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Double Impact

Movie · 1991 · 8 people

Jean-Claude Van Damme doubles up in Double Impact, playing twin brothers Chad and Alex Wagner in this 1991 American action and martial arts film from director Sheldon Lettich. He co-wrote and co-produced it as well, his third film with Lettich and second with Bolo Yeung, after Bloodsport. Made on a budget of 15 million dollars, it earned 80.5 million worldwide making it Lettich's biggest hit as a director.

The story begins when the twins' parents are killed in Hong Kong on the orders of their father's business partner, Griffith, and the infants are split up. Alex grows into a scrappy smuggler on Hong Kong's streets, while the vain Chad lives comfortably in Los Angeles. Twenty-five years later, the family friend Frank Avery (Geoffrey Lewis) brings the brothers together in Hong Kong. Despite opposite temperaments, both are skilled martial artists, and together they hunt the people behind their family's deaths. Alan Scarfe plays Griffith, and Bolo Yeung is the villain Moon.

Filming ran for about eight weeks, from 4 November to 30 December 1990, in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. The film opened in France on 31 July 1991 and in the United States, through Columbia Pictures, on 9 August. Van Damme received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for it in 1992.

DirectorSheldon Lettich
Production companyProducers Sales Organization

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Cast

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Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Van Damme Film actor · 66 years old Bolo Yeung Bolo Yeung Actor · 80 years old Geoffrey Lewis Alan Scarfe Philip Chan Cory Everson Julie Strain Pjetër Malota

Titles sharing this cast

Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Getting Van Damme not once but twice is a selling point in itself for fans of the genre. One is a street-hardened brawler, the other a flashy city boy, and that contrast feeds both the fights and the banter. Having Bolo Yeung as the villain guarantees the physical threat you want from a martial arts film. The revenge plot is simple, but in this genre simple is usually a plus: the target is clear and the tension never scatters.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Double Impact uses the dual role not as a gimmick but as its reason for existing, and that is where it is really tested. Having one actor separate two opposite temperaments, and making the twins convincing in the same frame, is no small task for editing and camera placement. The script, however, leans on the genre's most worn template, children whose family was massacred settling the score years later, and gives the characters no depth beyond it. The third Lettich and Van Damme collaboration is tidy as craft but takes no cinematic risks. Box office of over 80 million dollars against a 15 million budget also explains why this formula was repeated so often.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is a fight-and-revenge film, with violence right at the heart of the story. Since it is about brothers avenging their murdered parents, it is not suitable for watching with young children. It is a better pick for high-school-age teenagers and adults who like action. Don't expect an emotional family film; there is a theme of brotherhood, but the fights come first.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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