss Sam (David Opatoshu) and his son David (Frank Michael Liu).  The duo run honest casino Lucky Dragon in HK where Randall is head of security.

Unfortunately David has made some bad business decisions and evil casino overlord Stan Raimondi (Michael Cavanugh) is about to swallow up their small potatoes establishment.  When Sam refuses to sell, father and son are gunned down leaving Randall the prime suspect and on the run.  With Sam and David dead, daughter Joy (Camila Griggs) becomes the sole heir to the Lucky Dragon and target of a citywide manhunt.  Randall grabs the young woman and along with his spunky ladyfriend, Claire (Mary Louise Weller) go into hiding with Vietnam buddy LeRoy Nicely (Bob Minor).  With the cops and the mob after them, Randall sets off to squash Raimondi's hold on the city.

Cleanly directed by James Fargo, Forced Vengeance is a pretty solid karate thriller with some surprisingly exploitative traits.  There's lots of fist and feeticuffs in the Chuck Norris karate tradition: big punches, low knee, high foot roundhouse kicks, a flying sidekick off the side of a building, slow motion jumping off furniture tackle, pulling the slide of a handgun back next to the side of a guy's head to intimidate him and a death by falling glass in the throat.  A unique touch was Randall using pressure points to subdue attackers, pressing on forearms and necks.  There's also a surprising amount of laughs in Franklin Thompson and Fargo's script.  From Randall always drinking a beer, having his cowboy hat damaged and telling his chick to throw a blanket on him so he can nap, Vengeance definitely has a sense of humor and Norris gets to throw out lots of one liners and funny/awesome quips like "Your son made me an offer...before he died" cause Chuck killed him in the last scene, get it?!  Or when an Organized Task Force agent tells Randall he's a real litterer, cause of all the dead bodies, ska-doosh!

It's also a product of it's time and has a scuzzy feel with many a lady being slapped, flaming homosexual depictions and a surprisingly brutal end to Claire's life at the hands of a giant Chinese brute.  Composer William Goldstein provides a distinctive yet overly melodramatic score with soothing pianos and grating laser sounds alike.  The Hong Kong setting is a nice touch and you feel like you're back watching Lee, Roper and Williams leave for Han's Island in Enter the Dragon or planting the seeds for Jean-Claude Van Damme's jokey foot chase through the shadowy narrow corridors in Bloodsport, it's truly a distinct cityscape.  Running and fighting his way through the streets, Randall comes across a Bruce Lee imitator with nunchucks and whooping strange noises.  You know how movies today seem like rehashes of other movies?  Well Forced Vengeance was like watching movies that didn't even exist yet.  When a guy slaps a woman and Chuck slaps him, asking, "hurts, don't it?", I went to Tombstone.  When the Chinese brute told Chuck his girl was "very good", I thought of Kickboxer.  At one point someone mutters, "Randall, Randall, Randall" and Arnold Vosloo from Hard Target popped into my mind.  I'm sure many of these were coincidences but it just kept happening!

Even though Norris got a career boost from student, friend and global superstar Steve McQueen, Forced Vengeance owes much of it's crew to another action hero, Clint Eastwood.  Director Fargo had previously worked on Clint flicks like Joe Kidd, High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Every Which Way But Loose as an Assistant Director before graduating to the helmer's chair himself.  Villain Michael Cavanuagh had also appeared in three Eastwood vehicles before starring in Vengeance.  Stuntman extraordinaire Bob Minor plays the funny, cool and swole buddy, much like Steve James would later to Michael Dudikoff and Norris in American Ninja and The Hero and the Terror.   Released on July 30th, 1982, Forced Vengeance would gross $6.6 million at the box office from 576 theaters ranking it ahead of movies like The Soldier, Megaforce and Eastwood's Honky Tonk Man but way behind action fare Rocky III, First Blood, Firefox, Conan the Barbarian and The Road Warrior.  Norris' next film would be a step up, the iconic Lone Wolf McQuade before embarking on his lucrative partnership with Cannon Films.

Van Dammage: C'est la Steve McQueen

"He told me you should spend less time training in the gym and more time training your mouth...He believes I have a shot at being not just an action star but a French Steve McQueen!"

     Jean-Claude Van Damme's career advice from director Peter Hyams

After bursting onto the scene with 1988's low budget martial arts cult classic Bloodsport, Jean-Claude Van Damme's starred in a string of cheap, money making beat'em ups like Cyborg, Kickboxer and Death Warrant.  After being paid $25,000 for Bloodsport, 4 years and 6 movies later, he'd land a cool $1 million for 1992's explosive sci-fi tinged thriller Universal Soldier, nearly the budget of of his breakout film.  The sub-$20 million dollar Carolco flick co-starring fellow muscular and kickboxing European Dolph Lundgren was hoped to be Van Damme's breakthrough into the mainstream.  By the early 90's Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were firmly ensconced as Hollywood's kings of the action film; with the mysterious Aikido master and supposedly former C.I.A. operative Steven Seagal coming up fast behind them after impressing Hollywood super-agent Michael Ovitz and being backed by Warner Brothers from the get go in handsome hits like Above the Law and Marked for Death.  1992's "Die Hard on a battleship" Under Siege would gross a huge $83 million.  Universal Soldier would open up # 2 with Van Damme's first $10 million dollar weekend on it's way to a respectable $36 million in the states and over $100 million worldwide. 

Long wanting to leave his pure kickboxing image behind, Van Damme followed Unisol with romantic action western Nowhere to Run showcasing a softer, more sensitive side.  Instead of flashy kicks and splits, we got rough and tumble fisticuffs, a motorcycle chase and JCVD hanging out with a widow and her two kids.   Nowhere To Run's $22 million dollar gross would reverse Van Damme's 5 movie upswing.  The Bulging Belgian would make up for Nowhere's lack of expected excitement with Hard Target, an $18 million dollar hardcore action movie from Universal Studios that marked the stateside debut of legendary Hong Kong maestro John Woo.  Armed with a silver shotgun, duel pistols and a horse while rocking a greasy mullet, Hard Target mustered up another $10 million opening en route to $32 million total.  Universal became confident that with a decent budget and promotional push, Van Damme could break the $50 million dollar mark and into the upper echelon of cinematic tough guys.

Timecop, a script by Mark Verheidan and Mike Richardson based on their Dark Horse Comic, became the vehicle meant to push Van Damme into the A-List.  Largo Entertainment funded while Universal handled distribution.  Having long worked with novice directors, JCVD sought out the experienced hand of Peter Hyams, responsible for well received flicks like 2010, Outland and Running Scared but after a few misfires needed a hit.  At first reluctant to meet with Wham Bam Van Damme, knowing him only as a "karate guy", Hyams was won over by the star's personality, charm, sense of humor and vulnerability.  Armed with a $28 million dollar budget, $3.5 going to the star, the Timecop production headed to Vancouver with known and talented co-stars like Mia Sara, Ron Silver and Bruce McGill in tow.  The film opens in a 1994 where time travel is possible.  Cut to 2004 and former Washington D.C. street cop Max Walker (Van Damme) is now a Time Enforcement Commission officer who travels to the past to bring back illegal time jumpers.  After his wife Melissa (Mia Sara) is mysteriously killed in 1994, grizzled, hardened and slightly mulleted 2004 Max faces off with diabolical Presidential candidate Aaron McComb (Ron Silver) who is traveling back in time to raise $50 million bucks for his election campaign.

Like Arnold, the man Van Damme was most compared to early in his career, sci-fi tinged action seemed to work for our guy.  Cyborg, Universal Soldier and Timecop were all notable entries in his career while guys like Stallone hit and missed (Demolition Man was great, Judge Dredd was enjoyable but an expensive dud) and Seagal never even tried.  Timecop would be Van Damme's classiest and most ambitious film to date as we go from the Civil War to 1994 to 1929 and end up in 2004 without missing a beat.  Striving to be accepted by the mainstream as an intelligent action movie, TC kept trademarks like high kicks, splits and a butt shot while mixing in big sets, special FX, explosions and onscreen scuffles involving future guns, knives, wrenches and axes.  Never the hyper physical specimen or oddity Arnold was deemed, Van Damme is a slim yet pumped up 180 pounds in the picture having kept in shape visiting a crowded, downtown Fitness World on a daily basis.  Van Damme's unmistakable French-Belgian accent is commented on but not explained, a possible first as he was born in Los Angeles but raised in Belgium in Kickboxer, from French Canada in Death Warrant, a New Orleans native in Unisol and Hard Target, etc.  With a dead wife as motivation, Van Damme's acting hits new heights along with the budget and his mix of determined duty mixed with sensitive sorrow was a surprise to Hyams.  Some of the science and time travel elements don't quite add up; a painful and harrowing rocket pod ride racing towards a brick wall sends you to the past yet a simple click of a button brings you back to the present.  The end climax kind of slumps as 1994 and 2004 versions of Max battle thugs in and around the house during a rain storm, much of it in the dark as per Hyam's usual under lit D.P. style.

Before the release of the film, Van Damme was confident Timecop would be a hit; believing in the story, dialogue, acting, cast, FX and director.  The once hesitant Hyams described Timecop as a joyous experience and looked forward to working with Jean-Claude again.  Premiering on September 16th, 1994, Timecop would be Van Damme's first # 1 opening, grossing $12 million movie bucks then claiming the top spot in it's 2nd week on the way to a $44 million total and over $100 million worldwide.  Van Damme looked to broaden his image again with the PG-13 rated Street Fighter based on the worldwide video game phenomenon.  While the Christmas of '94 release saw Van Damme collect a career high $7 million dollar salary, the film was destroyed by fans and critics alike and it's box office take was $10 million less than Timecop even without the restricted rating.  Follow up pairing with Hyams, 1995's "Die Hard at the Stanley Cup" action thriller Sudden Death looked once again to put Van Damme into a mainstream affair and while critics were kind, grosses were half of Timecop's.  The Real JC...VD would further take the reigns of his career for his 1996 goodbye to the martial arts genre, The Quest; writing/directing/starring in the 1920's set mini-epic but dwindling grosses saw him going straight to video a few years later. Hyams would hammer out decent if unspectacular thrillers The Relic, End of Days and The Musketeer before crashing with 2005's tumultuous production and big budget flop, A Sound of Thunder.  The duo reteamed for 2013's low budget actioner Enemies Closer with Van Damme playing a violent, over the top, clown haired vegan villain.

Timecop would return as a short lived television series on ABC in 1997 but failed in the ratings resulting in only 9 of the 13 ordered episodes airing.  Van Damme would later call the producers idiots for selling the rights to TV instead of giving him a film franchise.  A direct to video sequel did follow in 2003, The Berlin Decision, starring Jason Scott Lee.  In 2013, it was announced that Timecop would join Kickboxer and Bloodsport as Van Damme less reboots.  The film remains his biggest hit and among his most enjoyable efforts with it's mix of scope, inventive action, story and a surprisingly hot (to 12 year old me) sex scene.

Van Dammage: Behind Closed Doors

"I'm tired, I want some rest. I've been doing, how many movies now? I don't even know. I never count them, I never look at them. Been around the world for 20, 30, 40 times...seeing same hotels, getting older with me. They change the wall papers of the room but my face get more cripple..."
     Jean-Claude Van Damme

Believe it or not, a few years ago I was out of work with no clue what was coming next as a random temp job lead to a decent opportunity at a huge corporation for nearly 4 years.  That came to an end and I found myself struggling to figure out next steps.  But for 8 wonderful weeks in 2011, every Tuesday I'd have at least one constant in my life, Jean-Claude Van Damme's reality show, Behind Closed Doors.  Produced for the United Kingdom's ITV4, BCD followed the Muscles From Brussels as he jetted around the world making movies, meeting fans, playing with his dogs and just trying to relax while partying into the wee morning hours, training for a kickboxing match and speaking from his big heart.  Now, U.S. cable network REELZ will be broadcasting the series starting in October, coincidentally the month Wham Bam Van Damme entered the world. 

The first episode finds JCVD visiting a quiet church in his hometown of Brussels, Belgium, discussing the drive that saw him drop out of high school, take up karate, ballet and weights, move to America, struggle and eventually become one of the world's most famous movie stars.  The glory days of his career a distant memory, Van Damme's brand recognition is still enough to keep him headlining movies for the Direct to Video market made in Eastern Europe.  His two kids, Kristopher and Bianca join their famous dad while saving stray dogs.  Van Damme travels to Russia to film a cameo in a 3D comedy based on Napoleon, parties early into the morning then returns to Belgium to see his mother, father and half dozen dogs he's rescued from around the world.  It's a very intimate look into the life of a very famous person known for his professional, self-made accomplishments and personal, self-destructive antics.  After so many years of charming audiences with a boyish innocence mixed with muscular, martial arts fueled mayhem, it might be a shock to casual fans to see the modern Van Damme so sensitive and prone to tears.  But for anyone who has followed the Belgian Bomber through his career, it's that surprising mix of heart and physicality that makes him just a little more interesting than Arnold or Sly.

During shooting of the show, we watch JCVD work on movies like Weapon, Dragon Eyes and Kung-Fu Panda 2 while trying to get healthy for a proposed kickboxing match with Thai Gold medalist boxer Somrak Khamsing.  Not discussed on the show is Van Damme's minor heart attack or complication.  The Muscles From Brussels looks a bit frail in some segments but a hilarious Christmas episode finds him in terrific shape as he puts his family and daughter's boyfriend through a holiday workout.  Van Damme regulars like writer/director Sheldon Lettich, longtime karate coach Claude Goetz along with Bloodsport and Double Impact co-star Bolo Yeung pop up in addition to recent co-stars Scott Adkins and Cung Le.  Action weirdos like me will spot fitness model and martial artist Julien Greaux along with 87Eleven fight choreographer Larnell Stovall training and auditioning daughter Bianca.

Showcasing his still worldwide appeal, Mr. Van Damme travels the globe, hitting up Vancouver, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Paris, Russia, Dubai, Belgium and more filming cameos, commercials and meeting with local investor types looking to get into the Van Damme business.  During filming, Van Damme had received a request but not a script for Expendables 2 from Stallone and seemed determined to clean up his rock and roll lifestyle to get in shape for the fight to clean up his soul.  Cut to 3 years later, Expendables 2 has come and gone, heck, a third installment was just released in August.  One powerful scene shows Van Damme erupting in anger and sadness when he learns that the producers of the Bloodsport reboot don't want him involved.  That film probably isn't any closer to being produced than it was then. The fight with Khamsing never materialized and Van Damme has kept busy post EX2 with his first foray into comedy, Welcome to the Jungle and starred in well received commercials for Volvo, GoDaddy and Coors Light.  Another reality show, 360 World Tour, was teased but has yet to be broadcast.  Same goes for a years in the making workout video.  As for me?  I'm kicking ass and doing so well I almost can't live with myself.  Wade Garrett style.

Van Dammage: Arnold Belt

"He makes sense when he talks.  He doesn't talk with complicated words, he's direct.  You look into his eyes, they are good.  He will never try to hurt you or take advantage of you.  He's too busy and too rich, he has his own focus, his own mission.  He's not looking at how your arms are so big and the way you dress.  He's above all that.  I like him a lot."

Jean-Claude Van Damme on Arnold Schwarzenegger

When Jean-Claude Van Damme's movie career first started picking up steam, he was immediately compared to the established Austrian Oak.  It was easy to see why of course as Arnold was king of the action film along with Sylvester Stallone.  But with a European heritage and background in bodybuilding, surface comparisons were easy to make between The Muscles From Brussels and The Schwarz.  I'm not sure if the two interacted much on the 1986 Mexico set of Predator when JCVD was playing the original creature before dropping out.  Jesse Ventura gives Van Damme a shout out in one of his books, saying he was impressed with the young martial artist and thought he had a promising career ahead.  After JC left Predator and the suit was redesigned, the two would meet again on the set of Red Heat where Van Damme was unknowingly sitting in star Schwarzenegger's chair.  Cut to the Hoover Dam location of Universal Soldier in 1991 where by now Van Damme was a million dollar leading man opposite Dolph Lundgren in his first big budget studio effort and Arnie showed up with former bodybuilding champion/best friend Franco Columbu to wish co-star Ralf Moeller a happy birthday.  Apple juice and cigars flowing, the duo continued to build their rapport and when producers of Arnold's big budget summer release The Last Action Hero were looking for stars to cameo, Jean-Claude Van Damme answered the call and received a quick, speaking part while Chevy Chase, Damon Wayons, Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick among others were silently seen.

While the two stars might share vague similarities in the sense they're both European white guys who lift weights and do action movies, the likenesses more or less stop there.  Van Damme was always flattered to receive the comparison but knew he was his own man with his own plan.  Besides, it's better to be compared to a king than a pauper, right?  Whereas Arnold broke into the mainstream with his mix of hyper masculine physique, looming presence and boisterous sense of humor, Van Damme always played it a bit quieter and a bit more sensitive.  Arnold's first signature roles showcased him as unstoppable barbarians and cybernetic killing machines in Conan and The Terminator while Van Damme burst into the scene playing a mentor honoring karate fighter and revenge seeking kickboxer in Bloodsport and well, Kickboxer.  As Arnold was usually meting out violence with a sword or sub-machine gun in hand, JCVD was busy kicking people in the face and doing the splits.  Whereas Arnold had a square, muscular jaw and a physique that was difficult to hide, Van Damme's smaller stature and baby face made him less menacing and more apt to aspire to be a romantic, dramatic and comedic leading man.  As Van Damme's profile grew, his films became more action oriented than martial arts driven and put him into the same cinematic turf as Arnold and Sly.  While we never saw Van Damme mow down a field of baddies with a machine gun or win a war, hybrid action/martial arts flicks like Timecop, Hard Target and the pure action, Die Hard style Sudden Death attempted to bring him into the full mainstream to unfortunate diminishing results.  As the era of the 80's and 90's action movie came to a close, Arnold was the last man standing who never went Direct to Video and after a few under performers, left the business on a high note with Terminator 3's $433 million dollar worldwide gross.

Today, Arnold's return to film has produced solid flicks like The Last Stand, The Tomb and Sabotage but he's only struck box office gold in small cameos in The Expendables franchise.  Since his last starring role wide release in 1999's Universal Soldier: The Return, Van Damme has kept his filmic output to a minimum compared to DTV factory Steven Seagal and for the most part has challenged himself as an actor in dark and serious efforts like In Hell, Wake of Death and Until Death before playing himself in 2008's meta-mockumentary breakthrough JCVD which earned the Belgian his highest praise to date.  Subsequent branching out included a voiceover role in Kung Fu Panda 2, a return to the big screen as the villain in The Expendables 2, playing dumb in ensemble comedy Welcome to the Jungle and finishing up his directorial effort Full Love/Soldiers/The Eagle Path.

I like Conan:

Con-Man: BotCon

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Transformers, BotCon and Hasbro put on one heck of a show.  Starting on Friday with a group outing to the Transformers Experience at Universal Studios followed by a live performance by Stan Bush (!), the three day extravaganza was live streamed via Shout! Factory's booth from the lovely Pasadena Civic Auditorium and Conference Center.  Being a smaller show, there weren't tons of people walking around outside letting you know you were in the right place but a few strategically placed signs got us to where we needed to go.  Surprisingly, the show didn't offer programs.  At least I didn't see any or see anyone carrying one around.  Instead, there were blown up schedule of events around the area and staff members told you where to go for panels.

The exhibition hall boasted over 200 dealer tables in a decent sized room with oh so many toys from the various lines over the years.  Starting with the original metal figures all the way to the cheap, kiddy looking new series, there was about every kind of toy, model, figurine and statue a Transformers fan could want.  I was snooping around for something Hot Rod or Jazz related but at $60 bucks a pop for a loose figure, it just wasn't my day.  Many fans had armloads of boxed figures and many booths had spare parts for sale.  Hearing some die hard fans speak about variants, international versions and custom figures made me realize how much of a creative culture Transformers can be.  Not only do you have cartoons and comics but the toys are there for you to collect, play with and make your own versions of.  BotCon hosted a build your own Transformer contest which saw entrants designing their own characters or staging scenes with dioramas.  There were prints, buttons, postcards and posters galore from various Transformers artists as well as t-shirts, hoodies, hats and the like.  Besides Transformers, several booths were selling fellow Hasbro product G.I. Joe while I read a blurb about Bronies being present at the show as Hasbro also produces My Little Pony.  Suffice to say I did not see much My Little Pony merchandise for sale or a Brony.  While walking the floor I stumbled upon Stan Bush's booth and nearly seized up as the guy's music is literally the soundtrack of my life.  Dare and The Touch from Transformers: The Movie, Streets of Siam and Never Surrender from Kickboxer, Fight to Survive and On My Own from Bloodsport?  I thought I should just throw money at him to say thanks for making such honest, upbeat and rocking tunes that have kept me going for decades.

There was one room designated for panels in another wing of the center so we checked out a G1 Retrospective, G1 for Generation One, the original cartoon series from 1984.  To little fanfare or set up, our panel was trotted out:  Hal Rayle from Transformers, G.I. Joe, Bionic Six and The Visionaries.  Jem of And the Holograms fame herself, Samantha Newark.  From Robotech, Transformers and G.I. Joe, Michael McConnohie and lastly, totally awesome old guy Jack Angel from Joe, Transformers and Voltron.  There was no moderation, at all, and the panel started taking questions from the audience.  I must say, I've seen a lot of panels but this one was a keeper.  Without prodding each guest had plenty to say answering questions and telling stories about the good ol' days of voicing animation in the 80's.  Angel was the diamond today and told many great stories, one of them concerning his ranking in the world's most popular actors.  Along with Tom Cruise, Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson, Jack Angel has appeared in so many films that he was number 4 on the list at one point.  In an interview, Jackson stated Angel and fellow voice over actor Frank Welker weren't "real" actors but Angel says he'd meet Jackson anytime in a studio to see who could do some real acting.

Many of their shows' voice direction was done by former World War II tank commander Wally Burr who had a studio all of the actors would perform from in the same room.  That way they could feed off each others energy, mannerisms and camaraderie.  Writers and animators present would take note of actors' physicality and traits then use them to flesh out their characters.  These days, much of voice over work is done alone in a booth with a director or engineer outside which just doesn't deliver the same level of performance.  The panel told fun stories about Muppet Babies, Real Ghost Busters, Duck Tales, Transformers and G.I. Joe vet Frank Welker who could produce white noise and drive engineers crazy in a studio or imitate the sound of a door opening to make people look up.  The panel joked that they figured Burr could have done their job since everything was run through a synthesizer for Transformers.

The panel was hilarious, gracious and even inspiring as Angel told the crowd that life is a game so play it fast and if you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.  After being discharged from the Army, Angel never had a real job as he was a disk jockey for 18 years where he would have to work 3 hours without lunch before segueing into the voice over business.  Each panel member seemed very pleased and happy to be there as none of them expected to be talking about cartoons 30 years on and thanked the crowed for being so passionate and crazy.  They also provided an inside glimpse into the business of all of these syndicated cartoons as Sunbow and Marvel Productions canceled several shows and regrouped after fighting a losing battle with Barbie.  Jem and The Holograms was a number one rated show for several years but government regulations stipulate that a show cannot advertise for itself, thus risking a 30 minute commercial.  This opened the door for competitor Mattel to use the popularity of Jem to advertise it's Barbie line and come Christmas, the blonde doll flew off the shelves in comparison to the pink haired Jem. 

All in, BotCon was a fantastic day.  It was great to see so many dedicated fans show up for something not movie or celebrity related and the surrounding area was excellent for a show as several restaurants were right across the street.  Parking was a little frustrating as the door we came out of, we couldn't get back in and elevators didn't lead back to the structure, etc.  But now we know, and knowing is half the battle...oh wait, wrong show...I hope BotCon stays on the west coast next year but if it moves back east, maybe we'll go check out G.I. Joe con.  Now Transform and roll out!

Van Dammage: Like a Diamond

"It's going to be big, the Ben-Hur of martial art!  It will be filmed in Europe and China and show the philosophy of karate, the epic sweep of its past history.  We have friendship, relationship, pirates, we have Shaolin temples...I want to show something special, before hanging up on karate."
     Jean-Claude Van Damme on his directorial debut, The Quest

Depending on who you ask, the idea for The Quest came to Jean-Claude Van Damme either in a dream which he then woke up his wife to tell about or in a dingy Thai restaurant where JCVD was somberly eating and drinking alone.  Whatever the inspiration, The Quest was to be Van Damme's final goodbye to the genre that made him, the martial arts flick.  Since becoming a near overnight sensation thanks to 1988's high kicking, world warrior tournament classic Bloodsport, Van Damme always had higher aspirations than low budget karate movies.  Inspired by the likes of Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, On the Waterfront and Ben-Hur, Van Damme has always wanted to go epic.  As his Hollywood profile grew, Van Damme attempted to go more mainstream, toning down his pure karate kicking antics in favor of big, Hollywood style shoot'em up, exploded up action as witnessed in Universal Soldier and Hard Target, which blended bullets and jump spin kicks.  Nowhere to Run featured nary a kick but many a punch'em up complete with love story and kids involved but was a bit of a misstep financially. 

After 1994's Timecop showcased explosions, splits and kicks in a classy way, Van Damme thought it was really time to shut down the karate machine.  1995's Sudden Death lacked any of his trademark high kicks, shirtless scenes or butt shots but still needed a throwaway line to explain his French accent (played semi-pro hockey in Canada).  A take on the popular Die Hard formula where one man takes on many to save the ones he loves, Sudden Death is all rough and tumble fights, gunfire, crashing helicopters, exploding cars and the like inside and outside a hockey arena.  The film performed worse than Van Damme's previous 3 releases.  Looking to take control of his own career, Van Damme announced he would be making the leap to the directors chair for The Quest, an epic martial arts film that would be his goodbye to the genre.  Hoping it to be Bloodsport, but bigger, JCVD approached Oliver Stone to direct who respected the Belgian for making his own way.  After describing the story and scenes, Stone politely declined stating that Van Damme didn't need him since everything was already in the actor's head.

The Quest was announced at the Cannes film festival in 1993 where Van Damme got the one up on Arnold's latest, Last Action Hero by placing a hot air balloon over the water and renting a yacht to throw a lavish party that attracted studio heads and super models.  Quickly selling millions of dollars worth of international rights, it looked like Van Damme's dream would be coming true.  The Quest follows Christopher Dubois, a street performer who steals from local mobsters and goes on the run but is then kidnapped by pirates before being sold off to muy thai fighters and embarking on a journey to enter a fabled tournament held in the Lost City in China where the prize is a dragon made of solid gold.  Van Damme looked to have real life boxer George Foreman, who was in the midst of a career comeback in the ring at age 45, to play his trainer in the film.  At some point that idea was jettisoned and durable character actor James Remar (The Warriors, 48 Hours) was brought in.  Van Damme always admired Sean Connery but settled for another former James Bond, Roger Moore to play a fancy yet shady con-man that helps him get to the tournament.  Names like Kim Basinger and Madonna were rumored to be on VD's wish list to play a spunky journalist but TV actress Janet Gunn ended up in the role.

Co-written by Steve Klein and Paul Mones based on a story by Van Damme and Bloodsport inspiration Frank Dux, The Quest is a polished effort and solid display of Van Damme's talent behind the camera, especially for a first time director.  Utilizing the 1920's setting, the film makes good use of urban and exotic settings from the streets of "New York", the jungles of Thailand and the arid desert of Tibet to create a romantic and exotic adventure filled odyssey with a golden sheen.  The trials of Van Damme include fist and feet fights on the streets, on a boat, during a pirate boarding and battle, on the beach and finally inside and outside the ring of the Ghang-Gheng.  Like Bloodsport before it, The Quest showcases fighters from around the world utilizing different fighting techniques like sumo, karate, savate, grappling, capoeira and boxing.  Sadly, the film can't quite top the fight scenes from Bloodsport which were fast, fun and brutal as they come off a bit repetitive and one-note with an overuse of slow motion that do little more than show off his glistening and striated muscles.

Post release, Van Damme would state he was not happy with the film as many pages of character development and training were removed to reduce costs.  Estimated to have cost $30 million dollars, Van Damme claims to have sold $20 million at Cannes which was an exaggeration according to producer Moshe Diamont.  Upon it's release, Van Damme would claim the film only cost $12 million which I'm guessing is a below the line figure.  Hitting theaters in April of 1996, The Quest would open in the #1 spot with a $7 million dollar gross on it's way to a tepid $21 million total and continue our man Van's career slide.  Worldwide the film brought in an additional $35 million for a $57 million total, far from the above $100 million grosses of Universal Soldier, Timecop and Street Fighter.  4 movies and 3 years later, Van Damme would be relegated to Direct to Video releases.