Main Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Paul Sorvino, Carman Lee
Release Year: 1998
Country: HK/US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Hong Kong action genre craftsman Tsui Hark directed this martial arts tale, his second collaboration with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme after Double Team (1997). Van Damme stars as Marcus Ray, a Hong Kong fashion designer who specializes in "knock-offs," cheaply produced jeans and sneakers meant to look like major-label merchandise. With his new partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider), Marcus hopes to go legit and put his shady past behind him, but Tommy is really an undercover CIA agent investigating the smuggling of mini-bombs in Marcus' products. An unwitting pawn in a scheme concocted by the KGB and Tommy's CIA superior Johanson (Paul Sorvino), Marcus must clear his name and save his company. His quest to do so becomes even more complicated when local authorities link him to a murder and a vice-president, Karen (Lela Rochon), arrives from Marcus' parent company to investigate discrepancies in his bookkeeping. Knock Off is based on a script by Steven E. de Souza, author of 48 Hrs. (1982) and Die Hard (1988). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
It seems that well-respected Hong Kong director Tsui Hark and star Jean-Claude Van Damme were made to make completely surreal, cheesy, over-the-top actioners like this one. Abandoning such "needless" things as plot, characterization, humor, and everything that makes good movies what they are -- Hark and company decided instead to create a runaway train-wreck of an action flick, starring one of the biggest goofs in Hollywood history! Therein lies the charm of Knock Off...Each scene is brimming full of outrageousness, all the while never stopping to let the audience catch up. If you take your eyes off the screen for one minute, who knows what kind of crazy stuff you might miss? Interesting, too, is just how great the action scenes are. Just as he did in John Woo's widely under-appreciated 1993 actioner Hard Target, Van Damme sincerely shines in Hark's patented crazy visuals and dynamic fight choreography. The audience might have to endure a couple of really terrible Rob Schneider one-liners, but once our boy Jean-Claude starts kicking, there's no stop to the explosive stuff that they've got in store for you: mysterious green fireballs, exploding blue jeans, and even Paul Sorvino! Whether he's being spanked in the butt with cold fish or fighting a guy with razor sharp lenses in his eyeglasses, our international action hero proves his title time and time again, only stopping once in a while to hilariously butcher the English language. Yes, Knock Off is a one-of-a-kind. It's a non-stop joyride that breaks all conventions and plain old doesn't care about it. If you like crazy action, terrible Euro-accents, and a whole lot of Van Damme, this one's for you! ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Wyman Wong - Eddie; Glen Chin - Skinny; Michael Wong - Han; Moses Chan - Officer Fong
Credit
Richard G. Murphy - Associate Producer, Peter W. Nelson - Associate Producer, Ellana Diamant - Casting, Lauris Freeman - Casting, Raymond Fung - Co-producer, William Fung - Costume Designer, Mabel Kwan - Costume Designer, Ben Luk - Costume Designer, Joe Chi - First Assistant Director, Rico Chu - First Assistant Director, Kingson Shek - First Assistant Director, Tsui Hark - Director, Mak Chi-Sin - Editor, Ron Mael - Composer (Music Score), Russell Mael - Composer (Music Score), James Leung - Production Designer, Bill Lui - Production Designer, Arthur Wong Ngok Tai - Cinematographer, Nansun Shi - Producer, Gary Wilkins - Sound/Sound Designer, Yuen Bing - Stunts Coordinator, Steven E. de Souza - Screenwriter
