Double Impact [Blu-ray]

Brilliant Cheese for the action junkie!
I remember this one like it was yesterday; one of the earliest Van Damme vehicles that actually involved something approaching a modest budget (well, they total two Mercedes in one scene) and a script!

What this film did right was the inclusion of multiple villains, necessary not only because there are two Van Dammes, but because all of the classic martial arts films involved many enemies as well. Recurring VD villains include Peter Malota (the Spanish fighter in later film "The Quest"), whose blue-lit kickboxing scene with Jean-Claude is one of the best in recent memory, and famed "Enter The Dragon" baddie (and longtime martial arts staple) Bolo Yeung.

It helps that Van Damme also has veteran character actor Geoffrey Lewis on board; that kind of gruff, Sam Elliott presence makes up for a lot of acting acumen that is lacking in the rest of the cast. Peter Scarfe stars as the embodiment of evil, and Alonna Shaw as the embodiment.

The pacing is good; the script has some...

Two Van Damme's make a great movie
Double Impact is one of Van Damme's finest moments on the action film-arena. It delivers what it must to succeed, namely tons of great fighting scenes, which is what Van-Damme-movies are all about (well, almost). If you want to rent an old action flick, this is one of them you should get.

Two JCVD's on one Blu-Ray
While I realize it may be hard for most people to stomach Jean-Claude Van Damme, in this movie you get two of him. Granted it's JCVD playing two different characters in the vein of Parent Trap or Multiplicity, but he somehow manages to play two different characters well enough to make me suspend my disbelief. The movie looks like it is from the 80's even though it was made in 1991, it has odd hair styles and costume design that was prominent in 1980's cinema. As expected, there are lots of hand to hand combat scenes which are well shot, as is most of the movie. This movie was primarily shot on location in Hong Kong and at times this movie looks brilliant. Some of the acting is cheese but the main actors do a solid job, particularly Geoffrey Lewis who plays out one of his best performances to date. This movie has an awesome sex scene with female nudity, great action with hand to hand combat and gun shoot outs, as well as a foot chase (something most films don't do enough of anymore)...

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