The Quest - The Challenge

This article is about the American martial arts film from 1996. For other films with the title The Challenge, see The Challenge (disambiguation) .

Movie
German title	The Quest - The Challenge
Original title	The Quest
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1996
length	94 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Jean-Claude Van Damme
script	Frank Dux Jean-Claude Van Damme Steven Klein Paul Mones
production	Moshe diamond
music	Randy Edelman
camera	David Gribble
cut	John F. Link William J. Meshover
occupation
Jean-Claude Van Damme : Christopher Dubois Roger Moore : Lord Edgar Dobbs James Remar : Maxie Devine Janet Gunn : Carrie Newton Jack McGee : Harry Smythe Louis Mandylor : Riggi Aki Aleong : Khao Jen Sung Outerbridge : Phang (Siamese Fighter) Abdel Qissi : Khan (Mongolian fighter) Peter Wong : Chinese fighter Kitao Koji : Japanese fighter Habby Heske : German fighter César Carneiro : Brazilian fighter Takis Triggelis : French fighter Azdine Nouri : Turkish fighter Stefanos Miltsakakis : Greek fighter Peter Malota : Spanish fighter Winston Ellis : African fighter Brick Bronsky : Soviet fighter Michael Ian Lambert : Scottish fighter Ong Soo Han : Korean fighter Ip Choi Nam : Fighter from Okinawa Ze'ev Revach : Turkish captain

The Quest is an adventure and action film ( martial arts film ) from 1996 . The main roles of the film occupy Jean-Claude Van Damme and Roger Moore . This film is Van Damme's directorial debut.

action

Christopher Dubois, a street performer, pickpocket and leader of a group of street children, is forced to flee his hometown of New York in 1925 . On the ship of Turkish arms smugglers he arrives at the coast of Thailand, where he is rescued by Edgar Dobbs and his friend and lackey Harry Smythe when they attack the cutter. Dobbs, a former captain of the Royal Navy who is now working as a smuggler and pirate, promises Dubois to return home, but sells him as a slave on an island, where Dubois learns the martial art of Muay Thai .

Six months later, they meet again in Bangkok , where Dubois is fighting a street fight. This reminds Dobbs of his guilt towards him and persuades him to buy him out again. Through Dubois, Dobbs and Smythe learn about a secret fighting tournament, the Ghang-Gheng , which is held in Tibet and to which the best fighters from all over the world are invited. You decide to travel to the Lost City, the venue. Dubois is supposed to take part in the tournament to win the trophy, a huge dragon statue made of pure gold. They are accompanied by Carrie Newton, an American reporter who was transferred to the Orient by her editorial team. However, they need a scroll that identifies Dubois as an invited fighter and on which a map is drawn. Therefore they join the American Maxie Devine, the world champion in heavyweight boxing, in order to steal his scroll from him on occasion. When Devine notices this, a fight breaks out between him and Dubois. Devine succumbs and hands over the role.

Later, however, he appears to the tournament and officially transfers his title to Dubois, who now takes part in the fighting tournament for the United States. The best fighters from all countries take part in the tournament. Dubois fights his way to the finals, where he meets the brutal Mongol Khan. After a hard fight, he defeats it, but Dubois renounces the golden dragon. Instead, he obtains the release of Dobbs and Smythe, who were caught trying to steal the dragon and sentenced to death.

Reviews

James Berardinelli accused the film on ReelViews of a "sleep-inducing pace" and the "lack of energy". The direction of the film is "poor", the camera work "uninspired" and the villain "pale".

“The directorial debut of the Belgian martial arts master and actor Claude Van Damme, whose superimposed social morality is taken ad absurdum by the fight scenes. The visual reminiscences of great adventure epics seem hypocritical and cynical in view of the inhuman attitude of the film. "

- Lexicon of international film

"With the same grace and discipline that he shows in front of the camera, Jean-Claude Van Damme makes an excellent directorial debut."

- Kevin Thomas in Los Angeles Times

Others

• Roger Moore introduces himself as "Dobbs, Edgar Dobbs" in his first scene in the film. This is a reference to James Bond, whom he also portrayed in numerous films.
• The film is set in the 1920s. At that time, Okinawa had officially been part of Japan for almost 50 years. However, there is one fighter each for Japan and Okinawa in the film.
• Jean-Claude Van Damme wrote the script together with Frank Dux . Van Damme presented this in his first big success Bloodsport in 1988.
• Thousands of martial artists from all over the world applied for the cast of the respective fighters.

Commercial win

The film grossed around $ 22 million in the US and $ 57,400,547 worldwide on a budget of $ 30 million. The Quest was ranked 73rd by box office in 1996.

Web links

• The Quest - The challenge in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Quest - The challenge at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
• The Quest - The challenge in the online film database
• Comparison of the cut versions BBFC 18 - FSK 16 from The Quest - The challenge at Schnittberichte.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Film review by James Berardinelli
2. ↑ The Quest - The Challenge. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .  
3. ↑ The Quest in the Los Angeles Times on Rotten Tomatoes
4. ^ The Quest , boxofficemojo.com.