My Cultural Diet

If you weren’t a prepubescent boy in the late ’80s, then I’m not sure I can fully explain the nostalgic appeal that Bloodsport holds, even with its considerable flaws. (Starting with the fact that the “true story” it’s based on is dubious at best.) I was 12 years old at the time, and my friends and I discussed the film’s depiction of an illegal martial arts tournament with a hushed reverence, to say nothing of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s fighting prowess. Watching it now, more than thirty years later, the flaws are more obvious and some of the nostalgic sheen has worn off. Even so, Bloodsport’s still a pretty darn enjoyable “B” movie. As I’ve written before, it’s easy to slag on Van Damme, but his legitimate martial arts skills do enable him to do some pretty impressive-looking stuff on-screen. This time around, though, I was really struck by the film’s moodiness: the soft-focus cinematography, some legitimately stunning shots of Hong Kong at night, and most of all, Paul Hertzog’s synth-heavy soundtrack. Predating synthwave by several decades, his music really sets the movie’s vibe with high-energy tracks during the kumite fight scenes as well as more lowkey pieces like “Kumite,” “Flashback Montage,” and “On My Own” (which has the added bonus of vocals from Stan “The Touch” Bush).

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