Knock Off (1998)

*SPOILERS* Knock Off (1998) is very forgettable Hong Kong action movie. I still don't know what the hell this movie is about? This film is completely a Jackie Chan Movie. Van Damme moves like Jackie Chan. Mostly action scenes seems to be dubbed from Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong's movies that they work on them together. The action in here is good, but not that good. If they were playing an Chinese Action movie, they could came up with Van Damme action style movie flick, or better script and better storyline, but no! I realized that Sammo Hung was the second director for Van Damme's scenes, that is why they made this movie like a Jackie Chan movie. It is sort of a good-bad action movie. I don't hate the movie, but I don't like Knock Off either, but in my opinion Double Team is just way much better movie than this. I still like that this movie is made in the late 90's in Hong Kong and I think Van Damme did a solid job in here.Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider and Michael Wong trio action stars on the ship did a terrific outstanding job, but I would replaced three or two actors in this movie, in the Van Damme support team. I would replaced Rob Schneider with Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen, he would be much better choice for play Marcus Ray's (Van Damme) partner. I would replaced Lela Rochon with Cynthia Khan, because Lela is black and can not act or kicking ass. I would rather put Cynthia Khan in this movie. Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan worked together with Michael Wong in my favorite Hong Kong martial arts action film In the Line of Duty IV (1989) one of the best Hong Kong action martial arts movie, I have ever seen. Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan did return one year later in another action film Tiger Cage II (1990), this time Donnie Yen was the lead star in that movie and Cynthia was only a support co star, who was only in a few scenes, because her character was telling her own side of her story. That is why I liked about those Hong Kong movies.I liked Van Damme and his martial arts, when Van Damme in the factory put a chain around his knuckles and kicks those triads ass, trying to kill him, that was awesome. Asian cinema was coming strong like Jackie Chan and Jet Li so Van Damme teams up with Tsui Hark an Asian director marking their second collaboration together (the other was "Double Team"). It was something new for JCVD cause you had comedy with Rob Schnieder co-starring made the movie a decent action comedy, but I recommend the "Rush Hour" trilogy over this one. This is one of the strange movies , and the storyline is all over the place , its quite funny though , it's crazy in parts. I mean I never heard about counterfeit jeans? I thought this movie is more about smuggling Heroine, or cocaine. In the opening scene you see Michael Wong chasing someone, than some explosions and you see a lot of dolls in the water. I thought in the dolls where hiding drugs in it, now I know they weren't. What did Michael Wong chase at all? This movie to me, makes no sense I don't know what the hell the CIA was doing in this movie at all?, what they try to do with the story line? I blame Steven E. de Souza for this flick, It is his fault for making a terrible script, Van Damme has not even one good line in this movie at all! Other Chinese actors voices where dubbed. Why was an Afro-American Woman in this Chinese movie? Why? If Tsui Hark would have replaced Steven E. de Souza with Chi-Sing Cheung, Wing-Fai Wong and Kwong Kim Yip who made a script and storyline for In The Line of Duty IV (1989), this movie would not be a disaster! I don't like this movie for what it is, and it is not my Van Damme favorite film and I keep forgetting what this movie is about at all? Btw the acting from the cast and crew is terrible and laughably bad, the dialog is really dull and pretty stupid! Rob Schnieder is not an action star, stop putting him in an action movies guys! Anyway this movie get's by me a 4, because I liked the action scenes, but the explosions where bad CGI's. I like Van Damme a lot in this movie, he did a great job, but I will not seeing this anytime soon again.Knock Off is a 1998 Hong Kong action crime film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a sales representative who deals in counterfeit jeans who along with his partner find themselves mixed up in a conspiracy involving Russian mafia, terrorists, and the CIA. Knock Off was the second film collaboration between director Tsui Hark (A Better Tomorrow III) and Jean-Claude Van Damme, following 1997's Double Team.2/10 Grade: E- Studio: TriStar Pictures, MDP Worldwide Film Workshop Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Michael Wong, Paul Sorvino, Wyman Wong, Carman Lee, Glen Chin Director: Tsui Hark Producer: Nansun Shi Screenplay: Steven E. de Souza Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 31 Mins. Budget: $35.000.000 Box Office: $44,000,000

When a friend and I can't find any movies that interest both of us at our local video store, we usually just try to find the worst action movie we can and get a few chuckles. Naturally, anything with Van Damme is instantly a contender, and after reading the first line on the back of the box and seeing the words "counterfeit jeans" we were sold. In no way were we prepared for the cinematic abortion that we would witness. Van Damme's character appears to be (I say appears to be because the plot was nonsensical, even with obvious overdubs contained to explain gaps in the narrative) a salesman who pushes blue jeans. His business partner Rob Schneider is on first appearance a patently offensive mincing homosexual, though for some reason in all his later scenes he no longer displays any of these tendencies (other than a ridiculous scene where he smacks Van Damme's ass with an eel from the back of a rickshaw). In the early scenes, characters show up with no attempt to explain who they are and we move from a warehouse full of counterfeit goods to, for some reason, a rickshaw race. Here one gets a full sense of just how thoroughly his senses are about to be assaulted. Tsui Hark jams this puppy with as many unnecessary camera tricks as he can, including one in this scene where we see Van Damme's tennis shoe blow out from the inside. There is no way I can do this film justice by describing it, but suffice to say that many ludicrous, idiotic action scenes follow. Anytime someone dies it's especially hilarious. Lela Rochon and Paul Sorvino show up, the former basically just pointing her tits at the camera and the latter appearing to recognize how idiotic the movie is and hamming it up; listen to his "scream" in the second of the three scenes in which his character is apparently killed off. Do yourself a favor and check this movie out.

when I first saw this when it came out, I wasn't impressed. I thought Tsui Hark was selling out to Hollywood, and getting unnecessarily flashy in doing so.Seeing it again some ten years later, I have to admit I'm impressed. It's not just the story or the action scenes, or the integration of humor into the thriller storyline. But what once looked like flashiness now reveals itself as careful restraint. Tsui is working hard here to avoid any unnecessary frame, creating a film that admittedly jars visually, but does so tightly, with almost no excess imagery or story element. The film still looks fresh after a decade; while not great art, it's just supremely professional movie making. And in keeping with that, Tsui also manages to get restrained performance by two slices of Hollywood ham, Van Damme and Rob Schneider, the latter being one of the least tolerable comic actor I've ever had the misfortune to encounter on film. But here he seems almost at home in a Hitchcockian spy thriller with Jackie Chan flavored sense of humor - exactly where you would least expect to find him.Over all, although only a B-movie thriller, remains a neat accomplishment for Tsui Hark.

**SPOILERS**Mind boggling action movie that takes place on the eve of the British colony city of Hong Kong being handed over to the Red Chinese. The movie is about this group of Russian international mobsters who plan to blackmail the world with thousands of button, or micro, bombs. The Russians hide them in knockoff, phony high priced and name item, clothes and electrical equipment as well as toys. Then threaten to detonate them if they aren't paid, like cable TV, a monthly fee of 100 million dollars. Jean-Clude Van Damme is Marcus Ray a shady businessman who exports knockoff running shoes and jeans who gets involved up to his neck in the action. This happens when it's found out that his partner in crime the lovable and wise-cracking Tommy Hendricks, Rob Schneider, is an undercover CIA agent planning to get the goods on him, as well as his associates, in the illegal knockoff business.It soon becomes evident that knockoffs aren't the only headache on the minds of the CIA. It's found that their, the knockoff clothes and toys, are being used as explosives by the Russian mobster and suddenly Ray becomes a good guy in stopping, together with Hendricks, that from happening. Still Ray is hamstrung by ambitious CIA agent Karen Lee, Lela Rochon, who's playing double-agent in the film. This confuses both Ray & Hndricks to the point where all thee almost end up shooting each other.***SPOILER ALERT***It turns out that the person behind this evil and grandiose plan is non other then the CIA chief in charge of covert Hong Kong operations himself chubby Harry Johnson, Paul Sorvino, who together with even chubbier Hong Kong crime kingpin Slim, Glen Chin,are working together with the evil Russians in this crazy and off the wall criminal venture. The mindless action is almost non-stop in the movie with Ray going from rickshaw races to food fights and warehouse shootouts and finally a showdown with the Russians. This happens on an outgoing freighter loaded with bomb laden ripoffs headed for US Pacific port cities to unload and, by remote satellite control, activate them.People in the movie seem to be killed over and over again coming back for more like walking dead zombies especially the Russian mobsters. Who have, for what at first seems like no reason at all,hoods over their heads. Later you realize that it, the hoods, were just there so you won't see or recognize them coming back to get themselves killed, by Ray & Co, all over again sometimes as much as three or four times. The leader of the Slavic mobsters himself is done in a number of times by both Ray & Lee only to come back for more. Thats until Ray, out of sheer frustration, finally finishes him off much like he would have done to a vampire. But not with the usual wooden stake driven through his heart but with a ten ton steel cargo container dropped square on top of his head!All kinds of wild and far out zany camera angles make you dizzy following the non-stop action scenes with bad guy CIA turncoat Johnson getting the worst of it. Johnson gets knocked around all over the place then set on fire, with a bottle of deadly sulfuric acid, and then killed in a freighter explosion. Just when you thought the movie and Johnson were history he again killed in another explosion in his Hong Kong hideout. Johnson who at that point seemed to have come back from the dead has the same crazed and manic look in both scenes in both scenes that he was killed.