Nostalgia time: Review of The Quest (1996)
Boy oh boy, this movie has a special place in the hearts of many of us I am sure! Growing up in the 90’s meant Van Damme movies were commonplace. I look back on them fondly as they are a major foundation for my fascination with the martial arts. And even UFC fighters, such as Nate Diaz and Georges St.-Pierre, have referred to their youths and love of Van Damme action flicks. I remember being in awe with the idea of this guy from the streets journeying across the planet for a mysterious tournament against the world’s best fighters. I honestly later found it much more intriguing than Bloodsport [I saw The Quest first], and it is my favorite JCVD flick.
For these reasons alone I could justify to myself giving this movie a ten-star rating. But, now that I am much older and hopefully more mature, I would rather experience The Quest again and see how it holds up in my mind. So here goes…
AWESOME! It most certainly holds up. Why? Because it does what barely any movies do these days: it brings out the mystique, wonder, and awe that are the martial arts. And it does so simplistically and with enough action to keep you wrapped up in it all. Plus, it helps that it’s only a little over an hour and a half in length. The music also proved to be a critical element in that it facilitated both the mystique and the pace of the movie. It was actually surprisingly fitting. But let’s get back to the foundational reason why this movie holds up.
Imagine yourself as a youth. Try to think of early memories of when you were exposed to a sport, hobby, or whatever that you still to this day continue to love and enjoy. That’s what re-watching this movie reminded me of. It evokes that fascination. In the United States, martial arts just plainly do not have the history or culture that they do in many other countries. So, action flicks truly serve as a prevalent introduction to these arts, and a large component of their audiences are youth. As I watched this movie I felt that same fascination and awe that I did as a kid of the 90’s whose curiosity skyrocketed because of The Quest and movies like it.
Thai kickboxing, Japanese sumo, Brazilian capoeira, animal impersonation, and more. And with the tournament that this movie centers around, you get to see how these fighting styles match up against one another. As certain fighters advance through the tournament you find yourself analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. You start to predict how the following rounds of the tournament will go. Scripted fiction yes, but who cares, because in the moment the movie does a great job of making you want to see the fights and wonder who will win.
Now I would be remiss if I didn’t pick out some errors of the movie but I am just going to chalk most of them up to the fact that this was JCVD’s directorial debut. Most of these errors were laughable I must say. One in particular was an action scene where two ships were battling. In a three seconds or so shot you can clearly see JCVD just standing on the deck of the ship amidst the action; in the very next shot you see him running up the stairs from below deck…OOPS.
I also was a bit surprised that the female reporter character basically became nonexistent in the second half of the movie. Whether this was intended or not, I think a beneficial consequence was that the movie therefore didn’t have your typical unnecessary romantic subplot and gratuitous sex scenes. Hey! I get that can be a bummer…but for a movie that’s introducing audiences to the existence of the varying martial arts, the way this all played out worked well. And trust me, there are JCVD movies with plenty of the gratuitous sex. That said, I rate The Quest 8/10.
