Double Impact
Rewind Collection Edition
review by Bobby Blakey
I have been a massive Jean Claude Van Damme fan since seeing him on the big screen in Bloodsport and even No Retreat No Surrender before knowing who he was. After he was unleashed in Bloodsport, Van Damme had a string of martial arts hits including another of my favorites Doulbe Impact. This film was one of many collaborations between director Sheldon Lettich and Van Damme and now MVD is bringing the film to Blu-ray via their Rewind Collection.
Double Impact follows Chad and Alex Wagner, twin brothers who were separated after their parents' brutal murder. Years later, the two couldn't be more different: Chad is a slick Beverly Hills fitness instructor, while Alex is a rough and tumble smuggler on the gritty streets of Hong Kong. But when fate throws them together again, Chad and Alex discover that there's one thing they have in common: they're both fighting machines! Determined to enact revenge on their parents' killers, the martial-arts experts kick, chop and shoot all the way to an electrifying final showdown aboard a gargantuan freighter in Hong Kong harbor.
I love this movie in just about every way from its great fights right down to the cheesy muscle shots. Everything about this movie screams vintage action and offers up everything you could want. This was the first in a couple of films where Van Damme played twins, but here offered up some great laughs and two totally unique personas. The addition to the always great Bolo that co-starred with Van Damme in Bloodpsort just adds to the greatness of this flick. They have a great fight at the end and since we get two Van Dammes for the price of one we have the other taking on Peter Malota who teamed with Van Damme for three other flicks.
The story is pretty simple and plays almost cartoonish at times, but they made it work because they knew their star and what the fans wanted. We got all the trademark kicks and action complete with useless slow motion cuts of sequences just to show of some sort of fancy move and more often than not his muscles and it just works. I love this movie and put it on top of my list of Van Damme films with Hard Target still my all time favorite. This is vintage Van Dammage and I love it!
Grab your copy of Double Impact – MVD Rewind Collection Edition available now.