MVD Rewind Collection: Double Impact (1991) - Reviewed

Images courtesy of MVD Rewind Collection

MVD’s Rewind Collection line seems intent on releasing all of the Jean-Claude Van Damme Hong Kong flicks of the 1990s on their 4K UHD Laservision line having recently unveiled their limited edition of Tsui Hark’s 1998 English language actioner Knock Off.  Their latest pickup and addition to their Laservision moniker is once again another JCVD vehicle only this time they’re focusing on his collaborative work with Bloodsport writer and Lionheart director Sheldon Lettich.  An action film screenwriter behind Russkies and Rambo III before making his feature debut with Lionheart, Double Impact was something of a reunion for the action-star and Hong Kong bodybuilder Bolo Yeung following their onscreen feud in Bloodsport.  Only the director’s second feature, the Hong Kong shot and set twinning roles of two dueling brothers separated at childhood but reunited in battle as adults gave JCVD a unique kind of Dead Ringers opportunity.  It aims low in that exploitative Tango & Cash way but a few beers and bong rips will get you through it.

 
Hong Kong, 1966, identical twin sons Chad and Alex narrowly survive and escape a Triad shootout that claims the lives of their parents.  Separated by the shootout, Chad is rescued by their bodyguard Frank (Geoffrey Lewis) while a maid leaves Alex at a Hong Kong orphanage.  Decades later now an adult, Chad (JCVD) is a clean cut but dorky martial arts instructor at a dojo co-managed by Frank in LA when they learn of a business in Hong Kong which leads both to a mysterious young woman named Danielle (Alonna Shaw) who turns out to be the girlfriend of none other than his identical twin brother Alex.  In contrast, Alex is boorish and violent with slicked back hair and a penchant for downing alcohol.  Already at odds, the brothers are told by Frank those responsible for killing their parents are near.  The unlikely duo hastily teams up, pursued by the Triad and Hong Kong Police as a ruthless leader Raymond Zhang (Hard Boiled sheriff Philip Chan), a tough Chyna-like female bodyguard Kara (Cory Everson) and ultra tough and carved out henchman Moon (Bolo Yeung).

 
A typical Hong Kong styled actioner with JCVD playing off of himself which one can’t help but notice despite being raised in China and America both characters share the same accent, Double Impact is pretty sleazy fare right from the outset.  From the opening dojo sequence of a scantily clad female student of Chad’s with the camera coming as close to her crotch as a Larry Clark film to a drunken jealous fantasy sequence where Alex in the throes of intoxication imagines Danielle having hot hard bodied naked sex with Chad as, let’s face it, an excuse for JCVD to rub up against a nude actress, this makes no bones about the kind of filthy trash it is.  That’s not to say it is a complete check-your-brain-at-the-door cacophony of explosions and tits.  Drawing loosely from Dead Ringers which JCVD cited as an influence, it wound up becoming something of a subgenre for the actor as he’d play the twinning characters again in Timecop, Maximum Risk and Replicant.  Geoffrey Lewis the nice manager in The Lawnmower Man makes a good moral compass and surrogate father figure for both of the brothers and the formidable tag team of both Philip Chan and Bolo Yeung is a match made in Hong Kong action movie heaven. 

 
Released in the summer of 1991, the $15 million film opened at No. 2 in the US box office totaling $30 million in ticket sales.  Naturally, critical reception was largely negative with many taking umbrage with the aforementioned nude frolicking and dry humping fantasy sequence.  Still, JCVD with it did display a bit more range than some of his contemporaries like Steven Seagal who like JCVD is a renowned martial artist but unlike him can’t act to save his life.  Curiously, while JCVD would repeat the twinning formula again, the actor and writer-director Sheldon Lettich did in fact try to mount a direct sequel for many years including discussion of a treatment during the promotional tour for The Expendables 2.  Despite it ultimately falling through, it spoke to the unlikely box office appeal of JCVD making a buddy cop movie out of himself.  In any case, MVD Rewind Collection have given this overtly sleazy and at times violent action-comedy the 4K UHD treatment in a jam-packed special edition representing one of the boutique label’s most extensive releases yet.

 
Featuring the film on a 4K disc with a collectible slipcover, reversible sleeve art and CED styled mini-poster, the second Blu-ray disc comes staked with a two-hour making-of documentary film, almost an hour of deleted scenes, a vintage electronic press kit, a B-roll, clips used for television promos and original trailers.  While an audio commentary would’ve been nice, truly there are so many interviews and extra bonus clips in this it’ll take you even longer than the running time of the film itself to go through them all.  JCVD fans will be pleased while others curious about the 1990s era of Hollywood-Hong Kong action B-movie co-productions will have a heyday with the action exploitation trash factor.  Not quite Vinegar Syndrome worthy but absolutely meritorious of MVD Rewind Collection’s 4K Laservision moniker.  The film is dumb and sometimes tawdry but the disc release is great!

--Andrew Kotwicki