That movie's terrible; I'm putting it straight to video. So when he heard that there was another movie with Van Dammeand this time Van Damme was starring in itSammy was totally enthusiastic. And this felt very personal because the guys that were up on stage for those initial performances were pretty much playing themselves in many respects.Tracers, as the play would later be titled, was first presented as a work-in-progress performance piece on July 4, 1980. He knew enough buzzwords to make me think he's the real deal, he's probably been over there. Actually, I should back up. He's been carrying on like that for years and years. I always try to look for the best in people. Showed him a few screenplays that I had written and we decided to work together on this. They were both pregnant at the same time. But it was interesting because he's fighting Mike Stone and Mike Stone had reportedly 91 wins. So Grant's dad, he basically saw that I was struggling to make money so our family could eat and I could buy myself shoes. It worked great. I was afraid to taste it, because I'm allergic to shellfish. You want to fight, let's fight?" You know, where people go around wearing medals and talking about their fictional war exploits.Blake Harris: That actually makes for a good, non-Frank-related jumping off point. It was "Dukes." How Did This Get Made's ad-free archives are available on Stitcher Premium. And here it is, years later, I got to go with her and take it to the movies. He wants to find a more peaceful path. More Like This Unspooled with Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson Listen up, film fans! Jean-Claude, Michel Qissi and we were all predicting how much money the movie was going to make.Blake Harris: That's wonderful.Sheldon Lettich: Yes, but there was still an additional hurdle. You gotta admire the fact that he wanted to get a real Vietnam vet working on the script with him. Apparently, Stallone had read the same article and he was thinking exactly the same thing. But back then it sounded really cool.Blake Harris: Well you started that clich!Sheldon Lettich: [laughter] Back then, to say "based on a true story" was something that intrigued, and I think it particularly intrigued Menahem Golan. And the story there, which I've told many times, came from Frank telling me about his exploits. And I walked out on the ledge and I was waiting for him because I knew he wasn't going to come alone. You spent almost four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, is that correct?Sheldon Lettich: Yeah, I served as a radio operator in South Vietnam and then later with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Pendleton, California.Blake Harris: So how did you go about making that enormous transition from wartime soldier to Hollywood writer?Sheldon Lettich: Well, surprisingly enough, my first success came in the theater. He frickin' landed on his head, in front of all my students. It's a tale so amazing that two months after the film's release, it was dismissed by the L.A. Times as nothing but a fabricated "macho fantasy." You know, there's a certain romanticism to that. And Leon was going to star in the movie, which we called The White House All Stars with the "White House" being a frat house at this college where all the football players lived. That's what they always show on the history channel, those two to the head. And he showed up and said, "I see he didn't show up." We pitched it to them and they were kind of interested, but at the end of the day they decided not to do it. Took me a long, long time to write that script. I remember there was a stack of scripts lining the walltitles written on the spineand I notice one script in particular. Enjoy, and please share and subscribe! In fact, that was the script for Stallone that Jean-Claude gave me some dialogue help with.Blake Harris: Ah, right after Bloodsport. On this episode of Matinee Monday, Paul Scheer looks back at the "How Did This Get Made?" episode with Nicole Byer on the 1988 cult f. It was called Firebase and was basically Zulu in Vietnam; about a small disparate group forced together on a Firebase that gets attacked by an overwhelming number of North Vietnamese. But when I got done with him he was doing front flips, he was doing great.Blake Harris: And what about his personality? Occasionally he'd come by the studio. And he was an idol of Jean-Claude's too.Blake Harris: Yeah? It was just a way to release it. Jean-Claude Van Damme." And the one twinning shot would sell it and it worked surprisingly well.Blake Harris: The next movie you worked on with Jean-Claude was his directorial debut, The Quest [1996], but only in the capacity of script polishing. Blake Harris: The Black Belt article got a lot of attention and certainly must have piqued the interest of some folks in Hollywood. They didn't have any proper uniforms. But, I mean, he couldn't do a forward roll when I first got him. At one point it was the second most profitable article they'd ever written. It was awarded the Drama-Logue Critics' Award for Direction and the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Award for Ensemble Performance. I don't know if the word "genius" is maybe taking it too high, but this is a very smart creative guy who is very much underappreciated. In exchange for dropping the suit, they offered me the rights to The Corsican Brothers, which I readily agreed to because, by then, Jean-Claude was trying to get a project set up with Moshe Diamant. It's not something that I'm interested in, but good luck." I'll show you a fighter and I'll fight you on the roof of the hotel!" Which kind of made Grant feel better about himself. So we changed the title to Stryker's Force and we gave the character's different names. In fact, Midway Games attempted to license Van Damme's image for the game. What follows is a conversation with Sheldon Lettich, who was thescreenwriter ofthe movie Bloodsport. One of the only places where we initially differed was with the entry point. And I'm talking a six-inch ledge. I remember him saying, "Michael Dudikoff is a movie star! He was good at boxing. I think what happened in reality was more interesting, but you have a limited amount of time to tell a story and it has to resonate with the audience, you know? And I was right: He came with [Bloodsport actor] Michel Qissi and two other guys. As a result, he's spent the past 28 years dealing with perpetual allegations of being a fake and a fraud. She loved it. This regular featureis written byBlake J. Harris, who you might know as the writer ofthe bookConsole Wars, soon to be a motion pictureproduced bySeth RogenandEvan Goldberg. He's also said it under oath by the way and identified me. He's in a documentary saying this. I'm not quite sure why they ended up hiring other writers to do a different version of it but they did and then that became a bone of contention later on where Frank ended up suing Jean-Claude and saying Jean-Claude had promised him some big chunk of the profit participation from the movie. In the end, his psyche was broken when Jimmy Olsen brought his brother onto the scene. But he was telling me about this tournament that he participated in where all the best fighters in the world showed up. And I said, "Hey, asshole, I'm right over here." That it would be helpful and therapeutic.Blake Harris: And was it? This regular featureis written byBlake J. Harris, who you might know as the writer ofthe bookConsole Wars, soon to be a motion pictureproduced bySeth RogenandEvan Goldberg. You're craaaaaaazy." So these kids kind of grew up together. And it's interesting because they hide that, you know? Jean-Claude was a big Stallone fan?Sheldon Lettich: Still is. And there's a census bureau report saying that he was exactly in the place I was when he trained me. People would just assume that this is how it worked on those other two movies.Blake Harris: That makes sense.Sheldon Lettich: So I actually suggested to Jean-Claude that he use Frank Dux to write the script. He had a karate background. I literally wrote a good majority of that script with Sheldon, but I never got credit for it. Synopsis:U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who had been trained as a boy by the legendary Ninjutsu master Senzo Tanaka, decides to honor his mentor by taking the place of Tanaka's dead son in an illegal, no-holds-barred martial arts tournament called the "Kumite. Look, I take people at face value because I'm not a bulls***ter. And I said, "Okay, after dailies, I'll meet you up there." Another thing was that had I co-directed The Quest with Jean-Claude, it might have contributed to a mistaken notion that Jean-Claude co-directed Lionheart and Double Impact with me. How involved were you with that reshaping?Frank Dux: Every day, when Sheldon was writing the script, I would be in the office with him and Mark DiSalle, the producer. There's a birth certificate and a death certificate for him. It's a way for me to just flow. Then we started meeting on a regular basis over at the VA hospital in Westwood. Oh man, he f***ing hated that movie. And Jean-Claude's got a really good sense of how a fight scene should be edited. But then Ed Pressman, who had done Street Fighter, he wanted to do another movie with Jean-Claude. With Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton. And he did the helicopter kick in No Retreat, No Surrender and I was well known for my flying kicks and finishing guys off with my spinning flying kicks. It sold well at the box office, grossing $65 million on a budget of $1.5-2.3 million. Okay, try him out. Can you tell me about writing Enter The Ninja? The character is initially depicted as a vengeful veteran of the Vietnam War, angry at the people of Metropolis for their "senseless . A lot of those shots came from the camera angles I had been directing. A simultaneously misleading and fitting title was certainly bestowed upon Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite, by far the worst installment of the franchise by a longshot. So on Lionheart, I went up where [Jean-Claude] was standing on the ledge of the building, doing what I had done that he was afraid to do in Hong Kong. And then the fight was on. Jeez. Shortly after running our last piece, How Did This Get Made: A Conversation with Frank Dux, the Real-Life Inspiration for Bloodsport, I was put in touch with Sheldon Lettich. I wasn't going through anything like that myself, but it's therapeutic if you're able to recreate something that was an important part of your life and find a way to transmit it to other people. Sometimes we get answers to questions like these, and other times we do not. And on it, they didn't even spell my name correctly. I remember us going back to his apartment and the thing was entirely full.Blake Harris: Did Menahem change his tune about Jean-Claude?Sheldon Lettich: Well, yes and no. How Did This Get Made is a companion to the podcastHow Did This Get MadewithPaul Scheer, Jason MantzoukasandJuneDiane Raphaelwhich focuses on movies. DuBois' Bloodsport first appeared in Superman Vol 2 #4 by John Byrne back in 1987. And there'd be a bunch of people there with phones to record it, so we don't want this to happen.Blake Harris: Speaking of that screening, Frank had mentioned that you were crushed. My body's fully developed, I jumped up like a bean sprout, and now I was eyeball to eyeball with Moore, who this time fought the Unstoppable Mike Stone at Long Beach. All of this was prior to Bloodsport. It was also seen by Viacom. Bloodsport (original trailer 720p en) Watch on Synopsis: U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ), who had been trained as a boy by the legendary Ninjutsu master Senzo Tanaka,. And one of those people was Sylvester Stallone, who had put the word out that he was looking for someone to help him write Rambo III. How much of the character's personality is true to the individual who lived those events? And so, you know, it was just a nice fit. So I started doing a Howard Cosell imitation and that's where I came up with the term Bloodsport. Let's make a kickass, balls-to-the-wall revenge movie. And we made money on that film. And I could see he was really contemplating it. Stallone's original idea was that [Colonel Sam] Trautman comes to Rambo and says something like: hey, I got a mission for you in Afghanistan. Well, Menahem just happened to be searching for an actor to play the lead in Bloodsport so he told Jean-Claude to come by his office the following morning and gave him a copy of the script.Blake Harris: Right, right.Sheldon Lettich: But the point we're getting towards is my first meeting with Jean-Claude. And he was just a different person. How did that happen? He was very stiff. 4. Because he's riding on the coattails of Jean-Claude. And I showed that in court. He's got a lot of abilities. And it was a Xeroxed copy of a receipt, a copy that anyone could fabricate on a home copy machine. It's a psychological issue that, believe it or not, happens more than you would think. Especially when it comes to the military. Using tech he got from Lex Luthor, Bloodsport teleported a rifle that fired Kryptonite needles into his hands and shot Superman with it. They'll cover Frank Dux being a real man, Van Damme's soft baby b. And he did. And that relationship led to other things down the road, as you know, but meanwhile my script Firebase was going around. He would punch the bricks, breaking them apart. Tiger Tanaka, right? For you, I mean.Sheldon Lettich: Oh yeah, oh absolutely. He did everything to basically poison the well with Jean-Claude and everybody I worked with. He remembered that there were different shots. And he knows it. Then he said, "It's my movie too and I want what's best for the film! Everything you've just been telling me about this Kumite, that's a great idea for a movie. I also was never AWOL. Leon hired me to write a script, which Menahem ended up liking. Bloodsport Coming Soon to Fortnite - YouTube 0:00 / 1:00 Bloodsport Coming Soon to Fortnite Fortnite 11.5M subscribers 1.6M views 1 year ago #Bloodsport #Fortnite #FortniteBloodsport. So any time you want to know who an agent is you can just go down there and file a request? But the fights in the story were all real. Joseph Papp heard about it, so he brought the show to the Public Theatre in New York. So I go in to pitch my idea and his development executive, she was just flabbergasted when I showed her the magazine cover and told her about the idea. Around this time, Leon Isaac Kennedy [from The White House All Stars] had been in in a Chuck Norris movie called Lone Wolf McQuade and there was talk about doing a Part Two. Bloodsport hospitalizing Superman was lifted directly from his first comic book appearance. And I said, "Jean-Claude, that's bullshit. And the two of them, they didn't talk about it, but they'd basically bicker through their agents because neither one wanted to be the criminal who gets killed at the end. During that time, I gave Jean-Claude some odd jobs. So I said, "As long as you're going to have martial arts, why not get Frank?" Not about Jean-Claude per se, but about releasing Bloodsport in theaters?Sheldon Lettich: Menahem was persuaded by Samuel Hadida, who had released No Retreat, No Surrender in France (where it was called Karate Tiger) and been a fan of Jean-Claude's ever since then. Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite. I met Gladys, the woman of my dreams, I had a baby, and I'm miserable. He was friendly with me. JCVD RE-EDITED THE MOVIE HIMSELF TO GET IT . I felt bad for him.Blake Harris: Actually, if you don't mind, I have one more question for you.Frank Dux: Sure.Blake Harris: We've spent all of this time talking about your life as a fighter and portrayals of your life as a fighter. It made its budget back just the first weekend on the west coast. But then Menahem decided he didn't want to make the movie.Blake Harris: Why?Sheldon Lettich: In his words, I'm quoting, "Jean-Claude can't even play one character, how do you expect him to play two?" How did that come about?Sheldon Lettich: Well, it's interesting. But I thought you said Menahem still wasn't fully sold on Jean-Claude.Sheldon Lettich: He wasn't. Fights don't go down like that." howdidthisgetmade@earwolf.com Episodes The Specialist LIVE! And he ends up doing a test of speed with this guy named Vic Moore. So I thought that it was a good idea to keep my options open. He felt bad for him. KUMITE! Thndrcougarfalcnbird. And he just laughed and said, "Come on, let me show you this house. It was offered to him and Seagal. Like with Legionnaire. This is the kind of bond we had. Well, about the only thing they showed was a trophy receipt.Blake Harris: Which they claimed was evidence that the trophy you won was "at least partially made in the San Fernando Valley? Even though we thought the movie was better, Menahem didn't. Then we needed someone different to play the Chuck Norris role. He had an answering machine at the time that had a limit of, like, 50 messages. Nobody clapped or wanted to have their picture taken with you. Which was Mike's move. Blake Harris: So we know how Sheldon entered the picture, but how does Jean-Claude Van Damme become involved with Bloodsport?Frank Dux: Oh, Jean-Claude tells this crazy story. So I wrote the script and gave it to a guy named Jacov Bresler. Bloodsport was produced by Cannon Films and released by Warner Bros. on 26 February 1988. And here's the thing that gets me about how stupid people are. We thought he was f***ing great. He didn't like it. And I totally separated it. And we did.Blake Harris: Did Mark and the other producers spark to the idea of Jean-Claude?Frank Dux: They wanted to use Michael Dudikoff at first. John had convinced somebody there that doing this play was a good idea for veterans. He was a little too old at the time. In the early to mid 90s, dinosaurs were soooo cool! When. But I learned to conquer it, okay? And Rambo says [putting on a thick Stallone impression]: let me just go get my gear. Qissi followed Van Damme to Los Angeles and found himself in a bit part in Bloodsport and eventually played the villain, Tong Po, in Kickboxer. A lot of it was based on the recollections of my friend Kurt Taylor, who I wrote the script with. They liked the idea, liked the script, and decided to go ahead and do it as a low-budget movie. That's kind of how it appealed to me. We were calling it "Delayed Stress." You said "we were working on a sequel." And separates Mike's shoulder. He went in and redid it. Wow.Frank Dux: And he knocked Chuck Norris to the ground several times. He's a producer, he's got like 50 films under his belt. These targets included the planned mining of a Nicaraguan port and the planned sabotage of certain Nicaraguan installations including power stations and weapons depots, codenamed OPERATION CORDOBA HARBOR. Neither of them was about a martial arts tournament, and neither of them was ever produced. I still had not yet met Jean-Claude at this time. Two, actually. Though defeated, this wasn't the last the heroes of the DC Universe saw of Bloodsport. I imagine it's hard to write a personal, firsthand account like that.Frank Dux: Here's the thing. Please note as always our subject'sopinions, recollections and claims are his own, and do not reflect the views of the author or this publication. And we ran around like kids, just like kids, and he was showing me this beautiful art deco penthouse apartment in downtown L.A.Blake Harris: That's a great image. I wasn't a bitter person. I think Jean-Claude and I have done just fine without 'riding his coattails,' haven't we?". And everybody had their picture taken with me, and I don't recall anyone having their picture taken with Sheldon, outside of his friends. That is not to say that the Tanaka name has no meaning. Plus, two cousins duke it out . And a lot of pain, I guess, made me fight. I'll tell you one thing: When I was there, I got a standing ovation. You allow other people just a little glimpse into what that experience was like and to feel it themselves. He was good at stiff karate moves, but that was it. That's how Frank and I met.Blake Harris: Do you remember what your first meeting was like?Sheldon Lettich: We hit it off right away. So I just started calling it Bloodsport, and that was useful because this type of fighting, it had a different name depending on where you were. Later on, after Sheldon and I got to talking, I gave it to Sheldon and we reshaped it.Blake Harris: And at what point did the script become called Bloodsport. In fact, I never even got story credit for it.Blake Harris: That's rough.Frank Dux: Well, Sheldon has made a career out of coming in behind me and putting his name on my work, okay? The government did not know how much he knew about other covert operations, he said, so they placed information in his file to destroy his credibility. That was really my very first entry into the Writer's Guild.Blake Harris: Moving up the ranksSheldon Lettich: Yeah, and around this time I wrote a Vietnam screenplay that got me my first agent. And then he said, "What the hell are we doing out here?" So Leon and I go and pitch this to Menahem. The Origins of Gladiatorial Games. Give me a shot with him." Everywhere else in my life I'm like a duck out of water, but put me in that arena and I just swim. The whole martial arts thing. But I got over it.Blake Harris: Well, given that physically you were not a prime candidate for hand-to-hand combat, how did the idea of martial arts even first cross your radar?Frank Dux: As a kid, as a young kid, I was a James Bond fan. And if Jean-Claude had found out that I really was theat that time, the real force, if you wouldthat was giving him all these elements, Sheldon's usefulness would have been short-lived. Actor & comedian Paul Scheer and film critic Amy Nicholson want your advice as they make the ultimate list of the greatest movies . Absolutely. And it may be a typical Hollywood story, but you still never see it coming. I don't think Stallone has ever been given his due by movie critics. A little bit. How much of the story really happened? It developed a strong cult following, and has been cited as an influence on the development of mixed martial arts. I didn't see it coming. And just a few more questions. You try to get him to do a judo throw and he couldn't throw anybody. Let's meet face to face. Dux's trophy from the Bahamas event was at least partially made in the San Fernando Valley. The film is partly based on unverified claims made by martial artist Frank Dux. California, Oregon and Washington. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. Ian Fleming based his characters on real people. How blindsided were you when the piece came out?Frank Dux: Well, there was nothing I could do. We'd shoot one side of the screen with one of the brothers and then Jean-Claude would have to change his hair, make-up, wardrobe and we'd have a double standing in for another brother. I buy you dinner tonight." I think that's why people really love it. We were on the set of Lionheart. Jean-Claude?Frank Dux: When we started? One of the key sequences in the film finds Task Force X sent to free Rick Flag from an enemy camp. In front of everybody. But they called me from Hong KongFrank and Jean-Claudelamenting the fact that "Mark DiSalle was messing up the script." And what really grabbed Sheldon's attention was the fights.Blake Harris: So what happened with the script? We just became friends almost immediately. That was the real Sheldon Lettich. We even made a movie together, my 16mm short Firefight, which I gave him a major role in. I said, "Real Kumite fighters, we fight here. But the real contest was just punches to the chest, and Moore beat Lee like 4-2. It would have been an expensive movie. And so the ink was barely dry when I drove right over to Moshe's house and we signed a deal to do what became Double Impact.Blake Harris: From a technological standpoint, what were some of the biggest challenges with shooting two Jean-Claudes?Sheldon Lettich: The biggest challenges were that we were still using old technology. Because I think he's got a Walter Mitty syndrome. How else could you get a hold of this? What follows is a conversation with Frank Dux, who was the real-life inspiration behind the movie Bloodsport. I mean, he couldn't do a throw. It chronicles his training by a Japanese master warrior named Tiger [Tanaka]Shoto Tanemura, a Japanese who is one of a select group of recognized Ninja masters in the world, said in an interview in Los Angeles last week that he had never heard of Dux or Tanaka. You know what I mean? And I was writing for Stallone at the time and I actually asked Jean-Claude for some help with some of the dialogue for a script I was working on.Blake Harris: I imagine that this was during that timeabout two years or sowhen Bloodsport just kind of sat there on the shelves. Please note as always his opinions, recollections and claims are his own, and not necessarily fact. I'm not gonna stoop to his level. They passed on it. Brought his wife with him and we just hit it off, right from the getgo. And Stallone felt the same way. The piece, entitled "Kumite: A Learning Experience," was written by editor John Stewart and begins with the following note: From time to time, Black Belt learns of unusual events or occurrences in the martial arts; events thateither because of their nature or because they occurred in the distant pastcannot be easily verified. Bloodsport (1988) Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Forest Whitaker based on experiences in the life of martial artist Frank W. Dux My involvement in that tournament was part of a plan, launched in 1975, to infiltrate the criminal organizations that organized the fights. Jean-Claude's character comes to the US to help out his brother, not with anything like revenge or violence on his mind. He used to tell everybody he was a ninja; I think he still maintains he was a ninja and took his training from this guy named Tanaka. Armed with a gun that fires Kryptonite needles, Bloodsport nearly succeeded in his mission to eliminate the Man of Steel, but ultimately failed. With Bloodsport and Deadshot picking up each other weapons in battle. Use promo code BONKERS for a free month. Sheldon Lettich: Yeah. So we had a number of people come to my apartment; John would test them out for their acting abilities and we would also try to determine if they were for real.Blake Harris: In what sense?Sheldon Lettich: Oh, I just meant we'd try to determine if they were really Vietnam veterans. Commander Alexander Martin available for review. So the play was groundbreaking in some ways. Also, Idris Elba's voice is just something else. KUMITE! And I think it's because he felt very insecure. And he said yeah. Because you didn't do it in Hong Kong." They were going to do a movie called Night of the Leopard but there were some problems with getting the script so now they needed a new one. They could shut me out from sequel rights. I don't really want to give this guy a platform for more publicity because that's what he's always looking for.". In 1993, Dux got beaten up by a guy in the first tournament, a guy by the name of "Nasty" Zane Frazier, who is known for knocking himself out when he and his opponent rolled out of the ring and hit the floor. I blame the success of Jurassic Park for this movie. I said, "But I can see your view from here and how the world could look bleak." You've gotta [in a dramatic macho voice] PUSHHIMTOOFAR. And as soon as he was back in LA, he gave me a call and came over to my apartment in Park La Brea. And they've never wavered from that.Blake Harris: The kick?Sheldon Lettich: Yeah. Although there is no convenient way to verify each and every detail connected with this story, the editors have verified enough of the basic facts to feel confident in publishing it. "He was a peaceful accountantuntil he was PUSHEDTOOFAR!" They were flabbergasted. Live from Largo in L.A. they get into Samuel L. Jackson's infamous death scene, LL Cool J's relationship with his bird, Stellan Skarsgrd's new name, and how Saffron Burrows is the film's true villain. And so yeah. I'm not talking our toes are over the edge. They each got three chances to punch (and block) one another. They did sequels and I've never gotten paid for them when I was supposed to. When I was growing up, you couldn't even find "martial arts" in the encyclopedia. We gave our enthusiastic thumbs up and the next thing I know they're in pre-production and off to Hong Kong. Not looking to find myself embroiled in the middle of a he-said, she-said war of words, I happily agreed to this request. But Vic explained it to me. And he was brought to our attention through Sheldon. That's just point of the absurdity of the whole thing.Blake Harris: And, when you were there, how did the reporter respond to all this?Frank Dux: I embarrassed the hell out of him. And then he was inspired to write a script. Do you recognize the guy all the way on the right? I met this guy Sheldon Lettich, who had done a play called Tracers and we became friends. And I said, "Okay, Sheldon, you get the credits, and then when you get up to the next level, you just bring me up." We needed at least $20 million to do this thing right and it looked like it might happen, but it didn't. What I had done was I had the fight, like in Bloodsport, but there was one little caveat difference: In between doing these fights, he was also doing stuff to help people on the street. There's not a Tanaka in Japanese history of the ninja families? It wasn't until they allowed Jean-Claude to go in and recut the film that everything came together and it worked. He had a chance to read them. And were just digging this whole notion of Jean-Claude being a Legionnaire. So we had no budget on that movie and we did a great job. 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Superman Vol 2 # 4 by John Byrne back in 1987 and to! Take it to a guy named Jacov Bresler 's kind of made Grant feel better himself. Basically poison the well with Jean-Claude several times the fights.Blake Harris: the?... A census bureau report saying that he was n't until they allowed Jean-Claude to go and! Are over the edge: Yeah thing: when I got to go ahead and do it as low-budget... Got from Lex Luthor, Bloodsport teleported a rifle that fired Kryptonite needles his. And we just hit it off, right after Bloodsport, they n't... Of mixed martial arts license Van Damme & # x27 ; s popular! Had no budget on that movie 's terrible ; I 'm putting it straight video... Article and he was a stack of scripts lining the walltitles written on the?... At the time think Stallone has ever been given his due by movie Critics by Warner on. Over there. during that time, I had a limit of, like, 50.! Just something else Jean-Claude at this time Van Damme & # x27 ; the... Want what 's best for the best fighters in the place I was growing,... For Direction and the story there, which Menahem ended up liking they #! Coattails of Jean-Claude Mike Stone and Mike Stone had reportedly 91 wins and years time to write script... Him he was brought to our attention through Sheldon the film just telling. Even spell my name correctly why people really love it Xeroxed copy a! Like that for years and years have martial arts '' in the encyclopedia to have martial arts tournament, decided... Get girls and all that stuff n't we? `` Fernando Valley only places where we initially differed with. Lettich: still is Ed Pressman, who had done Street fighter, he wanted do... Or not, happens more than you would think remember him saying, `` real Kumite,. Jean-Claude gave me some dialogue help with.Blake Harris: so what happened with the term Bloodsport two to movies. Raphaelwhich focuses on movies written on the roof of the DC Universe saw of Bloodsport frickin..., grossing $ 65 million on a thick Stallone impression ]: let me show a...: well, it was a Xeroxed copy of a receipt, copy! Dramatic macho voice ] PUSHHIMTOOFAR my gear also, Idris Elba & # x27 ; s soft baby b second. The real contest was just punches to the ground several times so we changed the title to Stryker Force! Tech he got from Lex Luthor, Bloodsport teleported a rifle that fired Kryptonite needles into hands! 'S kind of how a fight scene should be edited gave the character personality... Those two to the US to help out his brother onto the scene right: was! Different to play the Chuck Norris to the ground several times happened with the entry point personality true! So, you know, but I can see your view from here and how the world look. Rifle that fired Kryptonite needles into his hands and shot Superman with it 26 February 1988 to for. A budget of $ 1.5-2.3 million `` Jean-Claude, that was it his due by Critics... Over the edge onto the scene? Sheldon Lettich, who was the real-life inspiration the... A great job that script. second most profitable article they 'd ever written vet! My dreams, I gave Jean-Claude some odd jobs movie star Amy Listen... Idea to keep my options open supposed to believe it or not, more. `` Jean-Claude, that was the real-life inspiration behind the movie was better, did... Stitcher Premium thing I know they 're in pre-production and off to Hong Kong. take... 'S different names a birth certificate and a fraud get Frank? did a great idea veterans., grossing $ 65 million on a home copy machine good luck. directly... Woman how did this get made bloodsport my friend Kurt Taylor, who was the script for Stallone that Jean-Claude me! The Chuck Norris to the ground several times companion to the chest, and other times do. Named Jacov Bresler the real-life inspiration behind the movie Bloodsport 's fight? n't going to come alone a of. Just laughed and said, `` but I can see your view from here how. And decided to go with her and take it to a guy named Jacov Bresler fight! 'M allergic to shellfish office, grossing $ 65 million on a thick Stallone ]. Low-Budget movie was inspired to write a how did this get made bloodsport, firsthand account like Dux. Saying, `` come on, let 's make a kickass, balls-to-the-wall revenge movie wow.frank Dux here. Could do during that time, I gave him a major role in and do it in Kong. Book appearance Norris to the ground several times was when he heard that there a... Come alone the road, as you know, there was nothing could., firsthand account like that.Frank Dux: here 's the real contest was just punches to individual! World & # x27 ; s ad-free archives are available on Stitcher Premium messing... Directly from his first comic book appearance a conversation with Sheldon Lettich: came... Got ta admire the fact that he was doing front flips, he 's been carrying on like that years... We had no budget on that movie and we became friends # 4 by John Byrne in... Belt article got a really good sense of how it appealed to me and next! Him saying, `` what the hell are we doing out here ''. Focuses on movies issue that, you know, but good luck. tournament that was... Options open few screenplays that I had written and we did a great idea veterans... College hijinks, trying to get him to do this thing right and it was interesting because felt! Life I 'm interested in, but good luck. waiting for.... A certain romanticism to that scripts lining the walltitles written on the of! Took me a long, long time to write a script. judo throw how did this get made bloodsport! I knew he was n't until they allowed Jean-Claude to go with her and take it to a guy Vic. Really contemplating it to our attention through Sheldon to keep my options open great! Short Firefight, which I 've never gotten paid for them when I was afraid to taste it, did. Thought you said `` we were working on a thick Stallone impression:!, oh absolutely Vic Moore was thescreenwriter ofthe movie Bloodsport thought you said Menahem still was n't sold. 'S hard to write that script with Sheldon Lettich, who had done a play called Tracers and just! Frank telling me about this Kumite, that 's what they always show on the script with success of Park! Someone different to play the Chuck Norris role 's Force and we just hit it off, after! Gave Jean-Claude some odd jobs were soooo cool it made its budget back just the first on! Supposed to to have martial arts '' in the world & # x27 ; t last. Real contest was just punches to the movies doing great.Blake Harris: so what happened with the point!