If your enemy refuses to be humbled... Destroy him. Accompanied by his brother Kurt (Van Damme), American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio), arrives in Thailand to defeat the Eastern warriors at their own sport. His opponent: ruthless fighter and Thai champion, Tong Po. Tong not only defeats Eric, he paralyzes him for life. Crazed with anger, Kurt vows revenge.
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Miyagis_Sweaty_wifebeater (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
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Kickboxer (1989) was another in a long line of star vehicles for the "Muscles from Brussels". In this picture J.C.V.D. plays the younger brother of a unbeaten American kick boxer who lusts for some real competition. So he decides to go to the home of Muay Thai kick boxing, Thailand. There he realizes that he doesn't know squat about the true art of kick boxing. He learns a painful lesson. His younger brother decides to learn Muay Thai and avenge his brother's honor.
Not a bad movie. Entertaining and a good time waster. But for some reason the producers decided to franchise out this series. The rest of the films are a mixed bag at best. The more they made the least interesting they became until the final results were unwatchable. As always with these films the first film is usually the best of the bunch. Jean-Claude plays his character with a thick euro-accent (I forgot how they explained it). He's physically impressive so it's kind of hard to swallow his naivete about fighting and what not. Or well. Fun for all.
Recommended.
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joliet-jake from chicago illinois
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this is the one of my favorite van dam movies. I think that it is also one of his best films. We watch his character train throughout the movie for a fight at the end. The martial arts throughout are very well done. This is one of those films you can watch every time it is on TV. If you like martial arts movies you will probably enjoy this one. The movie though is all about the final fight. Like many other films of its type. All in all van dam is great and if you want to see a film based on the martial arts that doesn't have Druce Lee or Jackie Chan or Jet Li in it then this movie is one for you. The story is pretty simple but the fight scenes are worth it so go for it. 7 out of 10.
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The__Watcher from Mirage
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This is one of the best martial arts movie ever made. It's got "Damme" good soundtrack , "Damme" good story line and "Damme" good training. The last fight is the best I've ever seen. I've seen 2 different versions and they're both good. This is a must watch Van Damme movie.
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Movie Nuttball from U.S.A.
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This is one of Van Damme's best films! I thought his acting was really good especially when he was crying. Michel Qissi and Dennis Chan very good good. There is a lot of action in the film. Tong Po's introduction was cool! The music by Paul Hertzog was good. Kickboxer has three sequels and I think the the second movie is arguably better than the first one and this one is excellent! If like Van Damme's other great movies such as Bloodsport, Cyborg, Hard Target, and Sudden Death then I recommend you watch Kickboxer!
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Mr_JM84 from Australia
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I have rented this movie out numerous times and i love watching it every time, its a movie that i just cant get enough of and is a movie that i would someday like to own on video or DVD.
The story is pretty simple it's about a man named Kurt Sloan played by Van Dame, who's brother Eric Sloan gets brutally crippled after fighting undefeated Muhay Thai kickboxing champion Tong Po, Kurt Sloan then meets Xian played by Dennis Chan who latter agrees to train Kurt so that he can be good enough to fight Tong Po and beat him to get revenge for his brother.
This is by far my favourite martial arts movie, it has lots of great fighting and action and also contains some lovely scenery of Thailand which the movie is set in and was filmed in.
A highly recommended movie for all martial arts action movie fans.
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sveknu
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This is a splendid movie. It's van Damme exactly as I want to see him, with great martial arts action, a decent plot (even if it's not original at all), cool characters and a great 80's soundtrack. The movie is somewhat different from Bloodsport. Of course there are similarities too, like an evil fighting champion that van Damme is fighting. But this movie hasn't nearly as many fights as Bloodsport. Instead, it's more focus on training here. The training scenes are visually very good, and with really cool background music. Even though I had expected more fighting instead of this, there's no doubt that this is a great movie in it's own way.
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dee.reid from United States
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Nah, you're not interested in "Kickboxer," the Jean-Claude Van Damme martial arts movie set in the exotic and mysterious Thailand and focuses in on the brutal sport of Muay Thai, are you? You're not going to miss Van Damme's hammy acting, his trademark splits, or his harsh (although according to some sources, inaccurate) training and portrayal in and of the Thai sport of Muay Thai, are you?
Of course you do. The Muscles From Brussels goes Thai in this 1989 adventure, with the Belgian actor exploring the martial arts fundamentals of Muay Thai, the national sport of Thailand, which has gained wider recognition in the West because it's the de facto fighting style for mixed martial arts and Thai-native newcomer Tony Jaa seeks to promote his tiny country's greatest commodity for a worldwide audience. But this is a Van Damme movie, first and foremost. True he's no great actor, but there's something about his work here that makes me want to watch "Kickboxer" again and again.
First things first, what is Muay Thai? As already stated, it's the national sport of Thailand, where the fighter will condition his body so that his arms and legs become weapons capable of delivering blows, kicks in particular, that are three times as powerful as that of any ordinary martial artist. He'll also use his feet, fists, shins, and elbows too. If one wants to go all out, two guys will get in a ring and have themselves a rope-fist fight, where the fighters' wrists are bound in rope and covered with broken glass. Isn't that mean and nasty?
To begin "Kickboxer," Van Damme is Kurt Sloane, brother of Eric (Dennis Alexio), the top kickboxer in the United States. Tiring of the generic competition of his native soil, he travels with brother Kurt to Bangkok, where he hopes to dethrone the current champ Tong Po (Michel Qissi), who has a reputation for fighting dirty. Kurt first sees this towering mountain of flesh and muscle kicking the hell out of a support beam in the locker room; that's the first clue to Kurt that Eric shouldn't get in the ring, but he's not listening.
And Eric fights anyway, against baby brother's warnings.
To make long stories short, Eric takes quite a beating in the ring but a series of illegal blows delivered after Kurt throws in the towel cripple Eric for life. So what went wrong? According to some sources, American Kickboxing is a watered-down form of Muay Thai, so it's no wonder Tong Po got the upper hand so quickly on Eric, who despite his excellent training and peak physical condition, only landed a few lucky punches on the towering fighter. Apparently, Muay Thai is strictly for street fighting, not something for refined martial artists like Kurt and Eric.
To teach Tong Po a lesson in humility, Kurt contacts American Winston Taylor (Haskell V. Anderson III) to seek out a venerated Thai master, Xian Chow (Dennis Chan), to learn the art of Muay Thai, and so the training begins. Kurt first puts aside his already-planted Karate training and strengthens his body, kicks tree stumps until the scar tissue prevents any kind of feeling aside from invincibility, learns a little about Asian spirituality, and even flirts with Chow's niece Mylee (Rochelle Ashana). What it all culminates in, of course, is a no-holds-barred "Rocky IV"-style showdown using the ancient rope-fists between Kurt and Tong Po.
As someone who knows next to nothing about Muay Thai (in fact, much of what I know comes from Wikipedia and the special features section of the "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" DVD), I found "Kickboxer" to still be quite entertaining. It's brutal stuff, really, so it's no wonder Muay Thai is gaining such greater notoriety in the United States. As Kurt Sloane, Van Damme is good (despite his acting limitations in showing emotions), his performance notwithstanding, and none of the other performers are really worth speaking of either, but Tong Po is a nasty villain and his one speaking line "You bleed like Mylee; Mylee good f**k" sends chills down the spine.
The fights are another thing and are what this feature co-directed by Mark DiSalle and David Worth seems to specialize in. The fights are spectacular (as with any martial arts movie that features Van Damme doing his trademark splits and 360-degree flying spin-kick), which does include one sequence where Kurt gets drunk, starts dancing, and takes on the patrons at a bar.
This "Kickboxer" - it's a kick, just don't let it "kick" you in the head too much with its lackadaisical script and lame-brain plotting.
7/10
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monkey-man from Australia
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This movie is really good and its about a Kickboxer and his brother who go to Thailand to fight the Thai Kick boxing champion and the American Kickboxer loses and ends up being paralyzed and then his brother gos and gets kick boxing training in a remote part of Thailand to revenge his brother.There are heaps of good scenes in this movie like all of the scenes of the city Bangkok and of all of the beautiful temples and the great fight scenes in the end of the movie.This movie stars good actors like the great action star Jean-Claude Van Damme,Dennis Chan,Dennis Alexio,Michel Qissi and Haskell V. Anderson The III.Kickboxer is one of Vam Dammes best movies and so are the movies Blood Sport,Nowhere To Run,TimeCop,The Quest and Hard Target.Over all this movie was good with NEVER a boring scene and my rating is 7 out of 10.
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martymaster (martymaster@hotmail.com) from Fredrikstad, Norway
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It has been made a lot of sequels in this series,but this one is the only that is worth watching. It is kind of like Rocky,in the sense that he traines all the movie for a fight in the end. The fight scenes are hardcore and the one at the end is quite cool. This cant be compared to the best movies of Jackie Chan and Jet Li,but it is still a good martial arts movie.
One of Van Dammes best to date.
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malkane316 from NI
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Probably the most famous of Van Damme's early work, kick-boxer is another simple story of revenge, and a showcase for his skills as a martial artist. It has some good fights, and some interesting moments showing the difficulty of training and trying to achieve your best while not losing your focus. Although it suffers from some cheesy acting, dialogue, music, and a highly disturbing dance scene, this is a must for Van Damme fans, and those with an interest in martial arts movies who don't want to stray too far from the West.
Van Damme stars as Kurt Sloane, the younger brother of a flashy American Kickboxer. They train together, but his brother Eric seems to be more interested in looking like a good fighter than actually finding the ability and skill to be one. Eric takes part in a fighting competition and is crippled and almost killed by Tong Po, and fearsome Kickboxer with a great rage and discipline. Kurt decides to avenge his brother, but no-one will train him as they believe Tong Po is too popular and strong. Eventually he finds a trainer in the middle of nowhere who teaches him to reach his full potential and push through the barriers which he never though he could surpass. He also meets Winston Tyler who provides some laughs, and Mylee who provides some style. Of course it is the fights that matter, and the revenge plot is safe enough to give the fights reason. Rather than cheap montages, we see the tough training regime Kurt goes through, and see Tong Po kicking a cement wall to build up the strength and invulnerability of his foot. Sounds odd yes, but how else would we know he's a hard lad? Anyway, a good film for fight fans, light-hearted and fast and worth watching.
7.5 out of 10
Tong Po is mistakenly billed as playing himself (on the film's credits). In fact Michel Qissi played the villainous Thai for this film and its sequel Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991). Kamel Krifa played the character in the 4th. Qissi can also be seen in two other Van Damme movies, Utmaningen (1988) and Lionheart (1990). In Bloodsport Qissi is the fighter that gets his leg broken by Chong Li. In Lionheart (AWOL) Qissi plays Moustafe who alongside another legionnaire is trying to bring Lyon from America back to Africa.
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Michel Qissi was a technical advisor/choreographer when he overheard the production crew say they were looking for a tall oriental-looking guy with a background in Muay Thai. He volunteered, and got the part of Tong Po.
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The scene in which Kurt has meat tied to his leg and is chased by Xian Chow's dog was inspired by a real-life event in which a young Jean-Claude Van Damme was ordered by his karate teacher to wear a protective suit and withstand the attempts of a trained dog to pull him to the ground.
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Dennis Alexio, who plays Eric Sloane, was a heavyweight kick boxing champion who held several titles.
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The title held by Dennis Alexio's character in the movie - the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) Heavyweight Championship - is a real championship and has been held by Alexio during his fighting career. The belt in the movie, however, is not modeled after the actual belt.
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After Kurt has knocked Tong Po out of the ring and he is supposed to be unconscious, as soon as the music starts to signify the start of the credits you can see Tong Po lift up is head very quickly in the background.
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Before his fight with Tong Po, Eric has a hairy chest but in scenes during the fight it is clean shaven.
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The blood on Kurt's stomach appears and disappears between the scenes during the final fight with Tong Po.
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During the break in the opening fight, the corner man takes Eric's mouthpiece out of his mouth. When the round starts up again the corner man doesn't put Eric's mouth piece back in his mouth.
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When Kurt gets drunk at the bar with Xien and starts fighting, one of the men breaks a glass bottle in half over the counter and is holding the half bottle. The camera shows Kurt, then goes back to the man and he doesn't have the half bottle in his hand. Then he gets a roundhouse kick to the face.
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Towards the end of the second round, there is one sequence where Tong Po punches Kurt in the stomach 4 times, punches him in the face 3 times, punches him in the face 13 times rapidly, punches him in the stomach 9 times rapidly, and then does this double-fist type of move on his face. Tong Po's hands are covered in broken glass. In all probability, Kurt's face and stomach would resemble raw hamburger meat at this point, but he only has one major cut on his face and one on his stomach, both of which occurred earlier in the fight.
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In the bar fight, when Kurt gets drunk, he returns to his table and pushes off the glasses, all except one. In the next scene, the remaining glass is not the anymore.
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In Kurt's training scene with Xian where he continually kicks the tree, his shin is a bloody mess and he can't walk afterwards. In subsequent training scenes, including the very next scene in the pool, there is not even a scratch on his shin.
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During the final fight with Tong Po the tattoo on his left shoulder switches to his right shoulder signifying the shot had been flipped in post-production
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When Kurt is loading his brother into the van on the stretcher after the fight when he has just been paralyzed his feet are sticking out, but when the door is being shut he pulls them in.
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When Kurt's brother is being rescued, his hands are tied behind his back and tries to fight off the attackers. Again, although being paralyzed, he manages to step with his left leg twice while sitting in the chair before the scene is over.
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Taylor pumps the action of the M203 grenade launcher attached to his M16 prior to firing it, however, this would have ejected the grenade and rendered it useless.
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brother brother relationship|martial arts|wheelchair|bangkok|thailand|rache|phuket|kickboxen|meister|muay thai|kick boxing|
AKAs Titles:
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title) - šикбокŒо€Š‚
Brazil - Kickboxer - O Desafio do Drago
Czech Republic - Kickboxer
Germany (promotional title) - Karate Tiger 3
Germany - Kickboxer
Ecuador - Contacto sangriento 2
France - Kickboxer
Greece - Kickboxer
Hungary - Kickboxer - V rbossz Bangkokban
Italy - Kickboxer - Il nuovo guerriero
Mexico - Kickboxer: Contacto sangriento 2
Peru - Kickboxer: Contacto sangriento
Portugal - Golpe de Vingana
Soviet Union (Russian title) - šикбоке€
Turkey (Turkish title) - Kana Kan
Uruguay - Kidboxer, el nuevo guerrero
West Germany - Karate Tiger 3 - Der Kickboxer
Release Dates:
Certifications:
Australia:R / Australia:M (cut) / Iceland:16 / Netherlands:16 / Norway:18 (video premiere) / Philippines:R-18 / Portugal:M/16 / South Korea:15 / UK:18 / USA:R / West Germany:18
Movie Details:
MOVIE
