Day 2: "The Quest" (1996)

 30 Damme Movies in 30 Damme Days!

The 2nd Damme Day:



For the 2nd Damme Day, I chose to watch what is probably the most underrated JCVD movie of all time, "The Quest" from 1996.

This is another one that I saw in the theater during its original release and fell completely in love with. 
The movie starts off with Van Damme in heavy makeup, portraying his character as an old man. He enters a bar in New York City, and while he's waiting at a table for the bar tender to bring him a cup of coffee, a group of gang members come in to try to rob the place. Van Damme quickly beats up the gang members with little effort and sends them on their way. The bartender asks him where he learned to fight like that and this is where the story of "The Quest" begins, with JCVD beginning to tell the bartender his story of how he became the greatest fighter in the entire world. The rest of the movie is a flashback of the story he tells. It takes place in the early 1920s.. I think the biggest thing besides Van Damme that the movie has going for it is the co-star, James Bond himself - Roger Moore.
Moore had already ended his run as James Bond by the time this movie was made. In fact, the Bond franchise was already done with Moore's replacement, Timothy Dalton, and had already moved on to Pierce Brosnan. Moore had pretty much disappeared from movies for a few years and made a huge comeback with this film. 
He plays Lord Edgar Dobbs, a privateer, con man, and adventurer who pretty much rescues Van Damme's character, Christopher Dubois, from a ship that he was a stow away on and about to be executed, only to sell him to a Muay Thai trainer who wants to train him and use him as a fighter in tournaments.

Van Damme's character is left stranded on an island where he goes through rigorous training at the Muay Thai camp. The film picks up years later where Dubois and Lord Dobbs meet up again and there are no hard feelings from Dubois, but he wants Dobbs to help him get to a legendary "Lost City", located in Tibet, where he plans to steal a priceless golden dragon statue during a secret martial arts tournament that only the best fighter from each nation is invited to.
This part reminded me of the "Kumite" tournament in the JCVD film "Booodsport", and it should, because the real-life martial artist Frank Dux that Van Damme portrays in "Bloodsport" helped Van Damme come up with the idea years earlier, but as a modern-day sort of sequel to "Bloodsport." Van Damme denied the claim and Dux took him to court and won the right to have his name in the credits as a co-writer of "The Quest."

I think if you take "Bloodsport" and "Kickboxer" and mix them both with a little Indiana Jones, then you get "The Quest." Another thing I want to mention that makes this film stand out is a major milestone for Van Damme himself, it was his directorial debut. Not only did he co-write it and star in it, but he was also the director! Kudos to him for making such a beautiful film.


The film had a lot of great star power besides Van Damme and Moore. James Remar ("Warriors" and Dexter's dad in the TV series "Dexter") plays the U.S. heavyweight boxing champion. Jack McGee ("Gangster Squad" and "Moneyball) plays Dobbs' sidekick. Janet Gunn ("Silk Stalkings"") plays a reporter covering the secret tournament for a book she's writing. Aki Aleong ("Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" and "Elephant Stomp") plays the Muay Thai fighter camp owner that trains Dubois.

There was lots of superb action throughout the film including ship battles, roaring '20s New York gangster action, and tons of different martial arts fighting styles from around the world. JVCD does a lot of those dynamic flashy airborne kicks that he is famous for throughout the tournament scenes.
I think the movie is an incredible Van Damme outing and if you haven't seen it you should certainly give it a chance.
As far as my rating of this film on the 1-10 scale, 10 being the best, I give it a 9. I thought it was that good!

"The Quest" is available on Blu-Ray and several streaming platforms. I rented it on the Apple streaming for this viewing. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I'll be back tomorrow for another Damme review!

- Patrick

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