Movie Kumite: Bloodsport vs. Bloodfist
They are two of the most well known martial arts movie franchises of all time. They both feature bona-fide legends in the world of action movies. They both feature the word “blood” in the title! In honor of Actionversary, it’s the return of Movie Kumite, and this comeback edition pits the Bloodsport films against the Bloodfist series!
Now I know a few of you out there might be surprised to see that Jean Claude Van Damme’s starmaking hit Bloodsport got a sequel, and you might be even more surprised to discover that it got THREE of them! Not to be outdone, kickboxing champion Don “The Dragon” Wilson’s Bloodfist saga went for double the output of Bloodsport, ultimately ending after an impressive eight film run!
With a combined 12 films between them, both the Bloodsport and Bloodfist franchises feature enough ass-kicking to whet any action fans appetite for fights! Now today, the fight is between the both of them, as we see which series will claim the crown while the other is left bleeding out!
Round 1: FIRST BLOOD
Bloodsport, released in 1988, is a huge part of martial arts film history. Based on events that supposedly happened to Frank Dux (played by JCVD), the film has inspired numerous copycats over the years, including the very film it’s competing against here! The first Bloodfist also had an underground fighting tournament as its setting, with the added tension of Wilson’s Jake Raye fighting in an effort to sniff out his brother’s killer. Though the first Bloodfist was the first time “The Dragon” got leading man status, it didn’t have the cultural impact the way that Bloodsport and Van Damme did, so we’ve got to go with Bloodsport for this round.
WINNER: Bloodsport
Round 2: WHO’S THE MASTER?
Although JCVD had been a part of the Belgium Karate Team in his younger years and reportedly held an 18-1 record, “The Dragon” was a force to be reckoned with in the kickboxing world. In fact, it was Don’s credentials as the WKA Full Contact Light Heavyweight World Champion that got him the Bloodfist gig in the first place! Producer Roger Corman hired Wilson almost immediately for the role, and even went as far as to challenge Van Damme to take Wilson on in a real fight! While it’s been said that it was nothing more than a publicity stunt and we never got the real fight (nor a showdown on film), it’s safe to say that “The Dragon’s” professional fight record speaks for itself, and Round 2 is an easy win for him.
Winner: Bloodfist
Round 3: DIFFERENT, BUT SAME
Though Bloodsport broke out as a huge hit, it would be the only time that the tales of Frank Dux would be brought to life by Van Damme. JCVD went on to become a mega-star in films like Kickboxer and Double Impact, thus making the possibility of a Bloodsport sequel unlikely and unnecessary. .In fact, it wasn’t until nearly 10 years later, well after Van Damme’s prime action years, that we got the first Bloodsport sequel… and it didn’t even feature the action icon! 1996 saw JCVD replaced by Swiss martial artist Daniel Bernhardt as protagonist Alex Cardo (in part II and III), and then as a different character (John Keller) in Bloodsport IV.
Wilson would reprise the role of Jake Raye in Bloodfist II, but after that, every Bloodfist featured Wilson in a different role, usually as an ordinary guy who gets in over his head and is forced to use his karate skills to fight his way out of the situation. This includes wrongfully imprisoned man being targeted in a race war (Bloodfist III: Forced To Fight), a repo man out to save his kidnapped daughter from arms dealers (Bloodfist IV: Die Trying), and a man on the run from corrupt cops (Bloodfist VII: Manhunt). Despite Wilson’s frequent character shifts during the duration of the series, none of the Bloodsport sequels ever stuck with me the way the Bloodfist ones did, so Wilson gets the W here as well.
Winner: Bloodfist
Round 4: SAY HELLO TO THE (ORIGINAL) BAD GUYS
Bloodfist’s villain was a martial artist murderer named Kwong, who killed Jake Raye’s brother, became Jake’s trainer under the guise of helping him find the killer, framed another fighter for the crime, and then got found out just in time for the two to have their climactic battle. Kwong might have been 100% absolute evil, but it was still nothing compared to the sheer brutality of Bolo Yeung’s Chong Li! Chong Li beat the crap out of Dux’s buddy Ray Jackson, killed another fighter, and still tried the old “salt in the eyes” tactic in his fight against Frank Dux! Plus, in real life, the role of Chong Li led to a career resurgence for Bolo Yeung and no doubt helped him get cast in some of our favorite films here at Bulletproof Action, like Shootfighter, Tiger Claws, and TC 2000. Kwong the kung fu brother killer can take a seat, because this time, Chong Li’s got you beat.
Of course, there were additional antagonists in the ensuing sequels, which leads us into our fifth, final, tiebreaker round!
Winner: Bloodsport
Round 5: SEQUEL STARPOWER
The Bloodsport sequels suffered from a severe lack of JCVD, and supplying Bernhardt with beloved co-stars like Donald Gibb (reprising his role as Ray Jackson in the first sequel), James Hong, and Mr. Miyagi himself, Pat Morita was a nice way to rekindle interest in the series. I even thought it was cool to see Derek McGrath of My Secret Identity fame playing the evil warden in the final Bloodsport film, but none of these appearances were able to elevate the series to the level of popularity that the first film saw. Over on the Bloodfist side, “The Dragon” had some strong support from actors like Richard Roundtree and Steven Williams, tangled with “Judo” Gene LeBell in one scene, and battled against a fellow martial arts movie icon in Gary Daniels. We even got “The Dragon” and Cannon Films legend Steve James together for Bloodfist V! The list of Wilson’s co-stars is a veritable who’s who of famous faces from action cinema (not to mention his kickboxing peers), and it’s what delivers the knockout blow to put the Bloodsport series down and out!
Winner: Bloodfist
And there you have it, folks. The strength of Bloodsport stems from the success of the original film, while the Bloodfist series managed to find a lot of success in the video store/cable tv era despite the lack of an overarching story to tie them all together. “The Dragon” and Van Damme never got an actual face off, but for this installment of Movie Kumite, it’s “The Dragon’s” hand that’s getting raised.
