For the 1986 Australian film starring Henry Thomas, see Frog Dreaming
| The Quest | |
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 Theatrical Release Poster |
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| Directed by | Jean-Claude Van Damme |
| Written by | Frank Dux (story) Jean-Claude Van Damme (story) Steven Klein Paul Mones |
| Starring | Jean-Claude Van Damme Roger Moore James Remar |
| Release date(s) | 1996 |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Quest is a 1996 film directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme. It is based on martial arts, with a storyline similar to that of Bloodsport. It was originally penned by Frank Dux. It's a rework of a script Frank Dux wrote entitled "The Kumite", which ended Dux and Van Damme's friendship.
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Plot summary
Van Damme plays Christopher Dubois, a 1925 New York pickpocket who must escape the city by stowing away on a boat, he is eventually found out by the crew and imprisoned by smugglers and pirates. He is rescued by a mercenary Englishman, Lord Edgar Dobbs, portrayed by Roger Moore - who then sells Dubois into slavery on a Siamese island where Dubois will be trained in Muay Thai fighting. Dobbs later assists (and to some extent exploits) Dubois, buying Dubois' freedom so the now expert fighter can represent the United States in a Kumite-like tournament called the Ghang-gheng, held in the Lost City of Tibet, where representatives of different countries like Germany, Soviet Union, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Siam, South Korea, Greece, France, China, Japan, Okinawa, Kenya and Mongolia fight in elimination bouts, with the winner of the tournament to receive a valuable statue, the Golden Dragon. Dubois wins the tournament by defeating the representative of Mongolia, but doesn't accept the Golden Dragon as he uses it to barter for the lives of Dobbs and Harry, who were condemned to a life sentence in the Lost City for trying to steal the Golden Dragon.
Reception
The film earned $21,607,190 at the box office. It did much better overseas with nearly 40 million. Many Van Damme fans were split about the film as well as critics.
Trivia
- The movie was originally supposed to be a movie about underground kumite competitions with the script penned by controversial martial artist Frank Dux. Dux sued Van Damme when he changed the script and situations as well as not paying a promised sum of money.
- The reworked story of The Quest was originally supposed to be the beginning of a series of movies.
- When Roger Moore states his name "Dobbs, Lord Dobbs", he does it in the style of the James Bond movies, for which he is famous.
- Van Damme also co-starred with Abdel Qissi (Kahn, the Mongolian fighter) in Lionheart and The Order.
- Van Damme originlly wanted Benjamin C. DeWolfe to play the Mongolian villain.
- This film is unusual in that it was rated PG-13 in America but then given an 18 certificate in the UK.
External links
- The Quest at the Internet Movie Database
