Taken from earlier draft of a prequel or remake of 1973's 'Enter the Dragon' by martial artist, Frank Dux and rewritten by Steven Klein, Paul Mones & Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film tells the story of American pickpocket turn Thai fighter, Christopher Dubois (Jean-Claude Van Damme) entering a martial arts tournament in the mysterious "Lost City" in Tibet, in a quest to win the "Golden Dragon", a valuable statue made of solid gold, against some of the best fighters, the world has to offer. Without spoiling the movie also directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme; as much as other critics might hate this movie for resemblance too much on the same premise of having a Kumite like tournament, like Van Damme's previous hit, 1988's 'Bloodsport'. I found this movie to a lot of fun to watch, because it showcase a lot of unique fighting styles from around the world. After all, where else, would you see a movie where a Brazilian Capoeira fighter (César Carneiro) take on a Chinese drunken animalistic style fighter (Peter Wong)! I don't even, mind the director using cartoony sound effects and slow moments to show, how power, the fighter's hits were. These fights are the best part of the movie, besides the music by composer, Randy Edelman. My problem with the movie is how long, it takes for the tournament part to be established. The pacing is driven in a snail pace. It takes forever to establish anything. In this movie's timeline; it takes 6 months for the fight to start. Honestly, do we really need the scenes of old man, Chris fight thugs in the bars!? The film starts with old man telling his story to the bartender as a framing device, only to ends with a completely different one with a book being closed. Where did the hell, did that come from!? Also, did the audience really the Oliver Twist opening with the kids!? It's not like the film shows what happen to them!? Better, what was the point of the pirates of the South China Sea moment with mercenary Englishman, Lord Edgar Dobbs (Roger Moore) & his assistant, Harry Smythe (Jack McGee)!? I guess, it's supposed to show, Christopher's attitude toward 'stealing' throughout his life & his quest for rebirth as a man, by fighting for honor. However, that message, get drag down by the revenge subplot in which, one of the fighters kills a friend of Chris in the tournament. Not only that; but the dive subplot, established later in the film doesn't make sense, since Chris would get hurt, regardless. Because of that, I found the film to deliver a mixed message. It really hurt the film, as a whole. Another thing that damages the movie is the lack of historic & geography research. It bug me, when I saw that the film shows Okinawa and Korea, as a separate country, when in truth, by 1920, both were already, part of Imperial Japan. The same with Scotland, which in fact, was part of the United Kingdom, and Mongolia & Russia was part of the Soviet Union. In fact, the movie makes a big goof, when they introduce, the continent of Africa as a country. I don't think, the filmmakers care. Because they didn't even bother, correcting scenes like the Spanish fighter (Pete Malota), have an Albanian flag embodied in his belt. It's so lazy, and jarring. Also, how weird, for the fighters to dress up, in their stereotypical cultural garments? I don't mind it, but it's a bit weird to see, a man try to fight with his balls, hanging out, with a knit. Also, what is with them, fighting in a supposedly lost city in Tibet!? Isn't that country known, for its peaceful ways of living life!? After all, the most-friendly religious leader in the world, the Dalai Lama, once lived there. That's really bizarre, just as much, as how a Belgian sounding American from the Empire States doesn't have a New Yorker accent. Don't get me wrong, Jean Van Damme is fine in the movie, during the action scenes, but his acting chops is below average, big time. Regardless of the main actor's performance, the supporting cast did pick up the slack, with Roger Moore holding the project, together, when the fight scenes isn't going on. His performance in this film was very charming, even if Moore, himself, says, that he hates this movie. So mad props to him. Also, how cool was it to see James Numar in a minor roles, as American boxer, Maxine Devine. His presence in the film, was a blast to watch, along with Janet Gunn, as news writer, Carrie Newton. I also have to praised, the movie's beautiful production design. Lots of amazing scene, wonderfully filmed in Thailand. Overall: Even with its flaws, it's entertaining enough for the movie to be still worth fighting for. While, it might not be the best martial arts movie, out there. I still highly recommended seeing 'The Quest' for how goofy, it is.
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Okonh0wp26 September 2005The Quest is a surprisingly decent Jean Claude Van-Damme movie.
Quest is a period piece, and a pretty well-done one at that. Taking place shortly after World War I, Van Damme plays Chris Dubois, a humble indentured servant figure with Rocky-like ambitions to become a big fighting champion. Dubois has set his sights on some very elite and secret tournament in some mystical forbidden city, to which only the best fighter in every country of the world gets an invitation.
To get into the tournament, Dubois enlists the help of a mischievous figure, Lord Dobbs. In one of the many parts of the plot I was unable to follow, Lord Dobbs owes him some unknown favor so he buys his freedom and makes arrangements to get the kid to Beijing, with the aide of an attractive blonde newspaper editor, Carrie Newton (Gunn).
Dobbs is played by seven-time James Bond alumni Roger Moore, who I'm so used to seeing as Bond that I half-expected him to, at a crucial point in the movie, bag the attractive news lady, beat someone up, or use some cool gadget. Sadly, Moore only accomplishes one of these three things (uses a cool gadget) and fails miserably at it. However, Moore does carry one James Bond-like trait to this part which is being a smooth talker which gets Dubois in trouble in the first place. Apparently, Dubois was never really entered into the tournament, so he must win over the guy who's slated to fight for the U.S. and get his invitation, which raises the question, isn't Dubois French?
Anyway, there's no reason to fret over little things like that, because considering the plot is secondary to the action, it's pretty well-thought out, and besides the action doesn't disappoint.
The tournament where most of the actions scenes come from is probably my favorite thing about the movie because the single elimination bracketed format has the same thrill as watching something like NCAA's March Madness. The only difference is that except for rooting for your favorite colleges, you root for Industrial Era superpowers. The other plus of this was that the clashing of such a diverse array of fighting styles (sumo wrestling, Scottish fist fighting, Brazillian street fighting, and the like) led to some great action scenes.
My main complaint about the action is that Van Damme's fight scenes attempt to create suspense by him being knocked down and then supposedly against our expectations, getting back up and winning. This just becomes predictable, and besides, because the Master of Ceremonies usually hits the gong after a guy gets knocked down, Dubois would have realistically been out in the second round after getting the crap beat out of him by the Spaniard. Even if he did get back up, he wouldn't have been able to overpower the other guy after having taken so many hits. If he is such a skillful fighter, why doesn't he just win the fight efficiently without all the drama? He reminds me of the present-day LA Lakers who slack off the entire regular season, knowing that they only really have to work during the playoffs.
This gag would have been an effective if it was restricted to only happening in the film's climatic finale. Instead, to top the earlier fights, the tournament's final match really got to be a disappointment. The master of ceremonies was incredibly generous with the gong, deciding to let the fight continue even after Dubois got knocked down twice and kicked out of the ring, where he is beaten up some more and magically throws in a couple kicks at the right moment and walks away with the medallion.
Anyway, the film is a decently played out story that has its moments. -
paul_haakonsen15 September 2013For a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, then "The Quest" is a fairly standard one. And if you have seen the 1988 "Bloodsport" movie, then you have essentially also seen "The Quest". And I don't think that it is a mere coincidence, especially since the story was written by Frank Dux and Jean Claude Van Damme.
The story is about Christopher Dubois (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) who is living on the streets, when he is forced to run for his life and ending up as a stowaway on a ship. When he comes to his senses, he is put into slavery, working on the ship. By sheer luck he is rescued by Lord Edgar Dobbs (played by Roger Moore) and Harry Smythe (played by Jack McGee), two thieves and con artists. Setting out to steal a massive golden dragon in a reclusive and secret fighting tournament, Christoper Dubois finds himself fighting on behalf of the boxer Maxie Devine (played by James Remar).
Storywise, then "The Quest" focused more on the fights and action. And as in "Bloodsport", then there is lots of it, and the fight sequences are nicely executed and brought to the screen. The movie itself is as predictable as they come - but then again, aren't most of Jean Claude Van Damme's movies?
There are so many similarities between "Bloodsport" and "The Quest", that you just sit there wondering why "The Quest" was actually ever put on film. Wasn't it enough with this story being told in 1988 back when "Bloodsport" came out? But as with virtually all of Jean Claude Van Damme's movies, the main focus is the action and fighting, and whatever story or resemblance of a story there is becomes secondary. Obviously you have the fighting tournament held in an exotic location, there was the bested friend of whom Van Damme takes a headband, there was a woman reporter, there was a massive and seemingly invincible opponent, and of course there is Jean Claude Van Damme as the underdog who swoops in and wins it all against all odds.
That being said, then "The Quest" is good entertainment where you don't have to use your brain at all. Funny, how I remembered this movie being much better back in the late 90's, when I remember my brother getting it on VHS. And after having obtained the DVD in 2013 and watched it again, it wasn't as cool as I remembered it to be. But still, fun and action-packed, a fairly standard Jean Claude Van Damme movie to be honest. -
This film is Van Damme's first effort as director, and he is surprisingly good in his task!The Quest is, of course, a simple action film, but it has a lot of good intentions and the story, written by Van Damme, is good-hearted. The star plays Chris Dubois, a man who is saved by a group of mercenaries led by a smooth and charming thief (Roger Moore, who brings a little bit of comedy and softness to the story), and this guy takes Chris to the Lost City to fight in a highly dangerous tournament. The winner takes home a beautiful, enormous golden dragon. This isn't the best film of Van Damme's career, his best phase was with the Chinese directors (Hard Target, The Colony), but The Quest isn't a good film for those who want to see explosions, Van Damme blowing people's heads off and those kinds of thing. This is an adventure, the type of film that, if we were now ten years old, would love!you don't have violence, shootings and explosions, if you want to watch something like that rent Hellbound Hellraiser 2, this is a Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark kind of film. If you want to give the movie a shot, try to forget your grown-up side and watch it as if you were ten years old again. Then you will love it!it's a simple, entertaining and very good movie!
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In Van Damme's directorial debut, he stars as Chris Dubois, a New York City orphan who stows away aboard a ship on it's way to Asia to escape a life on the edge of society, only to be captured and sold quite literally into slavery. There's even a part where he is asking a shady character played by Roger Moore called Lord Edgar Dobbs ("Dobbs, Lord Dobbs ") to "buy him" so he can have a chance to go to a mysterious place called the Lost City to enter an ultra-secret fighting championship and win his freedom and maybe a little glory along the way.
Sadly, the plot is one of the weakest I've seen in a Van Damme movie, which is not a good thing. The first hour comes across as almost an excuse just to get to the fight scenes at the end, which resemble some of his earliest fighting movie like Bloodsport and Kickboxer, but here are so brief and watered down that they are meaningless. It would be better if they just described them. But I'll get to that later.
Clearly, Chris' motivation is to get his freedom, but there is also the matter of this fighting tournament, which is a little difficult to understand. The best fighters from all of a dozen or more different countries are there to find out who is the best in the world. It's sort of like the Olympics for fighting with all those nations represented, except it's super-secret so there is no publicity and no recognition for their achievements. One journalist is there, but she had to pull a serious amount of strings in order to get there. These must be fighting purists, the guys that do it for the spiritual reasons and not the money or fame.
Anyway, this Lord Dobbs becomes interested when Chris explains to him that the prize for winning the tournament is "a big dragon made of solid gold," so Chris is able to enlist his help in getting to the tournament, provided he can win his freedom if he shares the prize with him. All of this is generally irrelevant, of course. The movie exists just for the fight scenes, but sadly, once they finally get started it quickly becomes one of the most disappointing parts of the whole movie.
The tournament takes place somewhere called the "Lost City," which is described as "the top of the world." Maybe this is meant to evoke something like Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, which calls itself "the roof of the world." There's no resemblance, but it's an interesting coincidence. Anyway, soon we learn that there is more to risk than getting the tar beaten out of you. One of the fight officials ominously warns Chris that, if he loses, he can never leave the Lost City.
How's that again? Such stipulations are always a complete mystery to me. When I was in Tibet last summer, we took a trip to Namtso Lake a couple hours north of Lhasa, which claims to be the "highest lake in the world" at about 5200 meters (I'm pretty sure that there are dozens that are much, much higher, but no matter), the locals at the lake told us that the lake was sacred to them, so if you bathe in it, or even just wash your face or hands or feet, your punishment will be that they'll never let you leave. Uh-huh. Who would they really be punishing?
Anyway, the actual tournament looks like a video game, a cartoonishly overblown ceremonial setup that reminds me of Mortal Kombat, which I understand is one of Van Damme's worst movies ever. I haven't seen it, but I can certainly imagine! Each country is represented by a goofy stereotype, often in wildly inappropriate attire. There is the German fighter who looks exactly like a Nazi, complete with calf-high standard issue military work boots, the Japanese sumo-wrestler, the squirrelly Chinese guy, the mountainous, frightening Mongolian (who doesn't look remotely Mongolian, but no matter), etc.
What I especially love is that every fighter comes out, does some bizarre dance, and then the fight begins and ends within 10-15 seconds without fail. The Turkish fighter, who looks like one of the toughest fighters of all of them, gets shoved backwards by the sumo-wrestler and then I guess he just passes out. I've never seen anyone get knocked out from being pushed, but it happens in this movie. Anyway, things get strangely familiar again when Chris takes off the headband of a fallen friend, swearing revenge with an evil stare at the scary Mongolian. This is as goofy as it gets, but for some reason it's still fun to watch Van Damme in this kind of situation. Too bad the rest of the movie is so bad.
What I mean by that, of course, is things like the conclusion of the movie, where Lord Dobbs and his hapless sidekick attempt to steal the golden horse, which has cleverly been left out in the middle of an open courtyard during the tournament, with so little security that no one notices when they try to steal it using a BLIMP. You see, they figure it's too heavy for anyone to carry off, which renders even the most conspicuous and noticeable vehicle perfectly acceptable. NICE.
The end of the movie is abrupt and cheesy, complete with a ham-handed moral and a totally uncreative mention of the future of the cast. At least Lord Dobbs mentions that he's a pirate, but used to be a captain in the Royal Navy. Interesting because that's what most pirates were in real life before they turned to a life of crime. Sadly, there's not much else here. For some good Van Damage you're better off with the earlier kickboxing films -
BandSAboutMovies10 July 2019JCVD not only stars in this film, but he co-wrote and directed it. Of course, he also had to go to court to battle former Bloodsport pal and noted con man Frank Dux, who claimed that he wrote this movie as Enter the New Dragon: The Kumite, but a jury rejected those claims.
In the first ten minutes of the movie, we see Van Damme as an old man who can still decimate gang members with his cane and as a clown who does parkour years before anyone knew what that was. Truly, this is the most Van Damme of all Van Damme films.
Christopher Dubois (Van Damme) is a pickpocket in mid-1920's New York City, stealing from the mob to take care of orphans. He must run away - promising to come back - and stows away on a boat of smugglers which is eventually boarded by the ship of Lord Edgar Dobbs (Roger Moore, who seems to be having the time of his life as always).
After saving one another's lives, Dobbs seems like he's going to help our hero get home, but sells him into slavery where he's trained in Muay Thai. After six months, Dobbs and his partner Harri Smythe (character actor Jack McGee, who got into acting via being a firefighter with his first role being in Turk 182) learn that Dubois has become a great fighter.
Interestingly enough, McGee repeatedly drew the ire of Van Damme by loudly farting at the end of each take. Sounds like a party!
After paying for his freedom, Dobbs brings our hero to a fight - not unlike Kumite - called Ghang-gheng. Held in the Lost City of Tibet, it's where fighters from nearly every nation and fighting style in the wold battle for the Golden Dragon.
American reporter Carrie Newton (Janet Gunn from USA's Silk Stalkings) and heavyweight boxing champion Maxie Devine (James Remar, Ajax from The Warriors and Raiden from Mortal Kombat: Annihilation) are also there to watch. During the fight, Dobbs and Harri try to steal the dragon and are sentenced to death, but Dubois wins the entire tournament, eventually besting Mongolia's Khan (Abdel Qissi, brother of Michael who has appeared in many of Van Damme's films) in the finals. He trades his win for the life of the two convicted men.
Back at the bar where it all started, we learn that Dubois went back to help the orphans, Dobbs and Harri went on to further adventures and Devine ending up being a great trainer. The movie closes on a book called The Quest, written by - you guessed it - reporter Carrie Newton.
This is a movie packed with fights left and right. Japan is represented by former pro wrestler and the youngest rikidozan ever, Koji Kitao. I met him once on a pro wrestling show we were on together, moments before another American wrestler insulted him by speaking pidgeon Engrish, ending up getting his shoulder torn clean out of the socket.
Pjeter Malota, who often plays in Van Damme films, is the Spanish fighter than JCVD bests in the second round. Jen Sung, who was recently on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. plays the Siamese fighter, Phang. Brick Bronsky - who directed and acting in Masked Mutilator, which Severin/InterVision just re-released - is the Russian competitor. And Stefanos Miltsakakis, who would fight JCVD in five movies and appear as Frankenstein's Monster in Waxwork II: Lost in Time, is the Greek fighter. With a name like that, what other team could he be on?
Despite Sir Roger Moore's seeming enthusiasm for his role, he claimed that it was the least favorite of his films. In his autobiography My Word is My Bond, he said that the movie was a poorly prepared and disorganized mess that was continually running out of money. He minces no words about how he felt about Van Damme and producer Moshe Diamant, while crediting Second Unit Director Peter MacDonald, who directed Rambo III, for making the film a success. -
This movie was directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme. Do I need to say anything more about it?
Okay, if you insist.
The Quest is about a man who journeys across the world to take part in a martial arts tournament to crown the world's greatest fighter. I know that describes several of Van Damme's films, but this is the one set in the 1920s. Chris Dubois (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is the acrobatic and not-at-all-child-molestery leader of a gang of street urchins. Chris decides to use his young followers to steal from the Mafia, which is possibly the worst idea anyone has ever had. When the gangsters try to get their money back, a kid gets shot and Chris flees from the police. He runs because another kid tells him the cops will blame him for the shooting, even though that doesn't make any sense given how it happened, but Chris being highly suggestible is a recurring theme through this story.
Chris winds up a stowaway on a ship, forced to work in chains, until that ship is attacked by the forces of Lord Edgar Dobbs (Roger Moore). A pirate, con man and all around scalawag, Dobbs sells Chris into slavery on an island of Muay Tai fighters. 6 months later, Dobbs runs into Chris at a Muay Tai fighting match and Chris insists that Dobbs help him enter a secret combat tournament in Tibet, not so Chris can win but so they can steal the winner's giant gold dragon prize. Oh, Chris and Dobbs also join up with a female journalist named Carrie (Janet Gunn) and I sure hope Van Damme was banging this chick because there's no other reason for the character to exist.
Tagging along with Maxie Devine (James Remar), the American heavyweight boxing champion invited to the secret tournament, they make their way to Tibet. After a scuffle where Chris literally kicks Maxie once and punches him once, Maxie decides that Chris is the better fighter and offers him his spot in the tournament.
Then we finally get to all the fighting, which turns out to be disappointingly brief and generic. Except for the Brazilian fighter and the Chinese fighter engaging in a dance off, the Japanese fighter demonstrating the martial art of being morbidly obese and a Spanish fighter apparently trained in the deadly skill of flamenco dancing, there's nothing at all interesting about the combat. The designated bad guy turns out to be a Mongolian (Abdel Qissi), of all things, who glares a lot and kills somebody that was supposed to be a friend of Chris', even though the two characters barely said 6 words to each other in the entire movie. Chris and the Mongolian fight and Chris wins because this film was not directed by Abdel Qissi.
The Quest is bad. I know that's not exactly a surprise, but Van Damme's ability as a storyteller is so derivative it's not even interestingly bad. Instead of doing some howlingly incompetent stuff, Van Damme is just mimicking things he's seen in other films, including what I believe is an homage to Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose. The script is written at the level of a 10 year old and the direction looks like any other terrible Van Damme flick.
If this thing had been hilariously awful, that might have somewhat redeemed it. Instead, it's just another crappy step on Van Damme's career trajectory from nobody to action star to living joke. -
jack_o_hasanov_imdb14 August 2021There were VHS-s at home when I was a kid. My grandfather was watching this movie. I had watched it many times. It was very interesting for me. I was very interesting for the countries to fight for a golden dragon statue. Even though the movie is average, i always feel nostalgic.
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fmarkland3222 May 2006A thief is kidnapped by smugglers and then forced to fight in a competition, in which the winner takes home the golden dragon(Which is apparently worth millions, but looks like it was made out of brass) lots of fight sequences ensue. The Quest is proof that action stars need not direct. Jean-Claude Van Damme directs each actor in such a lackluster fashion that they manage to almost become invisible. Roger Moore and James Remar are truly wasted and even the fight sequences are poorly staged. If you really want to see something like this done well, check out Bloodsport and Kickboxer.
* out of 4 (Bad) -
servomst3k28 February 2011This is easily one of my favorite Van Damme films, and I really struggle to figure out why it receives little attention compared to his other work. I am choosing to ignore the infamy surrounding Frank Dux (co-writer) for the time being and instead focus on basically anything but him in this review. Action fans of all backgrounds can appreciate the elements at play here.
Van Damme himself is in fine form, performing the stunts and impressive martial arts movements on display in earnest since Bloodsport. The occasional ambiguity about his character's purpose is refreshing in this film. Typically there is very little detracting from the purity or innocence of any protagonist in movies like this, but some of the references to the reputation of thieves in society really make the viewer think twice about the moral character of Van Damme's Dubois. Sure, he is trying to make a better life for himself and the other misfits in the streets he left behind, but at the end of the day he is involved in some seedy activities.
Roger Moore does a fine job as, well, Roger Moore (and this is just fine with me). James Remar plays a loudmouth who eventually changes his ways, like he often does, but this time around his motivations are a bit more tempered. This is by far one of my favorite Remar performances. I feel as though an entire movie could be made around his Maxie Devine and it would be endlessly entertaining.
Overall, the performances are solid throughout. The locations are eye-catching, and some sea-faring and swashbuckling is thrown in to contrast the gritty streets of the US and the foreboding mystery of the tournament locale. I would not hesitate to recommend this flick to anyone who appreciates some unintentional humor and eye-rolling dialogue in their action gumbo. Most Van Damme fans have likely seen this and should check it out if not. -
akovac26 June 2004The plot: empty, if not silly. The arch of the story was really not going anywhere.
Character depth: nonexistent.
The fight scenes: The one - and only - thing I really liked was the Chinese fighter. Wonderful movements. Made all the others look really cumbersome. Without the camera work, all of it, except mentioned Chinese fighter, would have been just embarrassing. But there is worse, I guess.
There was some effort put into the costumes and the attempt to keep up the semblance of a story. But it was just too shallow and empty beneath to redeem this movie.
Good, though, if you have other things to do and just want something to run in the background. You can just look at the movie from time to time and are certain not to miss anything of importance. -
Although it took four viewings before I finally lowered my rating of this from "9" to "8,", I suspect I will still watch this lame-brain action flick a few more times and enjoy it. That's because it offers a great mixture of fascinating fighters in the tournament that covers most of the final 40 minutes of the movie; is a modern-day martial-arts action film with almost no swearing and no sex; and offer some tremendous scenery in the first half of the film as Jean Claude Van Damme and company travel to the Far East for this "World's Greatest Fighter" tourney.
That tourney is a lot of fun to watch except that it got carried away in the final bout, of course, that went on almost as long as all the preliminary bouts! However, the filmmakers were smart to make all the contestants totally different with different styles, making each one fun to watch. You didn't see the same thing each fight. There was everything from a huge Sumo-type wrestler to a little guy who imitated a monkey and a snake jumping and slithering around the ring. By the way, these were real guys, not actors imitating fighters.
The photography is magnificent, far better than you would except. The colors are beautiful and the Thailand scenery spectacular. The movie benefits from a classy actor like Roger Moore joining the cast, too. Yeah, it's stupid in parts, but it's fun and highly recommended for first-time viewers who don't know the outcome of the bouts. -
welhof131 January 2023My main issue with the film is the plot. We have seen this many many times with his films. No name guy goes to fighting tournament as an underdog and surprises everyone and wins it. Very common with his film from the late 80's to early 90's.
I loved roger moores character. He has a funny sense of humor that we also get to see in most of his James Bond films.
The scenery was beautiful. Thailand is a gorgeous country.
A lot of stereotypes with the fighters. Every time they announced a country to fight, you could tell what the fighter would look like, Japan sumo, Scotland kilt, etc.
A truly underrated gem in the JCVD catalog. -
This disappointing Van Damme vehicle plays like one of his late '80s flicks - you know, the martial art tournament and everything - but without the graphic violence. Yes, there's not much of a plot on show here, and it seems to take an inordinate amount of time for the characters to actually reach the mythic tournament, which doesn't happen until the hour mark. Until we're introduced to one silly situation after another and meets lots of pointless characters who don't actually appear to be in the film for any reason whatsoever (take the female reporter, whose role could have been written out with ease).
Van Damme also serves as director on this film, so we get to see just how much he thinks of himself when he indulges in all manner of "helicopter kicks" and other athletic manoeuvres. To be fair, Van Damme isn't particularly bad as a director, but not particularly inspired either - he choreographs the fight scenes well, but doesn't seem to understand how to make the camera warm to the people on screen. He just sits back and watches and doesn't really take part.
Rated as a lenient PG-13 in America, this still managed to get a (cut) 18 certificate here in the UK. It's hard to see why, as the violence isn't much worse than in something like STREET FIGHTER and there are only a couple of nasty bone-snapping moments. The fight scenes are still highly enjoyable and exciting, especially the final battle between Van Damme and the Mongol (incidentally played by his chief opponent in A.W.O.L., this time the actor just looks like he's copying the looks of the bad guy from KICKBOXER). Van Damme looks the part, with his buzz haircut and string bandanna, but his acting is as awful as ever. At least we have the cult appeal of Roger Moore on board, playing a pirate who shamelessly introduces himself as "Dobbs...Lord Dobbs". Moore seemingly hasn't aged in the last twenty years and is fun to watch. There are a lot more entertaining Van Damme flicks out there in the sea though, so give this one a miss unless you catch it on the telly. -
veinbreaker15 October 2000It really get son my nerves when people criticize some films that are actually good. This film was great. It is in my opinion the best Vand Damme film ever. It has story/action/heart and mystery and the highlight of the film were the last battles which showed different fighters from the whole world (ala streetfighter 2) all showing off their capabilities. this movie also has an EPIC feel to it and I don't know what people mean by 'poor' movie cause this looked pretty expensive to me. Roger Moore was cool here too. SO was the babe. Give this a chance people.
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Juozas Rimas Jr19 December 2001Some of the aspects of this sorry film are unbelievably cheesy. If you can watch it without smiling, you're probably a teenager. "Thailand vs Africa", "Mongolia vs Scotland", all fighters representing their national garments - oh come on... The Spanish guy with black trousers, white shirt and flamenco gestures was so comical that I started suspecting that this film was a parody. The Scottish guy with a kilt getting kicked into his unprotected balls was also *very* creative, wasn't it? I wouldn't be surprised to see a Russian soldier with a military coat, a pointed cap with a red star and a bottle of vodka in his hands, or a Norwegian with a red beard and skis in this film. I'll refrain from commenting on the non-existent acting in this movie. It is possible to direct a good film with martial arts in it, but this is clearly not the case...
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alexanderdavies-993824 October 2017I rate "The Quest" as one of the greatest films in the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme as the movie has a more engaging story than others and there is a more traditional approach to martial arts in general. From the opening scene, it becomes clear that this wasn't going to be just another standard action movie. The inclusion of Roger Moore is a bonus as the dishonest but affable con artist (R.I.P to a television legend) and James Remar makes for a tough but honourable prize fighter. The whole film unfolds in flashback as Van Damme relates to a barkeeper a few things about his life on the New York streets and how he becomes involved with Roger Moore and entering a secretly held martial arts tournament on an island somewhere in Asia. The tournament in question is the main attraction and it's great to see all those fighting styles on display. The contests don't last very long apart from the final one (naturally). Physically speaking, JCVD was just about at his biggest. His arms truly bulge when he tenses them up! The setting being in the Far East is only right as it helps to maintain tradition and also different cultures in the martial arts. The direction by Van Damme is pretty good and he manages to keep the whole film under control. One of his most memorable.
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A contrived, disappointing movie, even for Van Damme. His attempt to direct and star in this film proves a failure. The addition of his law suit over the stealing of the story from Frank Dux (Bloodsport) makes it all the more pathetic. I could have written this story in an afternoon or just renamed his earlier work, Bloodsport, and called it The Quest. This film is a bad version of Van Damme's finest work, Bloodsport (made years earlier). The beginning looks promising but after the "look at how tough and scary Van Damme looks" scene it goes downhill. Roger Moore is a needless character (and might I add, 'actor'). The PG-13 rating does not help, since superb violence is most of what one goes to see in a Van Damme movie. The plot is see-through, even more so than most his films. Do not bother watching this film, go rent Bloodsport instead.
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sveknu13 May 2005Jean Claude van Damme both stars in and directs this movie. And the result is pretty good. The movie starts out rather bad, but it becomes better as the story proceeds. I'm a big lover of movies with fighting tournaments, and this one is no exception from that. One especially interesting feature with this movie is that the fighters represent their countries. The different nationalities are a bit overdone, but that's not a major setback for the movie. It was indeed surprising to see Roger Moore in a van Damme-movie. I'm a big fan of him because of his Bond movies and because he doesn't take himself or his roles that seriously. Therefore, he fits perfect in this well made action-flick.
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Set in the 1920's, Chris Dubois (Van Damme) is a street performer who wears clown makeup, a funny hat, and walks on stilts for a living. Adventure finds him when he ends up a stowaway on a boat heading to mysterious Muay Thai Island. There he learns martial arts, and, later in Tibet, meets the charming Lord Dobbs (Moore) and his assistant Smythe (McGee). It is around this time that Chris seeks to be involved in Ghan Geng, a secret underground fighting tournament. The winner gets a huge golden dragon, so Dobbs has a stake in Chris winning, as he wants the Dragon. Fighters are invited from all over the world , and America is represented by boxer Maxie Devine (Remar). Chris must take his place in the tournament and defeat the sinister Khan (Quissi) to win it all. Also, there's some mild romance with the prerequisite female reporter Carrie Newton (Gunn).
Van Damme does a solid , professional job with his directional debut. Having co-written the film with Bloodsport (1988) dude Frank Dux, you pretty much know what to expect- but this movie is rated PG-13, so it was clearly trying to bring the Punchfighting genre some mainstream acceptance. With its slick Hollywood look and booming, sweeping score by Randy Edelman, the final product is perfect for 13-year olds, presumably its target demographic.
Interestingly, the movie is a period piece, and plays like a prequel to Bloodsport. Instead of The Kumite, It's Ghan Geng. Van Damme tries on a number of personas from "Old Man Van Damme" to "Van Damme The Clown" and many things in between. The presence of Roger Moore adds class and respectability to the proceedings, and James Remar of Quiet Cool (1986) fame stands out as Devine. He's always worth seeing. Janet Gunn from Night Of The Running Man (1995) and The Sweeper (1996) is the eye candy but not much else.
It's important to remember this was when video games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter were at the peak of their popularity. So when the Ghan Geng section of the movie begins (pretty much the last half)- the plot just STOPS. It's just one fighter from one country facing off against another fighter from another country. It gets repetitive and pretty numbing after awhile. Other Punchfighters don't do this. They vary the Punchfighting scenes with other plot-based stuff. Not so here. Plus the fact the movie is kind of on the long side doesn't help matters. What The Quest should have been is an 80 minute R-rated Punchfighter. Simply cutting the length but adding more violence would have helped immensely. But they weren't going for that audience, unfortunately.
The Quest is more of a big "adventure" film where characters are seeking a "lost city" and many countries and time periods are represented. This might be a good way to start younger viewers on a career of watching Van Damme movies\action movies\Punchfighters but for adults. Only Van Damme or perhaps Roger Moore completists need apply.
For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com -
DunnDeeDaGreat1 November 2002The Quest is Van Damme's atempt at a comenack going back to the films where he was staright into fighting and not playing a cop or any like that. The film has okay fight sequnces but the storyline is a little murky and the fianl does drag a little. But still better than the two previous Van Damme films.
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jonathanruano23 January 2012"The Quest" does not know what kind of movie it wants to be - a version of "Oliver Twist," a pirate movie, a film about Muay Thai training, or another "Bloodsport" - and so it covers all these elements at once and does so badly, rather than focusing on one element and doing it well. When I saw "The Quest," I was impressed by the cinematography which seems reminiscent in a way of those great epic films of the 1950s and 1960s. Yet at the same time, I was bored with the film because the vast majority of its ideas seemed to be half-baked. If you want to do a film with multiple plots, like the "Crying Game" did, then what you need is an brilliant film director and excellent screen writers who know what they are doing. Yet Jean Claude Van Damme seems way over his head in his directorial debut. He knows how to film gorgeous looking scenes, but he cannot bring the various elements of film-making together into one coherent narrative. "The Quest" looks like an array of elements thrown together haphazardly in the hope that they would amount to something, but they do not. In the opening scenes, Jean Claude Van Damme plays a clown with stilts against a richly layered backdrop of a 1920s city coupled with a hideaway with thieving boys which is reminiscent of Fagin's lair from the film "Oliver Twist." Then we have scenes that appear, at least on the surface, to come straight out of the movie "Treasure Island"(1954) which includes its pirate ship. This is followed by another epic scene with Muay Thai fighters training on the beach while large waves are crashing against the shore. Then we see Jean Claude Van Damme and company travelling through Asia on elephants and then horses en route to a temple in the snowy mountains of Tibet. But do all these scenes amount to anything? Actually no, because these scenes just accumulate rather than add up. We did not need to know anything about the "Oliver Twist" beginning in order to understand the "Treasure Island" portion. We could have understood the "Bloodsport" sequence without seeing the "Treasure Island" portion. In fact, one wonders if this film would be any better if it focused more narrowly on Jean Claude Van Damme's great Odyssey to Tibet and the adventures he had along the way.
The other problem is with the acting. A film that tries to cover as much ground as "The Quest" does needs capable (probably even gifted) actors to convey its material well. But Jean Claude Van Damme, with his poor acting abilities, seems like an uncomfortable fit as the film's protagonist. Van Damme is much more suited for laid-back, easy going, macho films, like Bloodsport and Kickboxer, where you can excuse the bad acting (and laugh at it) and have a good time. But in "The Quest," the sets upstage Van Damme, making him look small and insignificant. You really need someone with Eroll Flynn or Peter O'Toole's stature (when they were young) to carry a quasi-swashbuckling film, like "The Quest," forward in a convincing way. Roger Moore is a more experienced actor, but he merely reprises his dull cornball James Bond role as the pirate captain and (like his James Bond character) his performance just doesn't work. Although Robert Newton's Captain Silver character has become a cliché, I would have preferred that type of pirate captain rather than the one depicted by Roger Moore.
Towards the end, Van Damme switches gears and creates another version of "Bloodsport" with its Hollywood formulae. He seems to be more comfortable with this material (especially since it requires him to do the martial arts that he knows so well), which explains why the martial arts sequences in the last 30-40 minutes of this film are reasonably entertaining. Those martial arts sequences are not, unfortunately, as good as the ones in Bloodsport which had better choreography and a great music soundtrack by composer Paul Hertzog.
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The__Watcher15 December 2001I am a Jean-Claude Van Damme Fan and have to say this is a 'Damme' good film. Doesn't the film remind you of 'Bloodsport'? Well this has a good story about Chris who wants to get the golden dragon and ends up in a tournament for the dragon. The fight scenes aren't that violent as most people would want to see. But it is an Epic, with a dramatic story. Roger Moore even acts in it gives a 'Bond' type entrance to his name. Overall this is a great film which shall not be missed by all fans. Van Damme is the man!
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You know how bands put out their indie release, it gets airplay on campus radio somewhere, an A&R guy signs them to a major label, and then they basically re-release that same album - maybe with a couple new songs - and become the greatest band since Nirvana? Ahem.
Well, this is what we have here. Van Damme directed a glossy, big-budget remake of the cheap, grimy Bloodsport. And got a significantly upgraded supporting cast, I might add. I mean, Roger Moore classes this thing up like nothing else. Good gawd that man had charm.
As for the fights, well, much like in Bloodsport it's a lot closer to WWE Monday Night Raw or maybe those cage fights with no rules and ridiculous mismatches that eventually morphed into UFC.
I gotta say I enjoyed how the various countries' representatives came out in traditional garb. Was waiting for a Canadian fighter to come on stage wearing a toque or wielding a hockey stick. -
jboothmillard16 October 2012With the James Bond 007 series celebrating its 50th anniversary because of Dr. No, and the third actor to play the famous spy role getting about a lot at the time, it made sense to me to see some of his films before and after Bond, so I found this one, the directorial debut from Jean-Claude Van Damme. Basically an old man is telling a story to a bartender after getting into a fight, and we flashback to this man younger, Christopher Dubois (Van Damme), a pickpocket living in 1925 New York who was orphaned as a child and runs a gang of orphan children pickpockets who also con and steal to get by. They get found by gangsters but Dubois manages to get away, but he does get the attention of the police as well, but he promises to return to the children before stowing away on a boat, but he is found by the crew and forced to be a slave by the pirates aboard. He is saved a few years later by mercenary Englishman Lord Edgar Dobbs (Sir Roger Moore) who agrees to help him get home to America, but in fact he sells him off as a slave on the island of Siam where he gets trained in Muay Thai fighting for a scheme that is coming up. Six months pass and Dobbs with his partner Harry Smythe (Jack McGee) are shocked to see Dubois fighting in the Muay Thai fighting ring, but they see he has become a skilled fighter, so they buy his freedom so that he will represent the USA in the Ghang-Gheng worldwide fighting tournament held in the Lost City of Tibet. Other countries competing in the global event include China, Japan, Germany, Brazil, France, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Africa, Korea, Soviet Union (Russia) and Scotland, all are eliminated round by round, and at the end of the tournament the winning country will receive the prestigious and valuable statue the Golden Dragon. As the contest goes on Dubois gets to know American reporter Carrie Newton (Janet Gunn) and heavyweight boxing champion Maxie Devine (James Remar) who give him advice and tips, and after winning against apposing countries the biggest challenge comes in the final round when he faces Khan the Mongolian Fighter (Abdel Qissi) who is savage. At the end Dubois ultimately wins the tournament, and refusing the Golden Dragon he wins the freedom of his friends Dobbs and Smythe who were sentenced to death after they tried to steal the golden statue, he returned to New York and got the children off the streets, Devine trained great fighters in his future, Dobbs and Smythe went deep into the Amazon to open a trading post, and Carrie wrote the story of everything called The Quest. Also starring Aki Aleong as Khao, Louis Mandylor as Riggi, Chang Ching Peng Chaplin as Master Tchi, Ryan Cutrona as Officer O'Keefe, Peter Wong as Chinese Fighter, Kitao Koji as Sumo Wrestler, Habby Heske as German Fighter, César Carneiro as Brazilian Fighter, Takis Triggelis as French Fighter, Azdine Nouri as Turkish Fighter, Stefanos Miltsakakis as Greek Fighter, Peter Malota as Spanish Fighter, Winston Ellis as African Fighter, Ong Soo Han as Korean Fighter, Brick Bronsky as Russian Fighter, Ip Choi Nam as Korean Fighter and Mike Lambert as Scottish Fighter. Van Damme is relatively interesting as the pickpocket turned strong fighter, I will be honest and say that I was paying more attention to Moore though with his charming mannerisms and overall English good nature, I have only seen a few of Van Damme's films, many of them are meant to be involving fighting, so as one of them this is I suppose a good enough one, the story is simple enough and the fight sequences are certainly gripping, it is an alright martial arts action adventure. Worth watching!