tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post3124778465892279333..comments2024-03-15T20:14:57.052-04:00Comments on Direct to Video Connoisseur: Knock Off (1998)Direct to Video Connoisseurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02310858965138247572noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post-5353364513344752242009-11-04T14:37:27.123-05:002009-11-04T14:37:27.123-05:00He should have jumped on that one! I mean, it woul...He should have jumped on that one! I mean, it would have given him a gigantic boost into peoples consciousness again. <br /><br />Too bad his ego gets in the way like that.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post-15187264562290229962009-11-03T21:54:39.386-05:002009-11-03T21:54:39.386-05:00I really think Van Damme would never take a role i...I really think Van Damme would never take a role in a Hollywood film where he wasn't the star. It's an ego thing. He turned down a role in the new Stallone film The Expendables, which Dolph, Gary Daniels, and Jason Statham all signed on for.Direct to Video Connoisseurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02310858965138247572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post-39334620519350833562009-11-03T08:44:47.840-05:002009-11-03T08:44:47.840-05:00I meant Double Team, not Double Impact! Sorry abou...I meant Double Team, not Double Impact! Sorry about that. <br /><br />I remember I went to theaters to watch Knock Off, and I actually made my friends watch it. The hated me for it! And they were all laughing through out the whole film, kind of reminded me of that one time when I went to see Eck vs. Sever in theaters as well, people were snickering all over the place. <br /><br />One particular scene in Knock Off really disconnected me from the movie, its the one where he is fighting while on top of some bamboo scaffold, the editing in that scene is so bad that you can hardly understand what the hell is happening on screen! <br /><br />Also, I agree, Van Damme could play a villain, I just dont get why modern action directors dont give these "old" action stars a break in more theatrical films?Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post-47284521330739711302009-11-03T08:38:40.903-05:002009-11-03T08:38:40.903-05:00I think Van Dammes theatrical career died by a dou...I think Van Dammes theatrical career died by a double whammy of back to back bad films: <br /><br />First really awful one was Double Impact, with whats his name as a sidekick, Dennis Rodman. <br /><br />Then, follow that with Knock Off and its certafied that your theatrical career will end and that your straight to video one will begin. <br /><br />I had not realized this, but Van Dammes film career began as a background dancer in the break dancing movie called Breakin way back in 1984! Holy shit!Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post-33053573582032427892009-11-02T18:43:23.570-05:002009-11-02T18:43:23.570-05:00I was thinking about it, and if Van Damme could ch...I was thinking about it, and if Van Damme could check his ego at the door, I wonder if he could get a role as say a baddie in a Statham or Vin Diesel film. <br /><br />I never thought to do what you did and put this film in its 1998 context, but it's very telling. The film was meant to be off-beat and silly, but we as an audience had begun to see Van Damme and his splits and buttcheeks as a joke, so by doing a joke of a movie, he reinforced it for us, as opposed to showed us any kind of range he might have had as an action star. It was a bad career move at a time when he could ill afford it, and like you said, he never recuperated.Direct to Video Connoisseurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02310858965138247572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196474091232449207.post-20390169153503116142009-11-02T08:50:21.755-05:002009-11-02T08:50:21.755-05:00When I saw that green flame, the snakers coming ap...When I saw that green flame, the snakers coming apart shot where we get to go inside of a sweaty knock off sneaker as it falls apart...and quite a few other things made me think: "wow, Van Damme's cinematic career is really in trouble here" and I was right, he never quite recuperated from this one.<br /><br />Wow, No Retreat No Surrender! I remember that one, cant wait to see that review man! It was one of those movies I watched as a kid! Its the one I saw Van Damme on for the first time.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.com