Double Impact

I have to admit that I’ve been really enjoying MVD and their Rewind Collection releases lately, starting with Black Eagle and then Lionheart. The latest Jean-Claude Van Damme film in their collection is Double Impact, a 1991 action flick I have fond memories of. It’s good to know the movie still holds up nicely nearly thirty years later, and also one action fans can get their kicks from.

Sheldon Lettich takes the helm again after directing Van Damme in his previous film, Lionheart. This time the muscles from Brussels plays two characters, twin brothers named Chad and Alex who were separated not long after birth after some bad people murdered their parents. Chad grows up under the protection of a family friend named Frank (Geoffrey Lewis) in Los Angeles while Alex had a hard time growing up in a French orphanage and on the streets of Hong Kong. As fate would have it, the two end up meeting and learning about the people responsible for their parents’ deaths, and it’s martial arts, gunfights, and explosions galore as they hunt down the bad guys.

Just as I did back in the early 90’s with Van Damme’s other films, I had a good time seeing this one again as it felt as though I were watching it again for the first time thanks to the high-definition Blu-ray release. MVD cleaned up the video and audio nicely, which makes the action all the more awesome. This is especially true for my favorite part near the end when Van Damme goes up against the legendary Bolo Yeung who was notorious for playing the super buff Asian bad guy in the 80’s and 90’s.

There’s also some new and old special features that MVD included that keeps the action going after the credits roll, starting with “The Making of Double Impact Parts One and Two” where Jean-Claude Van Damme, director and co-writer Sheldon Lettich, producer Ashok Amritraj, and some of the fight coordinators and other crew discuss making the movie and share experiences from the set.

“Double Impact: Deleted / Extended Scenes” says it all with nearly an hour of cut footage, there’s also older extras from 1991 such as “Double Impact: Behind the Scenes” has interviews with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Moshe Diamant and Charles Layton, “Double Impact: B-Roll Selections” features behind the scenes footage from the set. Rounding out the features are “Cast & Crew Interviews”, a “Double Impact MVD Rewind Collection Promo”, the original theatrical trailer, and of course a collectible mini-poster for your wall.

Double Impact is one of my favorite action films, and it’s good to see that MVD cares about these classics just as much as the fans do. An awesome high-definition video and audio transfer, cool 90’s action, and sweet special features bring more than double the fun and excitement in this release.