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! Read more
| Starring | Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Paul Sorvino |
|---|---|
| Director | Tsui Hark |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
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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!
| Starring | Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Paul Sorvino |
|---|---|
| Director | Tsui Hark |
| Studio | UCA |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 27 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 25 Feb 2004 Production year: 1998 |
| Format | DVD |
Appropriately, the counterfeit brands — or knock-offs — market forms the backdrop of this Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle, because this is another superficially authentic but ultimately fake Hong Kong thriller. True, director Tsui Hark has all the right credentials — Once upon a Time in China, Zu Warriors — but, as with their previous project Double Team, this just isn't the real thing. Played more for laughs than that collaboration, this tale finds the roguish, reformed counterfeiter Van Damme and partner Rob Schneider caught up in a plot to send miniature bombs all over the world. Tsui Hark stages some imaginatively destructive action set pieces, particularly the finale. However, marks off for some irritatingly tricksy camera work, while Steven E de Souza's script is needlessly complicated.
A mediocre yarn, set against the backdrop of the handover of Hong Kong to China. Marcus Ray (Van Damme), an archetype... read more on Time Out
Hong Kong action genre craftsman Tsui Hark directed this martial arts tale, his second collaboration with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme after Double Team (1997). Van Damme stars as Marcus Ray, a Hong Kong fashion designer who specializes in 'knock-offs,' cheaply produced jeans and sneakers meant to look like major-label merchandise. With his new partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider), Marcus hopes to go legit and put his shady past behind him, but Tommy is really an undercover CIA agent investigating the smuggling of mini-bombs in Marcus' products. An unwitting pawn in a scheme concocted by the KGB and Tommy's CIA superior Johanson (Paul Sorvino), Marcus must clear his name and save his company. His quest to do so becomes even more complicated when local authorities link him to a murder and a vice-president, Karen (Lela Rochon), arrives from Marcus' parent company to investigate discrepancies in his bookkeeping. Knock Off is based on a script by Steven E. de Souza, author of 48 Hrs. (1982) and Die Hard (1988).
This is a typical Van Damm film. Trying to be the big man. Did not appeal to me thank you.