Classic!
Summary
Double Impact remains a classic from JCVD and this Blu-ray is 100% worth picking up even if you already own the movie.
Plot: Twin brothers are separated when their parents are murdered but 25 years later they re-unite in order to avenge their parents’ death.
“There’s two of them!”
Review: Twin brothers Chad and Alex are separated as babies immediately after their dignitary parents are murdered by the Hong Kong mafia in Hong Kong following a major development deal gone bad. Years later, Chad (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who’s been raised by his guardian, Frank (Geoffrey Lewis), in France and Los Angeles, has become a bit of a dandy, working at a gym, studying martial arts, and spending all his money on fine clothes. Frank does some research and finds out where Alex (also Van Damme) was raised and now lives: Hong Kong. Not knowing that he has a twin brother, Chad accompanies Frank to Hong Kong, thinking they’re going on vacation, and they barely have time to step off the plane when small-time hoods and crooks think Chad is Alex. When he finally meets his small-time criminal brother, they clash, but when Frank lays it all out that their parents were killed by the mafia on the order of a British businessman, the two brothers plan out a revenge to regain their honor. They have a notable adventure together, and it’s fun seeing Van Damme playing two clearly defined separate characters.
Released on the coattails of Lionheart, Double Impact was a solid stepping-stone for its rising star. The film looks really good, and the script is surprisingly coherent and moderately intelligent enough that when action occurs, it’s never in excessive amounts or gratuitous. Van Damme’s acting is pretty good, considering English isn’t his strong suit, and he clearly has a grasp on who he’s playing at all times. Director Sheldon Lettich (also the director of Lionheart) gives the film a nice, wide-open scope, featuring great views of Hong Kong and other areas where the film is set.
Arthur Kempel delivers a good action score, and there are times when I thought that it is a real shame that action movies today aren’t afforded the same time and budgets that even a B-movie like Double Impact were given once upon a time. Van Damme, in this film, shows that he’s a movie star. The few movies he did after it only helped him retain his stardom. He co-wrote the script with Lettich. Bolo Yeung and Evan Lurie are in it as villains. Later, Van Damme would play twins again in Maximum Risk, and again in Replicant where he fights an evil clone of himself.
MVD Rewind has just released a slam-packed collector’s edition Blu-ray of this title, and for the first time ever, we’re treated to 54 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, plus a two-part feature-length making-of feature that includes participants JCVD, Lettich, and other cast and crew members. There’s B-roll footage, promotional material from the original release, trailers, and much more. If you’re on the fence about double dipping here, let this be your ultimate push. It’s worth it.