Jean-Claude Van Damme gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages situation and reflects about his life during it.Jean-Claude Van Damme gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages situation and reflects about his life during it.Jean-Claude Van Damme gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages situation and reflects about his life during it.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the opening intro scene, Jean-Claude Van Damme's comment about not being able to film in one shot was his own ad-lib, partly in response to Mabrouk El Mechri actually wanting to shoot the scene in one shot.
- GoofsWhen the two guys talk about movies in the Video-store the one claims that Stallone fought against Arabs in "Rambo 3". But actually in "Rambo 3" John Rambo was fighting FOR Afghans Muslims in Afghanistan and against the "bad" Russian troops.
- Quotes
JCVD: This movie is for me. There we are, you and me. Why did you do that? Or why did I do that? You made my dream come true. I asked for it. I promised you something in return and I haven't delivered yet. You win, I lose. Unless... the path you've set for me is full of hurdles where the answer comes before the question. Yeah, I do that. Now I know why. It's the cure, from what I've seen here. It all makes sense. It makes sense to those who understand. So... America, poverty, stealing to eat... stalking producers, actors, 'movie stars', going to clubs hoping to see a star, with my pictures, karate magazines. It's all I had. I didn't speak English. But I did 20 years of karate. 'Cause before I wasn't like that.
[points to flexed bicep]
JCVD: This... this is me today. I used to be small and scrawny. And I took up karate. Hence the Dojo, hence respect, thou shall believe people who say, "Oss!" It's Samurai code. It's honor, no lies. So this guy in the US, it's not the same thing. No one says "Oss" to you. Sometimes people in show business say, "We're gonna fuck em". I believed in people, in the Dojo. I was blessed and had a lot of 'wives'. I always believed in love. It's hard for a woman with three kids to say, "Which one do I love more?" A mother... If you have 5, 6, 7, or 10 wives in a lifetime, they've all got something special, but no one cares about that in the so-called media. What about drugs? When you got it all, you travel the world. When you've been in all the hotels, you're the prima donna of the penthouse. And in all hotels the world over, traveling, you want something more. And because of a woman... well, because of love, I tried something and I got hooked. Van-Damme, the beast, the tiger in a cage, the "Bloodsport" man got hooked. I was wasted mentally and physically. To the point that I got out of it. I got out of it. But... it's all there. It's all there. It was really tough. I saw people worse off than me. I went from poor to rich and thought, why aren't we all like me, why all the privileges? I'm just a regular guy. It makes me sick to see people... who don't have what I've got. Knowing that they have qualities, too. Much more than I do! It's not my fault if I was cut out to be a star. I asked for it. I asked for it, really believed in it. When you're 13, you believe in your dream. Well it came true for me. But I still ask myself today what I've done on this Earth. Nothing! I've done nothing! And I might just die in this post office, hoping to start all over here in Belgium, in my country, where my roots are. Start all over with my parents and get my health back, pick up again. So I really hope... nobody's gonna pull a trigger in this post office... It's so stupid to kill people. They're so beautiful! So, today, I pray to God. I truly believe it's not a movie. It's real life. Real life. I've seen so many things. I was born in Belgium, but I'm a citizen of the world. I've travelled a lot. It's hard for me to judge people and it's hard for them... not to judge me. Easier to blame me. Yeah, something like that.
- Crazy creditsThe Gaumont logo has an animated Jean-Claude Van Damme appear in the logo and deliver roundhouse kicks to the boy and the sunflower.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: Bolt/JCVD/Slumdog Millionaire/Quantum of Solace (2008)
- SoundtracksHard Times
Written by Curtis Mayfield
Performed by Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters
© Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
With Permission from Warner Chappell Music France
(p) 1971 Rhino Entertainment Co. for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the U.S.
Courtesy of Warner Music France, A Warner Music Group Company
The movie had indeed a dog day afternoon, even a Tarantino feel to it. The story is told in pieces and by the end of the movie all the pieces come together.
The beginning with the action scene is nicely done, and the one-take scene puts you right in the action.
Then the story continues with Van Damme arriving in Schaarbeek and going to the postoffice. From that moment one the story unravels.
Van Damme plays a portrait of himself and does this extremely well. He does have a sense for drama, and he really acts well. I do believe this has something to do with him being more comfortable in his native language.
The other main characters are perhaps not very well developed, no real background story, which for me is a bit off a flaw. But the movie off course centers around Van Damme.
The famous monologue is definitely a must see and is a summing of what he has encountered in his life, very moving.
This movie, for me, shows us that he definitely CAN act given the right director and script. I hope this opens eyes, and also his.
The direction for me was excellent and I think the director will go far. He clearly has talent.
I think the movie should've given a chance on the festival circuit, it definitely would've found an audience. (maybe they should do this in te states).
So conclusion? The best I've seen from Van Damme... A must see.
8/10.
- robby-deblauwe
- Jun 21, 2008
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Kod adı - JCVD
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- €10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $470,691
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $20,119
- Nov 9, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $2,342,211
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1