Golpe Fulminante

Most importantly, Knock Off is unlike any other Van Damme movie. It is much more like your Hong Kong action movie, and is actually quite better in the action respect than any of his other movies. Rob Schneider is really funny, and the acting (even from Van Damme) is pretty good. Probably the best thing about this movie is it's cinematography, which has such great shots as the foot-cam, the shoe-cam, and the box-cam, in which a little window opens up so you can see Jean-Claude's hand as it's reaches into a box! This movie is great for one goofy laugh after another, while not beeing too bad to watch. If you see it, rent it! If you like it, buy it!

I didn't expect Knock Off to be the film it was. I thought it would be another lame bit of Van Dammage, just like all the others, but wow! This is in a league of it's own. First of all, let me say this: it's not a good film: of course, it isn't! The script's diabolical, the acting is dreadful and the plot has got to be one of the silliest ever written.

Oh yes, but Knock Off works because it is truly bonkers. Truly out of its mind. Tsui Hark is a great director (check out the insane Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain, as well as the Hark produced A Chinese ghost Story, which is truly wonderful) and his irreverent approach works wonders here. Some of the camerawork here has to be seen to be believed: here, we have a shot from the inside of a shoe, the camera moving through a wall and through a computer...while, the action is wildly OTT and hilariously preposterous. Rough around the edges it may be, but the action is genuinely imaginative stuff. Like Van Damme's Hard Target, Knock Off has been blessed with a director who can stage great action, but unlike the irritatingly melodramatic john woo, Hark directs as though he's having a great time: even the dramatic (!) scenes border on intentional parody.

And then there's Jean Claude Van Damme, easily the funniest out of all the Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Seagal crowd. Funniest? Why? Cos he really looks like he's trying, bless 'im! The scenes where he gets all emotional (check out the bit when he confronts Hendricks on the roof top: 'YOU LIED TO ME!') are painfully funny because he just can't act at all. And because of his accent, lines like 'Don't you understand what you do....i-fax me?' (the 'i-fax' is supposed to be 'affects') sound highly amusing. Unlike that dullard Steven Seagal, van Damme's limitations as an actor are precisely what makes him watchable. Then there's the deeply stupid Rob Schneider, who plays EXACTLY the same role in everything he's ever done, and Paul Sorvino, who continues to destroy whatever credibilty he gained starring as Pauly Cicero in GoodFellas.

Plus, what's with the green explosions? The walkie-talkie dropping into the gangster's hand from nowhere? The bullet-shot that goes through the can of beans? Rob Schneider whipping Van Damme with a fish? The song at the end of the film? It's a complete mess!

Knock Off is easily Van Damme's best film, without a shadow of a doubt. It's utter rubbish, yet it's one of the funniest films I've ever seen. Of course, you need plenty of irony and an appreciation for stupid action movies to really get the most out of this. there are some people who will think that Knock Off is absolutely atrocious. And you know what, they're probably right too. But what's also correct is that in some deeply disturbing, dangerously perverse way, it is a work of genius.

Wow ! What a movie! Van Damme is at his utmost best and gives one of the finest performances of his career playing a down and out "knock off" jeans designer. This film has it all: action, danger, intrigue, comedy etc. The best of it's kind. It ranks up there with Cyborg and Street Fighter ! The Triple Crown of Van Damme films. IT's a must see !!

How can anyone hate such a beautiful film? The combination of poor dubbing, Van Damme's "acting" and "grasp of English", Schneider's queer-ass jokes, and Lela Rochon's breasts, I thought, would make Knock Off an Oscar contender for sure. In addition, it is a valuable tool for young amateur cameramen. They clearly just bought a new camera before they started filming, and were trying out all the new gadgets (when Van Damme reaches into the box of watches, or when they go into the barrel of the gun, or when they pan up from everyone's feet, or use multiple exposures to create the illusion of a quality film).

As for the soundtrack, Ron and Russell Mael deserve a Grammy, or, at eh very least, a Source Award. I mean, "It's a Knock Off" emerges as the single that will truly be the soundtrack for the lives of teens in the new milennium. All-Star Sam Hui also contributes to the album. His ground-breaking "Ten Girls" ,which goes a little sumthin' like this:

"Sal pon ass hi cow go yang si ming ming hi lo how wow bom hi sam chung gay yeah chop hay bing si ching chun may li chow mo so pli" ...is sung by Van Damme. It speaks to you. It tells you to leave the theater.

Another interesting aspect of this film is that it was the only Western film allowed to be in production in Hong Kong during the handover to China. They try to work this into the first action sequence (which is 90 minutes long and followed by the credits)by making sporadic, frenzied, obscure references to the ceremony that don't make sense or have any effect on the outcome of Van Damme's struggle against the Russian mafia.

Ultimately, if you want to see green explosions, Paul Sorvino returning from the dead, Rob Schneider and Van Damme engage in S&M during a rickshaw race, Lela Rochon's breasts, and a Russian with bronchitis chop people up with his eyeglasses, Knock Off is the movie for you.

Excellent movie. The plot is great. The bringing of Rob Schneider and JCVD to one movie might have seemed like a bad idea at first, but they really pulled i off. THis movie is one of the funniest I've seen with JCVD, but it also retains the classic gold material of JCVD's films, the asskicking, and the "you so crazy" plot twists which make this movie worth watching. It'S GREAT!!!