Double Impact

Summary

“Take your fancy clothes and your black silk underwear and go back to Disneyland.”

MVD Rewind Collection became one of my favorite film distribution labels due to their specialization in collector’s editions of niche titles like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Showdown, and Lionheart. In 2019, MVD Rewind released an exceptional Blu-ray edition of Double Impact, and now they have returned to the title for a 4K release. This was news to my ears, because the MVD Rewind titles include some of Van Damme’s best work, and all of those films deserve a 4K UHD release. Double Impact reunites Van Damme with writer/director Sheldon Lettich, whom he had worked with on Lionheart, for another extremely fun action film. My oldest son has grown old enough in the seven years since the Blu-Ray release, that he also got to see the work that MVD Rewind had put into the new 4K edition of the film. I had a blast exposing him to the film and revisiting one of Van Damme’s finest moments.

The film begins in Hong Kong in 1978. There is a new tunnel called the Victoria Harbour Tunnel backed by the British that will link Hong Kong with the Chinese mainland. Paul and Catherine Wagner attend the unveiling of the tunnel and then depart for their home. They wave off the protection of their bodyguard Frank (Geoffrey Lewis.) They have two twin infants in the backseat – Alex and Chad. When they arrive home, Paul and Catherine are assaulted by a group of men. Paul and Catherine are killed while Frank races to save them. Paul had been betrayed by his business associates – Nigel Griffith (Alan Scarfe) and Raymond Zhang (Philip Chan.) Frank arrives and is able to fend off the evil killer Moon (Bolo Yeung) long enough to grab Chad. A nanny grabs Alex and escapes into the tree line. The two boys grow up in separate countries. Chad (Jean-Claude Van Damme) grows up under the tutelage of Frank in the safety of France and then the United States. Alex (Jean-Claude Van Damme) grows up in Hong Kong and becomes a black market trader of goods. Frank reunites the two brothers in Hong Kong and pairs them up to avenge their parents’ deaths. Alex’s girlfriend Danielle Wilde (Alonna Shaw) joins the boys and Frank with hopes of helping them claim what is rightfully theirs.

Van Damme wrote the script with director Sheldon Lettich, who had previously written Lionheart with Van Damme (and before that had written Bloodsport.) While I prefer Lionheart slightly, this is a successful outing for Van Damme as he was reaching the zenith of his popularity. The film has a lot to offer for fans of Van Damme and action, but it also has a few minor setbacks. The largest setback for the film is its running time. Action films tend to grow a little long in the tooth if they go past the hour and a half mark and this film runs twenty minutes longer. That said, on this most recent viewing with my son, my wife, and a friend, no one seemed in a hurry for the film to end. Everyone stayed engaged, so maybe the length of the film is not that big of an issue. The other issue the film faces is that for much of the film Van Damme uses guns instead of karate kicks. Whenever a martial artist is used for gun fights instead of kicking people in the face, it can feel like a waste. Then again, John Woo’s impact was felt in every American action film around this time and it is no mistake that Van Damme was cast two years later in Hard Target. Keep in mind – these are minor quibbles.

The film is definitely one of the best of Van Damme’s career. Coming on the heels of Lionheart, but before Hard Target, Sudden Death, and Timecop, the film still finds Van Damme humble and hungry. In this film it is easy to see why everybody in the world (to the tune of $30 million dollars at the box office in 1991 dollars) decided that they liked this guy. By pairing with Sheldon Lettich on the script and tapping him as director, the same good energy as Lionheart makes its way into Double Impact. With a bigger budget (somewhere between $12 and $15 million dollars) the film was able to be filmed on location in the exotic and beautiful city of Hong Kong. With acclaimed cinematographer Richard H. Kline begins the camera, the film looks great and has some visually stunning scenes. My personal favorite scene involves a run across the ships in Aberdeen Harbor (which is coincidentally discussed at length in a special feature on the disk.) Richard H. Kline does some really good work in the film, and it reminded me just how great some of these action films looked. My friends that I have shown the film constantly say the scenery in the film is stunning.

The supporting cast of the film is pretty great. Geoffrey Lewis was a great character actor that was cast in a couple hundred movies and he is perfectly cast as Frank. Alonna Shaw is a pretty blonde and does the role justice despite being Sheldon Lettich’s second choice for the role. Philip Chan and Bolo Yeung are also very fun to watch on screen as two of the prominent villains. Van Damme obviously had a blast given the opportunity to flex his skills acting in two roles. He performed as twins once again in Maximum Risk, but this is much more memorable. His joy onscreen is infectious and lends a lot to the film.

Overall – Double Impact is a lot of fun and one of the best movies of Van Damme’s repertoire. It is well worth revisiting and stick with it because the second half of the film is even better than the first half. This is a picture that I return to every so often, and I am so happy that now I can view it in pristine 4K.

Video

MVD Rewind have provided an excellent transfer of Double Impact using an HEVC encode in 4K UHD with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This movie is visually very appealing thanks to the fantastic cinematography of Richard H. Kline which takes in the amazing vistas of Hong Kong and its surrounding areas at that time. Like most films from this time period, it is a little soft in focus at times, but the 4K has made that softness much less apparent. Fine detail is solid throughout the proceedings and I found myself with a big dumb grin on my face throughout the duration of the picture. Grain is well resolved, albeit occasionally noticeable, and the transfer is filmic. The HDR enhances the colors of the picture to give the film a big facelift. This is the best this film has ever looked, and it looked wonderful blown up on my 4K projector.

Audio

MVD Rewind has provided a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track along with an English LPCM 2.0 Stereo track. For the stereo track, I listened to it on my surround speakers and it sounded pretty good. While it is not an incredibly immersive track, it still has plenty of explosions and gun shot sounds to enjoy. Luckily, the 4K includes the 5.1 track which expands the sound field nicely. While this track can’t match an Atmos track, I was very pleased with the amount of immersion afforded by the 5.1 remix. Dialogue is clear and the track didn’t have any noticeable hiss.

Supplements:

All supplements are included on the 1080p disc which is identical to the 2019 MVD Rewind disc. 

Making of Double Impact (Parts 1 and 2) – Jean Claude Van Damme, co-writer and director Sheldon Lettich, producer Ashok Amritaj, actress Cory Everson, fight coordinator Pjetër Malota, “Chad” photo double Jeff Rector, and “Alex” photo double Jerry Rector sat down for brand new interviews for this excellent documentary on the making of the film. This piece, produced by Richard Schenkman, explains how the film was made out of a contract commitment for Van Damme, its basis on Alexandre Dumas’ The Corsican Brothers, how the script came together and was named Double Impact by Van Damme, and what it was like filming and living in Hong Kong, how a certain part almost went to Tia Carrere, a crotch grab is discussed in detail, and much more. These two pieces are extensive – running almost two hours total – and go into great detail about the filmmaking process. They are worth purchasing the disk on their merit alone! I truly can not recommend these features enough. Fans are going to love these.

Deleted/Extended Scenes – these are basically VHS quality because that was the only way to acquire them but there are nearly an hour’s worth of material here including an alternate ending!

Anatomy of a Scene – Sheldon Lettich discusses the chase scene across the ships in Aberdeen Harbor. 

B Roll Selections – about eight minutes of B-roll footage

Film Clips – a selection of film clips from the movie

Cast and Crew Interview Clips – EPK footage

MVD Rewind Collection Promo

Trailers are included for: Lionheart, Black Eagle, Double Dragon, Nemesis, Showdown, Walking Tall, and Angel Town

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.25/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 4.75/5

Double Impact is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best films, and it is a picture I have a blast revisiting every few years. MVD Rewind had provided some absolutely phenomenal supplements and a good transfer of the film on their 2019 Blu-ray, but the 4K UHD release ups the ante even more than I had expected visually. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is also a nice upgrade over the LPCM 2.0 Stereo track. As someone who adored the 2019 release, I would definitely recommend purchasing this 4K edition to have the definitive version in your collection. If you are a fan of these types of films, I would move this to the top of your list for purchase. MVD Rewind continues to show why their label is one of the absolute best in the business at creating definitive Collector’s Editions of nostalgic action classics. Highly recommended!