The movies are famous for their realistic fights, and most make good use of Pencak silat – a group of local martial arts. The best example is probably Gareth Evans’ The Raid, which has become synonymous with exceptional combat scenes.

The trend did not stop there, and from gritty Headshot to gore-fest, The Night Comes for us, Indonesian action films keep pushing boundaries on screen. They are also full of badass female characters, which sets them apart from other movies.

Now, don’t get me wrong – cool women fighters, whether heroes or villains, do exist in Hollywood – Mission Impossible’s Ilsa Faust is just one recent example. Yet too many Western actioners still depict ridiculous cat-fighting, refuse to pit women against men, or let female villains get away scot-free.

Indonesian action films, on the other hand, take the intensity up a notch by casting professional martial artists and creating complex choreographies. There, women characters suffer grisly injuries and meet the same fates as their male counterparts.

So, if you are looking for powerful ladies and realistic fight scenes, check out who movies.

The Raid 2

More than a decade after its release, The Raid remains known as one of the best action movies of all time, and its 2014 sequel followed in its footsteps. The second volume, subtitled “Berandal” (“thug” in Indonesian), features the only woman fighter of the series, and one of its most iconic characters.

Hammer Girl, only named Alicia in the end credits, is a deaf henchwoman working for the main villain, who wields two claw hammers to devastating effect. Her improvised weapon might seem gimmicky, but make no mistake: Hammer Girl’s fighting style is brutal, and she casually cuts henchmen into shreds on a subway train.

Her stoic figure also helps to create some of the film’s bloodiest – and most thrilling – scenes. Just as impressive as Hammer Girl is her actress, Julie Estelle, who learned martial arts, especially for the film.

Despite having no prior combat experience, Estelle was so committed to the role that she impressed director Gareth Evans. The intensive training also paid off for her coach, Very Tri Yulisman, who eventually landed a part on screen as Hammer Girl’s brother, Baseball Bat Man.

The latter was a character created especially for Yulisman, but Gareth Evans had wanted to feature Hammer Girl in the first volume of The Raid. He ended up having to cut the part due to budget constraints, though Estelle’s performance was definitely worth the wait!

The Night Comes For Us

If it is not too late for a disclaimer, there will be a lot about Julie Estelle in this article. After The Raid 2, the actress has kept starring in action movies, now as a fully trained martial artist.

Another of her best performances is definitely in the 2018 Netflix film The Night Comes for Us, which centers on a renegade Triad enforcer – Joe Taslim – who tries to escape the wrath of his former comrades.

Here, Estelle plays the mysterious Operator, who might be best defined as coolness personified. This unstoppable killing machine pops up halfway through the film and makes up for her lack of backstory by getting involved in some of the grittiest fight scenes.

Whether she is gunning down henchmen, trading punches with Taslim or simply riding a motorbike that looks too cool to be true, the Operator manages to stand out in a film full of colorful characters.

The Night Comes for Us has a thin plot, but it does what Hollywood scarcely dares to do: the film offers a gory and extremely violent two-against-three women’s fight in which no blows – or fingers – are off-limits.

During it, Julie Estelle’s character battles a duo of ruthless assassins played by Pencak Silat fighter Hannah Al Rashid and by Dian Sastrowardoyo… who was previously known for her roles in rom-com!

Often outnumbered but never outmatched, the Operator’s cool demeanor and insane fighting skills have made her an instantly iconic character.

The director of The Night Comes for Us, director Timo Tjahjanto (whose name will be known to fans of Indonesian cinema), has stated that he hopes to create a spin-off focused on the character.

So far, no other news has been released about it, but fans of the Operator can enjoy a deleted scene available on YouTube, which features her equally mysterious – and slightly creepy – handler.

The Big 4

The Big 4 has just been released on Netflix and is Timo Tjahjanto’s latest creation. Compared to The Night Comes for Us, the film does seem like a downgrade in the gore department (though topping TNCFU in that category would honestly be difficult!).

The Big 4 instead has a humorous tone and completely embraces its over-the-top nature, so those looking for cool action scenes and badass female fighters will find what they need. Here, the plot revolves around a group of ruthless assassins who are forced to retire after their adoptive father dies.

Unbeknownst to them, their mentor had another daughter, who just joined law enforcement and is determined to avenge her father. While The Big 4 sometimes delves into caricature, the film remains aware of its goofiness, perfectly embodied by its two female protagonists.

There is Alpha, an unstable assassin who specializes in explosives, and her counterpart, the law-abiding, self-righteous officer Dina. Owing to the movie’s comedic nature, the two women use less impressive combat moves, but they contribute to the body count just as much as the others on this list!

Written by Josephine Aulnois.
Edited by Roman from Budomate.

It was called Kung Fu and it was everywhere.

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
– Bruce Lee.

Cinemas in those days used to show two films. One would be the main feature and the other some B film barely related to the main subject matter.

But for some reason the Kung Fu craze gave us two martial arts films!

Usually a badly dubbed one called something like “The five fingers of Feng shui!” where Shaolin Monks could leap high in the air and deliver a disemboweling blow as they crossed each other.

But amidst all this lip syncing tomfoolery a few gems stood out. One of those was Bruce Lee and he would beget the legend that was Carlos Ray ‘Chuck’ Norris.

The movie audience first saw Chuck as he fought leading legend Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon. In the film Chuck played the bad guy who is sent to kill Lee in a hand to hand fight against the backdrop of the Colosseum.

Modern gladiators battling it out using their hands and feet rather than Gladius and Trident. Needless to say in this instance Norris gets his hairy ass kicked!

It was to be the last time though as Chuck went on the rampage as a leading man flexing his Karate muscles as six times world champion in a series of martial arts movies where he inevitably played a lone maverick cop… mostly.

Films such as Slaughter in San Francisco, A Force of One and Good Guys Wear Black gave Chuck the chance to improve on his once wooden acting technique. As the films came thick and fast Chuck became more accomplished he became more prolific.

The Martial arts craze was in full swing and the American movie industry had found its hero, okay so he wasn’t the most handsome leading man but he was surely the toughest!

“Chuck Norris once slapped a criminal ten blocks away, giving birth to the saying ­Long arm of the law”

Many fights with Ninjas, soldiers and criminals later, and as the Kung Fu craze waned a little, an author called David Morell had written a book in 1972 called First Blood. Ten years later it would be made into a blockbuster film which led to Rambo First Blood part 2, which was preceded by Chuck becoming Braddock the star of Missing in Action. This came out in 1984 while Rambo 2 in 1985.

Coincidentally both had the same subject matter: Missing Vietnam vets, American soldiers believed to be the hostages of the Vietnam Army in secret jungle hideouts.

One was Hollywood slick and one wasn’t but both were about as good or bad as each other. Unless you were a die hard Chuck Norris fan.

Never, ever name a hurricane… Chuck Norris.

Over the years Chuck has garnered a large faithful following that even with his stinkers: Sidekicks, Top Dog and Forest Warrior (plus a few others) has grown little Chuck into the stuff of legends.

Lone Wolf McQuade is generally seen as his best film this led to The Walker Texas Ranger series on TV and it easily transitioned into the small screen.

It became a smash hit.

From September 1993 to May 2001 Chuck was kicking asses on the small silver screen, the only law being a reverse roundhouse!

A movie spinoff Trial by fire in 2005, four years after the TV series ended, did little to reignite franchise.

While Chuck still had a cult following the type of series and films he had made were becoming less popular as bigger, more expensive and massive blockbuster films ruled.

While Chuck was definitely not expendable he did a guest stint in one of the Expendables series of movies that seemed to collect the old tough guys and mix them with the next generation. Stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger meet Statham, Li and even hot MMA fighter Ronda Rousey.

Like Chuck the Expendable movies are a cliche, a dinosaur that shouldn’t exist in today’s movie market. But they do and like Chuck this sort of forgotten bash em up style still pops up and surprises us with a punch in the face.

Chuck himself is a devout Christian, has been married twice and is a genuine chap.

I imagine he would chuckle at all the stuff that come with his legendary status.

“Chuck Norris was once bitten by a cobra. After five days of agonizing pain, the cobra finally died.”

A website known as Chuck Norris Facts has been created as a parody of his career, containing hundreds of absurdly creative statements about his intellect, strength, virility and image, such as ‘Chuck Norris once shot down a German
fighter plane by pointing at it and yelling “Bang!”.

Chuck is not offended by the website, in fact, has said he feels honored to have a website named after him and says he laughts when he reads the facts.

A lot of stuff has been written about Chuck Norris, this is just some of it!

by Carl Bray

He began his martial arts training in 1962 and joined the Shaw Brothers in the same year. From there he went on to become one of the most famous actors in Hong Kong kung fu movies in years 1960’s to 1980’s.

He played big roles in many kung fu movies together with many famous actors and actresses such as Cheng Pei Pei, Jimmy Wang Yu, Maggie Cheung, Lee van Cleef, Jackie Chan, Gordon Liu, Chow Yun Fat and many others.

In 1973 he began to direct and also star in Devil and Angel. In the same year 1973, his Five Fingers of Death a.k.a. King Boxer (in which he played with Bolo Yeung among others), became the first Hong Kong movie to make a splash at the American box office. It was the first kung fu movie to have an international release. This was the first successful martial arts movie to reach American shores, even before Bruce Lee‘s Fist of Fury.

In 1988 he played alongside Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in Dragons Forever. In 1992 in Police Story 3 : Super Cop, he played with Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. His last movie was Glass Tears in 2001 before he retired from acting at the age of 62. He filmed more than 70 movies with the Shaw Brothers.

Although he played much as the villain in most of his movies which in truth his face is much more suited for, Lo Lieh was a devout Buddhist renown for a gentle off-screen demeanour.

During the 70’s and into the early 80’s he was in the host of classic movies Chinese Boxer, Bamboo House of Dolls, Black Magic, The Magic Blade, Executioners from Shaolin, Eighteen Jade Arhats, Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave, and Black Magic with Buddha.

Lo Lieh seems to have appeared in about 3 out of every 5 movies made in Hong Kong between 1970 and 1980. Directors Liu Chia Liang and Chang Cheh from the Shaw Brothers studio cast Lo Lieh in many of their iconic kung fu movies. He worked with swordswoman Cheng Pei Pei (Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in her early career.

He also shared the screen with Chow Yun Fat, Angela Mao, Gordon Liu and many other Hong Kong movie stars. He is not only created some of the most memorable villains of the era but also he is done a handful of straight dramatic roles.

Lo Lieh, he did not embarrass easily and he liked to work. He used to brag that he only needed 4 hours of sleep at night and calculated that it allowed him 16 hours to make money everyday. He did not mind working overtime in multiple productions simultaneously. He went on to work with every significant player in Hong Kong.

He is best remembered for the many villainous roles he played throughout the years. While competent as a martial arts performer, Lo Lieh was also a fine actor who imbued his characters with charisma and depth.

Martial arts movie legend, actor, director, producer and writer Lo Lieh passed away in Shenzen in 2002 at the age of 63 due to heart attack. He leaves a rich body of work behind him and will be missed and remembered by his many fans.

Written by Greta Dibyo
From various sources

Born as Chuang Chen Li (Chong Chuen-Lei) in Magelang, Indonesia on February 10, 1957 he started his acting career in 1977 in a local movie named Pembalasan Si Pitung.

He lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and the US for years to study and learn everything about action movies. Later he studied at Kahana’s Stunt School in California.

His flawless and energetic martial arts moves had been noticed and played a good role in his career in the movie industry. The movie Crystal Fist also known as Jade Claw in Hong Kong made him the Best New Comer at the International Movie Academy Award in Italy in 1980. His another movie Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave received the Box Office Award.

Years later Jade Claw was still played on TV channel 12 in Long Beach, California, also on the original Forty Deuce and aired on WNEW-TV Metromedia channel 5.

Some people say that Billy Chong is as good as Jackie Chan in classic kung fu plot and he got the look, too! Watching him in movies with his master Simon Yuen indeed reflecting Jackie Chan in Drunken Master!

The following movies made him a very famous actor in Hong Kong during period of 1978-1982:

• Invincible Monkey Fist (1978)
• Hard Way to Die (1979)
• Super Power (1979)
• Black Belt Karate (1979)
• Crystal Fist (1979)
• Black Jim Smashes All (1980)
• Kung Fu Executioner (1980)
• Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave (1982)
• Kung Fu Zombie (1982)
• A Fistful of Talons (1983)

Due to some reasons he decided to go back and stay in Indonesia in 1982. He still made a lot of action movies back home and started being a producer and director, too. His own TV series, Deru Debu was a local hit. He also starred in, directed and produced another hit TV series, Sapu Jagad in 2000.

Here is the short interview with Billy Chong.

Now his eldest son, Leon Dozan, a national athlete, seems to follow his father’s steps in the movie industry.

Some interesting quotes from the movie :

• … dog bites dog.
• Learning kung fu comes before everything.
• You’ve been slacky, haven’t you?
• Don’t be cocky. You must learn!!

All fans of classic Hong Kong movies who are ready to spend a whole day enjoying Billy Chong films, can click on the play button below and start watching Wu Tang Collection Marathon consists of 9 movies.

Written by Greta Dibyo from various sources.
Edited by Roman from Budomate Magazine.

Let’s take a closer look at Asian monster with extremely imposing physique.

Yang began training when he was only 10 and studied under several kung fu masters practising Tai Chi and Wing Chun, but growing up, he became more interested in bodybuilding. In the early 1960s, like millions of others, he took part in the “great exodus to Hong Kong” and moved there looking for a better life. Bolo settled into his new life in Hong Kong as a gym instructor.

Bolo Yeung” width=”600″ height=”257″ />

His hard work paid off when he took a title of Mr. Hong Kong which he held for 10 years, winning everything between 1970 and 1980. That’s how he has got his nickname Chinese Hercules.

Huge physique and respected position as a bodybuilding instructor landed him several roles at the Shaw Brothers Film Studio in such films as The Heroic Ones, The Deadly Duo, Angry Guest and others.

Interesting fact, when Bolo was around 25 he met Bruce Lee while the two were filming a Winston cigarettes commercial, soon they became close friends working on fighting technique for Enter the Dragon.

“There will never be another Bruce Lee; and I am privileged to have had the honor of calling him friend.”

During the 1970-80s Bolo played in numerous kung fu and Bruceploitation films where he appeared alongside ‘clones’ of Bruce Lee, such as Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee. This time he developed his trademark ‘not looking’ style.

Chest of a size of two garbage can lids and threatening glare the last thing that every movie hero could remember before Bolo turned them into a whimpering, limping wreck. As the movie’s central villain, he is savaging and killing any opponent that dares to take on him.

The man who survived the fight with Bolo

Bolo’s biggest breakout happened when he was offered a role of Chong Li in Bloodsport in 1988. By this time he was 42 and already played in 69!!! movies. Once again his personality and skills formed a strong friendship with another rising action star Jean-Claude van Damme.

Bloodsport was made on a budget of $1,100,000 and grossed $12,000,000 only in US, and I sure still getting some money every year. The real Frank Dux was the fighting coordinator for this film. When Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast, Dux announced that Van Damme wasn’t nearly in good enough shape, and put him through a 3-month training program. Van Damme called those three months “the hardest training of his life”. By the way, Jean-Claude does his trade mark splits a total of seven times during the film.

WAIT!!!

There is one man who dared to take on Bolo and survived! In Bloodsport movie the fighter named Parades, played by Michel Qissi (he also played famous Tong Po in Kickboxer), gets his leg broken, however, throughout the next several scenes he is unhurt and seated on the bleachers. This man is so lucky.

Even after Bloodsport was filmed, the movie was almost never released, but Jean-Claude Van Damme helped edit the film so that it could be.

BUT!!!

Much more interesting fact that Jeff Pruitt was considered for the lead role, but dropped out because of a serious ankle injury. So this movie served as a jumping-off place for two biggest action stars, and who knows where van Damme could be if not a Bloodsport opportunity.

If you are a true fan of Bloodsport this CD is a MUST HAVE! After almost 30 years the full score and soundtrack is available totally uncut and includes the Original song “Fight to Survive” performed by Stan Bush. All cues from the film are represented and are 100% spot on. It is highly recommended for any martial arts fan out there. Hurry only 3000 copies made.

Villainous one-eyed henchman

Their on-screen chemistry was so successful that the two later teamed up again in Double Impact, where Bolo steals the show as Moon, the villainous one-eyed henchman. The superb final fight scene demonstrates martial arts cinema at its best.

Bolo took advantage out of his popularity and played the antagonist in such martial arts movies as:

• Bloodfight alongside Yasuaki Kurata and Simon Yam
• Breathing Fire alongside Jerry Trimble
• Tiger Claws alongside Cynthia Rothrock and Jalal Merhi
• Fearless Tiger alongside Jalal Merhi
• Iron Heart alongside Richard Norton and Britton K. Lee
• Shootfighter alongside William Zabka and Martin Kove
• TC2000 alongside Billy Blanks, Matthias Hues and Jalal Merhi

But at the end of 90s he disappeared from the market like many others…

.

True movie villains never die

Let me answer one question that you have been asking yourself many times: “Why my favourite martial artists stop making any films and where all martial arts movies gone?” The reason why we lost all action heroes at the end of 90s was that top producers of movie industry decided to change films hero look and give Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp and others the carte blanche. That’s it! Simple as it sounds. That’s what we have today.

[gaad]

Bolo tried to fulfill his ambition of becoming a movie hero, appearing in two Shootfighter movies, but if you look at him closer you will notice he is clearly out of his comfort ‘villain’ zone.

The next time when we saw Bolo was Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter in 2007 where he played a small role alongside Cung Le, David Carradine, Eric Roberts and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. But due to legal issues, this film remains unreleased. In 2015 he played another role in The Whole World at Our Feet movie but there is no word will it be released or not.

4 best Asian kung fu movies of Bolo Yeung

But let’s get back to Bolo’s career as he played in a few very remarkable Asian movies such as:

Drunken Master (1978)
Th movie that made Jackie Chan an action star. The film was a success at the Hong Kong box office, earning two and a half times the amount of Chan’s previous film, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, but sure the success can be splitted between Chan, Bolo and Hwang. By the way, did you know movie features Hung Ga, which was historically practiced by Wong Fei-hung and his father, both of whom are major characters in this film. The systems of “Devil’s Kick” and “Devil’s Shadowless Hands” employed by Taekwondo master Hwang Jang-lee are entirely fictitious.

According to Chan’s book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, he nearly lost an eye after his brow ridge was injured.

My Lucky Stars (1985)
This action comedy directed by Sammo Hung, who also starred in the film alongside Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. Bolo played a very small role of Millionaire Chan. This film was nominated for the Best Action Choreography at 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Legacy of Rage (1986)
The first lead role of Brandon Lee and the only Hong Kong production he starred in. Bolo played a cameo in this movie. He had to spend several weeks training Brandon so the young star would appear to be a worthy opponent.

Millionaires Express (1987)
In also knows as Shanghai Express Bolo played Cotton weaver, this film united best Asian and Western actors and can be called Asian Expendables. Now you know where Mr. Stallone took his idea from (kidding). You only look at the cast: Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Hwang Jang Lee, Eric Tsang, Wu Ma, Yasuaki Kurata, Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock.

Bruce Lee inspires me to stay strong in times of challenge or trial, because not every day is a sunny day.

The legacy continues

Family legacy is living on with Bolo’s son David who is professional bodybuilder too and now tries to breakthrough into the movies. What is interesting he was born on the same day as his father – July 3, but in 1974 of cause. He started practising Tai Chi at the age of 5 and martial arts at age 7. As he has a weak body Bolo decided to take him to the gym to start weight training and at age 14 he already competed in his first teenage bodybuilding competition.

David won Mr California title in 1998. At 23 years old at a bodyweight of 84kg he could do 184kg squats for 20 reps!

Now David is a personal trainer and used to work with such legends as Magic Johnson, Sean Jones, IFBB pro bodybuilder Flex Wheeler, Hollywood actor Rico Mcclinton and others.

Look at him in the 70’s he was huge and could fight, I want to bring that kind of impressionability back.

If you would like to find out more about David you are welcome to look up on his Facebook page, YouTube channel and Instagram account.

Here is the interesting video with deleted scenes of David’s fighting skills.

Where is Bolo now

Here is Van Damme and Bolo Yeung at Budo Gala 2010 in Basel.

In 2011 Jean Claude’s son Kris has arranged a family meal at a restaurant and has secretly invited Bolo to surprise his father. You can watch the video below.

And here is Bolo Yeung visiting the Fitness Club on 16 May 2011 in Russia.

And here is a really rare footage of Bolo on Russia TV.

Here is the photos of Bolo Yeung alongside legendary cast of Enter The Dragon – Bob Wall, Jim Kelly, and John Saxon. They all were inducted into the Prestigious All-Pro Tae Kwon Do’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

And here is the photo of Bolo and Lady Dragon herself Cynthia Rothrock.

Bolo Yeung currently lives in Monterey Park, Los Angeles, and has a daughter Debbra and two sons, Danny and David. He still trains regularly, practicing Tai Chi and weightlifting, and holds a managerial position at The Tapei International Federation Of Body Builders squad and a chairman of The Hong Kong Gym Business Association.

Despite being a kind and generous family man off-screen, it is the menacing roles that best display his formidable talents on-screen, and no-one can doubt his contribution to Kung Fu Cinema and his reputation as one of the toughest bad guys around.

If you are interested in Bolo you can find his Fan page on Facebook, profile pages on Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Fandango, iMDB and even Russian Fansite.

Bolo’s famous movie quotes:

• Very good. But brick not hit back!
• You break my record, now I break you, like I break your friend.
• You are next!

March 31, 2013 will mark the 20 happened that fatal night, and how did this event shape the cast and crew of this now cult film?

It was 50 of a 58 day shoot, and the crew was ready for murder.

It was 12:30am on March 31, 1993 when Australian director, Alex Proyas yelled CUT! on the set of The Crow in Wilmington, North Carolina. For a moment, the film’s leading man, 28 year-old Brandon Lee was thought to be playing a practical joke, but his motionless body told another story – something was wrong, very, very wrong.

“Brandon, are you okay?,” asked on-set medic Clyde Baisey.

But Brandon didn’t respond.

Only minutes earlier, Lee had been in good spirits as he looked forward to the very last night of the action sequences in the film. The scene promised to be easy enough; they were filming the flashback death scene of the main character Eric Draven, played by Lee, and that of his girlfriend. Out of the nine sequences on the schedule that evening, this death scene was the shortest.

The set for the night’s events was a large loft, equipped with industrial-style support beams, and hard wooden floors. Standing at the entrance of the set door, Lee looked the part; dressed in black leather jacket, tight corduroys, black boots which were tapped down tight against his legs to give him a sleeker look, and a white T-shirt with the name of his character’s fictional band “HANGMAN’S JOKE” in block letters.

While waiting for the rehearsal, Lee chatted with his friend and The Crow’s wardrobe designer, Arianne Phillips. Lee’s thoughts were not on the evening’s shooting, but on his wedding due to take place in less than two weeks to Eliza Hutton, his long-term girlfriend to whom he was due to marry the following month.

“He was so excited. I remember him telling me how we were getting to Mexico and saying that we would start the party on the bus,” recalls Arianne Phillips, who had fitted Lee for his Armani wedding tuxedo only days earlier.

The Crow was to be Brandon Lee’s breakthrough film; the story of man who comes back from the dead to avenge his and his true love’s death. The role, based on a comic book of the same name, the role of Eric appealed to the romantic in Lee. The role was not Hamlet, but it was the closest thing to a dramatic role that the young actor had the opportunity to do on film.

As the only son of Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee, who died in 1973 of a brain edema when Brandon Lee was eight, his path to Hollywood stardom was not paved with gold. After studying theatre at Emerson College in Boston, Lee maintained his study with weekly acting classes as he struggled to be accepted as a dramatic actor on his own terms. Bit parts in low budget action films eventually graduated into a martial arts film career, something Lee never wanted.

“I wanted to do Mean Streets, not Enter The Dragon,” Lee told Empire Magazine in 1992.

For years, Lee had a reputation for being arrogant, angry and somewhat reckless – later he described these traits masked the “hopeless unhappiness”, he felt trying to be his own man, whilst living in the shadow of his famous father. After a few moderately successful action films, he was signed to a number of studios including, 20 Century Fox and Carolco for three-picture deals.

Brandon Lee seemed on his way to achieving his acting dream.

By 1992, Lee was being billed as a star in the making, and he was represented by the best people in the business. With his good Eurasian looks, chiseled jaw lines and his friendly disposition, he was the package that the producers of The Crow were looking for – at a fraction of the cost.

After reading the script for The Crow, Lee enthusiastically coveted the role of Eric Draven, telling his manager, Jan McCormack, “you have to get me this part”. It was supposed to be the start of bigger things for Brandon Lee, not the end.

The Crow started principle filming on February 1, 1993, Brandon’s 28th birthday,and it wasn’t long before the penning pinching oversights on the $14 million production started to be plagued by mishaps; a stuntman accidentally fell through a roof breaking several ribs, a carpenter was electrocuted, and an unexplained fire almost destroyed one of the backlots.

Despite the problems on the set, Brandon Lee forged ahead giving his all to the role he felt would help define his career. A daily routine of three hours of make-up transformed Lee into the brooding and menacing avenger. Some scenes on The Crow called for Lee to be barefoot in almost freezing temperature, all which he did without complaint, impressing even the most veteran of actors with his positive attitude and professionalism.

“When I think back, I can remember how Brandon worked so incredibly hard. He worked his butt off in the freezing cold and rain,” says Lee’s co-star Ernie Hudson.

The grueling schedule on The Crow started taking its toll on Lee; there were days when he worked 19 hours straight, and fatigue and insomnia had set in. While Brandon Lee was naturally optimistic and friendly, the lack of sleep and depressing conditions on set forced him to take a closer look at the “sub-human” conditions that people were being forced to work.

On Saturday March 28, 1993, four days before he died, Lee lodged a formal complaint to his agent, Mike Simpson and manager, Jan McCormack, which was sent to producer, Bob Rosen. Rosen’s response was less than comforting. McCormack’s last words to Rosen became prophetic, “you guys are killing Brandon down there.”

Working extra hours on film sets is not unusual, says Mike Simpson, Lee’s then-agent at the influential William Morris Agency, but even he found this excessive when he visited the set several weeks into production.

“Actors are meant to get a certain amount of downtime between rapping one scene and starting the next. There are provisions for violating that, you pay a fine, which is called a force call payment. But there can also be a limit on how many forced calls per week you can have and they were violating it, cutting corners,” explains Mike Simpson.

What Brandon Lee didn’t know that night was that the weapon actor Michael Massee was usinghad been loaded with a lethal charge. Two weeks earlier, Prop Master, Daniel Kuttner, needed some dummy bullets for the 2nd unit crew to film a close up of the gun cylinder, but realizing there was no money in the budget for new dummy bullets, he decided to make his own using live ammunition.

Kuttner, Stunt Coordinator, Jeff Imada and Special Effects man, Bruce Merlin,removed the gun powder, crimped together the bullets. But the men had failed to fire off all the primers (which is the charge of a bullet) when they used the rounds for filming. One primer hadnot discharged properly leaving a piece of the lead tip of the bullet with a primer in the barrel of the weapon. When the gun was needed for the fatal scene, it was re-loaded with blanks (which are harmless show bullets without any charge), causing a lethal charge that had the force of a real .44 bullet.

“It’s was actually worse than a real bullet,” says Mike Simpson, who undertook his own investigation into the accident. “It was like two bullets firing at the same time.”

When Brandon Lee was shot he fell backwards not forwards, as he had rehearsed. He landed against a thick wooden door, the only exit door on that set, but due to the force of the fall, he ended up in a sitting up position. Stunt Coordinator Jeff Imada made his way to Brandon initially because he suspected “that’s something catastrophic had happened”, and stayed by Lee’s side assisting media Baisey as best he could. As the set was cleared, crew members were forced to file past the barely conscious actor.

The grocery bag Lee was carrying, which was rigged with squibs(a fake explosive charge), detonated, exploding the milk container and a blood pack, the effect ripped through the brown paper bag leaving a hole. Due to the mess, Baisey found it difficult to know where the injury was coming from. “It wasn’t until his abdomen began to swell that I knew that it must be internal bleeding, “says Baisey.

Brandon Lee was rushed to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C, profusely hemorrhaging. After an X-ray it was determined that some kind of object had lodged itself against his spin, though no one had any idea what that object was. Lee was taken to emergency surgery where doctors attempted to repair the damage to his internal organs. The bullet had severed a major artery, and his blood wouldn’t clot.

The blood loss was substantial. He was pronounced dead at 1:03PM on March 31, 1993 some 12 hours after being shot. It was only after the autopsy that they found the object initially suspected as being a squib was actually a bullet.

Rumors swirled that it was murder, or that Brandon Lee had been killed by Chinese mafia for sharing martial arts secrets of his father. But the ballistic reports released several weeks after Lee’s death confirmed that it had been a modified bullet, rather than a real .44, supporting the police findings.

“Somebody really screwed up. At some point, somebody has to take responsible, even if it’s just in their heart,” says co-star, Ernie Hudson.

Brandon Lee’s death was determined by the Wilmington Police to be an accidental death, though a negligent death and no criminal charges were filed. The North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration and found the production company in violation of several safety laws, fining them $84,000, as did the Actor Guild of America who also fined them for allowing Massee to fire directly at Lee.

Brandon’s mother, Linda Cadwell sued the 14 crew members in civil court who were determined to have been negligent in his death, including Jeff Imada, Daniel Kuttner and Bruce Merlin, and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount (rumored to have been $3 Million).

The Crow finished the few remaining scenes with the help of a stuntman and friend of Brandon’s, Chad Stahelski, who Lee trained with at the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts in Los Angeles. The film was released to critical acclaim on May 11, 1994 grossing $11 Million in its opening weekend.

Almost 20 years has transpired since Lee’s death, but the affection or influence that he still has on many of the people who worked on the film has never dimmed. Those who knew him well still fondly remember the man that ended up giving his life to a film.

Ernie Hudson, Lee’s co-star on The Crow says he now spends much of his year attending comic conventions, where many fans want to talk about his experience on The Crow and about Brandon Lee.

“He was a nice kid and he was so good in The Crow”, Hudson says, who first met Lee in 1988. “ I tell people that he was a talented actor and decent human being.”

James O’Barr who created the comic ‘The Crow’ admits that he had a “sort of survivor’s guilt” for years afterwards. “I wished I had never created the damn thing,” he says. “But after speaking with Eliza (Brandon Lee’s fiancée) she helped me see that what happened to Brandon wasn’t my fault.”

The Crow has become a cult hit among all age groups, and has especially resonated, says O’Barr, with people dealing with their own grief, something he has struggled with since Lee’s death.

“Moving on is part of death and grief too. You can’t stay in that anger and bitter place forever because that’s not healthy,” says O’Barr.

Brandon Lee’s sister, Shannon Lee, who now heads Bruce Lee Enterprises recently tweeted that her “Though I have mixed feelings about the film because of his death, he shined brilliantly and needs to be remembered.”

Jeff Imada says that his own personal loss is not just because of his 15-year friendship that he shared with Lee. “There is hardly a time that goes by where I don’t think of Brandon,” he says. “But for the audiences not to see more of this young man’s talent especially when he was just coming into his own is tragic.”

Brandon Lee’s legacy may just be in the lives he touched, many of whom have never forgotten what was lost that cold night in March. The Crow forever will be Lee’s epitaph, a story of a young man in his prime, that audiences will always wonder about, and what might have been.

“You were making a film with a star who wasn’t yet a star – it was the weirdest thing,” says director, Alex Proyas.

We often get contacted at Impact by people who are trying to break into the world of action and martial arts movie making, be it as Directors, Choreographers or most often stuntmen and actors. We’re happy to help if we can and offer advice or pointers, but sometimes the most frustrating thing is that you encounter people who sometimes have all the talent but completely the wrong mindset. Impact’s Far Eastern Editor Mike Leeder who also happens to be an accomplished casting director with such projects as Rush Hour 3, Fearless, True Legend and most recently The Man with the Iron Fist under his belt, thought it was time to put pen to paper about the do’s & don’t s of the casting process.

A few months ago I was in the midst of casting for two major projects and it was very interesting to see the way certain people dealt with the casting process and presented themselves in both positive & negative ways. Yes, casting can be a frustrating experience and sometimes they are aptly called ‘cattle calls’ when you realise that there can be so many people reading for/auditioning for a certain role but you know what, people do get hired this way. You can be the greatest actor or martial artist, or wanna-be stuntman with the highest skill level and all the talent in the world, but if you don’t present yourself in a professional way, you’re not doing yourself any favours.

Now a lot of people have probably seen the black & white footage of a young Bruce Lee casting for a proposed Number One Son series, which would have been an update of the Charlie Chan detective series. We see Lee introducing himself, showcasing his martial arts skills and discussing some of his philosophy and ideas and at times you can see his frustration with some of the questions he’s being asked but he does what’s required of him at the casting, that show never went into production but that footage did bring him to the attention of the producers of The Green Hornet which of course did lead him onto bigger and better things. The footage can be found on Bruce Lee The Legend or online at:

The young Jean-Claude Van Damme got his first major role in Ng See-yuen’s No Retreat No Surrender by attending an open casting that was advertised in Dramalog, he attended, demonstrated his skills, and got the role. He came to the attention of uber-producer Menahem Golan who would produce his big breakout in Bloodsport, by giving an impromptu martial arts demonstration.

Neither of those two people said ‘Oh I’m better than all this, why do I need to go to a casting. here’s my resume and my name, if you want anything else…go out and do the research yourself!’ And yet that’s often the attitude that I get from people, often the same people who have contacted me asking for help to break into the industry, yet they don’t seem willing to put the time and effort into pursuing the very thing they claim is their dream.

You need to present the best package representing your talent and abilities that you possibly can, including a straight forward neatly presented resume, good clear photographs not fuzzy frame grabs etc (or posters for unmade movies where you’re the star!) including a good headshot as well as perhaps action shots and a showreel that allows people to see what you can do on camera and what you can do.

When I first came to Hong Kong back in the days of VHS etc, it did take some effort to assemble a showreel, but even then it was a necessity. Now with the prevalence of home video cameras, even camera phones and the ease and availability of computers that can support video editing, it’s so much easier. Every PC or MAC comes complete with basic video editing software, windows movie maker or I-movie etc work fine, don’t tell me how you can’t cut a reel because you don’t have access to Final Cut Pro, an Avid Video Editing system or a DOP and Red One HD camera oh and a team of professional stuntmen! If you don’t have access to editing or camera equipment yourself, ask your friends, enquire at your local media centre, and shoot it on your mobile phone camera if necessary!

But shoot something, have an idea of how you look on camera, you can always reshoot, fine tune etc, but something is better than nothing. Same thing for photos, yes a pro headshot is a plus but get some friends to take enough pictures and you’ll be able to find one or two that are good…what I don’t want to see is overly photo-shopped pictures where you don’t look like yourself!

Things Not To Do

Do not make the comment ‘why should I cut a showreel? Can’t the director or action director watch my movies, go to my website and do some research’..or my all time favourite ‘well you know how much effort it takes to cut a showreel’…yes the amount of effort that might get you a job!

Do not contact me telling me how much you want the opportunity to cast for a particular project, and then after arranging a time and place, do not show up or even call me to let me know what’s happening. Getting back to me a few days later to tell me that you didn’t call me to let me know you weren’t coming as you didn’t want to upset me isn’t really a good answer, yes sitting around the office waiting for someone to not show up is a great way to spend my time!

Do not send me an e-mail telling me how great you are, and how there have been so many requests for you to star in Hong Kong martial arts movies & TV shows (while not attaching a resume, pics, showreel, link to a showreel etc)..then when I ask ‘a little confused, if you’ve been invited to do all these projects, what do you want my help with, contracts? Who invited you?’…and the answer comes back ‘well my fans of course!’

Do not tell me how you won’t attend a casting, unless the director or star is there (especially if you have no credits to your name)

Do not e-mail me with a resume that introduces you as ‘International Action Movie Star of the Year’ and lists no credits but has the website for your international fanclub.

Do not send me e-mails that say ‘Dear Leeder, you need to put us in touch with Yune Wo-bing as he would want to learn about choreography from us…” and then e-mail me the headshots of the incredibly skilled stuntmen/screenfighters you represent with i kid you not the following detailed information about their skill level…

Name: John Smith Martial Arts Skills: DEADLY!

Name: Howard Johnson Martial Arts Skills: DANGEROUS!!!

Do not send a resume that lists you as starring in movies that haven’t been made, especially when one of the movies listed is a project I was attached to! Then to make things worse, tell me that you were supposed to be in the film and it’s not your fault it wasn’t made and then continue to list other films on your resume that you’re supposedly in and when I ask the director how you were to work with, and they tell me ‘he never worked on the film!’ continue to make excuses and that you were supposed to be in the movie, thus you list the credit!

Do not send me an e-mail introducing yourself as an excellent martial artist and actor, and that the team behind you may be willing to offer me possible financial rewards if I suitably help your career! I won’t recommend someone coz I’m getting a kickback, I recommend people because of what they can do, my reputation is on the line so a quick $$ isn’t going to make me violate my own personal code of ethics!

Do not send me showreels which feature stunts/martial arts action not being performed by you but you are trying to pass off as your own work. One British stuntman with legitimate credits to his name, sent me a showreel once that featured scenes from a Hong Kong movie he’d worked on but not just the scenes he appeared in, but various stunt and action sequences he had nothing to do with..when I asked him why, he said he was trying to show the scale of the movie…no he was trying to imply he’d been involved in the action as a choreographer or performer when he hadn’t.

DO NOT LIE! Do not claim to have starred in a number of movies that have never been made, yes you and your friends photoshopped some artwork, fantastic but that’s not a real credit, do not claim the BBC is making a documentary about you when it’s not, and then claim there is interest to turn it into a stage show! All you are doing is making yourself look dodgy, if you’re lying about this, then everything else you do starts to become questionable.

Do not send me your materials for consideration and then announce on the internet that you are about to be signed for a major role in the project!

Do not say that you will need to have final control over what does or doesn’t go into the choreography. Yes I have had people tell me that when submitting materials for projects with Yuen Woo-ping etc.

Do not tell me how you are unwilling to attend a casting, unless you get a private introduction to the director.

Do not send me press clippings where you talk about how your career began when you were offered a role on a movie in Hong Kong, one that while you added yourself to the credit list on IMDB.com you never actually worked on, because you didn’t show up!

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the wrong way of approaching the casting process. We had just begun the casting process for Ronny Yu’s Fearless with Jet Li, when I got a call from one young would be martial arts actor who had arrived in Hong Kong specifically with the intention of breaking into film. He called me up and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Well we’re looking for people to play champion fighters (originally we were looking at having 12 fighters face off during the finale) from different styles, probably in the age range 25-30 upwards.

Young Wanna-Be: Well I’m 18 ! (Beat) But I look like I’m 16!

Me: Might not be an issue, do you have a showreel and portfolio of pictures, resume etc? (Bear in mind that he’d come to Hong Kong with the intention of breaking into films as a martial arts actor/stuntman)

Young Wanna-Be: No!

Me: AH ok, well what’s your martial arts background?

Young Wanna-Be: I can do anything! I’m self taught!

Me: Hmm ok, why don’t you come in for a casting tomorrow?

I’m thinking that you never know, I might see what he can do and go to Ronny, action director Yuen Woo-ping & Jet Li and say ‘I know he might not be what we were originally looking for, but look what he can do’..casting concepts sometimes changes depending on the people you see. I also thought that it would be an opportunity to get him on tape, and that maybe if he wasn’t right for this project I’d be able to see what he could do and keep him in mind/recommend him for other projects and last but by no means least, I was giving him the opportunity to come in, try out, get some experience at casting and at least be able to tell people he auditioned.

Young Wanna-Be: Hmm who’s going to be at the casting? Will Jet Li or Yuen Woo-ping be there?

Me: No, it’ll be me, the other casting director and we’ll film what you can do, show it to them and if they like what they see we’ll get you to come back in for another casting.

Young Wanna-Be: Who are you to judge what I can do? If they’re not going to be there why should I bother to come in!

Needless to say the Young Wanna-be never came in to cast, never worked in a single Hong Kong project and soon returned to the UK where he was quick to talk about the lack of opportunities he was given by producers and directors who were unable to see the extent of his talent.

A few months later a friend of mine in the UK was prepping a short film and looking for locally based action/martial arts performers on the UKscreen website and came across his details and contacted him asking if he’d be interested in auditioning for a project and could he send his reel etc. The reply he got was ‘who are you asking me to audition?’ and that he didn’t have a showreel because he didn’t have access to a professional stunt team of the level of Yuen Woo-ping’s or Sammo Hung’s that could showcase his skills.

The world has changed since I first got involved in casting, the internet, YouTube, facebook etc have opened up the world in a fantastic way, allowing access to so much information, research materials, contacts for people in the industry and more. So make use of the web the right way in promoting and marketing yourself, take a look at the right way of doing things. Check out the website of Australian actor Conan Stevens www.conanstevens.com as a perfect example of how to use the web to promote and market yourself, he’s worked his way up from walk on roles in films like Power Kids, through stunt & character roles in films like From Chandi Chowk to China & True Legend, to solid supporting roles as an actor and physical performer in Game of Thrones and is now working on The Hobbit.

Later we’ll take a look at the right way to approach casting and using the web to market and promote yourself as a performer. Now as we end I’d just like to say that the biggest frustration for me, is that often the people approaching the casting process the wrong way, are often people that with the right guidance or a slight change of attitude and approach could really go far. I’m not trying to knock people down, I’d like to see them succeed!

TO BE CONTINUED…

While it was his first starring role, technically Van Damme had graced the silver screen prior to that in a trio of comical supporting roles he’d probably like to forget. 1984 saw him appear briefly – and mercifully uncredited – as some guy dancing wildly in the background of Breakin’ – and we all know how the man loves to dance. In fact, he started ballet when he was about 16 and still swears by it to this day.

His role as a flamboyantly karate man in French film Monaco Forever didn’t exactly lend itself to the promise of future stardom, but unbeknownst to everyone it was lying in wait. Before those bigger things eventually came calling, Van Damme would risk life and limb as a stunt man on Chuck Norris vehicle Missing in Action.

It stood him in good stead for the rest of his career, really: If you can survive Chuck Norris, you can survive anything. Which, incidentally, he sort of has, on and off the set. The man’s been married five times, after all.

While Van Damme might’ve played villainous Russian fighter Ivan Kraschinsky in No Retreat, No Surrender, the fact most audiences actively cheered for him during that climactic final brawl with the film’s good guy, Bruce Lee-wannabe Kurt McKinney, meant one thing: This was not a man to waste playing cardboard Iron Curtain antagonists, and the action landscape of the ‘80s and ‘90s would never be the same.

A new star had inadvertently been born, and his next stop was 1988’s Bloodsport. The celluloid legend of alleged ninja and elite military man Frank Dux might’ve been fanciful, but we’d never seen a jump spinning heel kick before and we wanted to see more of them.

Much like a certain Arnold Schwarzenegger who had just recently made a muscular impact on Hollywood with 1985’s Running Man, here was another unlikely foreign action star in the making with a thick accent and a rippling physique. The two were destined to collide in the weirdest way possible when Van Damme was set to ‘star’ as the man in the titular killer alien suit for 1987’s Predator. It was not to be, and to this day the hazy controversy surrounding his eventual dismissal in favour of Kevin Peter Hall lingers.

Reportedly, Van Damme complained that the suit was “too clumsy and too hot,” and grew increasingly resentful of the fact he would receive minimal billing – if any. In his autobiography, co-star Jessie Ventura even went so far as to claim Van Damme took his dissatisfaction out on a fellow stunt man, intentionally injuring him. The official line, however, was that he simply wasn’t physically big enough to match biceps with the super-jacked Arnie, Ventura, and Rocky refugee Carl Weathers.

That physical divide turned out to be biggest partition between the respective appeal of these two European behemoths, and the showdown so many action-fans wanted to see would never eventuate. Where Arnie’s sheer size guaranteed a formidable onscreen presence, it was Van Damme’s extensive real-life martial arts experience as a former semi and full-contact competitive kickboxer that made him magnetic to watch – not to mention his testicular elasticity.

His ability to perform a full splits didn’t go unnoticed, and was put to a whole lot of creative good use throughout his career. It’s still hard to watch this scene, though.

Bloodsport might be a cult classic now, but at the time it was only the beginning. From 1989 onwards, Van Damme’s fame exploded whilst covering as many bases as possible: Cyborg played host to post-apocalyptic brutality; Kickboxer spiritually picked up where Bloodsport left off; Double Impact set the precedent for Van Damme’s future penchant for playing both sides of a twin dynamic.

And then there was 1992’s Universal Soldier. Universal Soldier is particularly notable because it’s the first time Van Damme’s spectacularly chiseled butt took center-stage.

From that point on the bunched-up Belgian buttocks would become somewhat of a talking (selling?) point for the rest of Van Damme’s career, which only picked up more steam following his savage showdown with fellow foreign-fighter-turned-thespian Dolph Lundgren at the climax of Universal Soldier.

Perhaps his perky posterior had something to do with it, but subsequently 1993’s Hard Target and Nowhere to Run saw the man nominated for Most Desirable Male by the MTV Movie Awards.

Then, tragedy struck. That tragedy was Street Fighter, the last film Raúl Juliá would make prior to his death in 1994 and the first real bomb Van Damme spearheaded right into unenviable box office notoriety. Scenes such as this are hilarious now, but at the time you wanted to dragon punch the memory of having seen it out of your head and commit your soul to the flames of a hard-punch hadoken:

Astonishingly this giant floating game-to-movie turd failed to flush Van Damme’s career down the toilet (the same can’t be said for just about every single one of his co-stars), and he hit back in the same year with Timecop. To this day, it remains his highest-grossing film, hauling in $103,646,581 worldwide on the back of a $27 million-dollar budget. Like Double Impact before it, it featured Van Damme playing himself in dual roles.

Sudden Death and Maximum Risk went on to kick ass and take names, but Van Damme’s directorial debut for 1996’s The Quest did not. Not only were critics heavily divided over the film, but it was to end Van Damme’s friendship with longtime friend and the man he portrayed in Bloodsport, Frank Dux.

Shortly after the film’s release Dux sued Van Damme, claiming that the script closely resembled one he’d written earlier for a project somewhat unimaginatively titled Enter The New Dragon: The Kumite and that Van Damme had verbally agreed to pay him 2.5% of whatever gross revenue the script produced. Bruce Lee turned in his grave and Van Damme was cleared of Dux’s allegations, but the two men’s relationship never recovered.

In an effort to make new friends, Van Damme elected to star in his first interracial buddy movie with eccentric former basketballer, Dennis Rodman. The result was Double Team. Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon series had proven to be a hit, Sly Stallone and Wesley Snipes had punched together a classic with 1993’s Demolition Man, and Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans had just recently struck gold with Bulletproof, so it all seemed just crazy enough to work.

To the contrary, Double Team marked the beginning of a devastating descent into B-grade irrelevancy for the once top-rated fighting man. Universally derided, it even picked up a Worst Screen Couple at the Razzie Awards. In retrospect it’s actually a grand example of ‘90s action pomp at its most definitive, but the damage had been done: Van Damme was no longer a force of Hollywood nature.

What followed was ten years of straight-to-video purgatory – and it was made worse by that old chestnut, substance abuse. Since 1995, Van Damme had been heavily addicted to cocaine. The following year he entered rehab but exited after only one week of treatment, going on to spend up to $10,000 a week on the white devil.

His floundering fortunes at the box office only served to exacerbate the problem, and things came to a head when his then-wife filed for divorce in 1997 citing spousal abuse and drug addiction. Knock Off tanked in 1998, Van Damme was diagnosed with rapid cycling bipolar disorder, and it seemed like things couldn’t get much lower for a man who once rode exceptionally high.

These misfortunes did serve as motivation and he successfully completed another stint in rehab, but his career wasn’t given a legitimate second chance until a decade later when he starred in his first mainstream appearance since Knock Off, 2008’s soul-baring JCVD.

Despite the fact it was filmed entirely in French, the titular star found himself nominated for Best Actor at both the 2008 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards and the 2009 Chlotrudist Awards. Much of JCVD’s acclaim stems from the troubled actor’s infamous and abrupt 6-minute monologue wherein he esoterically wrestles with the nature of fame, recounts his many sins, and genuinely sheds manly tears of regret.

An interesting extension on JCVD’s candid outpouring was this year’s British-made reality show, Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors. It screened on the UK’s ITV4 for 8 episodes, and detailed everything from his 50th birthday, to his return to the real-life kickboxing arena, to meeting his daughter’s new boyfriend – often excruciatingly so.

Whilst Van Damme’s career will never fully return to the heights scaled during its ‘80s and ‘90s boom period, his latter-day projects are at least receiving limited theatrical releases in selected territories rather than instantly finding their way into video store bargain bins.

2009’s Universal Soldier: Regeneration saw JCVD reteam with Dolph Lundgren for a significant return to form for the ailing sci-fi license, and a further follow-up in the shape of Universal Soldier: A New Dimension is due out in 2012.

In fact, 2012 is shaping up to be JCVD’s busiest period since this year ushered in the limited Stateside release of Assassination Games, his voice-acting debut as ‘Master Croc’ in Kung Fu Panda 2, and the belated October arrival of The Eagle Path – the first movie JCVD has written, directed, produced, and starred in.

And yes, although he was loathe to embrace his status as a post-prime action relic under the directorship of Stallone for 2010’s The Expendables, JCVD has confirmed his appearance in next year’s sequel, The Expendables 2. Will he do the splits?

– by Toby McCasker