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Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean Claude Van Damme, real name Jean-Claude Camille François Van Vaerenbergh, was born on 18th October 1960 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Belgium. The son of Eliana Van Vaerenbergh and Eugène Van Vaerenbergh. Jean Claude’s father, Eugène Van Vaerenbergh, was an accountant and also owned a flower shop.
Van Damme began to study Karate at the age of 10. It was Shotokan Karate that Van Damme studied and earned his black by the age of 16 which was when he took up ballet. Van Damme also took up weight lifting to improve his physique. Van Damme is also a former European Karate Champion.
Van Damme had been married five times, and has 3 children, Kristopher, Bianca and Nicholas.
Jean Claude Van Damme’s movie career started in 1984 as an extra in the movie Breakin, which was directed Joel Silberg. Again in 1984 Van Damme played the character of a gay Karate expert in the movie Monaco Forever, which was directed by William A Levy.
The first major role Van Damme secured was as Ivan Krushensky in the 1985 martial arts movie No Retreat, No Surrender. From there on, Van Damme started in arguably his most recognised role as Frank Dux in the 1987 hit Bloodsport. In 1988 he starred in Cyborg and Black Eagle. From 1989 to 1991 Van Damme starred in Kickboxer, Death Warrant, AWOL and Double Impact where Van Damme takes on two roles in one movie as identical twin brothers separated at birth.
A massive hit for Van Damme was his role as Luc Deveraux in the 1992 hit Universal Soldier. Many die hard Van Damme fans will argue that it was Van Damme who brought legendary director John Woo to Hollywood, as he starred in the 1993 action hit Hard Target. Many argue that Jean Claude Van Damme should have been given a chance in John Woo’s successive movies, but they have not worked together since.
Also in 1993 Van Damme starred in Nowhere To Run which was directed by Robert Harmon and co-starred legendary actor Joss Ackland, and had a cameo performance in the 1993 movie Last Action Hero.
Van Damme’s highest grossing movie to date is the 1994 smash hit Timecop, which grossed over $100,000,000 worldwide. Over the next 5 years he’s starred in Sudden Death, Maximum Risk, The Quest, Double Team, Universal Soldier the Return, Legionnaire and Desert Heat. In 1995 Van Damme starred in Friends in a cameo role.
Van Damme has starred in a number of direct to video roles since 2001 which included The Order, Replicant, Derailed, Wake Of Death and The Hard Corps. In 2006, Van Damme teamed up with British director Simon Fellows for the first time in the movie Second In Command, and in the same year starred as a thief in the Turkish movie Sinav. Simon Fellows teamed up with Van Damme again in 2007 with the movie Unitl Death, which Van Damme plays a drug addict working in the Narcotics Police Department. Then in 2008 Van Damme played an Border Control Officer in The Shepherd
Van Damme’s most recent film was JCVD, a movie which was widely acclaimed by critics as a return to form for Van Damme. In JCVD, he plays himself embroiled in a Post Office robbery in his native Brussels.
Van Damme has two movies due for release this year, one being a return to the Universal Soldier series and a movie directed by Van Damme himself, called Eagle Path. Another film due for release in 2010, called Pit Bull.
Throughout his career, Van Damme has been in many movies in which he has played two characters alongside each other. These movies include Double Impact, Timecop, Maximum Risk, The Order and Replicant.
It was reported that Van Damme was offered a role in the upcoming Sylvester Stallone movie The Expendables, but Van Damme turned down the role claiming he did not want his career to ’go down that route’.
In August 2009 Van Damme is due to start filming his new new movie, Weapon, which will co-star Vinnie Jones. This will be about two hitmen who go after a drug cartel.
Filmography
1984 - Breakin'
1984 - Monaco Forever
1985 - No Retreat, No Surrender
1988 - Bloodsport
1988 - Black Eagle
1989 - Kickboxer
1989 - Cyborg
1990 - Death Warrant
1990 - AWOL
1991 - Double Impact
1992 - Universal Soldier
1993 - Nowhere To Run
1993 - Last Action Hero
1993 - Hard Target
1994 - Timecop
1994 - Street Fighter
1995 - Sudden Death
1996 - The Quest
1996 - Maximum Risk
1997 - Double Team
1998 - Knock Off
1998 - Legionnaire
1999 - Desert Heat
1999 - Universal Soldier - The Return
2001 - The Order
2001 - Replicant
2002 - Derailed
2003 - In Hell
2004 - Wake Of Death
2004 - Narco
2006 - The Hard Corps
2006 - Second In Command
2006 - Sinav
2007 - Until Death
2008 - The Shepherd
2008 - JCVD
2009 - The Eagle Path
2009 - Universal Soldiers : The Next Generation
2010 - Karate
2010 - Weapon
News |
What members say |
Filmography
| Watch online (3)
Jean-Claude Van Damme - news / articles
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Snipes joins Van Damme in The Hard Corps -
26 October 2005
are to share the limelight when filming starts on The Hard Corps next month.-According to Production Weekly, Wesley Snipes and Jean-Claude Van Damme will both be involved in the project that is being directed by Sheldon Lettich.-Lettich is no stranger to action movies, having
Jean-Claude Van Damme - what members say
Jean-Claude Van Damme - filmography
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JCVD - The Movie
on DVD
(2008)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Certificate: 
Watch now: Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package.
When the life of Jean-Claude Van Damme collides with the reality of a hold-up in Brussels, Belgium, suddenly the huge movie star turns into an ordinary guy, filled with fears, contradictions and hopes. How can he be up to the legend he has built? What can a film hero do when the gun pointed to his ..read more »
Rate this:
 
58%
from 4,771 members
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The Shepherd
on DVD
(2008)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Stephen Lord
Director: Isaac Florentine
Certificate:
A rogue American Special Forces unit schemes to smuggle $35 million worth of heroin into the United States, and all that stands in its way is border patrol agent Jack Robideaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), an ex-homicide cop with a hidden agenda. Taking on suicide bombers, sadistic torturers and ..read more »
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56%
from 2,449 members
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Until Death
on DVD
(2007)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stephen Rea, Stephen Lord
Director: Simon Fellows
Certificate:
Anthony Stowe (Van Damme) is a narcotics lieutenant - he's addicted to heroin, has a bad attitude, and everyone hates him, including his soon-to-be-ex wife. His ex-partner, Gabriel Callaghan (Stephen Rea), is working to become the new leader of the gangsters in local organized crime. Callaghan ..read more »
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55%
from 1,640 member
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Second In Command
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Julie Cox, Alan McKenna
Director: Simon Fellows
Certificate:
Van Damme plays an official who has jsut been appointed "Second in Command" to the US Ambassador at an American Embassy in a small, turbulent, Eastern European nation. When local insurgents attempt a coup d'etat, the nation's President takes refuge inside the embassy which is soon besieged by the ..read more »
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51%
from 4,390 members
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The Hard Corps
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Vivica A. Fox, Razaaq Adoti
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Certificate:
Jean-Claude plays a Combat Vet who's just spent the last 3 years fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is then hired to be a bodyguard to a former World Heavyweight Boxing champ to protect him and his family against a Rap Music Mogul. He sets up a team called "The Hard Corps". Complications arise ..read more »
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54%
from 2,971 members
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Wake Of Death
on DVD
(2004)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Simon Yam, Valerie Tian
Director: Philipe Martinez
Certificate: 
Jeanne-Claude Van Damme is Ben Archer, a gangster from Marseilles who now lives in LA; after a few decades of crime, he's decided to go straight and spend more time with his family. His wife Cynthia is an agent for the INS; she works to keep illegal Chinese immigrants out of the US. But when she ..read more »
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51%
from 5,419 members
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In Hell
on DVD
(2003)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme
Director: Ringo Lam
Certificate:
IN HELL is a violent and gritty prison drama, and is somewhat of a comeback for Van Damme. He stars as Kyle Lord banged up in the harshest of jails, where he has to fight tooth and nail to survive. The Marquezas prison, built in the depths of the Mexican swamps, is a high security unit where Lord ..read more »
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57%
from 2,697 members
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Derailed
on DVD
(2002)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Susan Gibney, Tomas Arana
Director: Bob Misiorowski
Certificate:
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in this international action thriller about a train carrying three vials of deadly viruses capable of fatally infecting millions of people. When a terrorist plot to derail the train and release the viruses is uncovered, Van Damme is the only thing that stands between ..read more »
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50%
from 1,515 member
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The Order
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Charlton Heston, Brian Thompson
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Certificate:
Jean-Claude Van Damme teams up once again with DOUBLE IMPACT director Sheldon Lettich for this tale of adventure and intrigue. Reformed artifact smuggler Rudy (Van Damme) is forced to travel to Jerusalem and come to the aid of his museum curator father (Charlton Heston), who has been kidnapped by a ..read more »
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53%
from 1,001 member
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Flix Mix - Ultimate Fights
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan, Brad Pitt
Certificate:
A compendium of some of the most exciting fight scenes in recent motion picture history, ULTIMATE FIGHTS provides a whole new perspective on scenes from films such as BLADE, SNATCH, SCARFACE, THE KILLER, FIRST BLOOD, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, and THE KILLER.
Rate this:
40%
from 102 members
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Replicant
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent
Director: Ringo Lam
Certificate:
Belgium's most successful export, brooding action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme, stars in two opposing roles in this sci-fi action film. When a ruthless serial killer nicknamed "the Torch" (Van Damme) proves virtually unstoppable, a cunning detective (played by Michael Rooker) thinks up a ..read more »
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53%
from 1,567 member
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Top Fighter
on DVD
(2000)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bolo Yeung, Jackie Chan
Director: Toby Russell
Certificate:
Go behind the scenes of the films and lives of the world's top martial arts stars in this revealing look at the strength and discipline required to make it in this demanding field. Through rare and hard-hitting footage, you will explore the psychology of the combatant and what it took to get him ..read more »
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47%
from 246 members
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Desert Heat
on DVD
(1999)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Pat Morita, Danny Trejo
Director: Danny Mulroon
Certificate:
Revenge and redemption in this intense and sexy action thiller which finds mysterious loner Eddie Lomax riding to an outpost in the desert prepared to end it all. A savage gang steals his bike and leaves him for dead. Fortunately, a soulmate from his past gives him a new reason to live...
Rate this:
55%
from 1,227 member
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Knock Off
on DVD
(1998)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon
Director: Tsui Hark
Certificate: 
Van Damme is a shady clothing manufacturer, the king of knock-offs, who understandably gets involved in a Russian Mafia plot. It's his ability to discern the real from the fake that will save him!
Rate this:
50%
from 1,730 member
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Legionnaire
on DVD
(1998)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell
Director: Peter MacDonald
Certificate:
Van Damme is a playboy living in Paris in the 1920's. He falls in love with the mistress of a mob boss, and when the boss finds out, joins the French Foreign Legion to hide out. Years later, after honing his fighting skills, he returns to battle the boss and reclaim his true love.
Rate this:
54%
from 1,322 member
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Double Team
on DVD
(1997)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, Denis Rodman
Director: Tsui Hark
Certificate:
This special collector's box set celebrates the talents of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgium's most muscular export. Included are 1993's NOWHERE TO RUN, 1998's KNOCK OFF, 1999's UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 2, 1991's DOUBLE IMPACT, 1998's LEGIONAIRE and 1997's DOUBLE TEAM.
Rate this:
52%
from 2,762 members
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The Quest
on DVD
(1996)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roger Moore, Aki Aleong
Director: Jean-Claude Van Damme
Certificate:
A kid from the mean streets of 1920's New York flees the police aboard a ship bound for the orient. Hijacked at sea, he is adopted by a rogueish pirate (Roger Moore) who sells him to a martial arts school on a remote island. There he is prepared to enter a global fighting challenge staged at the ..read more »
Rate this:
56%
from 1,751 member
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Maximum Risk
on DVD
(1996)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, Jean-Hugues Anglade
Director: Ringo Lam
Certificate:
After making several violent Hong Kong action films in the style that's come to be known as heroic bloodshed, Ringo Lam came to Hollywood to make his first American film with Belgian martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. MAXIMUM RISK, like Van Damme's previous DOUBLE IMPACT, is the story of twin ..read more »
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56%
from 1,725 member
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Sudden Death
on DVD
(1995)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Raymond Barry
Director: Peter Hyams
Certificate:
A group of terrorists led by a villainous madman (Powers Boothe) takes over a sports arena during the sold-out Stanley Cup finals, holding the Vice President of the United States hostage and threatening to blow up the stadium if they don't receive $1 billion by the end of the game. A fireman (Jean-..read more »
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59%
from 2,322 members
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Cinema Of Vengeance
on DVD
(1994)
Starring: Bruce Lee, Cynthia Rothrock, Jackie Chan
Director: Toby Russell
Certificate:
A comprehensive English-language chronicle of the Hong Kong action cinema scene, providing clips of classic and rare films, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with HK luminaries like Samo Hung, Simon Yam, Yukari Oshima, Cynthia Rothrock, John Woo, and Yuen Woo-Ping.
Rate this:
43%
from 190 members
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Timecop
on DVD
(1994)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ron Silver, Mia Sara
Director: Peter Hyams
Certificate:
In the year 2004 a corrupt politician is secretly using a time travel device to manipulate history and financial markets. When cop Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) catches on to the scheme, he travels back in time to stop the Senator and undo his wife's murder. Produced by Sam Raimi and based on ..read more »
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57%
from 6,280 members
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Hard Target
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Wilford Brimley
Director: John Woo
Certificate:
In his Hollywood directorial debut, Hong Kong sensation John Woo styles this action movie about a simple Merchant Marine (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who seeks to protect a beautiful woman whose father was murdered by an organization that sells the opportunity to hunt human prey in a safari game.
Rate this:
59%
from 3,978 members
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Last Action Hero
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney
Director: John McTiernan
Certificate:
A Schwarzenegger double-bill.THE 6TH DAY: In the not-too-distant future, when pets can be cloned after they die and "virtual girlfriends" can be installed and programmed, Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger) works as a helicopter tour pilot. On his birthday he comes home to discover an identical ..read more »
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56%
from 9,669 members
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Double Impact
on DVD
(1991)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Alan Scarfe, Geoffrey Lewis
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Certificate:
Identical twin boys are separated at a young age when their parents are brutally murdered by Chinese thugs, and raised in different parts of the world. Twenty-five years later they become united with a great hunger to avenge the deaths of their parents.
Rate this:
58%
from 2,690 members
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Universal Soldier
on DVD
(1991)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker
Director: Roland Emmerich
Certificate:
Luc is a genetically enhanced supersoldier pitted against his former comrades in arms as he tries to remember his past. Andrew is also a universal soldier who, driven by a hatred born decades before in Vietnam, wages a deadly pursuit against traitorous Luc. But something goes wrong and these war ..read more »
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61%
from 7,478 members
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Death Warrant
on DVD
(1990)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb
Director: Deran Sarafian
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
In DEATH WARRANT, Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a Canadian detective and master of martial arts, poses as an inmate in a penitentiary to find out who is behind a series of brutal cell block murders. If his cover is blown, the "Sandman" (Patrick Kilpatrick) will be out to put him to sleep.....read more »
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59%
from 2,301 members
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A.W.O.L.
on DVD
(1990)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Certificate:
On hearing that his brother has been attacked, Lyon, a French Legionnaire goes absent without leave and arrives in New York penniless. He becomes involved in bare-knuckle fighting to earn large sums of cash, which he then sends to his brother's widow. But unknown to him two Legionnaires are on his ..read more »
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63%
from 1,723 member
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Kickboxer
(1989)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Chan
Director: David Worth
Certificate:
Kurt Sloane is seeking to avenge his brother's defeat in a kickboxing ring in Thailand where they want blood, even death. With the help of a master of unorthodox techniques he gradually becomes an invincible fighting machine; but is he ready to fight Tong Po, the man who paralysed his brother.
Rate this:
66%
from 3,364 members
Not currently released
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Cyborg
on DVD
(1989)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Vincent Klyn, Deborah Richter
Director: Albert Pyun
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
The Flesh Pirates rule the barbaric world and have no regard for the human inhabitants. Our Hero comes across a man and woman fleeing from the Pirates. The girl manages to escape and tells him that she is a Cyborg carrying information which could mean the end of the plague. The Pirates recapture ..read more »
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44%
from 2,994 members
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Black Eagle
(1988)
Starring: Sho Kosugi, Doran Clarke, Jean-Claude Van Damme
Director: Eric Karson
Certificate:
An F-111 fighter plane has been lost over the Mediterranean, and the KGB are desperate to recover the secret laser tracking device on board. The CIA's top agent is sent from Afghanistan to lead the recovery and, to ensure his total dedication, his bosses kidnap his sons... determination and anger ..read more »
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44%
from 566 members
Not currently released
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Bloodsport
(1987)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Leah Ayres, Donald Gibb
Director: Newt Arnold
Certificate:
This film is based on events in the life of Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), an American who sought to become the champion of a secret, dangerous martial arts contest called Kumite. While Dux searches through the streets of Hong Kong for the underground arena where the event is being held, he ..read more »
Rate this:
69%
from 3,509 members
Not currently released
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No Retreat, No Surrender
on DVD
(1985)
Starring: Kurt McKinney, J.W. Fails, Jean-Claude Van Damme
Director: Cory Yuen
Certificate:
A teenage Bruce Lee fanatic, tired of bloody noses and getting beaten up, finds himself a karate instructor. But his instructor is forced out of town by a crime syndicate, he is guided by the ghost of Bruce Lee. His next gym is under threat too from the same syndicate, they have found a secret ..read more »
Rate this:
57%
from 1,895 member
Jean-Claude Van Damme - watch online
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JCVD
to Watch Now
(2008)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Certificate: 
Watch now: Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package.
Run time: 92 minutes
When the life of Jean-Claude Van Damme collides with the reality of a hold-up in Brussels, Belgium, suddenly the huge movie star turns into an ordinary guy, filled with fears, contradictions and hopes. How can he be up to the legend he has built? What can a film hero do when the gun pointed to his ..read more »
Rate this:
71%
from 113 members
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Death Warrant
to Watch Now
(1990)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb
Director: Deran Sarafian
Certificate: 
Watch now: £2.49
Run time: 93 minutes
The Canadian policeman Louis Burke is assigned in a jail to investigate in some murders of prisoners and jailors. When in jail, Lois, using his outstandings martial arts is able to save his life and make himself respected in that violent world. At least, helped by two another prisoners, he succeded ..read more »
Rate this:
54%
from 18 members
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Cyborg
to Watch Now
(1989)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Richter, Vincent Klyn
Director: Albert Pyun
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
Run time: 86 minutes
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where starvation and disease are plaguing the few remaining inhabitants of Earth. Scientists are close to discovering a cure for the plague that is sweeping the country. Gibson Rickenbacker is a strong fighter who leads a group to Atlanta to gain information needed ..read more »
Rate this:
60%
from 3 members
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Jean-Claude Van Damme facts
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Minimum Sense. 7 October 2005
...Not for the fist time, nor the last, does Jean-Claude Van Damme play two roles in this film. Luckily in this one he does not have to 'act' against himself. This is standard action f...
TOP MOVIE !!! 4 March 2006
