The Bad News is, I haven’t yet completed this list. The Good News is, I have reviewed and rated many of Van Damme’s movies already, including most of his best ones, so this should still be a useful list. I have of course seen all of Van Damme’s movies – most of them several times – I just haven’t yet got round to watching every one of them for the purpose of reviewing and rating it compared to all the others. Anyway, out of the ones I’ve properly reviewed so far, here’s the Top Ten best Jean-Claude Van Damme movies of all time, in descending order from best to worst:
1: Bloodsport (1988)
The whole production of this movie is just on another level, from the cast members, to the music, to the camera work, to the script work – it all comes together to create a great atmosphere and a movie clicks together very well, even though it’s relatively simple in plot core. There’s only one or two bits worth skipping when rewatching to frequently.
2: Kickboxer (1989)
As soon as Van Damme made the big time with Bloodsport, he was churning out a couple of movies per year, and Kickboxing was one of the earliest. Replicating much of what worked so well in Bloodsport, Kickboxer generates a good atmosphere albeit much more intermittent this time round. The overall movie isn’t as grand or polished as Bloodsport was, but is still up there as one of his next best movies thanks to some decent script ideas (even though the plot is simple at heart), plus some strong supporting actors, and good music to accompany good training scenes.
3: The Quest (1996)
This movie has an action-packed plot and was also Van Damme’s directorial debut – he led the screenplay personally, no doubt assisted by the experienced legend and co-star of this movie, Roger Moore. It’s one of Van Damme’s busiest movies and it generally works very well throughout although the ending is a bit one dimensional and overly drawn out.
4: No Retreat, No Surrender (1986)
This is a bit of a wildcard entry since it dates back to before Van Damme made the big time with Bloodsport. Van Damme isn’t actually the star of this movie, it’s actually Kurt McKinney, but Van Damme plays the main fighter of the baddies. It’s astonishing how Kurt McKinney didn’t go on to make more similar movies, since he comfortably holds his own, not being overshadowed by Van Damme in his performance here. They complement each other very well as rivals towards the end of the movie. A strong ending to a great motivational movie with great soundtracks and training scenes and fight scenes throughout. Very simple plot, with a lot of slower patches, but it frequently generates a good atmosphere with the help of strong music, screenplay and supporting cast members.
5: The Order (2001)
This is one of Van Damme’s busier movies, with decent script ideas and decent screenplay. It’s more fun than usual, as Van Damme plays a professional thief & smuggler of valuable artefacts. We see him travel the world, as his father also gets kidnapped, the police get involved, and Van Damme infiltrates a secret society. Strong supporting cast members, including the lead female, the bad guys and others.
6: Hard Target (1993)
Another busy movie, with some awesome scenes early on where the music clicks perfectly to set the mood. Strong cast members all round, including the lead female, the bad guys and others. This movie was the American debut of director John Woo.
7: Universal Solider (1992)
8: Inferno (1999)
9: Assassination Games (2011)
10: Lionheart (1990)
Van Damme’s entire filmography of English action hero movies
This is a complete list of Van Damme’s proper action hero movies made in the English language.
Not including foreign language movies (like Jian Bing Man, 2015), boring dramas (like JCVD, 2008), short cameo appearances (eg, Last Action Hero, 1993) or silly minor roles, voice-only roles, TV shows (like Jean-Claude Van Johnson, 2016 – a funny self-parody series), video game clips, music video appearances, etc. Just proper Van Damme action movies including the more serious and the more comedic.
Key:
- Red, Pink & Grey represent those Van Damme movies that have been properly reviewed on this site already.
- Red & Pink represent those which have made the cut into our Top 10 Van Damme movies of all time (out of those properly reviewed so far).
- Red represents those whose place on our 10 top list is very secure and unlikely to be withdrawn even after we’ve finished properly viewing all of Van Damme’s movies.
Now then, here’s the full list of all the proper Van Damme action hero movies ever made in the English language:
- Darkness of Man (2024)
- The Last Mercenary (2021)
- We Die Young (2019)
- Lukas (2018)
- Black Water (2018)
- Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)
- Kill’em All (2017)
- Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)
- Pound of Flesh (2015)
- Swelter (2014)
- Enemies Closer (2013)
- Welcome to the Jungle (2013)
- 6 Bullets (2012)
- Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)
- The Expendables 2 (2012)
- Dragon Eyes (2012)
- Assassination Games (2011)
- Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
- The Shepherd (2008)
- Until Death (2007)
- The Hard Corps (2006)
- Second in Command (2006)
- Wake of Death (2004)
- In Hell (2003)
- Derailed (2002)
- The Order (2001)
- Replicant (2001)
- Inferno (1999)
- Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)
- Legionnaire (1998)
- Knock Off (1998)
- Double Team (1997)
- Maximum Risk (1996)
- The Quest (1996)
- Sudden Death (1995)
- Street Fighter (1994)
- Timecop (1994)
- Hard Target (1993)
- Nowhere to Run (1993)
- Universal Soldier (1992)
- Double Impact (1991)
- Death Warrant (1990)
- Lionheart aka AWOL: Absent Without Leave (1990)
- Kickboxer (1989)
- Cyborg (1989)
- Black Eagle (1988)
- Bloodsport (1988)
- No Retreat, No Surrender (1985)