It also features a few scenes that are overlooked in action cinema – in particular a frantic fight scene on a boat, trafficking bootlegged cars, that features double the kickassery.” So naturally, adding two roles for the Muscles from Brussels to play in one film, giving his underrated comic delivery a chance to spar with itself, as polar opposite characters, made Double Impact leap to the top of my chart. There was something that felt a little grittier about a martial arts kick to the head, like something the bigger kids should be watching. “As a young kid getting into action flicks, JCVD always seemed to be a higher-intensity figure than the hyper-muscular, superhuman Stallone or Arnie. I appreciate that must sound strange, but there was a certain triumph to taking my beloved copy of A.W.O.L into school and spreading the word, showing the best fight scenes to my class, like some kind of JCVD evangelist. When I found Jean-Claude Van Damme, simply through a process of renting (or rather getting my Dad to, as I was still technically underage) every new action movie released on video, it was a personal discovery that made it seem even more special.
As movie geeks, I’m sure we all have favourites that never quite achieved the success we wished for them – in the martial arts/action world alone, the list would be absolutely huge, with names like Michael Dudikoff, Richard Norton and David Bradley springing to mind from back in the day, as well as the more contemporary direct to video stars such as Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins, who still maintain the tradition of making solid action flicks for those of us who simply can’t get enough.īack when I was at school, Schwarzenegger was the biggest star around, and I have clear memories of how popular he was, with his movies being a constant source of chatter in and around lessons. I’ve never understood the criteria by which Hollywood decides which actors will become breakout cinematic stars, and if they do, for how long. While the likes of Schwarzenegger and Stallone had broken into the mainstream and became household names, there was no shortage of up and coming younger actors keen to follow in their footsteps. Back in the golden era of action cinema, otherwise known as the 80s, muscular heroes dominated the big screen and absolutely flooded the burgeoning straight-to-video market.
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