Gold Battle: Above The Law (1988) or Kickboxer (1989)

[FierceRedBelt]

All I can say is that, for anyone like myself, Bloodsport and Kickboxer felt almost like a gift from the gods themselves. And Van Damme seemed almost like a son of those gods.

 

[Guestx]

Let me put it this way:

At 11-years-old I kneeled at the altar of Van Damme.

 

[FierceRedBelt]

I have Under Siege as his best movie in a runaway. Second would probably by Executive Decision if that can be counted as a Seagal movie. The one where he's in a coma and Kelly LeBrock nurses him back to health would probably be #3 for me.

Crazy talk.

His best performances are far and away Above the Law and Out for Justice in my eyes. Executive decision wasn't a better movie than his entire catalogue but I do understand why people use that as a dig at him.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Crazy talk.

His best performances are far and away Above the Law and Out for Justice in my eyes. Executive decision wasn't a better movie than his entire catalogue but I do understand why people use that as a dig at him.

I'm trying to remember his performance in Above the Law. The only impression he made was that he was a little better than Pam Grier.

 

[FierceRedBelt]

I'm trying to remember his performance in Above the Law. The only impression he made was that he was a little better than Pam Grier.

Next time it's on give it a chance.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Let me put it this way:

At 11-years-old I kneeled at the altar of Van Damme.

Didn't know JCVD was a priest.

 

[Guestx]

Didn't know JCVD was a priest.

More like a god.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Let me put it this way:

At 11-years-old I kneeled at the altar of Van Damme.

 

[Guestx]

Do you see the way he acts against thin air, playing two diametrically opposed characters with such ease? Truly divine.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Offtopic

JCVD should have been cast as Johnny Cage in the MK movie

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Kickboxer without a doubt

 

[HARRISON_3]

Kickboxer is an Oscar winner compared to Above the Law.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Do you see the way he acts against thin air, playing two diametrically opposed characters with such ease? Truly divine.

And not quite as gay as the two Fassbenders in Alien: Covenant.

 

[KnightTemplar]

Nico by whatever the fuck he wants.

I wouldn't piss on Seagal if he was on fire. He's a repellant human being. That doesn't change the fact that Nico was a stunning debute feature. It was completely different from the standard martial arts movies of the time, which were based on striking martial arts like karate, kickboxing etc. Nico managed to make aikido, of all martial arts, actually look cool AF. The fight scenes were brutal, and far more realistic than movies like Kickboxer, where both heroes and Big Bads could shrug off ridiculous amounts of punishment and keep fighting. In Seagal's early films, fights were quick and very nasty. And martial arts were used in the correct context: Seagal was as likely to use a gun or an improvised weapons - cleaver, pool balls wrapped in a towel - as empty hand techniques.

I like Van Damme and loved Kickboxer. But this one isn't close.

 

[Philo-Publius]

Peak vs Peak

Which movie did you like better? Steven Seagal’s Above The Law or Jean Claude Van Danme’s Kickboxer?



http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0094602/



http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0097659/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

This is a really close call. Both are the second best films made by either of these guys.

Seagal:
2. Above the Law
1. Under Seige

Van Damme:
2. Kickboxer
1. Bloodsport

This thread deserves a poll, but I am still torn about which movie I would choose. Maybe the very slight edge to Kickboxer (but I keep going back and forth).

 

[Kraysla]

I'm going with Above the Law. I like Kickboxer, but Seagal's fights looked more realistic and brutal than JCVD doing his wide eye stare before he kicks you with the ol' roundhouse. The fight scenes in Above the Law were different and they really went for it. Seagal was in shape and this was before he got carried away with roles where he would play secret govt agents that were beyond classification. He didn't just use aikido either; he was throwing punches, kicks, using clubs, shooting people, etc. The movie has a real intensity to it.

This is from my favorite scene.

 

[FierceRedBelt]

Nico by whatever the fuck he wants.

I wouldn't piss on Seagal if he was on fire. He's a repellant human being. That doesn't change the fact that Nico was a stunning debute feature. It was completely different from the standard martial arts movies of the time, which were based on striking martial arts like karate, kickboxing etc. Nico managed to make aikido, of all martial arts, actually look cool AF. The fight scenes were brutal, and far more realistic than movies like Kickboxer, where both heroes and Big Bads could shrug off ridiculous amounts of punishment and keep fighting. In Seagal's early films, fights were quick and very nasty. And martial arts were used in the correct context: Seagal was as likely to use a gun or an improvised weapons - cleaver, pool balls wrapped in a towel - as empty hand techniques.

I like Van Damme and loved Kickboxer. But this one isn't close.

Ah, thank you. I was starting to think I was being trolled.

Nico is really an amazing piece.

 

[the ambush]

This is a really close call. Both are the second best films made by either of these guys.

Seagal:
2. Above the Law
1. Under Seige

Van Damme:
2. Kickboxer
1. Bloodsport

This thread deserves a poll, but I am still torn about which movie I would choose. Maybe the very slight edge to Kickboxer (but I keep going back and forth).

The thought crossed my mind to include Bloodsport, however, I did not think Above The Law had a reasonable chance against Bloodsport in a battle poll on sherdog.

That leaves perhaps a future poll match-up of Under Siege vs Bloodsport.

I have Under Siege as his best movie in a runaway. Second would probably by Executive Decision if that can be counted as a Seagal movie. The one where he's in a coma and Kelly LeBrock nurses him back to health would probably be #3 for me.

Someone can create a Under Siege poll. Executive Decision was Seagal in a supporting role.

 

[Capt Lunatic]

I think JCVD has five or six films that are better than Above the Law.

Kickboxer is not one of them.

 

[the ambush]

Bump