One of the biggest action stars of the 80s and 90s, Jean-Claude Van Damme, is known for his lightning-quick roundhouse kicks and the intense looks he gives his opponents before knocking them senseless. As a teen, the "Muscles from Brussels" started training in Shotokan karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and ballet. In 1979, he won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association. He went on to win the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title before moving to the United States and becoming the action icon he's known as today.
Update May 23, 2023: If you love Jean-Claude Van Damme, you'll be happy to know this article has been updated with more information on the prolific actor.
Jean-Caldue Van Damme, sometimes called JCVD, was a bona fide Hollywood martial arts action star and icon. In 2012, the bronze statue of the Muscles from Brussels himself was erected in his hometown of Brussels. As of lately, Van Damme leads a calmer life, as he has come off a longtime drug addiction that he eventually conquered. He is a huge animal rights activist who regularly donates to charity. His most notable performance to date is not any film but an incredible Volvo Truck commercial that went viral for featuring Van Damme showing off his astonishing composure and skills as he can be seen with each foot on one of two moving semi-trucks that start close together and slowly separate until he is in an "epic split" that he holds as the trucks keep moving. Van Damme's legacy continues to endure after all these years, with a character on the hit television show Ted Lasso adopting the name Van Damme to show how strong he feels. Take a look at the best films in Jean-Claude Van Damme's career.
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Double Team
Double Team is one of those so-bad-it's-good types of films, and that's why it belongs among Van Damme's best. JCVD plays special counter-terrorism agent Jack Quinn, who has to stop the brutal terrorist Stravos (Mickey Rourke) with the help of special weapons dealer Yaz (Dennis Rodman). You would never think the chemistry would work between Van Damme and the 6'7, five-time NBA champion Rodman, but somehow it does with back-and-forth banter like "Offense gets the glory" and "but defense wins the game." Double Team is good old fashion 90s nostalgia.
17 Sudden Death
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A hockey lover's dream, Sudden Death is basically a Die Hard clone in a sports arena during game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Peter Hyams (End of the Days, Timecop) directed this fun action thriller, and JCVD plays firefighter Darren McCord, who is just trying to make up for lost time by bringing his kids to an extremely packed hockey playoff game.
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Little did he know, the arena had been boobytrapped with explosives by the devious Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe) in an attempt to kill the Vice President, who is in attendance. Van Damme has a great fight with a mascot penguin, Powers Boothe does an excellent job as the villain, and audiences are treated to a super cool helicopter explosion. Sudden Death is a quintessential 90s action movie and feels like the precursor to the Olympus Has Fallen film series.
15 The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2 was Jean-Claude Van Damme first widely released film since 1999. The Expendables franchise had always been pitched as the team-up of the greatest action stars of the 1980s and 90s. After the first movie, fans were hoping to see Van Damme join the cast, which included Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis.
Fittingly, Van Damme plays a character named Villain, the leader of an opposing group of mercenaries to The Expendables. Fans who for years wanted to see Stalone and Van Damme fight finally got the chance.
14 Lionheart
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After doing Bloodsport, it was hard to get Van Damme out of the habit of doing tournament-style fighting films. Lionheart offered a bit of a change-up by introducing more of a heartfelt story. Van Damme portrays Lyon Gaultier, who must fight in an underground street fighting circuit in order to make money to pay for the medical costs of his brother's serious injury. The fighting in Lionheart is top-notch, and if you've ever wanted to see JCVD kick ass in the tightest jeans possible, this is the film for you.
12 The Quest
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Originally slated as a possible prequel or sequel to Bloodsport, The Quest was Jean-Claude Van Damme's directorial debut. Van Damme portrays Christopher Dubois, a poor pickpocket who searches for a "Lost City" in Tibet in order to win their Kumite-style tournament and claim the prize of a solid gold dragon. The fighting in The Quest is solid, but a lot of its greatness comes from the amount of effort that went into the set design. This is definitely a fun one if you're all in on tournament-style beat-em-ups.
10 Double Impact
What's better than one Jean-Claude Van Damme? How about two!? In Double Impact, Van Damme plays identical twins Chad and Alex Wagner as they must work together to stop a criminal organization in 1966 Hong Kong. Sheldon Lettich (Bloodsport, Lionheart) did such a great job using Van Damme in two identical but different character roles that other directors wanted Van Damme to continue his work playing multiple characters throughout his career. He did similar double roles in Timecop (1994), Maximum Risk (1996), and Replicant (2001).
9 Hard Target
Hard Target is an action-packed movie by legendary action director John Woo. Based on The Most Dangerous Game, Van Damme portrays Chance Boudreaux, a Marine Corps vet hired to find a woman's missing father in Louisiana. The action is absolutely absurd in all of the best John Woo-style explosion ways.
The audience is treated to great performances, including an evil human-hunting Lance Henriksen and a bow-and-arrow-shooting Wilford Brimley on horseback. As an extra treat, Van Damme sports a mullet for the ages. This film kicked off a chain of huge John Woo films in the late '90s and 2000s, including Broken Arrow, Face/Off, and Mission Impossible 2.
8 Universal Soldier
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Universal Soldier is an early work of Roland Emmerich. In it, Jean-Claude Van Damme portrays Luc Deveraux, a soldier killed in the Vietnam War but brought back to life as part of the "Universal Soldier" project. The only problem is that Luc's arch-enemy, Sgt. Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) was brought back as well. Upon returning to life, Scott wants to murder Deveraux and become the ultimate leader of the newly risen Universal Soldiers.
This film brought lots of explosions and a great showdown between JCVD and Dolph Lundgren, two titans of 80s and 90s action movies. The action was big and paved the way for Emmerich's follow-up films like Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla. Though seen as a critical failure, the film grossed 95 million dollars and spawned four sequels.
6 Kickboxer
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Kickboxer is arguably one of the best films of Van Damme's career. He plays Kurt Sloane, younger brother, and cornerman to kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (played by real-life world kickboxing champion Dennis Alexio). When Kurt is left paralyzed by the villainous Tong-Po playing dirty in a Bangkok tournament, Kurt must train in the art of Muay Thai and exact revenge for his brother's injury.
This film is a martial arts movie buff's dream. Van Damme choreographed all the training and fight scenes himself, and they are smooth and calculated. The training montage belongs in the top montages of the 80s. This one is a classic, not only because of the fighting but the dance moves as well, which Van Damme recreated in 2015.
4 Timecop
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Peter Hyams' Timecop is the highest-grossing film of Van Damme's career. This fun sci-fi action movie from the 90s was based on an original story from Dark Horse Comics and placed Van Damme in the role of Max Walker, a time-traveling cop who must bounce between 1995 and 2004 in order to stop the corruption of a crooked politician. Timecop boasts cool futuristic sets, great martial arts choreography, and a surprisingly effective time-travel story. Timecop is just a solid film, and many of Van Damme's fans regard it as one of his best.
2 JCVD
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JCVD was a major departure from Van Damme's previous films. Named after his own nickname, the movie sees John-Claude Van Damme as a fictionalized version of himself who is down on his luck as an actor who gets involved in a plot straight out of an action movie. JCVD is one of the rare films starring the actor to receive a positive score on Rotten Tomatoes with 84%. Critics noted how open John-Claude Van Damme seemed to be about his own life and career and the powerful performance he was able to give.
1 Bloodsport
The greatest film of Jean-Claude Van Damme's career also happens to be one of his first. In Bloodsport, Van Damme plays Frank Dux, a U.S. Army Captain trained in martial arts, who is invited to take part in the illegal Hong Kong fighting tournament known as the Kumite. Dux must fight through fearsome opponents while not being caught by CID agents looking to shut it down.
The characters are memorable, with great appearances from Donald Gibb (Revenge of the Nerds) and Forest Whitaker. The fight scenes are incredible, and Chong Li (Bolo Yeung) is one of the best villains of the '80s. Bloodsport also boasts an absolute rockin' synth soundtrack composed by Paul Hertzog. Not only does this film belong at the top of Van Damme's filmography, but near the top of great 80's action films as well.