Director: Sheldon Lettich
Script: Sheldon Lettich & Jean Claude Van Damme
Cast: Jean Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis, Alan Scarfe, Phil Cha Yan Kin, Bolo Yeung, Cory Everson, Alona Shaw
Running time: 111 minutes
Year: 1991
Certificate: 18
After Jean-Claude Van Damme’s breakout film Bloodsport (1988), which was quickly followed by popular hits like Cyborg (1989) and Kickboxer (1989), the ‘Muscles from Brussels’ returned for Double Impact (1991), presenting the audience with a dual-role piece of hi-octane fight fun.
Playing both Chad and Alex, two long-lost twin brothers who reluctantly join forces to take on the man who had their parents murdered with the help of the triads, our martial arts legend from Belgian delivers plenty of thrills in this fast action thriller.
Jean Claude was seriously hands-on with this film, not only starring (twice!) in it, but he also co-wrote the screenplay and helped produce it too. And it shows, as he gives an engaged performance, really trying to make the twin brothers stand out from one another. Not only do they dress very differently and wear their hair in markedly different ways, they also sport different voices and distinct personalities. Chad has been brought up in LA and is somewhat naive to the ways of the world, whereas Alex is far more world weary, having grown up on the chaotic streets of Hong Kong, and is a lower-rung criminal, selling stolen cars and smuggling cigarettes and alcohol into the country. However, despite all his macho posturing, Alex is still a good guy at heart and very much in love with his girlfriend, (played by the lovely-legged, Alona Shaw).
But, that’s not really all that important in a Van Damme movie – it’s the fight action that people come to see, and it’s here in spades. Witness JCVD kick a guy in the face and then kick him into the harbour as the henchman looks for him on a boat, and also see him smash two bottles against another guy’s head in a bar fight, before breaking his arm for good luck, probably. Jean Claude also gets to do the splits again, this time wearing tight Lycra leggings – one for the ladies, perhaps?
Also on board to help JCVD out, acting-wise, is Geoffrey Lewis (Salem’s Lot) who plays Chad’s guardian after rescuing the twins from certain death when they were babies. We also have Nigel Griffith playing the twin’s dad’s nemesis, Bolo Yeung as a senior triad henchman, and Raymond Zhang as the crime boss. In fact, it has to be said the Bolo steals every scene he’s in; he’s got plenty of presence, and has a great final fight with JCVD at the end. Hong Kong is also another ‘character’ in the film with some interesting locations being used, especially around Aberdeen Harbour.
It might be very cheesy at times with some dreadful late eighties fashions on show, and it may be a bit derivative (we’ve already had someone who kills by kicking to the throat in Katherine Bigalow’s Near Dark), and it’s probably ten minutes too long, but Double Impact is lots of cheesy, high-kicking fun and Jean Claude fans should definitely pick up a copy because of all the special features that come with the film.
The film is presented here in a high definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio and looks and sounds great. Thanks 88 Films.
Film: 
The film is being distributed through 88 Films and has a plethora of extras:
Audio Commentary with Critics Kim Newman and Sean Hogan – This is an unusual paring to do a commentary track on a film such as this. Neither are massive martial arts fans and, although both are talented writers in their own right, their commentary isn’t one of the best. Having said that, one can still learn a fair bit from the commentary including the film’s big faux pa regarding the building of the Victoria Tunnel in Hong Kong, which actually opened in 1972, not 1992!
Seeing Double – Vic Armstrong on Double Impact (21.40 mins) – Vic talks about his career, starting off in Arbelesque in 1965, before later heading up the stunt units on the Bond films. He chats about Double Impact and admits to liking JCVD who he says has a great sense of humour, but the attention span of a mosquito! He also reveals that he directed most of the action scenes, while Sheldon focussed on the drama.
Double Entendre – Sheldon Lettich on Double Impact (31.53 mins) – An interesting interview with the film’s director. He’s very candid about the film and his career, saying that he became friends with JCVD after writing Blood Sport. He also talks about working for Cannon Films (Double Impact was supposed to be produced by them originally) and how Michael Douglas’s production company eventually took the project on. He also reveals that JCVD choreographed most of the fights himself, although was a bit obsessed with the use of ‘slo-mo’ cameras.
The Making of Double Impact: Part 1 (53 mins) – Although there’s a lot of cross-over with other interviews on the disc this is still an interesting documentary. We learn lots about the production including the fact that Jean Claude came up with the film’s title. And we find out that they felt a bit ‘short-changed’ with regard to the budget ($15M) as they felt that Stonegroup’s other action film of that year (Stone Cold, with Brian Bosworth) took the lion’s share of the money available.
The Making of Double Impact: Part 2 (59 mins) – The second part of the making of documentary is more about the technical aspects of the shoot, including the fights themselves, although we do learn that JCVD and Geoffery Lewis became close friends during the shoot and that Jean Claude’s crotch grab during one fight was an accident, but they decided to keep it in!
Deleted / Extended Scenes (54 mins) – 25 scenes including more of the death of the twin’s parents, more of Frank escaping with the babies, and a bloodier spurs kill.
Anatomy of a Scene (8 mins) – The director talks us through his favourite scene – i.e. the chase along the harbour, across the boats.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (7 mins) – An EPK in all but name, there are some nice on-set talking-head mini interviews with JCVD and also the director who reveals that around 65% of the film was filmed in Hong Kong, with the rest – mostly interiors – done on sets in LA.
B-Roll Selections (8 mins) – This includes footage of the harbour chase scene, but taken from a different angle.
Film Clips (4.52 mins) – Includes the main fight with Bolo, the ‘blue-light fight with ‘spurs’ and the tuxedo scene.
Cast and Crew Interviews Clips (6.22 mins) – Mini interviews taken from the making-of docs.
Stills Gallery – 123 stills – Includes some behind-the-scenes shots
Original Trailer (1.44 mins)
Disc/Package: [Rating4.5/5]
