It’s hard to think of two movie companies more dissimilar than A24 and Cannon Films. The latter became famous in the 1980s as the home for direct-to-video action trash starring the likes of Chuck Norris and Michael Dudikoff. The former is synonymous with moody, arty films, particularly in the sub-genre known as “elevated horror.” With films such as The Witch and Hereditary, A24 replaced base genre scares with creeping dread and a suffocating tone.
Yet, the two worlds are colliding in perhaps the most unlikely A24 project yet. The distributor has teamed up with BAFTA-award winner Michaela Coel to remake Bloodsport, the 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle. “I have long been in awe of fighters, and astounded by the discipline, intensity and isolation the sport demands of them,” Coel said in a statement. “I am excited to explore this world, especially so with A24 as my collaborators. LET’S FUCKING GO.” Coel’s clearly excited, but the rest of us have a question: can A24 make elevated action as compelling as elevated horror?
Believe it or not, Bloodsport may be the perfect film to attempt such a genre reinvention, as it is both incredibly odd and surprisingly influential. Directed by Newt Arnold, Bloodsport stars the Belgian Van Damme as the American Frank Dux, a captain in the U.S. Army. A practitioner of ninjutsu, Dux is invited to participate in a secret illegal fighting tournament called Kumite. Dux immediately abandons his post and travels to Hong Kong, where he fights and befriends fighters from a range of disciplines, and eventually faces off against champion Chong-Li (Bolo Yeung), who possesses the most amazing pair of pectoral muscles ever captured on screen. Also, future Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker is there, for some reason.
Even more absurd is the backstory behind Bloodsport. The movie has its origins in a 1980 article from Black Belt magazine, in which the real-life Frank Dux described his experiences in Kumite. After reading the article, writer Sheldon Lettich turned it into a story treatment, and eventually co-wrote the final screenplay with Christopher Cosby and Mel Friedman. However, since then, many of Dux’s claims, including everything about Kumite, have been debunked. Even weirder, Bloodsport is apparently Donald Trump’s favorite movie… as long as you fast-forward through the “boring” parts of this 93-minute film mostly about punching and kicking.
