Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Nicknamed "The Muscles from Brussels", he is best known for his martial arts action movies.
Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts sports action film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Leah Ayres, Forest Whitaker, Donald Gibb, Roy Chiao and Bolo Yeung. The film centers on Frank Dux, a United States Army Captain and ninjitsu practitioner, who competes in an underground full-contact martial arts tournament called the Kumite in Hong Kong. Based on Dux's real-life claims the movie was marketed as a true story. It was one of Van Damme's first lead roles and showcased his athletic abilities, launching his career as a mainstream action star.
Ben Edlund is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, television producer, and television director. He is best known as the creator of the satirical superhero character The Tick.
No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1985 martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen in his American film directorial debut. The film stars Kurt McKinney, with a supporting cast of Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails, Kathie Sileno and Tai-chung Kim. The film was released in Italy on October 20, 1985, and the United States on May 2, 1986. McKinney performs as Jason Stillwell, an American teenager who learns martial arts from the spirit of Bruce Lee. Stillwell uses these lessons to defend his martial arts dojo against Soviet martial artist Ivan Kraschinsky. It is the first film in the No Retreat, No Surrender franchise.
Hard Target is a 1993 American action film directed by Hong Kong film director John Woo in his U.S. debut. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work homeless Cajun merchant seaman and former United States Force Recon Marine who saves a young woman named Natasha Binder from a gang of thugs in New Orleans. Chance learns that Binder is searching for her missing father, and agrees to aid Binder in her search. They soon learn that Binder's father has died at the hands of hunt organisers Emil Fouchon and Pik van Cleef, a ruthless businessman and his right-hand mercenary, who arrange the hunting of homeless men as a form of recreational sport. The screenplay was written by Pfarrer and is based on the 1932 film adaptation of Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game".
Double Impact is a 1991 American action film written and directed by Sheldon Lettich, and written, produced by and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chad and Alex Wagner. The film marks Van Damme's third collaboration with director Sheldon Lettich and second collaboration with Bolo Yeung. Double Impact was released in the United States on August 9, 1991.
Derailed is a 2002 American-Bulgarian action film directed by Bob Misiorowski, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tomas Arana and Laura Harring. Van Damme's son Kristopher van Varenberg also appears as his fictional son. In the story, a secret agent must escort a thief (Harring)—and the bioweapon she has stolen—from Slovakia to Germany, but the agent's unsuspecting family and a dangerous criminal (Arana) end up on the same train as them.
Sudden Death is a 1995 American action-thriller film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Raymond J. Barry, and Dorian Harewood. The film pits a lone fire marshal against extortionists who hold unsuspecting NHL players and fans for ransom during game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, and set payment milestones to coincide with the game's progress. It was Hyams' second directorial collaboration with Van Damme, after Timecop (1994) and before Enemies Closer (2013).
Lionheart is a 1990 American martial arts film directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page and Lisa Pelikan and Brian Thompson. It also features the acting debut of Ashley Johnson. Van Damme plays a French Foreign Legionnaire stationed in Africa, who must desert to the United States and enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his murdered brother's family.
In Hell is a 2003 American action film directed by Ringo Lam. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a supporting cast of Lawrence Taylor, Marnie Alton, Malakai Davidson and Billy Rieck. An adaptation of the 1978 film Midnight Express, it is the third and final collaboration between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Hong Kong film director Ringo Lam. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on November 25, 2003.
Inferno is a 1999 American action film directed by John G. Avildsen, and starring Jean-Claude van Damme, Danny Trejo and Pat Morita. This was the last film directed by Avildsen before his death in 2017.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a 2012 American science fiction action film directed by John Hyams, who co-edited with Andrew Drazek, and wrote the screenplay with Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenlagh. It stars Scott Adkins with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, who both reprise their roles from the first film, alongside newcomer Andrei Arlovski. It is the sixth and final installment in the Universal Soldier film series.
Enemies Closer is a 2013 American thriller film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tom Everett Scott, Orlando Jones and Linzey Cocker. In it, a former Navy SEAL is marked for death by the mourning brother of a comrade he left behind, only to have to team up with him when they both become targets of a deranged crime lord.
JCVD is a 2008 crime drama film directed by French Tunisian film director Mabrouk el Mechri, and starring Jean-Claude van Damme as a semi-fictionalized version of himself, a down and out action star whose family and career are crumbling around him as he is caught in the middle of a post office heist in his hometown of Brussels, Belgium.
Swelter is a 2014 American action film written and directed by Keith Parmer and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lennie James, Catalina Sandino, Alfred Molina, Grant Bowler and Josh Henderson. James plays a sheriff in a small town who has a dark past that he can not remember, only to have to confront it when his ex-partners show up looking for stolen money they believe he has.
Alain Moussi is a Canadian actor, stuntman, and martial artist trained in jujitsu, kickboxing, and karate. He plays the lead role of Kurt Sloane in the reboot of the Kickboxer series, Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016) and Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), a role that was originated by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who portrays his mentor in the films. Moussi also played the lead role in the action film Jiu Jitsu (2020), the role of Charlie Nash in the web series Street Fighter: Resurrection (2016), and Batman in the first season of the television series Titans (2018).
Peter Atencio is an American television and film director best known for directing the sketch comedy series Key & Peele, as well as the duo's feature film Keanu, released in 2016.
The Tick is an American streaming television series created for Amazon Prime Video by Ben Edlund, based on his comic book character of the same name. Its pilot premiered on August 18, 2016. A "half-season", through to the sixth episode, was released on August 25, 2017, and another six episodes were released on February 23, 2018. On January 17, 2018, Amazon ordered a second season of ten episodes, which premiered on April 5, 2019. A month later, Edlund revealed on Twitter that Amazon Video declined to renew the series for a third season. In June 2019, Edlund said that he was unable to find a "new home" for the Tick, ending the series with two seasons.
Black Water is an American action thriller film directed by Pasha Patriki. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in their fifth collaboration, specifically the second time they appear as on-screen allies. The film was released direct-to-video in the US on May 25, 2018.
I Love Dick is an American television series released on Amazon Prime. Based on the novel of the same name by Chris Kraus, it was created by Joey Soloway and Sarah Gubbins. The pilot premiered on August 19, 2016, and the first season was released on May 12, 2017. On January 17, 2018, the series was canceled after one season.
