Chad (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and his Uncle Frank come back to Hong Kong where Chad learns he has a twin brother Alex (Jean-Claude
Van Damme) and that he and Alex have a birthright to reclaim- a harbor tunnel that their father helped build years ago. However,
his father's business partner Griffith and Zhang of the Triad had their parents killed when they were babies. Frank had the
twins separated to protect them where Chad was raised by Frank and Alex by a Hong Kong orphanage. The street tough Alex and
pampered Chad must team together if they are to fight back against the bad guys who will do anything to hold onto the tunnel
that connects Hong Kong with the mainland. It is tie for double the Van Damme and double the impact in this great action
movie from 1991. I remember seeing this one on the big screen in the local movie theater. DOUBLE IMPACT has some great
cast and locations tied together by beautiful cinematography and action scenes. The producers kept adding more action as
they made the movie. I loved the henchmen in this movie (like Bolo Yueng, Spurs, and the red headed body builder woman).
SPECAIL FEATURES:
The two part retrospective documentary, THE MAKING OF DOUBLE IMPACT, which features interviews with cast, director Sheldon
Lettich who co-wrote the screenplay with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and producer Ashok Amritraj. They share stories about how
the movie evolved from a modern day version of the Corsican Brothers to DOUBLE IMAPCT, the title of the movie, early screen
tests showing how Tia Carrere was almost Alex's girlfriend instead of the beautiful blond white woman, various stories from
shooting in Hong Kong, the actors who played the bad guys, and how the movie ended up finishing production in Los Angeles
(because the American producers thought the Chinese producer was screwing them on money where they were actually getting good
value). So many stories in this making-of documentary are featured in this feature length talking heads piece that also
has film clips and behind-the-scenes footage.
54 minutes of deleted and extended scenes sourced from a time-coded SD source and some of the footage is in black and
white, but all it is probably from a VHS tape during editing.
DOUBLE IMAPCT: ANATOMY OF A SCENE as director Sheldon Lettich walks us through the making of the city and harbor chase
sequence
Vintage 1991 Behind-the-Scenes featurette, B-Roll selections (mainly from the harbor chase), promotional film clips, and
the original theatrical trailer are also included on this packed blu-ray. Previews for LIONHEART, BLACK EAGLE, DOUBLE DRAGON,
SHOWDOWN, and NEMESIS are included (all available on blu-ray from MVD).
FINAL ANALYSIS: It was really fun to revisit one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best action movies from early in his career.
MVD has put together another great blu-ray collector's edition (plus the movie looks great on blu-ray) and some fans who
buy this will get a collectible slip cover (and all will get a collectible mini-poster). It makes me want to own LIONHEART
on blu-ray too. I hope MVD gets hold of some other Van Damme movies like NOWHERE TO RUN, TIME COP, HARD TARGET, and SUDDEN
DEATH and give each of those the extensive collector's edition treatment.
This review is (c)6-12-2019 David Blackwell and cannot be repeated without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
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