''Double Impact'' is a 1991 American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

Sheldon Lettich Sheldon Lettich ( ; born January 14, 1951) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme and his work in the action film genre. Early life He was born in New York City ...

, and written, produced by and starring

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the a ...

as Chad and Alex Wagner. The film marks Van Damme's third collaboration with director Sheldon Lettich (who wrote ''

Bloodsport A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities characte ...

'' and directed '' Lionheart'') and second collaboration with

Bolo Yeung Yang Sze (; born 3 July 1946), better known as Bolo Yeung, is a Hong Kong former competitive bodybuilder, martial artist and a martial arts film actor. Globally known for his performances as Bolo in ''Enter the Dragon'' (starring Bruce Lee), an ...

(the first being ''

'' in 1988). ''Double Impact'' was released in the United States on August 9, 1991.

Plot

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

during the year 1966, business partners Paul Wagner and Nigel Griffith open the

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

Tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

. Paul attends with his wife Katherine and their identical twin infant sons, Chad and Alex. After the celebration, the family is followed home by their bodyguard, Frank Avery, whom they dismiss. Once he leaves, a

Triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

hit squad follows them. A shootout ensues, in which Paul is killed. Katherine begs the Triads to spare the twins but is killed by Moon, the top henchman. Their maid is able to escape with Alex and Frank eventually saves Chad; the maid leaves Alex at a Hong Kong orphanage and Frank raises Chad in France. 25 years later in 1991, Chad and Frank are running a successful martial arts dojo in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

when Frank tells a surprised Chad about a new "business" in Hong Kong. The two go to a mahjong parlor and a woman, mistaking Chad for Alex, takes him back to Alex's room. When Alex arrives, he knocks out Chad for being with his girlfriend, Danielle Wilde. Frank tells them they are identical twin brothers and they need to join together to take down Griffith and get their part of the royalties from the tunnel, but Chad and Alex initially do not get along with each other. Alex takes them out on his boat to sell smuggled

Mercedes Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...

and cigarettes to some Chinese buyers, but the

Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

arrive and Chad dumps the cars to escape the cops faster. Back in Hong Kong, some thugs kidnap and beat up Chad (mistaking him for Alex) when he refuses to work for their leader, Raymond Zhang. Danielle, who works for Griffith, begins checking his private files for information, but she is being watched closely by Griffith's bodyguard, Kara. Alex takes Chad and Frank to an abandoned hotel on an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

to conduct their operations. With intelligence from Danielle, they attack a drug operation and blow it up. Next, they attack a club frequented by Zhang by pretending to bring him Cognac smuggled from France, which is actually just crates of bombs, although they fail to kill Zhang. Danielle continues to search for information but is caught and sexually molested by Kara. Danielle later calls the hideout revealing she has found something, but her phone is tapped by Griffith. Unable to find Alex and Frank who are out gathering firewood, Chad takes the boat to rescue Danielle by himself. However, Alex becomes paranoid and begins drinking heavily while imagining Chad and Danielle having sex. Chad brings Danielle home, but Kara follows them in a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

and discovers their hideout. When they return, Alex attacks Chad in a drunken rage before the brothers angrily part ways for the night. The next morning Chad and Alex awaken to see Triads landing on the beach and, although they kill several, Frank and Danielle are captured. They capture one Triad who reveals that Frank and Danielle have been taken to Zhang's boat at a pier. Chad and Alex board and fight their way through the ship; Chad kills Moon (who beat him when he was kidnapped earlier) and he and Alex rescue Frank and Danielle. Afterwards, the twin brothers split up: Chad pursues Griffith and Alex chases Zhang. Alex eventually kills Zhang when he falls to his death from atop a crane. Chad and Danielle are chased through a maze of shipping containers until Griffith threatens to crush Chad with a forklift holding a container. Chad jumps into the water, sneaks around into the forklift, and drops the container on Griffith, killing him. Alex, Chad, Danielle and Frank reunite after the ordeal and appear to set aside their differences.

Cast

as Alex Wagner / Chad Wagner ** Alicia Stevenson as Baby Chad Wagner ** Paul Aylett as Baby Alex Wagner *

Geoffrey Lewis Geoffrey Lewis may refer to: * Geoffrey Lewis (actor) (1935–2015), American character actor * Geoffrey Lewis (scholar) (1920–2008), British professor of Turkish * Geoffrey Lewis (philatelist), Australian philatelist * Geoffrey W. Lewis (died ...

as Frank Avery * Alonna Shaw as Danielle Wilde *

Alan Scarfe Alan John Scarfe (born 8 June 1946) is a British–Canadian actor, stage director and author. He is a former Associate Director of the Stratford Festival (1976–77) and the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool (1967–68). He won the 1985 Genie Aw ...

as Nigel Griffith *

Philip Chan Philip Chan may refer to: * Philip Chan (actor) Philip Chan Yan-kin (born 25 January 1945) is a Hong Kong actor, film director, producer, screenwriter and music composer of Taishan area origin. Career He worked as a Royal Hong Kong Police Fo ...

as Raymond Zhang *

as Moon *

Corinna Everson Corinna "Cory" Everson ( née Kneuer; born January 4, 1958) is an American female bodybuilding champion and actress. Everson won the Ms. Olympia contest six years in a row from 1984 to 1989. Education Corinna Kneuer was born in Racine, Wiscons ...

as Kara *

Peter Malota Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

as Bodyguard With Spurs * Evan Lurie as Klimax Klub Bouncer * Andy Armstrong as Paul Wagner * Sarah-Jane Varley as Katherine Wagner * Wu Fong Lung as Chinese Nanny * Eugene Choy as Mr. Chen, Private Investigator * Kwok-Kai Ng as Mr. Nguyen, Triad Boss * David Lea as Karate Student *

Julie Strain Julie Ann Strain (February 18, 1962 – January 10, 2021) was an American actress and model. She was chosen by ''Penthouse (magazine), Penthouse'' as Pet of the Month in June 1991 and Pet of the Year in 1993. Her biggest mainstream acting role was ...

as One of Chad's Students *

Shelley Michelle Shelley Michelle is an American fitness model, actress and has been called "the most famous body double in Hollywood". Work She claimed she started as a body double with an introductory scene in the 1988 comedy ''My Stepmother Is an Alien'', sub ...

as One of Chad's Students * Jennifer Stone as Klimax Klub Hostess * Rita Lau as Hostess With Frank *

John Sham John Sham Kin-Fun (born 1952) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. His English name is sometimes written as John Shum. Whilst known primarily for his comedic acting roles in Hong Kong cinema, he also spent time as a political activist. Biogra ...

as a HKPF Officer

Production

Casting

Van Damme was reportedly paid $600,000 for the movie.Wallace, David
"A Man of Action: Will Van Damme Have Schwarzenegger's Kick?"
''Los Angeles Times'', published August 20, 1991. Retrieved December 26, 2019. Wanting to breakaway from the martial arts movie genre he had become so popularly known for, he hoped playing the dual role of Chad/Alex would change his image and help him do just that. "

lex Lex or LEX may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lex'', a daily featured column in the ''Financial Times'' Games * Lex, the mascot of the word-forming puzzle video game ''Bookworm'' * Lex, the protagonist of the word-forming puzzle video ga ...

is violent and hadis not, so audiences

ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

see the contrast in my work." Prior to the film's release, he had told the ''Los Angeles Times'': "If I stay in martial arts pictures people will get tired of my films."Scott, Vernon
"Action Star Van Damme Wants to Keep Shirt On"
''Los Angeles Times'', published September 18, 1990. Retrieved December 26, 2019. Van Damme felt ''Double Impacts love scene would appeal to a wider audience.Hicks, Chris
"`DOUBLE IMPACT' OF GUNS AND SOFT-CORE `LOVE SCENE' WON'T LURE WIDE AUDIENCE"

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

, published August 14, 1991. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Seeing

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...

portray a dual role in '' Dead Ringers'' allegedly influenced Van Damme's decision.

Writing

Director Sheldon Lettich co-wrote the script with Van Damme. Inspiration was taken from

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

' ''

The Corsican Brothers ''The Corsican Brothers'' (french: Les Frères corses) is a novella by Alexandre Dumas, père, first published in 1844. It is the story of two conjoined brothers who, though separated at birth, can still feel each other's physical distress. It h ...

''; an 1844 novella about twins separated at birth, who find each other in adulthood.Polowy, Keven. "Jean-Claude Van Damme interview about 'Bloodsport,' 'Kickboxer,' 'Double Impact' and more",

Yahoo Entertainment Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manag ...

, published March 6, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Lettich later recalled the concept of Van Damme playing twins "was so successful that other producers wanted him to repeat it." (''

Timecop ''Timecop'' is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson also served as executive producer. The film is based on '' Timecop'', a story created by Richar ...

Maximum Risk ''Maximum Risk'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam in his American directorial debut, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge. The film was released in the United States on Septembe ...

Replicant A replicant is a fictional bioengineered humanoid featured in the 1982 film ''Blade Runner'' and the 2017 sequel '' Blade Runner 2049'' which is physically indistinguishable from an adult human and often possesses superhuman strength and intel ...

'') "Even though it meant a lot more work for Jean-Claude, he enjoyed the challenge of playing two distinctly different characters, showcasing a dark and a more light-hearted side in the same movie."Sathoff, Ethan
Evan Sathoff, "Badass interview: Talking Jean-Claude van Damme with LIONHEART director, Sheldon Lettich"
, www.birthmoviesdeath.com, published February 5, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.

Filming locations

Filming of the movie took place in Los Angeles, Santa Clarita (Dojo scene) and most of the scenes in Hong Kong. Most of the Hong Kong scenes were filmed at the

Lippo centre Lippo Group is an Indonesian multinational conglomerate company. The company operates internationally providing property development and management services. It was founded by Mochtar Riady. Lippo has a collective presence across Asia and Nor ...

(Nigel Griffith's headquarters), Tsing Yi Container Processing Terminal (Raymond Zhang & Triad scene) and the Star Ferry port (escape scene). The hideout used by Alex & Chad was filmed at Mong Tung Wan at the

Chi Ma Wan Chi Ma Wan () is a bay on southeastern Lantau Island, New Territories, Hong Kong. Chi Ma Wan Peninsula () is where Chi Ma Wan, as well as Cheung Sha Wan, Tai Long Wan, Yi Long Wan and Mong Tung Wan are located. The Peninsula is located withi ...

trail on

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

Music

Soundtrack

The score by Arthur Kempel was released as the ''Double Impact Original Soundtrack Recordings'' in 1993 by Silva America. The soundtrack was released on CD contained twelve tracks with a runtime of 40 minutes.

Reception

Box office

''Double Impact'' was a modest success opening at No. 2 at the US box office; grossing $7.5 million in its opening weekend. By August 20, 1991; 11 days after the initial release, this increased to $15.3 million. According to

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray began ...

, US receipts totaled $30.1 million by the end of the film's theatrical run."'Double Impact' domestic box office gross"

. Retrieved December 28, 2019.

Critical response

Initial reviews

Calling the plot "minimal" at best, Chris Hicks, of

, gave a negative review. He went on to say: "the story makes no sense and is often more laughable than exciting." Whilst adding that this "probably won't deter fans," Hicks noted "more gunplay here than in most Van Damme efforts, which may or may not be an improvement." "Van Damme's idea of a love scene is a soft-lens, soft-core moment as he and newcomer Alonna Shaw roll around nude in a paranoid fantasy sequence. So much for romance." Caryn James, of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' , said: "there is plenty of gunfire and karate kicks and explosives set off by remote control. Chad gets bomped in the head more often than Alex. There are some Van Damme-style showdowns with various villains, with whirls and tricks that seem to owe something to the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

. There are golden oldies like smashing someone in the head with a whisky bottle and kicking him in the crotch. As it turns out, two Jean-Claude Van Damme's are pretty much the same as one. Fans who like their action unadultered by story, character or acting know where to find it."James, Caryn
"Review/Film; With Double the Violence, Van Damme Plays Twins"
''

'', published August 9, 1991. Retrieved December 28, 2019. Renowned critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

awarded the film two stars, saying: "it has a budget and production values of a lesser

James Bond movie James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

." However, Ebert gave credit for the "slick product values" and "few clever lines." He went on to compare Van Damme to fellow martial artist and actor

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

; in that they "are always at the center of their plots.

his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

will hurt their careers in the long run, since martial arts movies are limited by their formulas, and the heroes are supplied with almost ritualistic plot patterns." Ebert believed both would make "splendid villains in more ambitious movies."

Ebert, Roger Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

"Double Impact movie review"
www.rogerebert.com, originally published August 9, 1991. Retrieved December 28, 2019. Despite calling the plot "elementary but serviceable", Kevin Thomas, of the ''Los Angeles Times'', gave a positive review, saying: " 'Double Impact''offers two Jean-Claude Van Dammes for the price of one, and for fans of the Belgian-born martial arts star, it delivers the goods. It's a solid, fast-moving action-adventure set largely in Hong Kong, which is dynamically photographed by Richard Kline.Thomas, Kevin
"MOVIE REVIEW : Van Damme Doubles the 'Impact'"
''Los Angeles Times'', published August 9, 1991. Retrieved December 28, 2019.

Contemporary consensus

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the review aggregator, ''Double Impact'' has an approval rating of 33% based on 21 reviews."Double Impact (1991)"
''

''. Retrieved December 8, 2022. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Cancelled sequel

Van Damme and Lettich had been discussing a potential sequel for "many years."Eoin
"Sheldon Lettich Interview"
The Action Elite, published May 21, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Whilst promoting ''

The Expendables 2 ''The Expendables 2'' is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel to ...

'' in 2012, Van Damme confirmed a sequel was in the works.Taryn, Miller. (Original Unknown
"Van Damme talks about Double Impact 2 (2012)"

Daily Motion Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg and Hearst Digital Media. It is among the earliest known platforms to support HD (720p) resolution video. ...

, published August 28, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2019. That same year, Lettich completed a treatment based on a story by Van Damme; "along with 25 pages of screenplay." ''Double Impact 2'' was envisioned by Van Damme to be more serious in tone than the original. Plans for a sequel fell through as far back as 2015. The sequel was "ambitious" and would have been expensive to produce. Lettich said "there were a lot of logistical problems. Mostly around who owned the rights." It turned out that "MGM owned the majority of the rights" and "acquiring them was not going to be cheap." Furthermore, "the studio had to be included as a co-partner with any producing entity", which allegedly made the "process even more difficult and complicated" given MGM's apparent unwillingness to financially back the sequel. In 2019, a restored 35mm film-version of ''Double Impact'' was screened at the

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

in Austin, Texas. Lettich reaffirmed the cancellation and told fans during the Q&A that "perhaps the biggest reason sequeldidn't happen was in fact due to the riginalfilm's success."Aldredge, Jourdan
"Jean-Claude Van Damme Wanted to do a 'Triple Impact' Sequel to 'Double Impact'"
Ultimate Action Movies, published June 11, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.

References

External links

* * * * {{Jean-Claude Van Damme 1991 films 1991 action films 1991 martial arts films 1990s English-language films American films about revenge American action films American martial arts films Columbia Pictures films Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Los Angeles Films about twin brothers Films directed by Sheldon Lettich Films produced by Jean-Claude Van Damme Films with screenplays by Peter Krikes Films with screenplays by Steve Meerson Films with screenplays by Jean-Claude Van Damme Triad films Twins in fiction 1990s American films 1990s Hong Kong films