Le Grand Tournoi

For a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, then "The Quest" is a fairly standard one. And if you have seen the 1988 "Bloodsport" movie, then you have essentially also seen "The Quest". And I don't think that it is a mere coincidence, especially since the story was written by Frank Dux and Jean Claude Van Damme.

The story is about Christopher Dubois (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) who is living on the streets, when he is forced to run for his life and ending up as a stowaway on a ship. When he comes to his senses, he is put into slavery, working on the ship. By sheer luck he is rescued by Lord Edgar Dobbs (played by Roger Moore) and Harry Smythe (played by Jack McGee), two thieves and con artists. Setting out to steal a massive golden dragon in a reclusive and secret fighting tournament, Christoper Dubois finds himself fighting on behalf of the boxer Maxie Devine (played by James Remar).

Storywise, then "The Quest" focused more on the fights and action. And as in "Bloodsport", then there is lots of it, and the fight sequences are nicely executed and brought to the screen. The movie itself is as predictable as they come - but then again, aren't most of Jean Claude Van Damme's movies?

There are so many similarities between "Bloodsport" and "The Quest", that you just sit there wondering why "The Quest" was actually ever put on film. Wasn't it enough with this story being told in 1988 back when "Bloodsport" came out? But as with virtually all of Jean Claude Van Damme's movies, the main focus is the action and fighting, and whatever story or resemblance of a story there is becomes secondary. Obviously you have the fighting tournament held in an exotic location, there was the bested friend of whom Van Damme takes a headband, there was a woman reporter, there was a massive and seemingly invincible opponent, and of course there is Jean Claude Van Damme as the underdog who swoops in and wins it all against all odds.

That being said, then "The Quest" is good entertainment where you don't have to use your brain at all. Funny, how I remembered this movie being much better back in the late 90's, when I remember my brother getting it on VHS. And after having obtained the DVD in 2013 and watched it again, it wasn't as cool as I remembered it to be. But still, fun and action-packed, a fairly standard Jean Claude Van Damme movie to be honest.

The Quest is certainly one of JCVD's best. It has a quite good epic story and style which generally you cannot see in a martial arts movie. Come on people, this is action and so evaluate it in its genre. Emancipate yourselves from "film d'art" complexes. Give its right, this is an exquisite "film d'martial arts"..

My main issue with the film is the plot. We have seen this many many times with his films. No name guy goes to fighting tournament as an underdog and surprises everyone and wins it. Very common with his film from the late 80's to early 90's.

I loved roger moores character. He has a funny sense of humor that we also get to see in most of his James Bond films.

The scenery was beautiful. Thailand is a gorgeous country.

A lot of stereotypes with the fighters. Every time they announced a country to fight, you could tell what the fighter would look like, Japan sumo, Scotland kilt, etc.

A truly underrated gem in the JCVD catalog.

The Quest is an odd mix of martial arts and epic adventure. Its running time is too short for it to be deemed a true epic, but the panoramic worldwide locations hint that Van Damme was trying to give it the flavour of an epic.

It's a painfully simplistic story. Young American pickpocket Chris (Van Damme) has to flee from New York in the 1920s after a botched robbery. He ends up on a pirate ship headed for the Orient. Soon, he is rescued by another ship (another pirate vessel, this time captained by gentleman buccaneer Roger Moore). Moore drops him off on a Thai island where young men are trained as fighters, and before long young Chris is a very handy fighter indeed, with aspirations to win an ancient golden dragon in a fighting competition. The final third of the film is comprised entirely of fight sequences in which competitors from various nations combat each other in an effort to take the ultimate prize.

The film marked Van Damme's directorial debut, and he gives it a lovely sense of scale and period but can't wring much out of the thin and obvious story. The backdrops pictured in the film are beautiful. Some of the martial arts moments are well choreographed. Roger Moore gives a surprisingly thoughtful and moving performance. Beyond that, it's very childish and simple-minded and doesn't contain enough memorable moments to be anything other than a passable time filler.

This film is Van Damme's first effort as director, and he is surprisingly good in his task!The Quest is, of course, a simple action film, but it has a lot of good intentions and the story, written by Van Damme, is good-hearted. The star plays Chris Dubois, a man who is saved by a group of mercenaries led by a smooth and charming thief (Roger Moore, who brings a little bit of comedy and softness to the story), and this guy takes Chris to the Lost City to fight in a highly dangerous tournament. The winner takes home a beautiful, enormous golden dragon. This isn't the best film of Van Damme's career, his best phase was with the Chinese directors (Hard Target, The Colony), but The Quest isn't a good film for those who want to see explosions, Van Damme blowing people's heads off and those kinds of thing. This is an adventure, the type of film that, if we were now ten years old, would love!you don't have violence, shootings and explosions, if you want to watch something like that rent Hellbound Hellraiser 2, this is a Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark kind of film. If you want to give the movie a shot, try to forget your grown-up side and watch it as if you were ten years old again. Then you will love it!it's a simple, entertaining and very good movie!