I found myself on a bit of a Jean-Caude Van Damme kick on Tuesday morning what with all I had to blurt out as a guest writer over at The Action Elite. Alas, far be it for me to fall asleep on this latest bit anymore than I already have with the Belgian action star’s latest home entertainment outing courtesy of MVD Rewind Collection with Sheldon Lettich’s 1991 hit, Double Impact.
MVD is debuting the action classic for the first time on Special Edition Blu-ray with loads of bonus features to make this one a special package for action fans. Lettich (Lionheart, Bloodsport, Max) directed from his own script the story of two very differing twin brothers, torn apart by tragedy and reunited years later to seek vengeance for their parents’ death…if they don’t kill each other first.
Double Impact, which also stars Geoffrey Lewis and Alonna Shaw, accrued up to $30 million at the box office with a gross of $56 million worldwide (adjusted for inflation). Recent years of blurbs from the actor and a plethora of fan hype even saw word of a hopeful unrelated sequel called Triple Impact which never came to pass.
MVD Rewind Collection’s Double Impact is now available at MVD Shop, and is just the latest of Collector’s Editions box sets that also list other Van Damme films in its catalogue, including Black Eagle and Lionheart. MVD Rewind Collection is the in-house production and home release banner for nostalgic titles for MVD Home Entertainment.
What could be better than Jean-Claude Van Damme (Lionheart, Universal Soldier) in an explosively entertaining action extravaganza? Two of him! There’s twice the excitement, twice the mayhem and twice the fun in this turbo-charged adventure that pushes the thrills into overdrive from co-writer and director Sheldon Lettich (Lionheart, Bloodsport, Max) and Co-Producer Michael Douglas (Romancing The Stone, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) along with co-stars Geoffrey Lewis (The Devil’s Rejects), Bolo Yeung (Bloodsport), Alonna Shaw (King Of New York) and Cory Everson (Natural Born Killers).
Van Damme leaps into the dual roles of Chad and Alex Wagner, twin brothers who were separated after their parents’ brutal murder. Years later, the two couldn’t be more different: Chad is a slick Beverly Hills fitness instructor, while Alex is a rough and tumble smuggler on the gritty streets of Hong Kong. But when fate throws them together again, Chad and Alex discover that there’s one thing they have in common: they’re both fighting machines! Determined to enact revenge on their parents’ killers, the martial-arts experts kick, chop and shoot all the way to an electrifying final showdown aboard a gargantuan freighter in Hong Kong harbor.
The Blu-Ray is produced by MVD’s Eric D. Wilkinson which includes bonus materials such as a feature length retrospective documentary about the making of the film from award-winning writer/producer Richard Schenkman (The Man From Earth), brand new interviews with Van Damme and Sheldon Lettich, producer Ashok Amritraj, co-star Cory Everson-Donia, co-star and fight coordinator Peter Malota and “Chad” and “Alex” photo doubles Jeff Rector and Jerry Rector.
The disc also features nearly an hour of never before seen deleted and extended scenes including with a newly unearthed alternate ending. Also featured are “Double Impact: Anatomy of a Scene” with Director Sheldon Lettich highlighting how one of the films biggest action set pieces was constructed. Along with this new material the disc also includes rarely seen 1991 behind the scenes featurettes, trailers, cast and crew interviews and more, cultivating what is the definitive release of this classic action film.
“This special edition of Double Impact is another unbelievable effort from boutique label MVD Rewind Collection, whose releases of Van Damme staples Lionheart and Black Eagle really impressed us previously.” says Under The Radar’s Austin Trunick. “This release blows those two out of the water, with several hours’ worth of new and previously-unavailable bonus features.”
“I couldn’t be happier about the final product,” explains Eric D. Wilkinson, who oversees all of MVD’s collector’s brands including MVD Marquee Collection, MVD Classics and MVD Rewind Collection and produces each individual release. “Bringing back these classic movies in definitive collector’s editions has been a labor of love for me. I especially love working on Jean-Claude Van Damme’s films and even more so with director Sheldon Lettich who has been especially supportive. Sheldon and Jean-Claude are a great team and I hope we can get more of their films to release in the future.”
“With Lionheart, MVD created what I consider to be the definitive edition of one of my most popular movies.” says Lettich. “I’m excited to have worked with them again on a brand new special edition of Double Impact, which I’m sure will not only please long-time fans of the film, but also introduce it to a whole new generation. MVD’s release of the film is the best it’s ever looked on disc, in my opinion.”
