Description
Kickboxer — Jean-Claude Van Damme, Budapest Film (DVD, 1989)
In VERY GOOD condition! As pictured! Buy with confidence!
Product Details
- UPC / EAN: 5999544245600
- Catalog / Series Number: Akció 009 (Akció Klasszikusok series)
- Product Type: DVD Video (DVD5)
- Brand / Label: Budapest Film Kft.
- Lead Actor: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harold Diamond
- Director: David Worth
- Original Film Year: 1989 (© 1989 Kings Road Entertainment)
- This Edition: 2006 (cover design © Budapest Film)
- Genre: Action / Martial Arts
Product Features
- Format: DVD, single disc (DVD5)
- Running time: approx. 94 minutes
- Picture: Colour, 1.85:1
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
- Audio languages: Hungarian, English
- Subtitles: Hungarian
- Menu language: Hungarian
- Region code: 2 (PAL)
- Rating: 16 (not recommended under 16)
- Condition: Used — very good; disc and artwork as pictured
Overview
The one where Van Damme does the splits on two bar stools and then fights a man wrapped in rope. Kickboxer is a straightforward revenge picture with a martial arts tournament at its centre — and it remains one of the cleanest examples of the genre from the late 1980s.
Kurt Sloane (Van Damme) watches his brother Eric, the US kickboxing champion, get brutally defeated and paralysed by the feared Thai fighter Tong Po. Kurt vows revenge and travels to Thailand, where he trains under the legendary Xian Chow to master Muay Thai and prepare to face Tong Po in the ring. Directed by David Worth from a story by producer Mark DiSalle, the film is lean and direct — training montages, escalating fights, a climax on the traditional Thai fighting surface. Harold Diamond plays Xian with a straight face and genuine charisma.
This Budapest Film Akció Klasszikusok edition runs about 94 minutes in 1.85:1 with Hungarian and English audio — the same series as the previously listed Cyborg, sitting one number along at Akció 009.
Interesting Facts
- Kickboxer was Van Damme's breakthrough as a lead — he had appeared in Bloodsport the previous year, but this was his first top-billed starring role for a major production company.
- The training sequences, particularly the famous tree-kicking montage, became widely parodied and imitated across action cinema of the era.
- The climactic fight sees the fighters' hands wrapped in rope dipped in resin and broken glass — a real Muay Thai tradition known as Muay Kaad Chueak, shown here for dramatic effect.
- The film spawned four sequels, none of which featured Van Damme in the Kurt Sloane role.
- Director David Worth was primarily a cinematographer; Kickboxer remains his best-known directing credit.
- This Budapest Film edition belongs to the same Akció Klasszikusok series as Cyborg (Akció 007), designed to collect late-1980s action titles for the Hungarian market.
Publishers Released in Hungary by Budapest Film Kft. (2006) as part of the Akció Klasszikusok series, catalogue Akció 009. Original film © 1989 Kings Road Entertainment. Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, Region 2 PAL, 1.85:1, colour, approximately 94 minutes.
Seen this one? A quick review helps other martial arts collectors find it.
