Black Eagle: JCVD on the Rise
Added 11/15/2004
In BLACK EAGLE Jean Claude Van Damme had barely begun making a name for himself. He was less well-known than Sho Kosugi, with whom he had to share top billing. The plot is a nonsense actioner between Kosugi as a CIA op and JCVD as his KGB counterpart. What is of interest is Van Damme's interpreation of a Red bad guy. This was not his first appearance as a Russian fighter. In NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER he was Ivan, a Russian mafia enforcer. Here he is Andrei, a KGB operative who is battling Kosugi for a secret weapon. When Van Damme plays the heavy, he is somehow more threatening, more lethal than when he is the punching bag good guy. One of his best moments in this or any of his other actioners occurs when he is not fighting at all. He is seen as merely talking to his wife who is genuinely concerned for his safety. Their verbal interaction marks him as distinctly human as they ponder his looming fate. Further his aggressive fight scenes with Kosugi are first rate. Van Damme's untimely demise with a ship's propeller raises some unexpected sighs of sympathy. BLACK EAGLE is a watchable early slice of a very young JCVD as he proves that given the right script, he can deliver acting on cue with the same verve as one of his patented roundhouse kicks.
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Not what I expected.
Added 4/17/2003
Old school Van Damme. It's a fun watch, but he's the bad guy which means that he doesn't get a whole heck-uva-lot of screen time. If you want a good old school Van Dammage stick with "Blood Sport"
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"Smokin'"
Added 2/22/2000
Sure, Van Damme for all his grace and patented flexibility doesn't make it to the end, but there's a whole lot of entertainment, along the way, from both himself and Sho Kosugi. All in all, good stuff!
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Sho and Jean are good together
Added 10/18/1999
When I first saw this movie had no idea that JCVD was going to be in it.I knew that Sho was.Sho always does great movies .Sometime they are alittle "campy" but the fight scenes are always good.JCVD really out classed Sho in this one.I give them both 10's anyway.The way that they interact make you think that they should make more together,but that was at the end of Sho's movie days and the beginning of Jean's.I think that anyone who wants to see a good movie will like this one.It's not just a martial arts movie.
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martial arts action at its best
Added 6/16/1999
sho kosugi and jean claude van damme aregreat as a cia agent and a kgb agent tracking a top secret laser tracking device that can control the world. this is van damme's second film. a side note, kosugi is also best known for a short live tv villan in lee van cleef's the master. this is a must see for fans of the martial arts and van damme.
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