Growing up, I was a huge fan of Jean Claude Van Damme movies - I constantly remember saying I want to watch something ‘actiony’ and sure enough the films he starred in delivered that. I also remember asking - ‘when’s the good part’ which was the actiony part. Not a bad lesson in filmmaking noticed by a 7 year old. Have as few connecting elements as necessary between the scenes that really get the story moving.
Happy choosing, happy viewing
Bry
FILM ONE: UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
1992 Dir Roland Emmerich
1 hr 42 mins
Apparently, during the shooting of the Hoover Dam sequence, another huge 80’s and 90’s action star came to visit the set. Pretty cool to see them together. There’s also another weird link between Arnold and Universal Soldier. The original trailer features a music cue from Terminator 2, which came out the year before.
Roland Emmerich helmed the film from a script co-written by Dean Devlin and the two would, a few years later, go on to make Independence Day. Coming back to the hoover dam sequence I mentioned, I remember being obsessed with the shot of the whole squad of soldiers repelling head first down the face of the dam. Emmerich proving early on that he has a great eye for creating a memorable action sequence very efficiently and yet in a big screen, big film way.
The film has a great premise, soldiers killed in combat are brought back to life and genetically altered to be super soldiers. But Van Damme’s soldier starts to get flashes of his old memories and there in lies the moment that catapults the film forward. It’s a perfect kind of 90’s action film, with many memorably set pieces and great details. Take another look if you haven’t seen it in a while.
*Available for a small rental fee on Apple and Amazon in the US and UK.
Fact: This is Roland Emmerich’s first American film.
FILM TWO: TIMECOP
1994 Dir Peter Hyams
1 hr 39 mins
Pictured above is one of the most memorable moments from the film, where Van Damme’s character - Walker - escapes electrocution by jumping up and landing in a perfectly executed split, suspended between his kitchen counters. The other ‘actiony’ moment that stands out is when he’s propelled into a point in time, the location can be unpredictable - and he has to duck under an upcoming truck. This is all see in one locked-off shot, achieved via rear projection and some matte painting.
I loved this film when I was a kid and these scenes are still etched in my mind. I think Peter Hyam’s is an underrated action director - again, like Emmerich, he has an eye for set-pieces or memorable action moments. He also made 1999’s End of Day’s which I also really enjoy and still feel is under-watched.
TimeCop [based on the Dark Horse graphic novel of the same name] is a fun take on a time-travel film in the sense that they position it as a technology that must be policed. It's also fun that the future of the film is 2004 and that it was produced by Sam Raimi. What’s strange and I guess was a common practice that I’m only now realising, is that the original trailer has a music cue from Aliens. I urge you to relook at an action classic.
*Available for a small rental fee on Apple and Amazon in the US but unfortunately not in the UK. Use a VPN to get access :)
Fact: Jean-Claude Van Damme takes out a stick of Black Black chewing gum [a Japanese brand] while he’s about to ride the sled device into the future. During 1994, Van Damme appeared in television commercials for Black Black chewing gum in Japan.