- The Quest (film)
Infobox Film
name = The Quest
image_size = 150px
caption = Theatrical Release Poster
director =Jean-Claude Van Damme
producer = Moshe Diamant Peter MacDonald (executive)
writer =Frank Dux (story)Jean-Claude Van Damme (story)
Steven Klein
Paul Mones
narrator =
starring =Jean-Claude Van Damme Roger Moore James Remar Janet Gunn Jack McGee Aki Aleong
music =Randy Edelman
cinematography =David Gribble
editing = John F. Link William J. Meshover
distributor =
released = flagicon|TurkeyApril 19 ,1996 flagicon|United StatesApril 26 ,1996
runtime = 94 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0117420"The Quest" is a 1996 film directed by
Jean-Claude Van Damme . It is based onmartial arts , with a storyline similar to that of "Bloodsport". It was originally penned byFrank Dux . It's a rework of a script Frank Dux wrote entitled "The Kumite", which ended Dux and Van Damme's friendship.Plot summary
Van Damme plays Christopher Dubois, a 1925
New York pickpocket who must escape the city by stowing away on a boat, he is eventually found out by the crew and imprisoned bysmuggler s andpirate s. He is rescued by amercenary Englishman, Lord Edgar Dobbs, portrayed byRoger Moore - who then sells Dubois into slavery on an island where Dubois will be trained inMuay Thai fighting. Dobbs later assists (and to some extent exploits) Dubois, buying Dubois' freedom so the now expert fighter can represent theUnited States in a Kumite-liketournament called the Ghang-gheng, held in the Lost City ofTibet , where representatives of different countries likeGermany ,Soviet Union ,Scotland ,Spain ,Turkey ,Brazil ,Siam ,South Korea ,Greece ,France , China,Japan ,Okinawa ,Kenya andMongolia fight in elimination bouts, with the winner of the tournament to receive a valuable statue, theGold enDragon . Dubois wins the tournament by defeating the representative ofMongolia , but doesn't accept the Golden Dragon as he uses it to barter for the lives of Dobbs and Harry, who were sentenced to death for trying to steal the Golden Dragon.Reception
The film earned $21,607,190 at the American box office. It did much better overseas with nearly 40 million. Van Damme fans, as well as critics, were split about the film.Fact|date=May 2007
Trivia
*The movie was originally supposed to be a movie about underground
kumite competitions with the script penned by controversial martial artistFrank Dux . Dux sued Van Damme when he "allegedly" changed the script and situations as well as not paying a promised sum of money.
*The reworked story of "The Quest" was originally supposed to be the beginning of a series of movies.
*When Roger Moore states his name "Dobbs, Lord Dobbs", he does it in the style of the James Bond movies, for which he is famous.
*Van Damme also co-starred with Abdel Qissi (Kahn, the Mongolian fighter) in "Lionheart" and "The Order".
*Van Damme originally wanted Benjamin C. DeWolfe to play the Mongolian villain.
*This film is unusual in that it was rated PG-13 in America but then given an 18 certificate in the UK.External links
*imdb title|0117420|The Quest
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