In addition to ‘Bloodsport’ (1988), ‘The Kickboxer’ (1989) was the film with which cult hit Jean-Claude Van Damme finally celebrated his breakthrough in the film industry. Because of his acting talent, his martial arts skills or maybe because of his hip swing? It was probably the mixture that did it. But would this also put someone in the spotlight today? Probably not. And whether the 80s classic is still fun almost 35 years later – find out for yourself now in streaming:
“The Kickboxer” is now available for subscription Amazon Prime Video included – and is therefore available at no additional cost to all subscribers in the FSK 18 version:
And while you’re at it, if “Kickboxer” leaves you wanting more, you can also find some other parts of the now seven-film but not yet finished installments on Amazon – both on different channels as in rent and buy VODs. Kickboxer series. In addition to the original, we can only really recommend “Kickboxer: The Retaliation”, in which, in addition to Van Damme, Marvel star Dave Bautista and martial arts star Alain Moussi let the fists fly…
“The Kickboxer”: A hip swing for eternity
Reigning world heavyweight kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio) takes on the ruthless Tong Po (Michel Qissi, “Cyborg”) in Bangkok – and is beaten to death in the fight and suffers permanent damage from the altercation. A fate that Sloane’s little brother Kurt (Jean-Claude Van Damme) does not want to accept. He wants revenge.
So he quickly decides to undergo rigorous training to make Tong Po pay. To do this, he apprentices with the best of the best: Master Xian (Dennis Chan, “The Man With The Iron Fists”). Together with his gang, Tong Po kidnaps Eric, and that is the last straw. Kurt knows: the time for the all-decisive, inevitable battle has come – so he joins the battle together with his mentor and friend Winston (Haskell V. Anderson III, “Life Sentence”)…
“The Kickboxer” became an action cult classic with a slew of varied fight scenes – and, like “Bloodsport,” shaped Western martial arts cinema in the late 80s and early 90s. And yet it is difficult to deny that the film mainly made an impression on pop culture with a completely different course: with perhaps the most legendary dance in martial arts film history, which Jean-Claude Van Damme performed again and again for decades – because Fans or even presenters of talk shows like Conan O’Brien simply emphasize:
Plus, ‘The Kickboxer’ delivers everything that defines ’80s action cinema – from the quirky Mr. Miyagi mix and the funny sidekick to the big final explosion that you could easily cram into a martial arts movie. Can’t hurt!