We lost a true icon in May this year. When i got the news that actor Sir Roger Moore have passed away, i felt that he was a very unique person. He was a very warm hearted man, who did so much work for unicef, helping people in poverty. I think this must have been a good way, to do something different outside his acting career. Most of us will always remember Roger Moore from the tv show classics The Saint, The Persuaders ! and of course from all the James Bond films that he made. Speaking of James Bond, there are so many classic scenes i can think of right now, where Roger Moore delivered some unforgettable moments. One of my personal favourite Bond films with Roger Moore, have always been his first Bond film, known as Live And Let Die. I loved the voodoo theme, and the action packed story, with Jane Seymour looking absolutely gorgeous. When i look back at Roger Moore´s amazing acting career, he did do a lot of good films. Not only as James Bond, but he did do other films that are worth seeing. One example, how many of you remember the 1980 film North Sea Hijack ( also known as Ffolkes in the UK ) ? I would describe this film as an action thriller on the sea, where Roger Moore did a different character from his acting catalogue. This film have also a nice cast of James Mason, Michael Parks and Anthony Perkins ( the legendary actor from the Psycho films ). If you have not seen it, pick it up cheap on Amazon UK on dvd. Since i wanted to do a tribute to Sir Roger Moore, i did not really know at first what film to review. I did think about one thing though, not to choose one of the Bond films. Why ? Well, i think he have done a lot more than just James Bond, so it could be more interesting to look at something else, outside of the Bond category. So i looked around, trying to decide what film i should choose, and i came to a decision. That i should do a review of the 1996 film called The Quest. This was one of the films i remember dearly from the 90´s, because you got both Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Roger Moore in the same film. Back then, i remember that i enjoyed the film, and i think Jean-Claude Van Damme proved himself, that he could also direct an action film. I got a chance to watch The Quest on blu ray, to experience the film again after so many years. I also wanted to see if the film would still deliver, even today. With 2 legendary actors on board an action film, is The Quest a film that should be seen by a wider audience, or is this film a completely miserable disaster from start to finish ?
An old man named Christopher Dubois ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ) hit down 2 punks in a bar, after they try to rob the bar owner. The bartender is in shock, to see such an old man take down young men like that. Christopher begins to tell his story. We go back to the year of 1925, where Christopher is a pocket thief in New York City. He looks after a large group of orphanage children, who helps him doing cons and stealing. After stealing a large sum of money from a group of gangsters. Dubois and the children are found by the gangsters. Dubois manage to take down the gangsters, but one of the children are shot, as the police are hunting after Dubois. Christopher promise the children to return. In the harbor, Dubois manage to jump on board a cargo boat. As he wakes up, he is being hold prisoner on board, on their way to Thailand. While they arrive to Thailand, the cargo ship is attacked by mercenary Lord Edgar Dobbs ( Sir Roger Moore ) and his crew. They take all the guns on board, and Lord Edgar have an idea. He saw the fighting skills from Dubois on board the cargo ship, so he decides to make sure that Dubois will be a part of the Ghang-gheng tournament. But Dubois needs to train Muay Thai, so Lord Edgar deceive Dubois, promising him to help him home to America. Instead, Lord Edgar sell Dubois as a slave. 6 months later Lord Edgar and his partner Harry Smithe ( Jack McGee ) see Dubois have become a really good Muay Thai fighter. He is now ready to be in the tournament, but is there a way back to America, or does Dubois has to fight his way to freedom ?
Watching this film after almost 20 years again ( i have not seen it since 1997 ), it is interesting to see a film where Jean-Claude Van Damme tried to do something completely different with the action genre. Imagine a mix of old school action adventure, with martial arts like a Mortal Kombat competition, and you have The Quest. I really can´t say that i have seen Van Damme do anything similar to this film before ( even if you have influences from Bloodsport here ), and in some ways it makes the film more fun to watch. Is it a classic in any way ? No, not if you compare with his real classics. But i think The Quest works because of the odd mix, and taking place in the year of 1925 give the film a different perspective as well. Sir Roger Moore is one of the film biggest highlights, as the character Lord Edward Dobbs. To see Roger Moore in a Van Damme film, is in some ways very bizarre, you would not think he could fit into a film with The Muscles From Brussels. But he actually does, and the scenes where you get to see him delivering his lines makes a big difference. The fighting scenes looks good, and some of the action scenes also work well. Director Jean-Claude Van Damme really tried to push the limits from an ordinary martial art film, and clearly wanted to experiment with The Quest. Almost as if he wanted to try and do a film more historical, then his previous films. I do think that this film does deliver from an entertainment perspective. When it comes to the acting, we already know that Jean-Claude have a limited level on acting, from this period of the 90´s. When he fights, and does action scenes, that´s where he works best. The dialogue scenes is not very interesting. As long as he does not try and make dialogue scenes, we are ok. The story surrounding different fighters, meeting up in Thailand to be a part of the big fighting tournament, is not very original. But that´s ok, this is a Van Damme film, so we want to see fighting. Also nice to see some other legendary actors in here. How about James Remar ( might remember him from classics such as The Warriors, or Drugstore Cowboy ) and let´s not forget Jack McGee ( who also were in classics such as Born On The Fourth Of July and in Basic Instinct ). The Quest may not be one of the biggest highlights of Van Damme´s film career, but i still enjoy this film for standing out from his usual concept. I suggest you pick up the blu ray, and just enjoy the film for what it is, a popcorn winner.
Rating: DDD
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