1988 in Film: Bloodsport

In the late ’80s to the early ’90s, there was a desire for blood. Built by the backbone of toxic masculinity and love of displays of physicality of the time, this desire eventually led to the creation of The Ultimate Fighting Championship organization, which still runs strong to this day. But this desire was felt elsewhere in the culture.

One of these areas is the 1988 film Bloodsport. Standing as the breakout hit for director Newt Arnold, Bloodsport sees U.S. soldier Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) travel to Hong Kong to participate in a secret, yet incredibly violent, fighting tournament which will see men from across the globe put their bodies and lives on the line for the pride of competition.

For better or for worse, Bloodsport is one of the best captures of the mainstream consciousness of 1988 there is. While problematic depictions of things like race and gender might have caused the film to age quite poorly, the raw energy and personality of which the film carries still translates wildly well. Especially for audiences who are not looking for a poetic screenplay or grand drama of quality, the raw brutality of Bloodsport feels almost undeniable. With a natural intrigue with a tournament plot and over-the-top characters of masculinity chomping at the bit to fight, this testosterone-filled bloodbath is meant to invoke a rather cheap sense of thrill and fun which works today almost as well as it did in 1988.

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Largely this is due to the performances of the film, which above all else are fun. Jean-Claude Van Damme is naturally able to fill this role well, being the basic yet morally pure hero of the story, who has to take on all challengers alongside his friend Ray Jackson (Donald Gibb). Gibb himself also gives one of the most charismatic and personable performances of the film. While the morals of these characters might not hold up that well under critical examination, the themes of pride and honor are easy enough to understand and digest for what they are. In the opposition, Chong Li (Bolo Yeung) is well built as a villain and there does feel to be stakes in their final confrontation, even if the result never quite got put into question.

For being an entire tournament also, the film has an impressive sense of editing and pacing that is able to get the film down to a rather clean 92-minute runtime – which rarely feels rushed or like a mistake. The one piece of the film that does feel as if it could have been left out are the American officials who follow Dux in an effort to bring him home. But this doesn’t take up too much of the runtime and never feels too annoying to sit through. The relationship Dux shared with journalist Janice Kent (Leah Ayres) also feels a bit lackluster, but the basic emotions this was supposed to have still connects well enough to justify its overall inclusion.

Bloodsport might not be anything even close to a masterpiece, but as a fun ’80s action romp it is hard to deny the effectiveness of it. Built by its cliches which speak to the culture of the time, for what it is Bloodsport is a rewarding and enjoyable viewing experience that won’t shock, but also won’t disappoint anyone who has their expectations in a reasonable place.