In the late '80s, Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme broke into Hollywood with the help of his fabulous physique and awe-inspiring karate kicks. Nicknamed "The Muscles from Brussels," Van Damme took flight and by the 1990s rose to stardom, placing him alongside fellow action greats Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Steven Seagal.
The kickboxing bodybuilder's star faded in the early 2000s, and though Van Damme has continued to produce excellent action films since, his chances in the spotlight have been few and far between. On July 30th, 2021, Van Damme will make an anticipated return in the form of Netflix's movie The Last Mercenary. There's arguably never been a better time to revisit JCVD's greatest triumphs.
10 Bloodsport Is Van Damme's First Decisive Victory In Hollywood
The quintessential Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, and the one that started it all, Bloodsport hit theaters in 1988 and immediately sent Van Damme to the A-list of Tinseltown tough guys. The martial arts movie is the story of the fictional "Kumite," a fighting tournament wherein a loss via death is an all too real possibility.
For audiences, the film was a perfect introduction to Van Damme's incredible athleticism and martial arts skills, as well as his irresistible charisma. Bloodsport set the Belgian star up for an impressively successful career in Hollywood.
9 Universal Soldier Saw JCVD Face-Off Against Fellow Action Legend Dolph Lundgren
One of Van Damme's best-known roles is that of Luc Deveraux in Universal Soldier. His performance alongside Dolph Lundgren set up a franchise that spawned multiple sequels, three of which Van Damme would return for.
Universal Soldier is a sci-fi action classic, held in high regard for its exciting concept, slick action, and expert direction from the iconic Roland Emmerich, the director who would go on to cement his name in sci-fi cinema with hits like Independence Day and 2012.
8 Double Impact Dishes Out Double Van Dammage
For fans of the Belgian muscle man, there's only one thing better than one Van Damme in a movie, and that of course is two Van Dammes. The action star has made playing dual roles in films a regular occurrence throughout his career, films like Replicant and Maximum Risk have Van Damme playing multiple characters, sometimes at odds with each other, but 1991's Double Impact is the finest example of this rather unique specialty.
Van Damme plays twin brothers in the fast-paced, hard-hitting film, which also features a reunion of sorts with Bolo Yeung, Van Damme's nemesis from Bloodsport.
7 Van Damme Takes His Place Among The Greats In The Expendables 2
Jean-Claude Van Damme had been largely missing from theaters for over 12 years when word of his involvement in Sylvester Stallone's Expendables franchise got out. Fans were understandably excited and hyped around Van Damme's role and character built to a fever pitch.
The hype paid off, The Expendables 2 was released and received praise from action movie fans everywhere. The fun nostalgia trip pitted Jean-Claude against some of his greatest rivals in the action genre, and Van Damme's rare performance as an antagonist stood out as one of the film's best parts.
6 JCVD Got A New Teammate In Double Team
In the '90s, Van Damme's movies could hardly be critiqued for taking themselves too seriously, but when it comes to all-out wackiness, few can match Double Team. Former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman starred alongside Van Damme, and upon release, critics weren't kind to the film, Van Damme and Rodman even won a Razzie for Worst Screen Couple.
However, in recent times fans have come to hold it as one of Van Damme's most unique and enjoyable outings, and Dennis Rodman's surge in popularity thanks to Netflix's The Last Dance series certainly hasn't hurt the film's standing amongst movie viewers.
5 Kickboxer Is Van Damme Doing What He Does Best
Before the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Jean-Claude Van Damme was simply an exceptional martial artist. His professional kickboxing record of 18 wins in 19 fights is a testament to this, and it made a whole lot of sense to follow up the success of Bloodsport by putting Van Damme in the kickboxing ring on the big screen.
In Kickboxer, Van Damme spins kicks his way to one of his best performances on or off the screen, and though the film features a very westernized version of Muay Thai, the bone-crunching matchups are terrifically intense.
4 The Quest Offered Up A New Challenge For The Belgian Brute
Beating up bad guys and looking effortlessly cool while doing so isn't Jean-Claude Van Damme's only skill, though he only has one credit to his name so far, he's also a respectably talented director. In 1996, Van Damme directed and starred in the martial arts adventure The Quest.
Seen by some as a spiritual successor to Bloodsport, The Quest focuses on a world cup-style fighting tournament with countries and their representatives battling it out for the grand prize of a valuable golden dragon statue.
3 JCVD Offers Up Van Damme's Career Performance
Van Damme's abilities as an action star have never been in question, though his skills as a dramatic actor were often seen to be lacking or simply non-existent. All that changed in 2008 with JCVD. Van Damme played a fascinating semi-fictionalized version of himself and earned tremendous praise for his performance.
The actor used the film to reflect on his roller-coaster ride of a life and took particular aim at his mistakes made throughout it. A six-minute monologue offers fans a startlingly intimate look at the actor, and many hold that scene as the highlight of Jean-Claude Van Damme's entire acting career.
2 Pound Of Flesh Is Heavy Proof That Van Damme's Still Got It
Though Jean-Claude Van Damme's recent career is largely direct-to-video, the actor still puts in an admirable amount of effort with his roles and continues to show off his hard-hitting fight skills even at 60 years of age.
With the gritty, violent action thriller Pound Of Flesh, Van Damme gave audiences some of the most breathtaking stunts and action sequences of his illustrious career. The film serves as a reminder that Van Damme is one of the best to ever do it when it comes to martial arts on the big screen, and gives fans every reason to be excited for any upcoming additions to the actor's filmography.
1 Jean-Claude Hits His Hardest In Hard Target
If there were one role that perfectly captures the essence of what makes Jean-Claude Van Damme great, it would likely be that of Chance Boudreaux in 1993's Hard Target. The mullet, the double denim, and the cheesy one-liners featured in the film have become signatures for the action star.
And Hard Target isn't just a JCVD movie, it's also directed by legendary action movie filmmaker John Woo, whose work includes the likes of Face/Off and Hard Boiled.