Double Team (1997)

Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take an Van Damme underrated, bashed, hated solid action film, ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.Double Team (1997) alongside with Knock Off (1998) is very underrated, bashed and hated movie, mostly for Van Damme performance. This film has received a lot of negative reviews and was a box office fail. I understand why people does not like this movie, I understand and I like it! It is not one of my top 10 favorite Van Damme movies, but I like it, even more than Knock Off. I have always enjoyed this film more than Knock Off. Double Team was Van Damme's first time filming with Chinese film director Tsui Hark, because one year later, they both made together Knock Off another underrated action movie. In my opinion beside Van Damme, Mickey Rourke and Dennis Rodman both of the actors did a solid job and performance together playing their characters. There was a lot of explosions, a lot of action scenes, and a lot of martial arts shown from Van Damme and Mickey Rourke. I like the idea, When Jack Quinn (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a former counterterrorist agent fails to catch alive a terrorist leader Stavros (Mickey Rourke) and accidentally one of his Agent's kills Stavros 6.year old son, Jack Quinn is exiled to colony for dead agents on an empty deserted island and their is no escape from this island. Stavros plot's vengeance against Quinn and takes his wife Kathryn (Natacha Lindinger ) as a hostage and her unborn child now Quinn has to escape and team with Jaz (Dennis Rodman) to get his wife back and Stavros once and for all. I love the training sequences and the music score for the movie. I liked the performance from Van Damme and Rodman, I don't think they acted stupid in this movie, they did not! I bagged my aunt to tape me this movie on VHS, when I was a teen and she did. I like this movie a lot, I like the shoot outs. Double Team was also one of my favorite Van Damme movies. Dennis Rodman and Mickey Rourke co started in this movie. About an CIA agent who misses his target and finds him self on an island for a retired agents and he finds out that his target Stavros kidnapped his wife and his unborn baby and he plans to kill them both unless Quinn escapes. Training and action sequences are excellent and Double Team is also Van Damme's action movie that I like. It is an explosive, high-tech ride. Mickey Rourke was a good bad guy. I really had no idea Paul Freeman was in this movie, he was so awesome in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), I really had no idea he was in this movie as Quinn's guardian. I like when Van Damme fight's off the tiger in the coliseum, those scenes with the tiger where fantastic. I liked that Rodman helped Quinn saving his baby, when the baby case was standing on a mine filed and Rodman saved him. The fights between Mickey Rourke and Van Damme weren't that good, but they were not that bad either. Van Damme and Mickey Rourke both differently worked in The Expendables movies. Rourke in The Expendables and Van Damme in The Expendables 2. Double Team is a 1997 action film that marked the first American movie directed by Hong Kong director Tsui Hark (A Better Tomorrow III). The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jack Quinn, a former counterterrorist agent who is exiled to a penal colony for disgraced operatives. Upon his escape, Quinn teams with an arms dealer to track down the terrorist who ruined his life. The film co-stars Dennis Rodman, Paul Freeman, and Mickey Rourke. Director Hark would later collaborate with Van Damme in 1998's Knock Off. This movie get's 6 by me, I wish I would have this movie on Blu-ray, I am probably the only one that just likes this movie. Much better than Knock Off! The training sequences from Van Damme where really kick ass and the action stunts from Van Damme where solid, so they weren't bad. Sorry Double Team is not your movie, that's okay I like it. 6/10 Grade: C- Studio: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Mandalay Entertainment Film Workshop Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, Paul Freeman, Mickey Rourke, Natacha Lindinger Director: Tsui Hark Producers: Moshe Diamant, David Rodgers Screenplay: Don Jakoby, Paul Mones Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 33 Mins. Budget: $30.000.000 Box Office: $11,438,337

Stavros (Mickey Rourke) is about to sell Plutonium, stolen from the US, to the Iraqis. It is the final mission of secret agent Jack Quinn (Jean-Claude Van Damme) to stop him, and he barely escapes stealing back the Plutonium. It's 3 years later in the South of France, Jack is retired with his pregnant wife. But Stavros is back and the CIA needs Jack to track him down. Dennis Rodman costars as flamboyant arms dealer Yaz.It's almost painful to watch Dennis Rodman act with Van Damme. Van Damme was never the most natural actor around with his accent. I've often wonder if he should speak in other languages when he's playing secret agents. Reading subtitles would be an improvement.The action is pretty good. The movie starts off with a major truck chase. It gets off on the right foot. Things blow up, bullets are flying, everybody is kung fu fighting, and there is mayhem everywhere in this movie. I have no complaints about the action.But there is nothing that can be done with all the bad acting. The story is ridiculous and stupid. It's trying very hard to be something big. While it has most of the look, the movie is nothing more than sub par.

Jack Quinn (Van Damme) is a retired CIA operative who wants to do nothing more than lounge by the pool with his wife Katherine (Lindinger), who happens to be pregnant, after a long career of CIA operations. However, trouble rears its head in the form of super-evil baddie Stavros (Rourke), a longtime enemy of Quinn's. Stavros is so dangerous, Quinn must travel to Antwerp to meet Yaz (Rodman), a colorful, flamboyant arms dealer, to sell him the latest in hi-tech weaponry. After a shootout and one-on-one battle with Stavros, he ends up escaping once again, and Quinn is sent to a mysterious place called "The Colony" which is not at all based on The Prisoner TV show. Quinn spends most of his time at The Colony training and working on his escape plan. Once firmly out of the grasp of The Colony, he and Yaz team up to take one last shot at Stavros - who has kidnapped Katherine, and now his newborn son. Will Quinn and Yaz make the ultimate DOUBLE TEAM? Double Team is classic 90's Van Damme. The presence of Dennis Rodman cements the fact that it's classic 90's, period. This was not only an era in time when JCVD movies came to the theater, but when DENNIS RODMAN movies came to the theater. It truly was a more innocent time for us all. The fact is, Rodman's outlandish female outfits, wacky hair, silly one-liners and, let's face it, infectious charisma enliven the movie immeasurably. Director Tsui Hark brings that kinetic HK style and crazy camera angles he and his brethren are known for. Throw in some Mickey Rourke as the baddie and a tiger (during the climactic battle) and you have the enjoyable and entertaining movie we know and love today.During a big chunk of the movie, namely the "Prisoner" sequence, you might find yourself asking "where's Yaz?" or "this movie could really use more Yaz". The fact is, Rodman and Van Damme do have very good chemistry together, and there's certainly no shortage of basketball jokes and references in the movie. During the heyday of Rodman, he only appeared in two movies. This one and Simon Sez (1999). Fascinatingly, and inexplicably, both films feature "Cyber-Monks". That is, underground monks using modern technology. A quick look on Urban Dictionary for Cyber Monk includes this excerpt: "They have a strange tendency to show up in high-tech espionage movies starring Dennis Rodman. Some are known to dance." Whether they are in Rodman's contract as a prerequisite to him being involved, we don't know, but Cyber Monks are definitely a thing. And we don't know why. Martial Artist and stuntman Xin Xin Xiong is also involved with both Rodman vehicles.Double Team definitely delivers what fans want: wild stunts, a classic training sequence (but with a twist: Van Damme's time-honored split is done vertically this time, not simply horizontally as usual), at least one character walking away from an explosion in slow motion, and many characters who scream while shooting their machine guns. Because Hark is the director, there are certainly some odd close-ups and such, and there are many moments that are weirdly nonsensical, but it's all part of the fun. Plus the movie mentions North Korea as a threat, which was pretty ahead of its time in 1997.Rodman knows you can never get enough Rodman, which is why he also appears on the closing credits song, "Just a Freak" by Crystal Waters featuring Dennis Rodman. Maybe that's why his star burned brightly but quickly back in the 90's. But at least we have Double Team as proof that he teamed up with Van Damme back in that heady time. And the results are everything you could ask for.

i can see why people hate this movie so bad i know it's a bit silly and i am Big Fan Of Jean Claude Van Damme and Mickey Rourke and Dennis Rodman was Awesome and Funny but not much as Action Star didn't do much of Movies and in this movie was pretty awesome seeing Van Damme fighting with Rourke and movie wasn't that bad come on if your fan van Damme fan you should enjoy this movie it's fun Movie i don't care what people say and the opening scene when van damme driving the big truck in opening scene was cool and part in of Dennis was funny but they could of got Wesley Snipes rather then Dennis Rodman but it doesn't matter it's still good idea for me and Quinn escapes from the colony and goes after Stavroes for revenge. Quinn is helped by Yaz Dennis Rodman Double Team they helping each another in mission to get his wife and baby and fight scenes with Van and Mickey was Awesome but i know Mickey Rourke doesn't like van Damme with some reason i don't know about but the fight scenes was fun didn't go for that long but you don't need to see long as showdown when van Damme fights were amazing like in Bloodsport if you enjoy Hard Target and Double Impact and Knock off and Kickboxer and Bloodsport this is fun movie that you will Enjoy for Van Damme Fans like this only 4.4 i will give this 10.10