Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Bloodsport 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

You are NEXT!

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 28, 2023

Cannon Films' cult classic Bloodsport finally gets a well-deserved UHD upgrade from Berlin-based distributor Capelight Pictures, a (for now) German-exclusive 4K Mediabook that also includes a remastered region-free (A, B, C) Blu-ray. It's unknown if this excellent 35th Anniversary release -- highlighted by a new 2160p/HDR transfer, new Atmos audio, and new retrospective extras -- will ever reach American shores, but it's a mostly English-friendly effort that's well worth importing if you don't want to wait and find out. But act now: the kumite express leaves in five minutes.

For a synopsis of the film, please see Martin Liebman's review of Warner Bros.' 2010 Blu-ray edition, a double feature with Timecop that served as both films' first and only HD release. I'll step up and unabashedly award Bloodsport a more generous 4/5 rating: this is a solid and hugely influential low-budget action/drama that served as the perfect launching pad for star Jean-Claude Van Damme while introducing Western audiences to a host of lesser-seen martial arts styles. Directed by the late Newt Arnold (his feature film debut, after serving as either an assistant or second unit director on films as diverse as The Godfather Part II, Sorcerer, Blade Runner, and The Goonies), Bloodsport is a very entertaining effort that wrings about as much enjoyment from its dubious source material as possible.

Bloodsport 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced directly from the included remastered Blu-ray disc.

Presented in a slightly opened-up 1.78:1 aspect ratio, this new 4K-sourced master of Bloodsport is a largely appealing effort in direct comparison to Warner Bros.' 2010 Blu-ray edition, which squeezed both this film and Timecop on a dual-layered disc via the outdated VC-1 codec. This new restoration makes Bloodsport appear clean, healthy, and filmic with excellent image detail, renewed stability, and a largely faithful color palette; previous home video presentations leaned warmer and this obviously has a touch of teal added, but in my opinion it's not flagrant or inappropriate. Pronounced aliasing and edge enhancement on the ancient Blu-ray have now been replaced by clean, unprocessed edges and much more "readable" detail on foreground and background objects alike, such as the urban Hong Kong signage and even costumes. Overall brightness levels likewise look a bit higher but not boosted, as shadow detail and black levels reach sufficiently deep with no obvious signs of crush or detail loss -- only trace amounts of noise are present, but it's not at all distracting in motion. Its new HDR enhancement (which is available in either HDR10+ or Dolby Vision) also does wonders for some of its darker values and colorful costumes, revealing deeper pockets of black, true white levels on light sources, and more robust (but not overly saturated) hues. Its only extremely minor shortcomings -- aside from the slightly different palette -- include a few stray damage marks and the aforementioned noise, but these are small issues at most and are far, far outweighed by its numerous improvements across the board.

Those only interested in the remastered Blu-ray will find plenty to enjoy too: as seen in these screenshots, even a downsampled 1080p/SDR "compromise" yields substantially better image detail and contrast levels than WB's older Blu-ray; like the 4K disc, this newer Blu-ray also opens up the image to 1.78:1 with negligible differences in framing. The slightly different color palette is still front and center, though some of its occasionally cooler hues may not be quite as apparent on Blu-ray due to the lack of high dynamic range. There are also few nagging compression issues that pop up from time to time, including macro blocking -- largely from having four hours of HD material on a 50GB disc -- which are more evident on zoomed-in still frames than during playback. But with such a clean, healthy, and film-like foundation, there's not too much to complain about here: I daresay that even those currently unequipped for 4K may want to indulge, as they'll also get the exclusive new audio improvements and extras detailed below.

Bloodsport 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I wasn't sure what to expect from the new English Dolby Atmos audio track, but it seems to be a largely faithful and very robust effort that helps to amplify the film's more intense moments. While most dialogue and smaller interactions are still largely confined to the front and center channels, Paul Hertzog's era-specific original score enjoys a much more substantial presence in the rear while not sounding overcooked. Crowd noise and other urban elements likewise come from different directions -- including the Atmos-exclusive height channels, which for the most part are sparingly used -- and fill out the numerous fight scenes in a way that complements rather than distracts from the action. I found it to be a very enjoyable and surprisingly tasteful remix and all but the most stubborn purists will likely agree.

They'll of course appreciate the theatrical LPCM 2.0 track, which has been included on all previous home video releases. Although the new 4K restoration wrings a bit more juice out of Bloodsport's original elements, it's similar in overall tone and dynamic range to earlier efforts including the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on WB's 2010 Blu-ray.

German DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio dubs are also included, as are optional German and English subtitles.

Bloodsport 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc set ships in oversized Mediabook packaging with poster-based cover artwork (alternate cover here), both discs on separate hubs, and a glued-in booklet with German-language essays and acknowledgements. The menus are also in German, including the titles of the on-disc extras which are translated below. These all-new bonus features are entirely in English with optional German subtitles and can be found on both discs.

• Jean-Claude Van Damme: An Uppercut Into the Action Movie A-List (31:29) - This video interview with star JCVD covers a lot of ground including his first meeting with Cannon co-founder Menahem Golan at the Milan International Film Festival, arriving in Los Angeles several years later, a chance reunion with Golan, an emotional breakdown, fighting to get noticed, choosing the perfect cup of tea, a disappointing audition, eating cookies and milk, and of course his breakout role in Bloodsport, including shooting in Hong Kong and working with the real Frank Dux, Bolo Young, Bloodsport's legacy, a possible sequel, and more. It's an engaging and causal interview that obviously focuses mostly on the movie at hand with only a few details about other projects.

• Blood Writes: Scripting a Cannon Classic with Sheldon Lettich (46:50) - Promoting his new book From Vietnam to Van Damme, the prolific screenwriter runs though a myriad of topics including his earlier projects like Firebase, his creative process, working with Sly Stallone on Rambo III, later projects with Van Damme, meeting the real-life Frank Dux, and much more. It's obviously quite varied in scope and unavoidably self-promotional, but covers such a broad range of subjects that it's got a little something for everyone.

• A Return to the Ring with Cinematographer David Worth (24:24) - Amusingly subtitled as "Wham! Bam! Thank You Van Damme!!", the new interviews continue with this enjoyable chat featuring the veteran DP. Among other subjects, he touches on several projects leading up to Bloodsport, meeting with production consultant Charles Wang, location footage vs. soundstages, stepping in shit, language barriers, and more.

• The Blood, Sweat, and Tears of Actor Paulo Tocha (24:17) - "Paco", in good spirits, speaks candidly about his minor but memorable role, the importance of helping to introduce Muay Thai to Western audiences, respect for Jean-Claude Van Damme, multiple takes, his pro fighting career, working with different styles and techniques, adding to the planned choreography, and the extreme importance of respecting your opponent.

• The Fighting Sounds of Paul Hertzog (25:08) - The seasoned composer opens up about his "accidental" music career, including early rock ambitions and self-proclaimed "embarrassing" early projects, almost falling into his first credited composing role, writing incidental music for several films during the early 1980s, meeting Bloodsport producer Mark DiSalle in 1987 for an unrelated kids' project that led to his later hiring for the film, watching an early cut, assigning different "themes" to specific characters, and much more.

• Audio Commentary - Starting with a video introduction (2:38), this full-length group track features superfan James Bennett (who even shows off a few pieces of costume memorabilia), writer Sheldon Lettich, and Actor Paulo Tocha. This is a very loose and entertaining track; it's understandably a bit crowded at times and there's occasional "movie narration" done, but it ultimately covers a lot of ground from multiple perspectives. Topics of interest include facts about the shooting locations, shout-outs and lots of Easter eggs, working with director Newt Arnold, changes to the original script, adapting to budget limitations, paying tribute to deceased actors, deleted scene details (sadly, none are included), and information about the tournament fighters.

• German Trailer (1:38)

• U.S. Trailer (1:38)

Bloodsport 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Newt Arnold's debut Bloodsport, which served as the perfect launching pad for star Jean-Claude Van Damme, remains a highly influential and entertaining cult classic. This well-rounded 4K Mediabook from Capelight Pictures is available with two different covers (alternate version here); both are highlighted by an excellent new 2160p/HDR transfer, Atmos and theatrical audio tracks, exclusive new extras, and a remastered Blu-ray. Aside from the German booklet and menus, it's entirely English-friendly and is well worth importing for fans of the film. Highly Recommended.