A strange, unnecessary 1997
action movie starring
Jean-Claude Van Damme and
NBA player
Dennis Rodman. Directed by
Tsui Hark in his
American debut.
JCVD plays a goverment agent who fails to kill a hostile target and thus gets banished to an island of similar-fated people. Rodman plays an arms dealer in Europe. Together they team up to defeat a very evil person — why he's evil I either don't remember or am not certain — who is played by Mickey Roarke.
It's a pretty bad movie, only notable for Rodman's presence. Rodman's articulation is poor as always, but he seems to be the only one having fun in this B movie. Van Damme thinks he's still a Stallone-like action hero, and Roarke ... God knows what he's thinking.
Much of the dialogue involves not-so-witty basketball wordplay. For example:
JCVD: "Offense gets the glory!"
Rodman: "But defense wins the game!"
Rodman, of course, was an awesome defensive player in the NBA, but his offensive skills were underwhelming.
The only other memorable moment — memorable only because it proved how much of a sellout this movie was — came in the climax, when Van Damme and Rodman were saved by Coca-Cola vending machines. Really, I'm not kidding.