Bloodsport

"The true story of an American ninja."

1988 1h 32m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 2,295

ActionDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.

“The true story of an American ninja.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

fuboTVSubscription

MGM+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

PhiloSubscription

MGM Plus Roku Premium ChannelSubscription

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Jean-Claude Van Damme
Frank Dux
Donald Gibb
Ray Jackson
Leah Ayres
Janice
Norman Burton
Helmer
Forest Whitaker
Rawlins
Roy Chiao
Tanaka
Philip Chan Yan-Kin
Captain Chen
Pierre Rafini
Young Frank

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Newt Arnold
Writers: Christopher Cosby, Mel Friedman, Sheldon Lettich
Languages: English, Cantonese
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $64M — a 42.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Cantonese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Bloodsport Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Newt Arnold, shot by David Worth. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Paul Hertzog. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Carl Kress shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Newt Arnold directs. David Worth behind the camera. Paul Hertzog scores. Carl Kress cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Cantonese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $64M — a 42.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
338 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Cantonese.
5Part of the "Bloodsport Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Newt Arnold, shot by David Worth. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Paul Hertzog. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Carl Kress shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Jean-Claude Van Damme and Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "The true story of an American ninja.".
11IMDB entry: tt0092675 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 20 themes, including "martial arts", "sports", "biography", "fistfight".
13Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: David Worth
Original score: Paul Hertzog
Editing: Carl Kress
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,500,000
Box office: $63,500,000
Return: 4233% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bloodsport (1988)

Part of

Bloodsport Collection

The Bloodsport collection is a series of films involving mixed martial arts at an underground tournament known as the Kumite. It showcases a large variety of international fighting styles, ranging from Kung Fu to Jeet Kune Do to Muay Thai.

Also by

Newt Arnold

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-07-20
★ 7/10
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
GenerationofSwine2023-01-11
★ 10/10
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.