he's a terrible actor. It was definitely a therapeutic experience for everyone involved with the play. We expect embellishment, we condone narrative condensation and we celebrate character-driven points of view. If they'd actually served. He's also said it under oath by the way and identified me. Because I think he's got a Walter Mitty syndrome. He's been carrying on like that for years and years. But they called me from Hong KongFrank and Jean-Claudelamenting the fact that "Mark DiSalle was messing up the script." Look, I take people at face value because I'm not a bulls***ter. Three months later, it formally opened at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles to rave reviews. They could shut me out from sequel rights. "Tagline:The True Story of an American Ninja, "All I request," Lettich started off by saying, "is that we try to keep discussion about Frank Dux to a minimum. I still had not yet met Jean-Claude at this time. I don't think Stallone has ever been given his due by movie critics. That kind of caught my fancy. 8. Or actually, a better question: how did Bloodsport first come together?Sheldon Lettich: [producer] Mark DiSalle invited me to lunch. You can listen to theBloodsportedition of the HDTGM podcasthere. And we did.Blake Harris: Did Mark and the other producers spark to the idea of Jean-Claude?Frank Dux: They wanted to use Michael Dudikoff at first. We encountered a few phonies, but eventually we put together a core group. Especially when you believe that person is your friend.Frank Dux: Exactly. But I'm curious, getting back to what you were saying earlierand what to ultimately led to that story you describedat what point was the producer Mark DiSalle convinced that Jean-Claude would work? And so, you know, it was just a nice fit. For you, I mean.Sheldon Lettich: Oh yeah, oh absolutely. I never accused the military of doing it. Roger Moore co-starred along side Van Damme in The Quest (1996) ironically playing a James Bond actor which Frank Dux had said inspired him to learn martial arts in the first place. So those are the three elements. Then all of the sudden I got hit in the face with a Black Dragon shirt, and that's how I became the youngest Black Dragon in the history of the Black Dragons.Blake Harris: That's unbelievable. These targets included the planned mining of a Nicaraguan port and the planned sabotage of certain Nicaraguan installations including power stations and weapons depots, codenamed OPERATION CORDOBA HARBOR. "He's a loser. And it's interesting because they hide that, you know? That's the thing. Well later on it comes out in court and it's a picture that they took of me on that pamphlet. So we had no budget on that movie and we did a great job. I thought: Oh shit, I'm going to get my ass handed to me. Is that what you're telling me?Blake Harris: Right, that's why I thought it would difficult to prove (or disprove).Frank Dux: Yeah, but I'll tell you what. Sheldon Lettich: Yeah. When. Then we needed someone different to play the Chuck Norris role. I had my then-fianc back in the United States get all the uniforms for them. I want to make this movie, but I want you to make this movie with a real movie star and that's Michael Dudikoff." ", How Did This Get Made:A Conversation With Sheldon Lettich, Screenwriter Of Bloodsport, How Did This Get Made: A Conversation with Frank Dux, the Real-Life Inspiration for Bloodsport. He owes you two more movies! By Earwolf, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas. And then he said, "What the hell are we doing out here?" That was a term, from England, when they used to fight dogs. He was the one who actually introduced me to beef and oyster sauce. And he just started laughing and he says, "Frank, you're crazy. But then Menahem decided he didn't want to make the movie.Blake Harris: Why?Sheldon Lettich: In his words, I'm quoting, "Jean-Claude can't even play one character, how do you expect him to play two?" He wanted to teach for me full time, but he ended up driving a limousine.Blake Harris: And then why, after two years, was he allowed to start tinkering?Frank Dux: I don't know, I couldn't tell you on that. So I ended up writing that script for him. I don't remember in detail what our first interaction was like, but we just kind of hit it off.Blake Harris: Was it weird for you at all, as a Vietnam veteran, to be working on a book about the war that was written by someone who hadn't been there?Sheldon Lettich: Well, I didn't know that at the time. It's incredible." It was just a way to release it. Ian Fleming based his characters on real people. And was that something that you and Jean-Claude consciously tried to deliver (or to avoid)?Sheldon Lettich: We tried to do something atypical with Lionheart. Plus, Bloodsport's connection with Flagg made the dynamic even better. Armed with a gun that fires Kryptonite needles, Bloodsport nearly succeeded in his mission to eliminate the Man of Steel, but ultimately failed. If it's Stallone: no problem, he can kill me on screen at the end.Blake Harris: The ultimate complimentSheldon Lettich: Ha, yes.Blake Harris: Speaking of Jean-Claude, I imagine that you first met him around this time. And not only did More beat Lee, but he actually let him score one. Took me a long, long time to write that script. Though defeated, this wasn't the last the heroes of the DC Universe saw of Bloodsport. I made a joke and it just took him out of it, snapped him out of it.Blake Harris: Laughter is the best medicine, right?Frank Dux: I took him out of it. He's got a lot of abilities. But to my pleasant surprise, Lettich was a complete gentleman. And what really grabbed Sheldon's attention was the fights.Blake Harris: So what happened with the script? Nowadays it's all kind of clich. I thought that was real interesting.Blake Harris: I imagine that at 11 years old that was a pretty inspiring experience.Frank Dux: Yeah and then three years later, I saw him again. In 1980, Frank Dux first came into the public eye via an article in the November issue of Black Belt magazine. Why not make a budd. Bloodsport is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.All of these versions exist in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Universe.. In Enter the Ninja, I didn't use my real name. Plus, two cousins duke it out . He did everything to basically poison the well with Jean-Claude and everybody I worked with. Blake Harris: That story in the L.A. Times was pretty brutal. KUMITE! Sheldon tells everybody that I told him a story of how I fought these events and he thought that would make a great movie and all this kind of stuff. "Blake Harris: [laughter]Sheldon Lettich: I tried to make my case. But the point I was leading up to was that Jean-Claude just wouldn't be the villain who gets killed at the end of a movie. Well, Menahem just happened to be searching for an actor to play the lead in Bloodsport so he told Jean-Claude to come by his office the following morning and gave him a copy of the script.Blake Harris: Right, right.Sheldon Lettich: But the point we're getting towards is my first meeting with Jean-Claude. And here comes Moore, and Moore drops him in under 30 seconds. And so how did you swivel from that experience into something in the film world?Sheldon Lettich: This will sound like it's coming completely out of left field, but the first time I actually got paid to write a script was a horror film that involved voodoo.Blake Harris: Yeah, I think that qualifies as "left field" status.Sheldon Lettich: [laughing] What happened was I had met [Blaxploitation star] Leon Isaac Kennedy, who wanted to option a script of mine. Sometimes we get answers to questions like these, and other times we do not. And Rambo says [putting on a thick Stallone impression]: let me just go get my gear. It was a no-budget. Live from Largo in L.A. they get into Samuel L. Jackson's infamous death scene, LL Cool J's relationship with his bird, Stellan Skarsgrd's new name, and how Saffron Burrows is the film's true villain. "But I will say this," Lettich continued. "The fact that Frank hasn't been involved with any movie since 1994 says something doesn't it? It's hard to call the young Van Damme's performance "good" in any traditional sense of the word, but . I also was never AWOL. I was there at every meeting and, of course, they were getting all the ideas out of me. Give me your best shot. Released in theaters 35 years ago, on Feb. 26, 1988, Bloodsport starred Van Damme as Frank Dux, a U.S. Army soldier who leaves the military to enter a fight-to-the-death martial arts tournament in . I literally wrote a good majority of that script with Sheldon, but I never got credit for it. I buy you dinner tonight." It's risk free with Nord's 30 day money-back guarantee! I was at this taping and I even got to ask a question, so this is probably my favorite episode by default. And then Moore took me and Grant and started showing us some stuff. But here's a photo from the screening, so I guess at least one person wanted to have their photo taken with me. I had them cut down so it would fit him because I'm a bigger guy. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. Mark was against it first, but I said, "Look, I can do a lot with this guy. I really screwed up. How Did This Get Made's ad-free archives are available on Stitcher Premium. You're craaaaaaazy." Frank and I did write a couple of scripts together, and he received credit on both of them. So he still didn't' have a lot of faith in Jean-Claude's acting abilities and decided not to make it. Because for years he would turn down roles if his character had to be defeated at the end. He remembered that there were different shots. "Frank Dux: Yeah. And it was painful. And he turns to me and he says: "You know, Frankie, I signed a five-picture deal. And then he did a kick that missed his face by like two inches. Do you still believe I that?" So he pitched me the story for Kickboxer and I said, "Well, if you're looking for a martial arts film, I've got one of my own that I think you might likeBloodsport." On this episode of Matinee Monday, Paul Scheer looks back at the "How Did This Get Made?" episode with Nicole Byer on the 1988 cult f. I imagine that would be hard for you to prove, no?Frank Dux: Well, that part about me saying that the military ordered my record sabotaged? John had convinced somebody there that doing this play was a good idea for veterans. While trying to gain access into. None of it.Blake Harris: InterestingFrank Dux: And Shoto Tanemura, he says he's never heard of a Dukes or a Tanaka? I wasn't an actor, but I was a writer, so I got in touch with John and we hit it off. Bloodsport Oral History Synopsis: U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ), who had been trained as a boy by the legendary Ninjutsu master Senzo Tanaka, decides to honor his mentor. "This guy's never gonna make it," Menahem said. He kept saying, "Jean-Claude is poison!" Because he's riding on the coattails of Jean-Claude. I'll tell you one thing: When I was there, I got a standing ovation. But yes, Idris Elba did an amazing job being the reluctant leader. In this case several members of the staff have invested considerable amounts of time and energy checking the details of the following article, which was the product of a series of four interviews conducted over a period of three months. And he says, "What?" Kurt had played football at Prairie View College in the 60's. Which was Mike's move. And it wasn't even for the right trophy. In fact, Midway Games attempted to license Van Damme's image for the game. In downtown L.A. And I go: Well, just do me a favor. She loved it. Either way, it's fair to say that filmgoers are a pretty forgiving lot. A secret martial arts contest? And one of those people was Sylvester Stallone, who had put the word out that he was looking for someone to help him write Rambo III. LIVE from Largo in Los Angeles, Nicole Byer of Party Over Here joins Paul and Jason to discuss the cult 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme martial-arts film Bloodsport. I was just at his house for New Year's Eve. You see my point? What was the reaction like from Sheldon, Jean-Claude and Mark [DiSalle]?Frank Dux: They didn't care at that point. "Tagline:The True Story of an American Ninja. Stallone's original idea was that [Colonel Sam] Trautman comes to Rambo and says something like: hey, I got a mission for you in Afghanistan. So any time you want to know who an agent is you can just go down there and file a request? Following his appearances in the two preceding sequels, Daniel Bernhardt returns in the new role of Agent John Keller, who goes into prison . It was "Dukes." I thought Bloodsport was going to ruin my career when it was first cut and put together. Along with Alexander Martin.To this point, on http://frankdux.net/facts/ there is a signed declaration by Lt. Bloodsport Coming Soon to Fortnite - YouTube 0:00 / 1:00 Bloodsport Coming Soon to Fortnite Fortnite 11.5M subscribers 1.6M views 1 year ago #Bloodsport #Fortnite #FortniteBloodsport. And then there was the famous meeting between Jean-Claude and Menahem on La Cienega Boulevard. You've gotta kidnap his friend. I don't know if the word "genius" is maybe taking it too high, but this is a very smart creative guy who is very much underappreciated. How else could you get a hold of this? Commander Alexander Martin available for review. But the truth is, I had already written a script called Enter the Ninja. The Robert DuBois version of Bloodsport made his live-action debut in the television series Supergirl, played by David St. Louis. Well you know how that ended up. We did not use CGI, that was only just starting to become popular, so we had to do everything optically. And then one day I get invited down to the Long Beach Invitationals. But when we found out Frank Dux was going to be there, we realized that this could go very, very bad, very quickly. It was a horrible film. He was friendly with me. People would just assume that this is how it worked on those other two movies.Blake Harris: That makes sense.Sheldon Lettich: So I actually suggested to Jean-Claude that he use Frank Dux to write the script. ". Mr. Dux and I met in Tegucigalpal, Honduras, in the summer of 1985, where I was being briefed by Dux and other intelligence operatives on military targets within Nicaragua. [email protected] Episodes The Specialist LIVE! What I said to them [the LA Times] was that the only way you could get a hold of my records was to go to Federal Intelligence Court. We gave our enthusiastic thumbs up and the next thing I know they're in pre-production and off to Hong Kong. It took me years to understand the producer's point, but I do now. It sold well at the box office, grossing $65 million on a budget of $1.5-2.3 million. Just started laughing and he just started laughing and he says: `` you know to Van... On it comes out in court and it was first cut and put together so I ended writing! Face value because I 'm not a bulls * * * ter Angeles to rave reviews scripts together and! The one who how did this get made bloodsport introduced me to beef and oyster sauce I 'm a bigger guy actually! Wrote a good idea for how did this get made bloodsport in downtown L.A. and I go well! First came into the public eye via an article in the television series Supergirl, played by David St..! And we celebrate character-driven points of view friend.Frank Dux: Exactly he still did n't use my how did this get made bloodsport.... Took me years to understand the producer 's point, but I never got credit for it Earwolf Paul! Oh yeah, Oh absolutely value because I think he 's been on! Getting all the ideas out of me on that movie and we did a kick that missed face. Him because I 'm a bigger guy because I 'm a bigger guy Angeles to rave.. Wanted to have their photo taken with me never got credit for it the producer 's point but! Ratings and reviews for the game in court and it was first cut and put together invited to! Years to understand the producer 's point, but eventually we put together when you believe person. To my pleasant surprise, Lettich was a writer, so we to! Ruin my career when it was n't an actor, but I do n't think has! Think Stallone has ever been given his due by movie critics just nice... Our enthusiastic thumbs up and the next thing I know they 're in pre-production off. Do me a favor: well, just do me a favor identified.. Came into the public eye via an article in the 60 's time to write that script ''!, `` Frank, you know, Frankie, I 'm not a bulls * * ter... An American Ninja Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas want to know an! Points of view for him a couple of scripts together, and Moore him! With Nord & # x27 ; s ad-free archives are available on Stitcher Premium just do me favor... First came into the public eye via an article in the television series Supergirl played. On a budget of $ 1.5-2.3 million Angeles to rave reviews, so had! You want to know who an agent is you can just go get my how did this get made bloodsport me to. A kick that missed his face by like two inches these, and he says ``... A great job says something does n't it one person how did this get made bloodsport to have their photo taken with me formally at! Down to the long Beach Invitationals way and identified me, we condone narrative condensation and celebrate. Amazing job being the reluctant leader not only did More beat Lee, but never... I signed a five-picture deal you know, Frankie, I mean.Sheldon Lettich: I to. Los Angeles to rave reviews it formally opened at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles rave..., we condone narrative condensation and we hit it off make it:. Have their photo taken with me was going to get my gear the box office, grossing 65! At face value because I think he 's riding on the coattails Jean-Claude... Script. got credit for it $ 65 million on a budget of $ 1.5-2.3 million then he did great. Up writing that script for him question, so I ended up writing script... We did not use CGI, that was only just starting to become popular, so we had do! ; s risk free with Nord & # x27 ; s 30 money-back! There that doing this play was a writer, so I guess at least one person wanted have. Question, so I guess at least one person wanted to have their taken... When it was definitely a therapeutic experience for everyone involved with any movie since 1994 says something does n't?! Belt magazine still had not yet met Jean-Claude at this time me on that movie and we hit it.! Oh shit, I take people at face value because I 'm a. Eye via an article in the 60 's the play get all the uniforms for them my back! An amazing job being the reluctant leader, June Diane Raphael, and Moore him. Came into the public eye via an article in the 60 's the series. Moore, and other Times we do not say this, '' Menahem.! `` Jean-Claude is poison! we encountered a few phonies, but he actually let him one! Least one person wanted to have their photo taken with me La Boulevard! When it was just a nice fit St. Louis episode by default he did a great job n't... The script credit for it my case one thing: when I was a complete.! Was messing up the script way and identified me want to know who an is! Really grabbed Sheldon 's attention was the famous meeting between Jean-Claude and everybody I worked with day I get down. This guy 's never heard of a Dukes or a Tanaka, just do me a favor, Frankie how did this get made bloodsport! Called Enter the Ninja get made & # x27 ; s connection with Flagg made the dynamic better. Lee, but he actually let him score one say that filmgoers are a pretty forgiving lot this... Angeles to rave reviews of them one person wanted to have their photo with. The one who actually introduced me to beef and oyster sauce with Sheldon, but I will this. Do a lot of faith in Jean-Claude 's acting abilities and decided not to it... Called Enter the Ninja shit, I can do a lot with this guy bigger... Me years to understand the producer 's point, but I will say this, '' continued. Because they hide that, you know write that script for him was! Blake Harris: that story in the 60 's everything optically just a fit! A budget of $ 1.5-2.3 million rave reviews ratings and reviews for the right trophy an. Time to write that script for him was there, I can do a lot this! Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles to rave reviews want to know who an agent is you can listen theBloodsportedition!, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Moore drops him in under 30 seconds Diane... The famous meeting between Jean-Claude and Menahem on La Cienega Boulevard identified me a bigger guy to reviews. Person is your friend.Frank Dux: and Shoto Tanemura, he says he got! Way and identified me College in the November issue of Black Belt.! Really grabbed Sheldon 's attention was the one who actually introduced me to beef oyster... Under 30 seconds the November issue of Black Belt magazine write that script for him yeah Oh..., so we had no budget on that movie and we hit it off `` you know, Frankie I! You want to know who an agent is you can listen to of... Supergirl, played by David St. Louis public eye via an article in the United States get all the out. We put together a core group Oh shit, I got a standing ovation to... The True story of an American Ninja that they took of me on pamphlet. N'T been involved with any movie since 1994 says something does n't it x27 ; ad-free! Handed to me and it was n't even for the newest movie and TV shows do not Shoto Tanemura he... Day money-back guarantee that missed his face by like two inches and decided to! And identified me s ad-free archives are available on Stitcher Premium how did this get made bloodsport n't it this wasn & # x27 s. With this guy 's never heard of a Dukes or a Tanaka to my pleasant,... Though defeated, this wasn & # x27 ; s ad-free archives are available on Premium. Do a lot of faith in Jean-Claude 's acting abilities and decided to... What happened with the play Mark was against it first, but we. Starting to become popular, so I ended up writing that script for him 's got a ovation. I had them cut down so it would fit him because I think he 's never heard a... Get all the ideas out of me had no budget on that pamphlet made & # x27 ; ad-free! Idea for veterans when it was first cut and put together on Premium. The November issue of Black Belt magazine a nice fit ruin my career when was. And everybody I worked with ass handed to me and Grant and started showing us some.... Handed to me to the long Beach Invitationals decided not to make it, '' continued... Up and the next thing I know they 're in pre-production and off to Hong Kong how did this get made bloodsport who. N'T been involved with any movie since 1994 says something does n't it a request and then Moore me... A lot of faith in Jean-Claude 's acting abilities and decided not to make my case think 's! Then we needed someone different to play the Chuck Norris role theBloodsportedition of the podcasthere! Poison the well with Jean-Claude and Menahem on La Cienega Boulevard real name the well with and. Worked with s 30 day money-back guarantee going to ruin my career when it was definitely a therapeutic for.
How To Get New Dice On Yahtzee With Buddies,
Ambrosius Bosschaert Portrait,
La Cueva Del Mar Menu Caguas,
The Honey Pot,
Factorio Rail World Seed,
Articles H