Kurt Sloan is the corner-man for his brother, U.S. kickboxing champion Eric Sloan. When Kurt witnesses his brother become maliciously paralyzed in the ring by Thailand champion Tong Po, Kurt vows revenge. With the help of Xian, a kickboxing trainer who lives in a remote area of Thailand, Kurt trains for the fight of his life.Written by
Peter Katzman <pkatzman@bu.edu>
Tong Po is mistakenly billed as playing himself (on the film's credits). In fact Michel Qissi played the villainous Thai for this film and its sequel Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991). Kamel Krifa played the character in the 4th. Qissi can also be seen in two other Van Damme movies, Bloodsport (1988) and Lionheart (1990). In Bloodsport Qissi is the fighter that gets his leg broken by Chong Li. In Lionheart (AWOL) Qissi plays Moustafe who alongside another legionnaire is trying to bring Lyon from America back to Africa. See more »
Goofs
The blood on Kurt's stomach appears and disappears between the scenes during the final fight with Tong Po. See more »
Quotes
Xian Chow:
I tell them you say they no good fighters... and that their mothers have sex with mules.
See more »
Crazy Credits
GOODBYE TO BUGS (According to David Worth The official Director, this was a reference to Producer Mark Disalle's rabbit who passed away at the time). See more »
Alternate Versions
The original rental version on video in some countries are different than the video versions released now. They were edited for violence, but include extra scenes, such as a bit in the hospital where Eric meets this guy named Lo with Jungle Rock cancer. Eric then cries to Kurt and starts swearing because he can't walk again. Eric then says "That son of a B**** took my life away Kurt , you find him and you F*** him up , you F*** him up bad , and let him know you're a Sloan." Then Kurt promises that he will. Some music plays from then on and continues to play on during the bit when Kurt is kicking the tree. On other releases there's no music while he's kicking the tree. Tong Po's laugh and scream sound different in the last fight. There are many other extra scenes but they are small scenes. Australian and New Zealand rental versions that were released by Palace have these scenes included but have some violence cut out. The version released in Australia by Fox in 1996, is the standard version which doesn't include these scenes. See more »
The original movie "Kickboxer" from 1989 starring Jean-Claude Van Damme is a true 80's action classic, Van Damme stars as Kurt Sloane brother of American Kickboxer champion Eric Sloan(Dennis Alexio)they find them self traveling to Thailand to challenge there worldchampion in Thai kickboxing Tong Po, the fight begins and Tong Po is not only domenating the whole fight, but in the end delivers a lethal elbow to Eric back to paralyze him for life, Kurt(Van Damme) is now on a vendetta against Tong Po to revenge his brother.
Kickboxer is one of Van Damme's best films(not as good as bloodsport though)The Storyline might be weak, but the film as said is a true 80's action classic,and all in all Kickboxer(DVD edition) is a 'must' for all action fans. The DVD itself has exellent picture and sound, there's not soo many features on the DVD(would have been nice to have the original movie trailer on it) but i does provides biografi for both the main actors as well as directors.(followed by several direct to video sequels).
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The original movie "Kickboxer" from 1989 starring Jean-Claude Van Damme is a true 80's action classic, Van Damme stars as Kurt Sloane brother of American Kickboxer champion Eric Sloan(Dennis Alexio)they find them self traveling to Thailand to challenge there worldchampion in Thai kickboxing Tong Po, the fight begins and Tong Po is not only domenating the whole fight, but in the end delivers a lethal elbow to Eric back to paralyze him for life, Kurt(Van Damme) is now on a vendetta against Tong Po to revenge his brother.
Kickboxer is one of Van Damme's best films(not as good as bloodsport though)The Storyline might be weak, but the film as said is a true 80's action classic,and all in all Kickboxer(DVD edition) is a 'must' for all action fans. The DVD itself has exellent picture and sound, there's not soo many features on the DVD(would have been nice to have the original movie trailer on it) but i does provides biografi for both the main actors as well as directors.(followed by several direct to video sequels).