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The Quest (1996)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris enter the Ghang-gheng and discuss Jean-Claude Van Damme's directorial debut, The Quest, which turns 30 this weekend.
In addition to directing, JCVD stars as Chris Dubois, a thief in 1925 New York City who protects a gang of children. Forced to flee after stealing cash owned by the mob, Chris finds himself left on Muay Thai Island after getting caught in several shady deals by pirate and con artist Lord Edward Dobbs (Roger Moore). After months of brutal training, he becomes a skilled Muay Thai fighter and reunites with Dobbs in Bangkok at an underground fight. Chris convinces Dobbs and his partner, Harry Smythe (Jack McGee), to help him get to a secretive tournament in Tibet, the Ghang-gheng, where they can try to acquire the tournament's massive trophy, a golden dragon. Zach and Chris try to figure out what the rules of Ghang-ghen actually are, how heavyweight boxer Maxie Devine (James Remar) was supposed to compete with martial artists, what Chris's tragic backstory is, old man JCVD, and more.
You can watch The Quest for free on YouTube. Next week, we're discussing the Tony Scott/Denzel Washington classic Man on Fire as the new TV series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II debuts on Netflix.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your movie suggestions for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction of 'The Quest' and Van Damme's Career
00:00:19
Zach Sheets
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, podcast week of April 20th, 2026. I'm your host, Zach.
00:00:25
Chris Prime
I'm your co-host, Chris.
00:00:26
Zach Sheets
And this week we are entering the Gong Gang and talking about The Quest, the 1996 Jean-Claude Van Damme directorial debut that came out 30 years ago this this weekend. It came out on April 26th, 1996.
00:00:41
Zach Sheets
And yeah, start starring and directed by Van Damme. And then he wouldn't direct another movie until I think 20 years later. like It was like The Eagle's Path, I think, was the next movie he directed.
00:00:51
Zach Sheets
from
00:00:52
Chris Prime
I mean, he knows how to set up an action sequence. I just think he doesn't know how like flow works.
00:01:01
Zach Sheets
I mean, it also doesn't help when you're like you know you're late to your own set. I think we're like right in the peak of the infamous Street Fighter backstory where he just like he was like constantly disappearing to get massages, quote-unquote, and probably doing doing all the drugs in Thailand.
00:01:19
Chris Prime
Yep. I think this is what, like, before he just went on that sabbatical, I think in like the late 90s, early 2000s, where he just needed he just wasn't in anything.
Analyzing 'The Quest' and the Tournament Fighter Genre
00:01:30
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:01:32
Chris Prime
So, I mean, for like a solid run of the early 90s, Van Damme was just like on a roll. Like he was just pumping out movies from 1991 like 1996.
00:01:43
Chris Prime
ninety ninety six
00:01:46
Zach Sheets
Well, the Quest and Maximum Risk were the same here, and they did double team. mean, he's got a move. he's got i mean, he was cranking them out still. is This is...
00:01:56
Chris Prime
Yeah, but but it was like losing momentum. I think by the time Double Team came out, like, that's where a lot of his movies start getting straight to theater.
00:02:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I think like like Universal Soldier Return looks like it was like the last kind of like big theatrical one.
00:02:05
Chris Prime
Or straight to, like, DVD.
00:02:10
Zach Sheets
And then it was like Inferno, which is limited release, and everything else was like direct-to-video.
00:02:15
Chris Prime
Yeah. For a while.
00:02:17
Zach Sheets
Until Expendables 2.
00:02:19
Chris Prime
Well, JCVD was... is that a limited theater run?
00:02:23
Zach Sheets
know yeah yeah i think it was definitely limited.
00:02:29
Zach Sheets
And he you know he definitely he definitely, for the quest, he definitely was like, you know, I think he's saying he's like, write what you know, but he like directed what you know, which is tournament fighter movies. So this makes his his fourth tournament fighter movie after, you know, obviously Bloodsport and Kickboxer and Lionheart.
00:02:50
Zach Sheets
And I think and i think this is this is kind of like his idea was like this is going to be like the ultimate one or like like like his ultimate one where he's going to get all of his favorite martial artists and then have like the the ultimate kind of tournament fighter movie.
00:03:03
Chris Prime
Yeah, it it was his farewell, initial farewell project of I don't want to do these anymore. they probably were like the genre was dying off.
00:03:14
Chris Prime
So it made sense that he's going to do the most grand epic one. Honestly, like plot wise, it is pretty detailed compared to some of the other boxing, like kickboxing or like Muay Thai movies he makes.
00:03:30
Zach Sheets
I mean, there're but so there's there's like an hour until you get to the even to you to get to the tournament.
00:03:30
Chris Prime
It just
00:03:35
Chris Prime
Yes. And in other movies, the tournament starts at, like, the second act. The first act is explaining how you get there. But...
00:03:44
Zach Sheets
probably pay attention like Maybe like a training montage in beginning. Just like get him to the level he needs to be at for the tournament.
00:03:49
Chris Prime
hu
00:03:49
Zach Sheets
And then of the movie is the tournament.
00:03:50
Chris Prime
Yeah. The whole rest of the movie would just be about, like, the fights and then the drama and then maybe one or two B-plots where involves, like, I don't know, something with, like...
00:04:05
Chris Prime
a relative, like, off-screen that shows up?
00:04:08
Zach Sheets
Yeah, so something like something happens between like between matches. like like Like Van Damme will have a match and then his friend gets hurt or like his his brother dies or you know someone shows up that's not supposed to be there. Then it's like, oh no, I got focus on the tournament, but now this is happening.
Mystical Elements and Plot Logistics of 'The Quest'
00:04:23
Zach Sheets
can i can i Can I overcome it?
00:04:23
Chris Prime
Yeah, something something to something to distract him and then remind him that, like, you're in the tournament, or something where like you start doubting he yourself.
00:04:29
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:04:31
Chris Prime
This movie has none of that. This movie has no doubt. It's just more like, are you ready for this? Yeah, I'm a little nervous. That's that's normal. Like that is the whole thing.
00:04:41
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:04:42
Chris Prime
Every fighter, though, there's besides the obvious like villain fighter, every fighter isn't like the evil guy. Like everyone's kind of respectful. That's why. And it's not like the villain shows up in the first act and then you see him again or there's some like tough guy stare down where the villain like was responsible for something in the past.
00:05:05
Zach Sheets
No, yeah, this they beat him like outside of town when they get to the tournament, and then it's like, I'm going to fight him, I guess, is that boy? he breaks the table. That's like this big like villain moment.
00:05:16
Chris Prime
The villain doesn't even kill, like, one of the main, like, cast. It's just sort of like, what happens later is, like, what happens. But the tournament doesn't even explain the rules of, like, hey, is this, like, a clean fight? Is this a fight to the death? Like, the first few fights, none of that's, like, implied that it's a fight to the death. Like, oh okay, like, you just, you can tap out if you want, or, like, as soon as you get, like, roundhouse kicked out the ring, you lose, I guess.
00:05:45
Zach Sheets
i feel like I feel like this is at least like like setting-wise and kind of like the way you enter the tournament-wise, this is kind of the most like Mortal Kombat of the Van Damme tournament fighter movies. because you you know It's like is this like ancient order of monks that are like in a hidden city in Tibet. get like a so a special scroll that you like they send out to the best fighters in the world to come fight this tournament.
00:06:09
Chris Prime
It's crazy that your scroll comes with like a ninja Tibetan monk. It's not like the mail. It's not like a parcel or something. It is.
00:06:18
Zach Sheets
i'm trying to yeah i'm trying to like I'm trying to figure out like how... so they're so they're Obviously, they're keeping track of all the best fighters, because they know who the best fighters are that they want to invite. And they also know where exactly they are in the world, and they just they send their guys out to hand-deliver these scrolls.
00:06:34
Chris Prime
I mean, they're keeping tabs on them.
00:06:36
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:06:37
Chris Prime
So. they must have like a really advanced network of communication that is seen in the back. I don't mind it being mysterious. It's not like it need to be it need to be very complex.
00:06:51
Chris Prime
you know like It didn't need to be... There's mythicism in it where there's just like a cauldron that likes like sees like you know all the behind the scenes.
00:07:00
Zach Sheets
Yeah. m
00:07:02
Chris Prime
So I like that it's just like an ancient order. But here's the thing about the Seeker Society. Is this the first time and only time they're doing this tournament? Or is this like an annual thing that they do?
00:07:14
Zach Sheets
Yeah, there's there's no indication of if this is like, yeah, like annual thing or like once every 100 years or it sort of just or yeah, because of the rules.
00:07:24
Chris Prime
it just seems like this made up city in Tibet decided to put on a kickass UFC match. And the winner just gets gold. Like they don't request anything from everybody.
00:07:37
Chris Prime
They don't seem to have any sponsors. this I don't know how this city works. yeah It literally is just like magic city. They have enough gold to just make a gold statue.
00:07:48
Zach Sheets
golden giant A giant golden dragon is like the but your trophy when you win the tournament.
00:07:53
Chris Prime
But it also doesn't seem like losers are fighting for like, you know, death rights or something like, you know, there only be one winner. Like it it
Character Backstories and Development
00:08:01
Chris Prime
doesn't seem like that. It just seemed like, OK, whoever is the best fighting tournament and then you get a medal and then you get a dragon.
00:08:07
Chris Prime
Pretty cool, right? Like, just don't tell don't tell anybody.
00:08:12
Zach Sheets
Yeah. what What's funny too is that like they like they don't check or they like because they they know who the fighters are but then Van Damme's able to just like walk in it's like hey I'm this guy and like all right you guys scroll that checks out.
00:08:27
Zach Sheets
they don't They don't question that he's not the person that they said they said like the scroll to.
00:08:32
Chris Prime
There should have been a cartoon or like some sort of like caricature on your scroll that looks like what you think they look like.
00:08:39
Zach Sheets
you
00:08:41
Chris Prime
So it's not like... You know, Van Damme and James Raynard do not look alike.
00:08:46
Zach Sheets
no
00:08:49
Chris Prime
So... Like, is it... Ramir?
00:08:54
Zach Sheets
i think it's james remar the second second week in a row were talking about james remar in like a period movie in the same in the in the same year
00:08:56
Chris Prime
Remar. So, like, James Remar...
00:09:01
Chris Prime
Yeah, and it's like in the around the same period. But it's also like... what Was the Phantom in 1925? It was...
00:09:14
Zach Sheets
It was like nineteen
00:09:14
Chris Prime
was 1930s.
00:09:18
Zach Sheets
1930s, wasn't it? i was like Because they were talking about World War II is going to kick off in a couple years.
00:09:19
Chris Prime
Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:24
Zach Sheets
so
00:09:25
Chris Prime
yeah So it's around the same time. Like, did James Renard, like Max, Chris Devine, oh no, Max Devine.
00:09:29
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:09:33
Zach Sheets
Maxi Divine, yeah.
00:09:34
Chris Prime
Go from like teaching boxing things and then, OK, well, then he killed the Phantom.
00:09:40
Zach Sheets
The Phantom at the Tournament.
00:09:41
Chris Prime
Like he. Yeah, like he just hung around the east side and then he got into the Amazon jungle. Wow, that could have been some weird thing if it's like, oh, no, it's actually like a prequel to the Phantom.
00:09:52
Zach Sheets
here
00:09:54
Chris Prime
Like Van Damme at the end of the movie shows. Yeah, Max, he got into some the debt and then he had to go to the jungle. Last I heard, he killed the Phantom.
00:10:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, he he fought some but some guy in the Phantom. He's got a cool belt now.
00:10:10
Chris Prime
I just mentioned the belt. Also, we're going to mention that Max. So Max Maxie Divine is the American world boxing champion, but.
00:10:20
Zach Sheets
Yes.
00:10:22
Chris Prime
It's like. Everyone else is like a martial artist and for whatever reason they're like, the guy who can't kick, let's throw him in this game of like... It's like it's like a joke.
00:10:32
Zach Sheets
he's he's He's the Balrog of the tournament.
00:10:35
Chris Prime
But not even... yet True, he is, but... he is but It's like his skill is nowhere near where everyone else has like been training for. like Every fighter seems like they know the about the tournament and like the rules and like the honor and like how to be quiet.
00:10:51
Chris Prime
Meanwhile, Maxi Devices is like, what is this? This is dumb. What is that guy fighting like a monkey? He's saying shit out loud. like it's It's so weird because you imagine being in the crowd and like, is this this dumb American? Doesn't know like what Kung Fu is? What's going
00:11:05
Zach Sheets
He's like some kind of animal. And then Ratchetboard's like, I think it's a snake.
00:11:13
Chris Prime
it Like I get Roger Moore not knowing it because it seems like he doesn't fight hand to hand. So it's all to him is naval battles and and like, you know, guns.
00:11:20
Zach Sheets
and
00:11:21
Chris Prime
So he's not a martial artist, you know, though. I would have loved if if like Roger Moore was an old martial artist. Like he he's the one who taught Van Damme how to kickboxing.
00:11:29
Zach Sheets
he revealed like He reeled like his secret skill. He's like, I'm actually a Muay Thai fighter too.
00:11:34
Chris Prime
Like, they go in the prison, and then he pulls back his sleeves, and it's all, like, tats, and then Muay Thai symbols of, like like, tigers and shit.
00:11:39
Zach Sheets
Yep. Mm-hmm.
00:11:41
Chris Prime
Then you're like, whoa. It's like, yeah, just letting you know, I also fought in this tournament once or something. You know, like, can you imagine that twist at the end? It's like, like, okay.
00:11:52
Chris Prime
What would have been a better thing where it's like, There is a big moment at the end of the movie where Roger Moore kind of reveals his like sort of his backstory, like near the end.
00:12:05
Chris Prime
But it would have been cool that he hinted it during like the first few interactions. And then as soon as Van Damme's like, I want to go on the quest and Roger Moore really goes, I don't think you should.
00:12:16
Zach Sheets
like Like, he tried before, and he failed like lost, or he failed. like he'd like it' like like it's the I've been in that tournament before, it's too dangerous. Mm-hmm.
00:12:24
Chris Prime
like I've lost a friend. like Sometimes the rule says kill. Sometimes it doesn't. Who knows? like
00:12:30
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:12:31
Chris Prime
Sometimes this fight happens every year. Sometimes it happens every 10. don't yeah Who knows when to get ready for it?
00:12:38
Chris Prime
Just because, like, it doesn't seem like every fighter knew what the hell was going to happen. Like, some fighters are like, alright, I'm here, going to try my best, oh, i lost, good good game, like, good fight.
00:12:48
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:12:49
Chris Prime
Where, like, other fighters were just, like, ready, you know? Like, uh, the Khan was ready, the, like, The Greek guy was sort of ready.
00:13:01
Chris Prime
and the the The sumo wrestler was ready.
00:13:02
Zach Sheets
Gaida, yeah. yeah
00:13:05
Chris Prime
Everyone else, anyone that pretty much didn't make the first round was just not ready.
00:13:09
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. A Scottish guy Like, Scotland famous for their martial arts.
00:13:16
Chris Prime
Famous for, yeah, see, like, but, like, you already have a guy who doesn't throw kicks. He just more punches and twirls around. And, like, Maxi Divine is that.
00:13:25
Zach Sheets
Maxi Divine, like he's box he's a boxer, but it's also like it's like old school like nineteen twenty s boxing where he's like it's all the like the underhand. think about pa like
00:13:36
Chris Prime
Oh, no, no, no protection of your head whatsoever.
00:13:38
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:13:39
Chris Prime
you It's all how long can I extend my fists? And then, uh, like, I'm trying to think of, like, the best but boxing term without sounding, like, too stupid, but it's just, like, I'm going to sock you in the the, like, nose fighting.
00:13:55
Zach Sheets
Yes.
00:13:56
Chris Prime
You know, it's like, I'm gonna bop you more than I'm gonna, like, wind back a punch.
00:13:56
Zach Sheets
Yes.
00:14:01
Chris Prime
Like, no power. At least, like, The Scotsmen look like a bar brawl that like actually looks like modern day boxing, like bare knuckle brought boxing, which they still do in the UK. They just love fucking slapping each other with like bare knuckles. So
00:14:17
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:14:19
Chris Prime
I'm trying to think, like, why was not Maxie fighting like that? Like.
00:14:25
Chris Prime
But anyway, do you want to let's get into the beginning of the movie, which is like crazy?
00:14:30
Zach Sheets
I was just going to say, yeah, yeah we have we have to go back to the the beginning of the movie and like talk about Van Damme's origin and the intro.
00:14:36
Chris Prime
you want Do we want to do su the intro?
00:14:39
Zach Sheets
Which, yeah, so this movie this movie opens in, I guess, the present day. So it's like 1996 or some the modern time.
00:14:50
Zach Sheets
And then...
00:14:50
Chris Prime
I think it's like the 80s based on like the multicultural minority gang that shows up.
00:14:56
Zach Sheets
The Tufts that show up, yeah. But yeah, but Van Damme is in old man makeup, and he's going to this like bar New York City in like the the the morning. i It's like barely open.
00:15:10
Zach Sheets
And then the bartender's like, hey, you want a coffee? and I'll pour some whiskey in there for you. He's like, thank you. and Also, Van Damme's old man voice is insane. like he's like trying to it it's like he's trying to be more Belgian or like more French.
00:15:28
Zach Sheets
And he's more high-pitched, too.
00:15:31
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:15:31
Zach Sheets
it's hard It's hard to describe.
00:15:32
Zach Sheets
but its like it's like he's like that like He's not doing a typical like old man voice. he's it's like It's like his voice, but like like pitched up or something.
00:15:42
Chris Prime
I don't know if that was by choice or that was like dubbed by someone. They don't really say because.
00:15:49
Zach Sheets
It does sound dumb. It does sound like Van Damme didn't do that voice.
00:15:52
Chris Prime
There's like a Van Damme impersonator, because even at the end where he's like recanting everything, it does not sound like traditional Van Damme.
00:15:54
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:16:01
Zach Sheets
who
00:16:03
Zach Sheets
But yeah, but these three street toughs come in and they want to rob the cash register, which they just opened. I don't know how much money is in a bar cash register the first thing in the morning.
00:16:16
Chris Prime
These aren't are not good thugs.
00:16:18
Zach Sheets
Yeah. But yeah, but then like Van Dam reveals his, you know, his, his fighting prowess. He takes like two of them out and then the other guy runs off. Then he's like, I guess it's telling the bartender his, you know, his life story we like the story of the quest.
00:16:33
Chris Prime
Is he?
00:16:35
Zach Sheets
Cause like the bartender's like, man, how'd you get so good at fighting? He's like, it was a long time ago. And then, then you we jump back night to 1925. Yeah.
00:16:45
Zach Sheets
Where he is... so, so, so,
00:16:51
Zach Sheets
clown pickpocket thief who like has a group of orphans they he takes care of and they're they you know they they're pulling cons and stealing stuff on the streets of new york
00:17:03
Zach Sheets
like he's he's basically like the artful dodger and then these are all of his like orphan thieves
00:17:09
Chris Prime
I think he's just in charge because he happens to be the oldest. There's there's not.
00:17:13
Zach Sheets
which who Which we were talking about before we started recording, like, how old is Van damsel to be in this movie? Because everyone calls him kid, but he's like, he's Van Damme. He's like mid-30s at this point.
00:17:25
Zach Sheets
But but like is he is he supposed to be like a teenager or like just like Because
00:17:32
Zach Sheets
it it definitely seems like he's supposed to be younger than he is. Much younger than he is.
00:17:38
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's weird because like it could have been he's already like a competent fighter, i guess, in New York.
00:17:46
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:17:47
Chris Prime
But it doesn't make sense that Van Damme like he like time. It's like it seems like this whole venture took like. Eight months.
00:18:00
Chris Prime
maybe Maybe less because i don't know how long he's been on that pirate boat for.
00:18:06
Zach Sheets
Well, he was't he's not a pirate boat to start. like It's it's like a just like a merchant ship, I guess. like Because he his his gang of kid thieves steal money from the local gangsters, and then they they burst into Van Damme's hideout and just start shooting at the kids with machine guns.
00:18:27
Zach Sheets
It's like, it's unarmed kids, kill them!
00:18:31
Zach Sheets
And then one of the kids gets like shot in the shoulder. And then like like the second oldest kid is like, Chris, you gotta get out of here. They're gonna kill they're not gonna stop.
00:18:41
Zach Sheets
They're gonna kill you. You gotta get out of here
00:18:43
Chris Prime
No, they said they're go to blame him for this, and it's like the shooting the kid in the arm without a gun, or...
00:18:51
Zach Sheets
of here. I guess because the gangsters own all the cops, too. Because the cops are working with the gangsters.
00:18:56
Chris Prime
Are they?
00:18:56
Zach Sheets
like like Yeah, because like they They show up with the gangsters and it's like... I it'ss it's like
00:19:02
Chris Prime
No, I thought that was, like, later. I thought because the cops come from all the noise.
00:19:09
Zach Sheets
i got the impression that like the cops were like in the in the bag for the gangsters. They were working on the for the gangsters on their payroll or something.
00:19:18
Chris Prime
Because I understood it that the cops and the gangsters just sort of were bullying both sides. So there's no loyalty or like trust in either direction. And then when Van Damme stole that giant van Damme's kids stole the bag of money, gangsters don't have leverage.
00:19:35
Chris Prime
So that point, they're not paying off the cops.
00:19:39
Zach Sheets
You think that was like the only money they had?
00:19:41
Chris Prime
I don't know. Like this this world, this in this movie, money doesn't make sense.
00:19:46
Zach Sheets
It's the Roaring Twenties. I'm sure like they're rolling like whatever. Moonshine or other whatever they're doing.
Path to the Tournament and Character Dynamics
00:19:51
Chris Prime
True. If it's the 20s, like, no one really kept money in the bank because was, like, the Depression, so...
00:19:57
Zach Sheets
Well, you no. Twenties was the Roaring Twenties. was like everyone had money.
00:19:59
Chris Prime
Oh, yeah, yeah, right.
00:20:00
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:20:01
Chris Prime
After this is where it goes downhill.
00:20:03
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:20:04
Chris Prime
It is, uh, strange that, uh, Van Damme decides to be, like, a French mime in New York. in In the twenty s
00:20:12
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:20:15
Chris Prime
I mean, it's a cool stunt in the beginning. it it doesn't come back whatsoever in his fighting style. I can imagine...
00:20:20
Zach Sheets
the the the flip like we We just like to flip off the stilts.
00:20:21
Chris Prime
Mm-hmm. But I'm saying, like, it would have been cool at the end, instead of, like, his, like, camper outfit he wears, he dresses up like the mine.
00:20:33
Zach Sheets
Yes! It's like, my fighting style is mime.
00:20:38
Zach Sheets
i think, does he do like a flash kick to someone early on and they never never does that again?
00:20:42
Chris Prime
Yeah. He does it once because it's like, hey, remember I was in Street Fighter last year? Check this out.
00:20:48
Zach Sheets
e
00:20:50
Chris Prime
Or was it like two years before this?
00:20:50
Zach Sheets
That was, think it was two years before us, yeah. It's It's like, that was a cool trick. Remember when i kicked Raul Julia with the flash kick?
00:20:59
Chris Prime
Oh, also, did you where did when did you see this movie? Did you see this movie in theaters or did you rent this movie?
00:21:04
Zach Sheets
no no
00:21:06
Chris Prime
I rented this movie.
00:21:06
Zach Sheets
I saw it way later, yeah.
00:21:09
Chris Prime
Oh, I like I was excited to see this, but no one in my family wanted to take me. it's Reasonable.
00:21:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:21:16
Chris Prime
But, like, at first it came on rental. I think it was, like, a whole shelf of them. And i was one who like I was, like, renting it. But I say that because i didn't i don't remember the trailer opening in the 20s. So when I saw this, i was like, wait, what the hell is this part of the movie?
00:21:34
Chris Prime
Like, you think it's going to go right into the tournament. It doesn't. So it's like all this gangster stuff, and I'm like, oh, okay, so is it going to start here? Is he going to tournament fight here and then go to Thailand? Or go to Tibet? What's going on?
00:21:51
Zach Sheets
i don't know why why I don't know why it needed to be the twenty s
00:21:56
Chris Prime
oh I don't mind it being in like an older time. I don't know why it was trying to be pro-American for some reason.
00:22:09
Chris Prime
Because I think they just need to do it that it was like easy to stow away at that time. And anything pre-World War II, it was like easy. But anything post-World War II was like, okay, did you get on a, like, you have to basically keep going on like a smuggler ship somehow, like logistically.
00:22:29
Chris Prime
And then in order to keep like a secret society, like quiet, uh, I guess like it's more... You put more of emphasis that it's ancient when it's like an old lost city.
00:22:42
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:22:43
Chris Prime
But it just feel like they choose to keep it quiet, but they keep inviting all the wrong people, or like all the wrong people keep ending up there. like Think about This tournament organization sent out the scrolls to specific people, and then four Americans show up,
00:23:02
Chris Prime
With like only one of them having the right directions.
00:23:07
Zach Sheets
Well, everyone i felt everyone has like a support crew with them, so everyone's like bringing like way more people than they probably want in the city.
00:23:12
Chris Prime
Then they should, right. But then that's way too many people. You've now like, you've now invited too many like blabber mouths.
00:23:23
Chris Prime
And one of them happens to be a reporter.
00:23:23
Zach Sheets
the germanmans like is it i feel like she's like the only woman at the tournament.
00:23:24
Chris Prime
Is there like another reporter on the other team? Like, you know what mean? Like,
00:23:32
Chris Prime
I think so. I think she literally is like the only female actress in this movie. I mean, there are other ones, but as soon as they pretty much hit like the tropic areas or like, you know, the ease Eastern Asian Pacific, like no more women. It's just straight up every every dude now.
00:23:52
Chris Prime
But yeah, vent Van Damme escapes, gets on a boat. and He like hits himself unconscious onto a ship.
00:23:56
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:23:59
Zach Sheets
Well, he he jumps onto, like, they're loading the cargo onto the ship, and he jumps onto the cargo, and, like, no one is no one sees him hanging off this cargo container, like container thing like like net of like caro nets, and then he falls in. Luckily, it's, like, bags of flour or seeds or whatever. like it's all like It's seeds, but it's actually guns, is what he finds out later on.
00:24:23
Zach Sheets
But then, yeah, he dox like he goes in unconscious. then he like we The first of like a flashback to like his backstory that we only get like and like one other scene of later on. And it's like it's like completely unclear what the hell his backstory is.
00:24:37
Zach Sheets
like It seems like he was... rich possibly like his mother and money but then he's with a woman who we never i don't we ever find out what the relationship between them is it's like i'm gonna assume his aunt possibly but she's she's say she's reading a letter that says oh your mother's dying she has no money i'm just gonna like stay here on this bench i'm i'm gonna go i'll be back later and then that never came back
00:25:06
Chris Prime
Peace out.
00:25:09
Chris Prime
Yeah. And then it just time skips to the present, I guess. But, you know, like, it's a little bit of a insight. It doesn't really motivate Van Damme in any degree later. It's not like in the middle of the fight at the end, he remembers that moment or like the ghost of his mom visits him or something or like at the end, he screams like for the children, like it that I keep
00:25:34
Zach Sheets
feel like yeah I feel like he totally forgets the children like later on.
00:25:37
Chris Prime
For a while.
00:25:38
Zach Sheets
He's just like, I'm all about this dragon now.
00:25:41
Chris Prime
Well, the money was to then pay for cool stuff in New York.
00:25:45
Zach Sheets
I guess, yeah, to get back to New York and we're going to buy a house and then I'll live with all the kids and we'll have everything we need.
00:25:48
Chris Prime
Figure it out.
00:25:55
Chris Prime
But I just don't understand. Like. the like it's not like when he left, they're just like financially better. When he goes back, it's like, alright, I got tracked on all these kids that are probably scattered around New York.
00:26:11
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:26:12
Chris Prime
I get I know, but like only because if if they... Hold on. So like if they really emphasize like, hey, meet us later, like I'll come back for you. Like we'll meet at the run, like run to this guy. I'll find you later. Like kind of establish that, that they have like a home base, not just like we live this warehouse that gets raided once in a while.
00:26:33
Chris Prime
But like that kind of implies that he's got a better connection to the kids besides like the one kid that he was like, hey, you go get food like. like It's not like writes letters to them. It's not like he during the movie he thinks about them and like trains and he's like, I need to be stronger. I'll be like for them.
00:26:54
Chris Prime
does not come back in any way.
00:26:57
Zach Sheets
yeah He doesn't mention him in his wrap-up at the end of like what happened everybody.
00:27:02
Chris Prime
He does. if he just i just went back.
00:27:05
Zach Sheets
Oh, yeah, know he said that he said, oh okay yeah, they use like yeah me me and the kids
00:27:06
Chris Prime
That's it. like It's such...
00:27:10
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, it's such a, like, see what I mean? Like, it's like, oh shit, about the kids, yeah, they're good, they're okay, like, what? But, like, if they were introduced just as fast in the beginning, in that one-liner, it's like, I protect the kids. Okay, he wants to just, he protects this house that has the kids, like, so you don't need to really make it emphasis that, you know, his absence is going to really, really be, like, a detriment.
00:27:36
Chris Prime
It, If anything, it's like, he because we don't know how much time has passed besides the six months. Like, he goes back is like, everyone is now 20. Like...
00:27:47
Zach Sheets
Well, they they fight him on the boat. They turn him into a slave. And then he's on that boat for a while because he grows a beard. And then they they get to, like, I guess they he wears out his usefulness and they're going to kill him. But then that's when Roger Moore and his pirates attack them.
00:28:07
Zach Sheets
And then he gets, like, he's like, so he's, like, off that boat, and then he's on Roger Moore's boat, and Roger Moore's like, well, I'm going to sell you to this guy.
00:28:17
Chris Prime
it's
00:28:19
Zach Sheets
like Van Damme's, like, one of his big weaknesses in this movie is just, like, trust everybody.
00:28:23
Chris Prime
Constantly. But like you figured after the pirate boat he would get oh like this the in indentured slaver to onto the boat where they're about to kill him just because that would have taught him things about trusting everybody or just I don't know being in the business room of things.
00:28:34
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:28:43
Chris Prime
Because, like, a lot of the deals just happen, like, around him. Like, even at the end, things just happen around him.
00:28:47
Zach Sheets
here
00:28:51
Zach Sheets
It's also like like Roger Moore sees him like sort of fight one guy. He's like, oh, like this like this guy seems like lot like a good fighter. I'll sell to my my friend on Muay Thai Island.
00:29:03
Chris Prime
You see, if Van Damme did that flash kick on the boat, that'd be one thing. But it was like a chaotic battle and Van Damme just like tripped a dude.
00:29:14
Zach Sheets
And Roger Moore's like, oh, this guy, he's a good fighter.
00:29:16
Chris Prime
He's got the boobs. if they just hired a younger actor or a Van Damme lookalike that was younger, just just to really emphasize that this is supposed to be like a naive young teen or like some early 20 year old.
00:29:31
Zach Sheets
Yes.
00:29:31
Chris Prime
That would have helped emphasize it. Where Roger Moore saw the potential, but if anything, he was like, but the profit to sell this guy would be way better. So I'll sell him into slavitude for like a bit, and I don't care what happens to him. I'm here to get my money and get out of here.
00:29:46
Zach Sheets
and then And then we were talking before we started to like if he had been a Muay Thai owner for like years and then it's like, yeah, you had this younger actor and then then you like Van Damme comes in as like the the like the ripped Muay Thai fighter.
00:30:00
Chris Prime
Yeah, like,
00:30:00
Zach Sheets
and they come back and it's like, oh man.
00:30:01
Chris Prime
the battle-hardened fighter who, against all odds, survived and rose to become the best to be sent to other countries to fight.
00:30:02
Zach Sheets
Yeah,
00:30:11
Chris Prime
Because they're like, they're like on an island in Thailand, in Cyan. Then, then somehow, like,
00:30:19
Zach Sheets
somewhere off Siam and then
00:30:23
Chris Prime
Roger Moore doesn't leave. Like, it's weird because you do follow Roger Moore a bit, too. but As soon as, like, Van Damme looks like he's about to train, they sort of skip ahead where Roger Moore is sort of, like, having his holiday in thibbet in in Thailand.
00:30:39
Zach Sheets
what they're I think they're in Bangkok. is where where where they's where they they like it's because it's like It's like six months later, Bangkok, and then that's where Roger Moore and Jack McGee are.
00:30:48
Chris Prime
So then, like, Van Damme happens to be the, like, local fighter there? Or is he imported there? We have no idea.
00:30:55
Zach Sheets
I think, who it is it Khao brought him as one of his fighters, I guess, to like fight in that Bangkok tournament?
00:31:01
Chris Prime
But it's, like, his school. But, like, so, like, he and he's already in another tournament.
00:31:06
Zach Sheets
Yeah, hmm.
00:31:09
Chris Prime
That's why I'm like, wait, what what was that? Did he win the tournament? did they just, like, is it a one fight and that's it tournament? What's going on?
00:31:16
Chris Prime
Because like, oh, wait, wait so before that, they they introduced that fight because Roger Moore and and. Well, was it Lord? What's his name again?
00:31:26
Zach Sheets
Well, he's he's he's lord Lord Edgar Dobbs. and then hey And he's got...
00:31:30
Chris Prime
Right, so.
00:31:31
Zach Sheets
is is is Jack McGee is Harry Smythe.
00:31:35
Chris Prime
Right, so they're pretending they're hanging out like a resort.
00:31:35
Zach Sheets
He's his early man.
00:31:38
Chris Prime
Then they they see Janet Gunn as Carrie Newton, who is like, you know, a beautiful woman. They're like ooh, who's that?
00:31:48
Chris Prime
But then she's like, oh, is there like a kickboxing match? Like, let's go to that. Like, she is...
00:31:53
Zach Sheets
Because she's a reporter. Her father owns the New York Globe.
00:31:57
Chris Prime
think it's a real newspaper.
00:31:59
Zach Sheets
And then she's and she's on she's like on assignment. But it's weird because she's calling the office later. And people are like... it sounds like the guy there is like... I thought sent you out there to get ready, you dame. like So it's like she's like a like... Everyone hates her there? Or like it's... like She's not a good reporter, but then her father owns the newspaper.
00:32:21
Zach Sheets
So why would the guy be like yelling at her about like, it's like, all right, well all right, put your story, I guess. Like it better be good.
00:32:30
Chris Prime
So, uh, but she, she like goes to like, let's see what's up in Bangkok. And then she hears about the kickboxing match, like a a thing. And Roger Moore is like, okay, like it's so un-sititalized.
00:32:43
Chris Prime
It's what peasants enjoy. She's like, hell yeah. Like that's what, that's a story.
00:32:46
Zach Sheets
Yeah, it's a story.
00:32:50
Chris Prime
yeah. yeah and then like, they dress up so fancy, like, that like they come in wearing like, uh, like a, they're going to dinner. Like,
00:32:59
Zach Sheets
Yeah, like like he's in like almost like a like a military like a dress military outfit or something. Like an opera. yeah like they're It's like, we're going to the opera. I do love that they put Janet Gunn and just like, they really emphasize like the 20s of like, it's like, she's a flapper. Like just put her flapper stuff.
00:33:18
Chris Prime
it doesn't make ellen I don't know if like the regular person back then looked like flappers. or was Because I thought flappers were like a very like, hey, that's a party outfit. Not just like, you're going to work.
00:33:27
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:33:30
Chris Prime
Also, it's Thailand. like It's hot. It's humid.
00:33:32
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:33
Chris Prime
You're going sweat through all your makeup and like your layers.
00:33:36
Zach Sheets
yes
00:33:37
Chris Prime
like I get that like in the city, it's like kind of air-controlled or it's like you know, humidity doesn't really exist in major metropolitans in America, but like, Thailand is one giant swamp air.
00:33:51
Chris Prime
Like, it's, everything hugs you and stuff, so...
00:33:53
Zach Sheets
o
00:33:55
Chris Prime
That, that part, that fight must be goddamn smelly.
00:33:59
Zach Sheets
Oh, man, yeah.
00:34:00
Chris Prime
Smells like a, like a gym locker.
00:34:02
Zach Sheets
And it seems like there's been tons of fights before we get to the Van Damme fights. There's been just constantly sweaty guys punching each other and the crowd sweating and running.
00:34:13
Chris Prime
Ugh.
00:34:13
Zach Sheets
There's no auditioning, no fans. Yeah.
00:34:18
Chris Prime
I mean, it looks cool. It just wasn't like I would hate to be there. Like it just. No, thank you.
00:34:23
Zach Sheets
who but yeah they reunite with Van Damme and he's just like you guys don't me you left me on that island but then he tells them about the he he's found out about the golden dragon at the the gong gang and but's it's funny because he he doesn't want to enter like he doesn't want enter the tournament he went like his plan is to steal the dragon that's like his kind of like
Tournament Setup and Cultural Analysis
00:34:47
Zach Sheets
his goal is like we're going to get the dragon and like we'll split it
00:34:51
Chris Prime
Wait, uh... I thought Lord Edgington was that, right?
00:34:57
Zach Sheets
Well, like, Vindan tells them about the dragon. And like then it's like it's like, I guess because Lord Dobbs is like you know like a car thief pirate. He's like, oh, yeah, we'll come up with some scheme to steal it.
00:35:11
Chris Prime
Do they think they're just gonna pick it up and walk out the door with it? Like, what...
00:35:15
Zach Sheets
I think they don't realize how big it is until they get there. It's like, oh, this is like actually like a giant-ass statue. like
00:35:22
Chris Prime
I mean, it's also funny that, like, in this tournament, do the does the organization help you get it back home or it's just like, now you drag this back.
00:35:32
Zach Sheets
there's like you you figure it out
00:35:35
Chris Prime
Like, could you just ask them to melt it down and then make it like compact, like smaller? Like, it doesn't have to be a dragon, does it?
00:35:40
Zach Sheets
right like if you like you just came by yourself as like you're you're you got the scroll and you just came by yourself like yeah how are you supposed to get like this giant that like gold golden and dragon statue back the the zeppelin
00:35:53
Chris Prime
Because even later in the movie, when they use a hot air balloon or like a a blimp, yeah, the Zeppelin, like, it doesn't move fast with it. So now, how are they getting it through, like, everywhere? were okay this This whole journey there is like the whole second act of the movie. Or more. Like, it it is literally like, it's an elephant ride, it's a horseback, it's a boat, like,
00:36:20
Zach Sheets
they They drive, and then they get stuck, and then they find elephants, and then they're on elephants for a while, and then yeah they end up on horses, and they're going across like the jungle, the desert, the mountains.
00:36:32
Chris Prime
So yeah, now imagine lugging this golden statue.
00:36:35
Zach Sheets
is
00:36:36
Chris Prime
I get that's cool and all. It just seems like very impractical. this This lost city is just sort of like, hey, we did our part. Like, you want you want this?
00:36:43
Zach Sheets
Yeah, we we made it. Yeah, we made this thing.
00:36:47
Chris Prime
And here's the thing. No one asked them to make this. It's not like, hey, we're doing a tournament to find the best fighters so that the best fighters, like, defend our town. Or like, the best fighters get to become kings here.
00:36:58
Zach Sheets
ye
00:37:01
Zach Sheets
hu
00:37:03
Chris Prime
and literally
00:37:03
Zach Sheets
it's a it's It's a punishment to stay there.
00:37:07
Chris Prime
Because you have to do what? It's not like... yeah there's like We still don't get the society of this law city.
00:37:13
Zach Sheets
Well, it's like it's like it's like a tiny village. It's like a tiny village with like a cool like Mortal Kombat fighting arena in it. That's like its main a made building. Mm-hmm.
00:37:22
Chris Prime
But we still don't understand. like They just love fighting. like Their whole economy is gold and fight tournaments.
00:37:29
Zach Sheets
It's like, we yeah, we melted down the entire towns. Everyone gave us all the gold they had, and we melted it down. this one We made this one golden dragon to give to give to a foreigner that will come and like fight for us, to fight for our entrainment.
00:37:38
Chris Prime
And then. do have Yeah, exactly. Like, it's not even like we have a local champion that we challenge. Like, he he says he's the the the world's best.
00:37:49
Chris Prime
And if you beat him, you get this gold thing. But like, he also loves to kill.
00:37:52
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:37:55
Chris Prime
Like, even their current champion doesn't seem like he's beloved by the people.
00:38:00
Zach Sheets
he's name from He's from Mongolia. He's home from Tibet. Yeah.
00:38:04
Chris Prime
So, like, it doesn't make any sense, but that's fine.
00:38:06
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:38:07
Chris Prime
Like, you're not supposed to question that much. It's just, this is where, like, the movie just becomes moral combat. And you get to it as soon as they enter enter the city and it's straight up, hey, it's moral combat.
00:38:19
Chris Prime
To the point where they have to do, like, roster introductions.
00:38:24
Zach Sheets
Well, we might we should probably mention before we get to like the actual tournament. So, on the way to the tournament, like so well they they pull a con on Maxi and tell him, oh, we're we're like your like guides and your valets. We're here to pick you up.
00:38:39
Zach Sheets
Vinam beats the other guys.
00:38:39
Chris Prime
Oh, wait, wait, wait.
00:38:40
Zach Sheets
Yes. Yes.
00:38:41
Chris Prime
We're gonna go back and like, Maxie happens to be the American champion that gets invited.
00:38:45
Zach Sheets
yes
00:38:46
Chris Prime
With this whole montage of all these world fighters getting invites. I don't know where the first fencer comes in, because that guy doesn't show up, I think.
00:38:56
Zach Sheets
yeah i don't Yeah, I don't know who he is in like the like the scheme of like who like the guys that show up are.
00:39:03
Chris Prime
I think he was supposed to be a French one, but they're like, oh, we have Van Damme, so we don't need, like, sort of French-Belgium...
00:39:09
Zach Sheets
Well, I mean, there is there is a French guy, but i think I think the French guy is just like, he's he's just wearing like pants. There's anything distinguishing about him. Yeah.
00:39:17
Chris Prime
Oh, is he like another boxer? Yeah.
00:39:19
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:39:21
Chris Prime
So. Who's the fencer?
00:39:26
Zach Sheets
but Spanish guy, maybe? it's But then his his... The Spanish guy is almost like a flamenco dancer who knows martial arts. he's doing it lot He does like some like, you know like, ole kind of like moves. Then then he starts doing kicks.
00:39:44
Zach Sheets
It's funny because some of the guys are like insanely stereotypical of like their country, and then other guys just like... i show up in like my like pants. like I'm i' just wearing some like short shorts. Then you got like the like the the guy who represents all of Africa. He's like a full like Zulu warrior.
00:40:01
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, again, this movie is not gro supposed to be region specific. They're just like, close enough. This is where you are. Especially when, if you think about, like, the one part where technically Japan had two fighters.
00:40:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:40:16
Chris Prime
It's like the Okinawan and then the Japanese, and it's like, ok Okinawa is part of Japan. It's like, well, back then they were considered, like, the islanders of Japan.
00:40:26
Zach Sheets
Well, according to Wikipedia pages, because it was because of Alcuin Nawa's important role in in the like history of martial arts.
00:40:34
Zach Sheets
even though They were annexed by Japan in 1879, but then due to the historic role in the development martial arts, they got their own separate fighter, I guess.
00:40:40
Chris Prime
like so I think they just had to even out the numbers because it's like you needed 16 fighters so they're like alright who else we invite
00:40:44
Zach Sheets
This this this this secret society is like very... it's like we We acknowledge Okinawa's contributions to the world of martial arts. They get their own special fighter. special fighter
00:41:04
Zach Sheets
Was the Soviet Union... i don't think the Soviet Union was around yet, was it? In 1920?
00:41:10
Chris Prime
Yeah, barely qualify.
00:41:11
Zach Sheets
cause there's a good
00:41:12
Chris Prime
Spain.
00:41:13
Zach Sheets
Okay.
00:41:14
Chris Prime
so they barely qualify
00:41:15
Zach Sheets
Barely yet. Because yeah's like the like there's like a guy... like i think the first the first fight is like Soviet Union versus Spain. And then it's like the German guys show up and it's like they're like proto-Nazis because they have their... It's not Spastiky, but it's like the Iron Cross on like the Zeppelin.
00:41:33
Chris Prime
Oh, you're right. I forgot that. Like, they just, they didn't figure it out yet. It was post-World War I fighters, but like, yeah, i mean, they're not Nazis yet. they Like, if anything, they're like still fighting for like the, the like, Tsar.
00:41:47
Zach Sheets
The Kaiser.
00:41:48
Chris Prime
The Kaiser, yeah.
00:41:50
Zach Sheets
i think I think he had like, i think was he walking around with the German like spiky helmet, I think, too, at one point?
00:41:55
Chris Prime
One of his guys did. There's like him and like another militant guy.
00:41:56
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:41:58
Chris Prime
So, yeah, not, not, not quite,
00:41:59
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:42:02
Chris Prime
What's the right word? Not quite radicalized. It's still like, if anything, he fought in World War I like 12 years ago.
00:42:06
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:42:09
Zach Sheets
Oh, yeah, definitely did. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:42:12
Chris Prime
yeah, like I like that it's an international crowd and like everyone is pretty respectful. Can you imagine wars being fought like this? Just sort of torment fighting brackets? you're like, oh, that's cool. like
00:42:24
Zach Sheets
I
00:42:24
Chris Prime
That's how it settles like problems.
00:42:28
Zach Sheets
mean, Robot Jocks, that's the whole thing about Robot Jocks. is like We used to have two guys fight for like instead of like international disputes.
00:42:35
Chris Prime
True. Except for when the robot Jack goes rogue, but then later on learns respect, even though he's going to be like horribly annexed by his own group later.
00:42:40
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:42:49
Zach Sheets
but yeah i was gonna say before we get like the term i was like on on the way the tournament like maxi and chris have like a fight and then chris beats him and then that time turns the maxi around to like oh you're better fighter than me than you should represent united states not me Well, well he at first he leaves.
00:43:07
Chris Prime
He leaves.
00:43:07
Zach Sheets
He's like, i' im like I'm done.
00:43:09
Chris Prime
He just runs out to the desert with like, no supplies and nothing.
00:43:12
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:43:14
Chris Prime
But then he's able to come back with, like, he's perfectly clean and, like...
00:43:17
Zach Sheets
He's got his boxing like heavyweight champion belt.
00:43:21
Chris Prime
Did he, like, sneak back to the hotel later? I don't...
00:43:25
Zach Sheets
But yeah, but like yeah but like Chris and his gang show up and like, oh yeah, I'm Maxie Davis. i'm the world i the I'm the heavyweight boxing champion of the United States. And then right when they're going to introduce him, then and then James Cameron bursts back in is like, I'm Maxie Davis!
00:43:42
Zach Sheets
That man is an imposter!
00:43:44
Chris Prime
And it's like, okay, well, let's kill the imposter. Like, Max is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:43:47
Zach Sheets
But also but also also, he's better than me, so want him to fight instead of me.
00:43:52
Chris Prime
So, okay, there's also another thing about this movie. Like, the tournament organizers let a whole bunch of rules that get broken sly really easily.
00:44:01
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:44:01
Chris Prime
You figure for a society that's built on, like, respect and honor and then, like, gold, anything that looks awry, they're like, we don't need this. Like, we're doing it. We're we're paying you, like, a fortune to be here. We tell you what's going to happen. You don't just surprise us with rule changes.
00:44:21
Zach Sheets
well Well, the funny thing is, like they're like the the head guy is like, all right, we will see like we'll test this Chris Dubois and see if he's worthy of being the replacement. And if he's not, then you, Maxie Davis, have to stay here forever.
00:44:37
Zach Sheets
but then there's not really a test. It's just like you you just fight in the first round. and if you If you lose the first round, then you failed the test. And then Maxie Davis has to stay here forever.
00:44:47
Chris Prime
You think that was like, we kill him, or he just can't leave?
00:44:49
Zach Sheets
they They said he he can't leave the city.
00:44:53
Chris Prime
mean, like...
00:44:54
Zach Sheets
And everyone else, I guess everyone else can. Like, Van and everyone else can just like leave and he's just like he's stuck there.
00:45:00
Chris Prime
I mean, if anything, Van Damme would be like, well, we'll come back with the army. You just can't hostage the world champion of boxing, and no one's gonna question that in America.
00:45:10
Chris Prime
Like, i understand Maxie was, like, an underground fighter no one cared about, but, like, he's a famous celebrity.
00:45:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:45:17
Chris Prime
Like, America's, like...
00:45:17
Zach Sheets
Boxers was like were like was like the biggest sport in like the
00:45:22
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, right next to baseball. So, like, imagine, take like, Babe Ruth was kidnapped in some underground baseball league.
00:45:23
Zach Sheets
and
00:45:27
Chris Prime
You're like, okay, well, we're gonna go get him.
00:45:27
Zach Sheets
ye
00:45:29
Chris Prime
And then if you mention, oh, by the way, this, like, the people that captured him produced, like, two pounds of gold like it was nothing.
00:45:29
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:45:38
Zach Sheets
two like two tons of gold like i
00:45:39
Chris Prime
Yeah, to two tons of gold that they just have. like they would They would be invaded instantly back then.
Final Fight and Cultural Dynamics
00:45:46
Chris Prime
There were so many countries and economic downturns that would just be like, oh, they do what now?
00:45:51
Chris Prime
Like...
00:45:52
Zach Sheets
like every every fighter who came like with this tournament like would go back to their country be like hey by the way I was just in this place with like a giant golden statue would like yep
00:46:01
Chris Prime
And these dum-dums left it there. Like, don't forget, end of the movie does not spoil much soon, but, like, they leave it there. So, like... So who's to stop them from coming back and just, like, taking it?
00:46:14
Zach Sheets
especially like post-war one I'm sure like but like especially like bunch of the European countries was like well we could use definitely use that for our economy
00:46:21
Chris Prime
Okay, I'm not saying that there's a sequel movie in the here, but, like, if you look at that German fighter that lost...
00:46:28
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:46:30
Chris Prime
And the fact that he flew in with, like, a Zeppelin...
00:46:34
Zach Sheets
The sequel is like this the city called, it's like, we're being invaded, we have to call our our champion back and Chris DuBois to come back and like fight.
00:46:42
Chris Prime
And then he has to call his...
00:46:42
Zach Sheets
Lead the battle against like people invading like the city.
00:46:46
Chris Prime
Yeah, it becomes less of, like, a torment fighter, but more like a trench warfare movie with him doing karate and, like, the Saiyan. And, he has to call on, like, all the previous fighters to help him.
00:46:58
Zach Sheets
he that he team team up He has to team up with Khan instead of fighting him.
00:46:58
Chris Prime
don't know.
00:47:02
Chris Prime
Oh my god. And they they themselves were like unstoppable like fighting machine. Teamed up. See? It could have worked. It would have been super dumb but like it's 1996 like lot of people tolerate whatsoever.
00:47:17
Chris Prime
forget like this is the year I think like James Remar like also became Mortal Kombat Annihilation Raiden. So like
00:47:26
Zach Sheets
No, I think... well Was that... Because the because World Combat was the year before this.
00:47:31
Chris Prime
yeah
00:47:31
Zach Sheets
And then was it Annihilation, like, 97, think, right? Yeah. I think it was the year after.
00:47:35
Chris Prime
Was it? I thought it was like 96.
00:47:37
Zach Sheets
97, yeah. Yeah, mm-hmm.
00:47:39
Chris Prime
Wow.
00:47:39
Zach Sheets
yeah ninety ninety seven yeah
00:47:41
Chris Prime
He did more fighting in that movie.
00:47:42
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:47:45
Zach Sheets
yeah We should probably mention the big like final boss is Khan, who's from Mongolia, who is played by Abdelkisi, who was also like the final boss in Lionheart.
00:47:58
Zach Sheets
He was a Attila.
00:48:00
Chris Prime
I mean, he's in better form now in this one, but in real life, he's a real boxer. Or was, and then became like a politician. I just kind of wish she looked more Mongolian.
00:48:13
Zach Sheets
I mean, his costume definitely is.
00:48:14
Chris Prime
His costume's on point. His haircut's good. it What do you think a Mongolian would look like? It's just that he's not Mongolian whatsoever.
00:48:22
Zach Sheets
he so was he's He's from Morocco.
00:48:23
Chris Prime
yeah he's like a Moroccan mixed with something else, but like, He is, uh... Like, not whatsoever Asian.
00:48:33
Chris Prime
But, like, he's the big bad who... I mean, he's got, like, power and, I guess, speed. Because he's just as fast as Van Damme in the beginning.
00:48:42
Zach Sheets
sir
00:48:44
Chris Prime
So it's not like... He's not a just a... Okay, I'm just really strong. Like, he's... He looks like he's been fighting for a while.
00:48:53
Chris Prime
Uh... And... he up until the point where like he's just a tough fighter but of nowhere he does kill the fighter from Thailand just like at like no like yeah yeah crazy right like it's it's not like every fight's the fight to the death it's like other fighters have died like no it's just for whatever reason that guy killed him and then they're like there's no like oh you're disqualified like there's nothing
00:49:04
Zach Sheets
the only The only death in the tournament.
00:49:21
Zach Sheets
Yeah, this movie is a peachy-dirteen. So it doesn't have the......extremeness of Bloodsport Kickbacks.
00:49:31
Chris Prime
But even in those movies, I think like.
00:49:34
Chris Prime
Kickboxer, no one died.
00:49:37
Chris Prime
i think Bloodsport, no one died.
00:49:40
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I think i think people i think you just got like severely injured.
00:49:44
Chris Prime
And this is weird that in this Van Damme knockoff of a Bloodsport movie. The Thai guy who's like, hey, we're friends, right? JCVD.
00:49:52
Zach Sheets
like I guess they were because they were, you know, when Van Damme was training on Muay Thai Island, he was also there. And then, so I guess they became, like, they became friendly or they trained together. So that they have, like, a respect for each other.
00:50:05
Zach Sheets
But it's only this one scene where Fang, I think, is going to go like fight Khan and Fandang gives him a little nod and then when Fang dies, he like runs into he's like so emotionally devastated by it. He's just like, Fang! You killed him!
00:50:24
Chris Prime
He was like my orphan children I knew.
00:50:26
Zach Sheets
My friend? friend? My friend? question mark
00:50:32
Zach Sheets
And then he takes Fang's headband and is like, I'm going to wear this to represent you, my friend, in the final fights.
00:50:41
Zach Sheets
And also, like, he wipes some of Fang's blood out. And Con is like, there, you wear that. You wear this blood.
00:50:47
Chris Prime
Yeah, the the like. It was cool to see. That Van Damme does honor Muay Thai in this movie, unlike the other movies where he just sort of kick boxes and it's like, yeah, it's Muay Thai, but it's like, nah, this one, they kind of acknowledge that it's like a school.
00:51:04
Chris Prime
There's like there's like, you know, a tournament about it beforehand. Not.
00:51:08
Zach Sheets
don't I don't think it's a specific island for Muay Thai.
00:51:08
Chris Prime
to
00:51:11
Zach Sheets
I don't think it's like a rich island island.
00:51:11
Chris Prime
No, no, no. But but at least it's like he has the headgear.
00:51:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah. of
00:51:15
Chris Prime
And then, you know, there is a person that is more traditional multi-fighter, but, like, he dies. Like, no one else died. It's just that guy.
00:51:28
Chris Prime
and it's weird, because, like, it's not like they had a beef or anything. It's just sort of like, Khan was like, you. You're just getting your back broken.
00:51:36
Zach Sheets
Yeah, yeah yeah like he has like a full Bane, just like smashes him over his knee and like kills him.
00:51:43
Zach Sheets
and And then, and then, and then he, then Khan has to fight the, uh, the sumo wrestler has been like unstable at that point. But then he does like a, like a bunch of crazy punches to like, like slow motion. so you get to i really see like the, uh, like the jiggles of the sumo wrestler, like the impacts.
00:52:02
Chris Prime
Now i'm wondering if that was a real life famous like sumo wrestler.
00:52:02
Zach Sheets
And then he like,
00:52:07
Zach Sheets
i think he I think he was. yeah Yeah, he's an actual sumo wrestler. He was sumo's 16th Yokozuna.
00:52:18
Chris Prime
m
00:52:20
Chris Prime
Yeah, that guy was like 30 when he was in that movie.
00:52:20
Zach Sheets
Which, I mean...
00:52:23
Zach Sheets
Yeah. i mean he He seemed like he could have gone all the way. like He was like unstoppable at that point. Yeah.
00:52:28
Chris Prime
Yeah, I mean, he just didn't have like the agility or like the... I don't know, like the the super punch strength, because sumo wrestlers aren't known for like punching, but they got slapped as shit out of people.
00:52:43
Zach Sheets
Well, one fight, didnt need like a guy just like ran into him and he was like and then was like he got knocked out because he ran into him. That was the end of the fight.
00:52:51
Zach Sheets
a lot of a lot of the fights, especially the early fights, just like it's like one punch and the guy's done. It's like we got...
00:52:57
Chris Prime
Yeah. You think it's going to be drawn out, but it's like for runtime. They're like, no, no, no. Like we got a everyone gets knocked out.
00:53:04
Zach Sheets
it's like It's like, very but you don't have to show every fight in its entirety. You don't have to like you have to show like 20 fights. You can do like a montage or you can just like kind of like run like skip a couple.
00:53:17
Zach Sheets
but yeah We see every single fight in the tournament.
00:53:21
Zach Sheets
And then, yeah yeah assuming for like runtime, it was like, well, this one, a guy gets punched in the balls, and that and that's the end of the fight. The Scottish guy gets kicked in the balls, and like it's like, oh, he's down. He's done. He's not fighting anymore. There's also the other notable fighter from Brazil. It's like the Capoeira guy.
00:53:45
Zach Sheets
And I think we mentioned the guy from China is doing the animal martial arts styles. He does monkey and snake and tiger. Yeah.
00:53:55
Chris Prime
Yeah, he does a different fighting styles, but like... it doesn't matter when it went against Van Damme. Like, it's not like, oh no my weakness is like, you know, Tiger Claw or something.
00:54:09
Chris Prime
It is cool, though, he mixes it up. It's supposed to show more of the, like, beauty and the art of it. not really practical in terms of a tournament, like, thing. That's why you don't see someone bust out, like, uh,
00:54:22
Zach Sheets
Like, sneak style.
00:54:22
Chris Prime
A snake move.
00:54:23
Chris Prime
Yeah, like a very cartoonish snake style in UFC. like I would be thrown into a chokehold instantly. but You don't protect your face. You're just like hands out, all bent, asking for someone to grip you your wrist and like get wrapped around.
00:54:34
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:54:40
Chris Prime
But I also like that in this movie, the, like, the classic forms of fighting make it, like, advance far in in the tournament.
00:54:50
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:54:51
Chris Prime
You know? Like, uh...
00:54:54
Zach Sheets
The countries actually know for martial arts, make it far.
00:54:55
Chris Prime
Yeah. Yeah, like, the top...
00:54:57
Zach Sheets
Not like Greece or like Germany. Yeah. germany
00:55:00
Chris Prime
Scotland... Yeah, like, it is pretty cool that, like, at least that kind of made sense. But I'm not saying other countries don't have a martial art that isn't good, but it's like, okay, it's what you expect. Everyone at this point fights, like, basically brawling, like, kicks and punches because they look cinematically cool.
00:55:19
Chris Prime
Can you imagine we just have, like, a savate? Or, like, the what the French one where it's like they do a lot of knee kicking?
00:55:28
Chris Prime
Like the, uh...
00:55:30
Zach Sheets
Like Batstruck the Leaper.
00:55:30
Chris Prime
Sherlock Holmes?
00:55:36
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:55:38
Chris Prime
trying to think of like another like weird martial art that probably- You know, a lot of them got filtered out. Because during the 1920s, there was basically like, everyone had a fight system that wasn't popular. Like, it was just sort like, this is what I'm making. It's like, what do you do? It's like, well, you stomp on their toes. Like, okay.
00:55:51
Zach Sheets
yes Was Krav Maga around in the 20s?
00:55:54
Chris Prime
No, not yet.
00:55:55
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because I feel
00:55:55
Chris Prime
No. Krav Maga was like post-World War II.
00:56:00
Zach Sheets
yeah cause i feel like the Soviet Union probably would have benefited from that instead of like whatever their fighting style is in this movie.
00:56:06
Chris Prime
Punches?
00:56:06
Zach Sheets
Punches.
00:56:09
Chris Prime
I mean, if this movie was supposed to be the history of like martial arts, that would be one thing. Then I wouldn't focus on like the orphan storyline or the pirate boat. the pirate boat
00:56:20
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:56:21
Chris Prime
it would have been Van Damme is trying to size up competitions. And then like, he kind of gets like a, like he's an outsider looking in and then he's trying to figure out which one, but like, he kind of gets forced into Muay Thai. And because it's like, all right, as long as like you fight with like your heart and you believe in it, it doesn't really matter. Like what the, the fight systems call, you know, in the end, it's all about like your, your heart and spirit, you know, like, cause that kind of happens at the end of this movie. Like,
00:56:52
Chris Prime
it it like It's weird because it's like his Rocky moment where like it's like, oh you're down. Get up. Everyone get up. And it's like, it's it's even the villain? like they They sort of stare at at Van Damme.
00:57:08
Chris Prime
So do let's get into the final fight where Van Damme just fights Khan.
00:57:12
Zach Sheets
Yeah, so yeah. so they vote yeah it's the file so you said United States versus Mongolia. And it starts off in in the regular ring. Khan is like kind of beating Van Damme pretty easily. And he throws him out ring.
00:57:28
Zach Sheets
oh like I think, was the was the ring like surrounded by fire the entire time? Or was was that like a special thing or for like the the final fight? Was like the ring of fire around the...
00:57:37
Chris Prime
I feel like it was on before.
00:57:40
Zach Sheets
You just really notice it because it's not like no one got thrown through the fire.
00:57:42
Chris Prime
Yeah, no one got thrown through it.
00:57:43
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:57:44
Chris Prime
They were just like, that's just the fight ring.
00:57:48
Zach Sheets
But yeah, but yeah, but if of them is thrown out the ring and then it's, they, they spill out, they like move it into outside, into the streets outside the like the, the fighting arena. And then it becomes like, I guess like more like Lionheart-esque or like more of like a street fight because now it's like, it's like a crowd is like around them but kind of shoving them and like keeping them in like the fight.
00:58:11
Zach Sheets
And then I think my favorite part when Khan throws him into that building and then they you don't see them fighting. You just just like hear them fighting through the building and then Randy was thrown out the other side of the building.
00:58:21
Chris Prime
Yeah, that's a Three Stooges, like, gag.
00:58:25
Chris Prime
it's It's fun, but, like, it's such a break in the tension when that you don't see what's going on, and, you know, it's just like a comedic scene, and it does it's not played for laughs. It's, like, played for serious, because the the serious music keeps playing.
00:58:38
Zach Sheets
Yeah, the the the music in this movie is not a like this not what you would like want for like a a fighting tournament movie. It has has no energy. it's just like It's very sweeping and serious.
00:58:49
Chris Prime
it's Yeah, it's more like for dramatic tones and big like, you know, root for Van Damme.
00:58:53
Zach Sheets
like a start like a big Like historical epic or something.
00:58:56
Chris Prime
Like it should be a moment where Van Damme overcomes his training more than a, okay, this is a fight, big fight sequence. It should be drums and then like, like you should feel anxious, not like someone's walking out with the Academy Award down like the stage.
00:59:13
Zach Sheets
Yeah, so it sounds like the score from like Dancing with Wolves or something.
00:59:16
Chris Prime
Mm-hmm.
00:59:17
Zach Sheets
You need that Paul Herzog, Bloodsport music to really amp you up.
00:59:24
Chris Prime
So, so like at the end, where they're just having like a brawl outside in the lobby of this place, are they even greeting the fight?
00:59:34
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:59:36
Chris Prime
They're just waiting for a knockout or something? Because it just seems like they're just
00:59:39
Zach Sheets
it's Is anyone, is any of the officials even outside anymore?
00:59:43
Chris Prime
yeah
00:59:43
Zach Sheets
Like, that it's like the main guy, like, even like, it's like, I just let him go whatever, I don't care.
00:59:49
Chris Prime
Like, it spilled out from, like, the fight tournament, the designated fight tournament, into the streets, into the storage, like, building, I guess. And then, like, they are brawling.
01:00:01
Chris Prime
At this point, like, the tournament's over, right? Like, Van Damme lost because he got knocked out the ring.
01:00:07
Zach Sheets
I guess, yeah, I guess ringouts don't count. I guess it's just, like, if you stand up, you're still fighting.
Character Resolutions and Film Reflections
01:00:13
Chris Prime
Then they really move the fight to a whole new, like, a different location where,
01:00:17
Zach Sheets
well Well, this, because the main, like, the main, like, monk guy, he but he also indicates when fights are done or because he does, like, his, like, hand movement of, like, done. Like, he, like, calls fights, but then he's, like, this one is just, like, I'll allow it.
01:00:30
Zach Sheets
Like, just keep going.
01:00:30
Chris Prime
Yeah, see what I mean? like this There's no structure for this organ.
01:00:31
Zach Sheets
Like...
01:00:34
Chris Prime
it's like I feel like this is the first time they've done this, so there's just like a lot of like, okay, I don't know.
01:00:39
Zach Sheets
Next, next, next we're working on the kinks.
01:00:39
Chris Prime
This is
01:00:42
Zach Sheets
Next year's Gong Gang will be much better.
01:00:45
Chris Prime
is... This fight is taken on the longest it's been for everyone else.
01:00:49
Zach Sheets
o
01:00:50
Chris Prime
you know like Every fight lasted, like I don't know, five minutes or less.
01:00:54
Zach Sheets
but Last, probably, like one punch.
01:00:56
Chris Prime
And then this fight lasted like eight minutes.
01:01:02
Chris Prime
Also, they don't get a break. It's just keep fighting until like someone on falls, I guess.
01:01:09
Zach Sheets
Was i even a break yeah is that even a break? like That's like one of the things like James Remar is like, oh, got a lucky break, Chris. Van Damme fights first and like and it gets in the final and then he gets to sit out like rest for a little bit.
01:01:22
Zach Sheets
And then it's like Khan versus the the sumo wrestler. is's like shit change was like well They'll like they'll work like tire each other out and you'll youll fight the whoever wins and they'll be tired. Khan just beats the sumo wrestler in five punches.
01:01:36
Zach Sheets
He's like, uh-oh, good luck.
01:01:39
Zach Sheets
But yeah, it's but it's it's's it's pretty one side. Like, Khan is basically beating Van Damme down until the like the last like last little bit of the fight, and then Van Damme surges back and beats him.
01:01:51
Zach Sheets
But James Cameron is telling him to get up like five times. He's like, get up, Chris, for America!
01:01:59
Zach Sheets
Because that's this whole thing of like, it's like, I want that i want the United States flag flying over this tournament we when went when a whip to win it. like
01:02:06
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's such a patriotic line, but I get that Max Divine just sort of fell into this tournament, so he doesn't really know what's going on.
01:02:16
Zach Sheets
Oh, we also we also didn't mention that like like, the lives of Roger Moore and Jack McGee are also on the line. if it if like If Van Damme loses, they get killed because they try to steal the Golden the Dragon.
01:02:27
Chris Prime
Yeah, that was his own comedic break from the tension of the movie. Just like, if... Well, that they were like, hey, Van Damme, you should lose this fight so that way we can steal this dragon.
01:02:38
Zach Sheets
we it yeah yeah we don't want if we need your help. you need to like We don't want your broken arm or whatever like if you get hurt in this tournament. like We need you healthy to help us steal this because that thing is super heavy.
01:02:48
Zach Sheets
We need three guys to lift this thing.
01:02:51
Chris Prime
But I don't think it mattered, right? Like if... Okay, one, I don't understand how...
01:02:59
Zach Sheets
didn't believe in that in they they didn't believe him that he could win it. So they're like, you're not going win this thing. Just like throw the fight, then we'll steal this statue get out of here.
01:03:10
Chris Prime
True. i mean, no offense the to the kind like Van Damme, the con was pretty unstoppable. like
01:03:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:03:16
Chris Prime
He actually lost in the official ring. He only won because the fight kept on going.
01:03:20
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:03:22
Zach Sheets
But then, yeah, Van Nam's inspired by Jay-Z, you remember being like, yeah, get up, chris like fight fight for the to for America.
01:03:28
Chris Prime
Oh, man, he's been holding like the American flag, like pointing at it.
01:03:31
Zach Sheets
oh my god Yeah. She's like, like, she's right at the end. She's like, come up with like an American flag, like put it over his shoulders. Like America.
01:03:38
Chris Prime
Yeah, we did it. America did it. Again, the scene where like everyone's just sort of waiting on Van Damme where the crowd is just staring at him and it's like all the fighters and Van Damme's like, I fought half of you, like some of you guys, like what? Like.
01:03:55
Zach Sheets
yeah I do love them still hanging out. Like, and like the one guy's got, like, a sling on, but literally all is kind of still there. Just like, yeah, we're we'll we'll stay and watch the end of the tournament.
01:04:04
Chris Prime
Well, yeah, I guess I guess they still are they obligated to stay?
01:04:08
Zach Sheets
I feel like you would like if you lost, the i well, I got a long elephant ride back to wherever I'm going. i I should probably get going.
01:04:15
Chris Prime
Kelly head start for monsoon season.
01:04:18
Zach Sheets
Hmm.
01:04:21
Zach Sheets
But yeah, Van Damme wins. He gets a he gets a golden dragon medal, which i guess is like a solid like constellation prize. You don't get the big statue, but and but and then yeah, Roger Moore and Jack B are they're not going to get killed. They get to go free.
01:04:38
Zach Sheets
They have some sort of like new scheme, but Van Damme's like done with them.
01:04:43
Zach Sheets
And I guess and everyone ends up back in America. and then we come back to old Van Damme, who kind of explains where everyone like ended up. Like it's like like we said, Van Damme got back and helped the kids go ill get off the street. Somehow he got them off the street, and they're all fine.
01:05:04
Zach Sheets
And then Maxie Devine is training fighters. He's training bunch of great fighters over in history. And then Roger Moore and Jack McGee ended up in like the Amazon and running a training post.
01:05:17
Zach Sheets
And then...
01:05:18
Chris Prime
Well, wait, so it's one of those things where everyone got, like, a happy ending off screen.
01:05:21
Zach Sheets
Yes, nothing bad happened to anyone. Yeah.
01:05:25
Zach Sheets
And then the final shot is that a book closes and it's called The Quest. and It was written by Kerry Newton. So Kerry wrote a book based on the off events of this, like the tournament and everything.
01:05:39
Chris Prime
Like, did she write about how like crappy Van Damme's life was? How, like, Chris Dubois...
01:05:45
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
01:05:46
Chris Prime
like childhood was.
01:05:47
Zach Sheets
who
01:05:49
Chris Prime
Because if she did, she did. She left out a lot of detail.
01:05:52
Zach Sheets
yeah it Yeah, I don like i think we were we were trying to figure out like if if this like if this whole... Because it starts out with Van Damme's talk. like He's saying his story, but then but then if if the if the book closes, was he reading from the book? like what is What is the context of this movie? Is it Van Damme orally telling it, or is he reading from the book?
01:06:14
Chris Prime
See what I mean? This is about like the puzzle about the quest.
01:06:18
Zach Sheets
I knew, like, how they also, they kind of, like, shoehorn in the quest kind of stuff, like, in the, like, toward the end of the movie, where it's like, they forgot like, oh, wait, the movie's called The Quest. We should like, have someone say like something about a quest in this movie.
01:06:31
Chris Prime
Yeah, it it it's like if the quest was... He needed he was looking to find happiness. Was that his quest? Was the was the dragon called the quest?
01:06:44
Chris Prime
Was was the quest that you want to be the best fighter in the world? Because I feel like he just stumbled upon that. That wasn't like his quest.
01:06:50
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Someone else. Yeah. So like he was on Muay Thai Island and then Fang got his, his like scroll to join the, the, gang gang. And then I was like, Oh, but that's, that's, I want, I want that. That's what I'm going to strive for now.
01:07:06
Chris Prime
And then, even the the fighting tournament's even called the quest, it's called the Gong Gang.
01:07:11
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:07:12
Chris Prime
So... What? I mean, this would just become, like, you know, Fight Island or something.
01:07:18
Zach Sheets
golden Golden Dragon or Legend of the Golden Dragon or something. yeah
01:07:23
Chris Prime
Something like that, where it's like, you know, the the legend was not about the dragon, it was about the people you fought along the way, kind of BS lines.
01:07:29
Zach Sheets
nice Yeah.
01:07:32
Zach Sheets
But that was like yeah Roger Moore's prison is like I never had a quest like you Chris you have a quest.
01:07:40
Zach Sheets
That's why I'm an old pirate that no one trusts like you shouldn't trust.
01:07:44
Chris Prime
I mean, there's a line where Roger Moore drops where he's like, what did what did I get for like my troubles for being in the serving for queen and country?
01:07:51
Zach Sheets
Yeah, fought World War and then he's like, well, going to become a pirate now because I didn't like i don't believe in like anything that I'm doing anymore for like for for Great Britain.
01:08:01
Chris Prime
So like that's like a shoe. Let's like swap down to the carpet in the movie. They're like, anyway, moving on.
01:08:11
Zach Sheets
But yeah, I would i would say... of of the Van Damme tournament movies is probably the weakest one, but still still pretty fun. <unk> like you know Especially you when it finally gets to the tournament after an hour of the movie, when you finally like see all the fights, it's it's like, oh, this is fun. you know like the basically like It's like or Street Fighter characters. like It's like, oh, the Capoeira guy is fighting the like the like a Spanish, but like like the like the Chinese guy. That's cool.
01:08:44
Zach Sheets
or it's like flamenco dancers like fighting a sumo wrestler.
01:08:47
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's really close to, like, fantasy fight styles that are just sort of, like, related to countries, but, like, are just more, like, you know, fictional.
01:09:01
Chris Prime
I do enjoy that. Like, as as a kid, I remember going, like, okay, this is, like, very close to like, a Street Fighter movie or, like, a video game where I could see these are, like, like you know, caricatures. Uh...
01:09:16
Chris Prime
the only thing is like none of them talk. like There's no dialogue.
01:09:18
Zach Sheets
no no
01:09:21
Chris Prime
It's really the whole movie follows Van Damme.
01:09:26
Chris Prime
I'm
01:09:26
Zach Sheets
I mean, what I think does Khan even have like, i think he has like one line
Subplots and Thematic Discussions
01:09:29
Zach Sheets
or something. He's like, I want that table.
01:09:32
Chris Prime
not even sure. think he talks at all.
01:09:35
Zach Sheets
but I think i think i it's just like the guy who runs like the inn is just like, oh, yeah, we need we need this table. Khan needs this table. Because that's an exciting incident for like why they like they're like rivals. It's like he wants their table at the end and when he doesn't get he smashes it
01:09:52
Chris Prime
A very reasonable request. the. Yeah, like there's no. There's probably a scene where like one of the fighters like tries to befriend Van Damme or something or gives him advice or maybe like the writer, Carrie Newton, just sort of goes, hey, like I'm concerned about you or anything like that. Like that does not happen.
01:10:14
Zach Sheets
yeah care Chris and Carrie have the absolutely no like romantic it like there's nothing about like no chemistry there's no like scenes of them like having like a romantic relationship it's like but at the end it's like he he puts their arm around we're together now let's go back to America
01:10:31
Chris Prime
Are they? I mean, she's just like, oh, okay, well, I can't stop you. You're the best fighter in the goddamn world right now, so...
01:10:37
Zach Sheets
she's
01:10:38
Chris Prime
Can't say no in front everybody.
01:10:40
Chris Prime
But, like, I don't think they end up together. Because
01:10:44
Zach Sheets
like did he get any money for the book did he get any money for the book
01:10:46
Chris Prime
he doesn't mention her. He's like, I came back to the kids. It's like, okay. And where did she go? And it's like... a Yeah, let's see?
01:10:56
Chris Prime
It's like, did... did And then also...
01:10:58
Zach Sheets
She just wrote this book and it's like, oh, yeah you wrote a book about my life and like this but like the most like most important event of my life. like do i Do I get some like money from that or like the book sales or how does that work?
01:11:11
Chris Prime
It would have been a funny thing where that's how he was able to save the orphan kids by like going on a book tour.
01:11:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:11:17
Zach Sheets
It's like, yeah, Carrie wrote a book about the tournaments and then I get i get a like five cents for every book that that we sold. So we're doing pretty good.
01:11:26
Chris Prime
Also, pretty crazy that like you could just make up a movie about like make up a a story about a underground tournament. And then like you didn't have to actually live it to have it be like a cellar.
01:11:34
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:11:40
Chris Prime
Like, I mean, that's what Frank Dux did.
01:11:43
Zach Sheets
yeah
01:11:45
Chris Prime
So is this movie sort of like a homage to that, where it's like, like, Frank Dux went on a quest, and that's why he explained Bloodsport, and then Van Damme made a movie, like, what if you actually did go on a Bloodsport?
01:12:01
Chris Prime
But it's like the 1925... twenty five
01:12:03
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I was just seeing what books were coming out in 1925. It's like The Great Gatsby.
01:12:10
Chris Prime
I think that came out a little bit later, or didn't come out during 1925.
01:12:14
Zach Sheets
It says 1925, yeah.
01:12:15
Chris Prime
Oh, my God.
01:12:16
Zach Sheets
it's like so it's like, you want to read The Great Gatsby or The Quest?
01:12:22
Chris Prime
Oh, no, no, no. That book came out after, because he had to live through the quest first. I don't know what year that book got published.
01:12:28
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I would remember it got published. Yeah, that... It could have been too long after.
01:12:36
Chris Prime
Yeah, but wouldn't he be like, so in this universe, that book came out and no one knows who he is. It's not like the bartender is like, hey, aren't you Chris Dubois, the guy from the quest?
01:12:45
Zach Sheets
he's old now.
01:12:46
Chris Prime
True.
01:12:47
Zach Sheets
you
01:12:48
Chris Prime
mean, he's doing well for himself. He's not like in rags. He's wearing a suit at 8 a.m.
01:12:53
Zach Sheets
That old man makeup is so convincing.
01:12:56
Chris Prime
could be worse.
01:12:58
Zach Sheets
He said terrible, but it's also just like, wow. like Van Damme, I feel like you really wanted to show off like, this is going to be my serious acting. i'm going to be an old man.
01:13:09
Zach Sheets
but he just mean i love when he like fights. like he's like It's like normal like Van Damme movement. He's not even struggling.
01:13:16
Chris Prime
Well, listen, once you train for the quest somehow, you're just always in shape.
01:13:23
Zach Sheets
rips off his shirt as an old man. He's still ripped.
01:13:27
Chris Prime
That's the dream, man. It's to be old and rip later. just i don't know. Is that the quest's gift? like yeah they It's like, oh no, his he still looks old, but he's like eternally young.
01:13:39
Zach Sheets
The dragon medallion's magic. As long as you wear it, you stay like you stay ripped.
01:13:42
Chris Prime
Oh my god, I forgot that! He gets a medallion that's just like, what does the medallion mean? Did he sell the medallion? We have no idea.
01:13:50
Zach Sheets
as as soon as The second I got back to America, I sold the medallion. and I bought the kids like a house. and We just live there now.
01:13:58
Chris Prime
be like At the he goes, turns out the medallion is made of fake gold. All the real gold, still the dragon.
01:14:08
Zach Sheets
But yeah, so I think that's pretty much everything about the Quest. It's actually, it's on YouTube for free. So if you heard this and you want to watch it or you already visit it, yeah, it's it's it's on YouTube.
01:14:21
Chris Prime
That's how i watched it.
01:14:23
Zach Sheets
who
01:14:24
Chris Prime
If anyone has got free time, they just go on the little quest Wikipedia and get lost in that madness.
01:14:24
Zach Sheets
if
01:14:29
Zach Sheets
Oh man, yeah. One of the most in-depth Wikipedia pages i've ever seen.
01:14:33
Chris Prime
It's like reading a novel of all this like detail and events. It's almost like the quest where there's just big like, hey, what happened here? It's just like a cliff note that like anyway, Van Damme just like chase like this actor for a year to get her in her movie. He dated her and then broke up with her and didn't invite her back like that happened.
01:14:53
Zach Sheets
and and definite definitely read about all the we didn't have time to get into it like the lawsuit between van damme and frank dukes about who wrote what and who gets credit for what and
01:15:03
Chris Prime
And then the Roger Moore like like press tours where he just...
01:15:06
Zach Sheets
oh like breaking his ankle
01:15:08
Chris Prime
And just like, there was supposed to be a plan, like Universal Studio Hollywood like stunt show where Van Damme's supposed fly in on a Zeppelin. Yeah, they were supposed to promote the movie there.
01:15:19
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:15:20
Chris Prime
And it's just like this crazy big thing that I think Van Damme was just on a coke binge. He's like yeah, this would be cool. And then this would be cool. And then like they're just like, how much money you think this is going to cost?
01:15:33
Zach Sheets
Well, guess well he he wrote he wrote an elephant into like Universal Studios Hollywood for the premiere. And then Roger Moore rode in like a rickshaw. then they had like I think they had all the guys in... or like Most of the guys from the martial arts so guys like do like a demonstration of like all their their fighting styles.
01:15:50
Chris Prime
Oh, wait, wait. So i I got to that part. I couldn't remember if that was like there was that was planned or that actually happened.
01:15:59
Zach Sheets
that was I think that was like though that was like the that was the the plan for like the premiere. We're going to have Van Damme's going ride in elephant. Roger Moore's going to come in a rickshaw. We're going to have the guys a special stage we're build and have them fight or do a demonstration.
01:16:14
Chris Prime
Okay, so that did happen. Wow.
01:16:16
Zach Sheets
That did happen, yeah.
01:16:16
Chris Prime
hu How come there's no... like i see there's like a YouTube video of that somewhere.
01:16:20
Zach Sheets
Oh, man, yeah. i I want to see the stage they built, like the Quest team stage.
01:16:31
Zach Sheets
but yeah definitely yeah the Yeah, the Wikipedia page.
01:16:31
Chris Prime
but yeah, anyway.
01:16:33
Zach Sheets
Definitely check that out. It's like the Quest Wikipedia page, like the WMAC Masters Wikipedia page. It's the two most insanely in-depth Wikipedia pages out there.
01:16:45
Zach Sheets
But yeah, so I'll do it for this week.
Preview of Next Episode and Listener Engagement
01:16:46
Zach Sheets
Next week, we're gonna be diving into man on Fire because you know Netflix is turning it into a TV show. so but we're going to revisit the Denzel Washington classic to to directed by Tony Scott before we check out what the show is all about.
01:17:02
Zach Sheets
both Both based on books, which I think a lot of people don't even realize. there but There's like a book series that's like the Man on Fire series. Man on Fire is the first one, and then there's four other books.
01:17:13
Zach Sheets
It doesn't really get the same, like, publicity as, like, Reacher or like that, where it's like, oh this is a book series.
01:17:20
Chris Prime
Well, according to the first movie, I don't know how much that extends into.
01:17:25
Zach Sheets
Well, i don't... Yeah, I mean, we'll get to next week. i I don't think the books end the same way the movie does. mean, I don't... The TV show, I'm sure, is probably not going to end the same way either. think they want like, keep it it going.
01:17:37
Chris Prime
This first episode, it's just the end.
01:17:40
Zach Sheets
Yep. but yeah, we'll dive into it all that next week. Head out to sleep with all of our usual stuff there. We got news reviews, trailers, all yeah all kinds of other special features up there. you can You can check out our commentary for this month, which is The Mummy.
01:17:53
Zach Sheets
Because obviously we had Lee Cronin's The Mummy in theaters this month, and then we watched the original 1932 Mummy and all that. All the Boris Karloff only being in the mummy bandages for like one scene and magic pool TV screens and everything else that goes on the movie.
01:18:14
Chris Prime
A lot of staring in this movie.
01:18:14
Zach Sheets
so you can see.
01:18:16
Chris Prime
It's staring and this movie
01:18:18
Zach Sheets
Yes. The famous Boris Karloff scene of him just like staring directly to the screen.
01:18:19
Chris Prime
it's
01:18:24
Zach Sheets
So you can sync that up, watch it along with us and check that out.
01:18:28
Zach Sheets
And yes, I'm Chris. I'm Zach and we will see you next week.