Gotta See! Universal Studios Hollywood

 
Labor Day Weekend! For those not in the service industry, it's a three day weekend to celebrate the working men and women with a national tribute to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. On Saturday we headed over to Universal City to visit the park. It's been a while since we've hit Universal Studios, the last time being when The Simpsons took over Back to the Future. Since then, The Terminator stage and 3D show has been replaced by Minions, Backdraft made room for Transformers but the Waterworld show is still going strong. Harry Potter land is nearly complete with crews able to work 24 hours a day due to the lack of residential neighbors. The park didn't seem too crowded on this Saturday morning as we headed straight for the Tour before it got too jammed. Between line queues there are giant, bus stop style poster displays and way back when you could spot leading guys and gals from Universal flicks, most notably a mulleted Jean-Claude Van Damme from Timecop. Now there are large displays for prominent titles like Jaws, Spartacus, Meet the Parents and Apollo 13. Ron Howard is no longer your voice on the tour, replaced by Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. At just under an hour, the tour is still the best attraction in the park, showcasing the dozens of classic titles produced, the city size studio and behind the scenes movie magic. Also, every other street is named Kirk Douglas Dr., which is cool.

Peter Jackson's King Kong 3D portion is a highlight where you watch the giant ape duke it out with pissed off dinosaurs. Towards the end you get another 3D showcase with the Fast and the Furious where you take off on a chase with Vin Diesel, The Rock and company. It's pretty cool because the tram platform moves up and down, wind blows in your face so you feel like you're moving but all of the action and actors look very CGI and video game like. From there we discovered the secret of Universal's lower lot, Single Rider Lines! Seriously, we avoided 35, 45 and 55 minute wait times on Jurassic Park, The Mummy and Transformers by simply riding solo and still ended up in the same cars. Outside JP is a cool new attraction, a raptor pen! A guy in an animatronic suit whips, slashes and hisses at you in a very cool character meet and greet. It's been a while since we've ridden JP, or basically a scarier version of Pirates of the Caribbean with a giant T-Rex coming to get you while you get soaked by spitting dinos and a waterfall. The Mummy is like their version of Indiana Jones and was a lot more fun than I remember it being the first time I rode it. Still short though. Transformers is a cool attraction as you tear around a studio, driving and flying in a jeep fighting giant robots. After conquering 4 awesome attractions and lunch by noon, we really had nowhere else to go as lines for The Simpsons and other attractions were pushing the 60 minute mark. I figure when Harry Potter land opens, we'll opt for some season passes and Front of the Line upgrades to really take advantage since we've already experienced everything else in the park.

It was interesting to see so many non-Universal attractions like Shrek, Transformers and The Simpsons accounting for so much real estate. Once upon a time they had theme park rights to Marvel characters but I believe those recently expired, just in time for Disney to utilize the brands at their parks and resorts. I was surprised Back to the Future didn't have much of a presence there beyond a Doc Brown character walking around and some Delorean models for sale in the shops. You'd think they'd have a picture car just hanging out for photos and nostalgia. I mean come on, they had a frigging Mustang from the new Knight Rider show on the tour, not even the old, badass Trans Am one!

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: 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. 

The Way We Weren't: Jean-Claude Van Damme as Daredevil

On a hot summer day in 1994, Jean-Claude Van Damme hopped on a private jet in Burbank, CA and flew to San Diego for Comic-Con.  There, the self proclaimed fan of comic book heroes Spider-Man and Tintin greeted 2,000 waiting fans in an auditorium, answering questions and taking pictures of the crowd.  Afterwards, Van Damme met the press in a small conference to promote his two upcoming pictures, Timecop (newly announced to be rebooted) and Street Fighter (since rebooted).  Timecop would become one of Van Damme's biggest critical successes as well as his most lucrative.

Post presser, the Muscles From Brussels took to the convention floor where he created a small frenzy as fans recognized the cinematic hero of such 80's and 90's hits Bloodsport, Universal Soldier and Hard Target.  Van Damme was escorted to the Marvel Comics booth to meet the legend himself, Stan Lee, who along with artists like John Romita, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby created Daredevil, Spider-Man, The Hulk and The Fantastic Four among hundreds of others.



After an amiable introduction, Van Damme hoped to catch Stan Lee later to discuss a project he had in mind, a big screen adaptation of The Man Without Fear, Daredevil.  The Fred Astaire of Karate hoped to secure rights to the character with no upfront and points on the back end instead.  A friend doubted Lee would take no upfront but Van Damme confidently replied that someone else could pay, sit on it and not have it made while he could get it into production, turn it into a sensation and Lee would be happy to have the points.

As cinema has shown us, it took nearly a decade to get Daredevil on screen and the results, while entertaining, won't exactly go down in the history books as a success. In the 2003 version, Ben Affleck played the blind lawyer by day, masked and costumed avenger by night.  He's joined by a familiar supporting cast and rogues gallery from the comics; crime boss Kingpin, hyper accurate and insane assassin Bullseye, ninja trained love interest Electra and partner in the courtroom Foggy Nelson.  These roles are gamely filled by the likes of Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Garner and Jon Favreau.  It's a visual translation of the comics; dark, brooding and violent yet lacks any real depth.

What would Van Damme's version entail?  Who knows.  But I've always been intrigued by the notion of a comic book hero being played by an actor with the physical prowess and action credentials of 80's and 90's stars.  Guys like Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren seemed tailor made to play superheroes because they were basically real life versions of them.  Physical, driven, multi-talented and intelligent types who took care of the job.

A mid-1990's Daredevil would have benefited greatly from the action directors working at the time.  Guys like James Cameron, Paul Verhoeven, Renny Harlin, Walter Hill, Andrew Davis, Roland Emmerich, John McTiernan and Jan De Bont all showed us intense, exciting, character driven action that didn't require wires or unbelievable CGI.

Physically, Wham Bam, Thank You Van Damme playing Daredevil would be no problem.  His acrobatic grace and powerful kicks would have worked beautifully for the martial arts centric Horned Hero.  But what about as secret identity Matt Murdock?  The blind, skirt chasing defense lawyer?  As we saw in Lionheart and Universal Soldier, Van Damme is fully capable of playing vulnerable and sensitive without appearing macho or threatening.  As for the skirt chaser aspect of Murdock, well, JCVD has never lacked charm for the ladies on screen so it wouldn't have been an issue.

Jean-Claude Van Damme playing Daredevil would have been a treat as straight forward superhero movies weren't exactly the norm in the 90's.  It might not have been the blockbuster of Batman or had the virtuoso touch of Dick Tracy but it could have definitely been a charged and entertaining time at the movies.

Here's Joe Carnahan's last minute effort to direct Daredevil for FOX before the rights lapsed: