User Reviews

There were only a few issues that kept this from being a better film. We don't care about the hero. There's no exposition (not including the old man telling the story to the kids). And there's no reason why we should like him. 5 minutes of background on his character and some events that make us cheer for him would be helpful. Pat Morita and Donald Gibb in very minor throw away roles that just tries to give the film some kind of pedigree. The acting was atrocious. The music if there was any was forgettable. The love scene didn't work. The villain was not as developed as he should have been. It's OK to have a woman in the kumite, but she would have to be the greatest technical fighter in the world to compensate for the huge disadvantage of the overpowering strength of the men. And she wasn't that skilled. Still an enjoyable film for Bloodsport fans. But it could have been better.

There are some movies that you actually are supposed to hate. Kind of like a dish that isn't good for you or doing a small bit of gambling, you know you aren't supposed to enjoy it because it's wrong. But hey, we all have vices, right? Bloodsport 2 is one of those movies for me.

The premise of the movie is pretty simple. An arrogant thief named Alex Cardo, played by Daniel Bernhardt, gets caught by the police after being setup by his partner. It turns out that Cardo is already a good martial artist, but when he goes to jail, he meets a person with even "stronger kung fu", named Sun (James Hong). The rest is pretty straight forward from there. A reformed criminal seeks redemption, a student learns the Ultimate Technique from his master. Said reformed jailbird/student enters to the Ultimate Death Match tournament to honor his master and gain back his honor. Along the way, we get a lot of new faces (and some old ones as well if you've seen the first movie), a ton of fights, some big bad evil former student, and some pathetic facsimile of a romance happen.

Probably the strongest point of this film is the fight choreography and action sequences. I actually believe that when they were brainstorming this film, they decided to make a tournament fighter featuring different styles of martial arts. But they needed something to try and ensure some modicum of notoriety, so they tied it into the languishing franchise of "Bloodsport" (thanks for Dux getting tacitly outed as a fraud), picked up the services of Pat Murita, and called it good.

But back to the point, you see a ton of different styles in this film and nearly all the fights are very well done. Bernhardt does a reasonable job as a Van Damme-clone (despite being his first film) and special mention go to Ron Hall and Ong Soo Han for their roles in this film as well. Gibb reprises his role as Ray Jackson as well, but it's more for comedic effect. That said, he does a fine job hamming it up.

Otherwise, there isn't anything wrong with the technical aspects of production. The story has a ton of clichés, some of the dialogue is downright awful ("You are a true warrior, Alex" is one of the single most out of place lines of all time. It's the Bloodrayne sex scene of dialogue, but without Loken's umm... assets). The romance sub-plot is outright horrible and seemed like it was forced in as an afterthought for the purposes of trying to mirror the success of the original film as much as possible. The musical score isn't anything fantastic, but they at least made the pieces "fit" as best as possible and a few of the tunes are catchy. Some of the segments of the film are legitimately funny (as intended) and provide a welcome relief from the boring secondary plot elements.

On the whole, there isn't much to the film other than the fight sequences. It does take some time to get to what we all want to see. It's worth the wait (or just the use of the fast forward feature on your DVD or other methods of delivery). If you enjoyed the first film, are a fan of tournament fighting movies, or are a fan of Bernhardt or Donald Gibb, you'll enjoy it. Otherwise, you might be best passing on this.

I just finished watching this movie right now, I've seen it a flew times now, and I like it, its a good martial arts movie, al thogh...it still dosnt come close to the first Bloodsport, which is one of my favorite films of all time. its a classic.....you should see this movie if you like movies like this......but, I gotta say, the guy who plays Alex is the best Van damme rip off I have ever seen!....I think they should make a new bloodsport , and call it, Bloodsport 5: the return of Frank Dux! lol, and have Van Damme fight this guy that trys to imitate him in these movies! That would be funny!

Sequels are usually bad... Indeed, but this one... still passable. Of course, this film does not hold the good old magic and atmosphere of the 80s and it doesn't have Van Damme or Bolo Yeung, well you can't have it all. 90s were not that bad for this one. Daniel Bernhardt was not a bad replacement for Van Damme, but the problem is that he is constantly copying him! Especially in face expressions! But, OK, we are not here to compare these two guys, yes I know Van Damme is a real life champion and fighter, while Daniel is a model, but OK his fighting style and skills are good, he is good. Now, for the main stuff, this Kumite tournament was good! I like the fights, there is some karate, kung fu, judo, Brazilian jujitsu, tae kwon do... fine choreography... other things that are good are special appearances by Pat Morita and James Hong... the leading lady Lori Lynn Dickerson, very lovely, and to mention Philip Tan, well, at least we have Donald Gibb again as Ray "Tiny", as a main guard on kumite and promoter, still in his own comic relief... but he was used to look more like the first film. The story is rather different that from the first film, it is a classic low budget marital art movie. Alex Cardo (Bernhardt) get imprisoned after trying to steal a valuable sword from Pat Morita. During his time in prison, he learned so called "Iron Fist" from master Sun (James Hong). And after that he enters the Kumite tournament where he faces a fighter, former prison guard Demon, here played by Ong Soo Han, the guy's cube hair and acting makes his character look laughable, trying to be new Bolo Yeung aka Chong Li... but he still looks tough... OK, I say watch this film, but only if you are a fan of the franchise and martial arts fan.

Daniel Bernhardt stars as Alex Cardo, a thief who learns how to fight after he is sent to prison, seems he is in prison due to him trying to steal a sacred sword, however now trained in the arts of martial, he sets up to redeem himself in the kumite. Donald Gibb shows up to reprise his role, even though he plays a different character. Bloodsport II opens like an Indianna Jones movie with Bernhardt whipping some asses and trying to make off with the sword, however it isn't until the prison sequence where we get the endless training and ponderous Asian philosophy, to then we get the endless stream of fight sequences. These fight sequences are pretty good but due to the lack of any interest in the characters, the fancy footwork is the only saving grace of this exhausted sequel. Still it's an alright movie for martial arts fan though.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

This is a film with more of the same, the story seems to be used for many other films of this kind. The fighting scenes are not bad, on a scale from 1 to 10, I rate it a 5.

Seven years after the release of cult martial arts classic Bloodsport, a sequel is shown to the public called Bloodsport 2. Is it any good?

After Cannon folded up, the rights to the I. P. went to an obscure company. This unknown money starved business entity naturally wanted to make the most money out of their acquisition. To make the most return on investment, they decided to play it safe. This means that the sequel should be as close to the original as much as possible. Not in terms of quality or spirit of the original but the most shallow elements of the original should be adopted. The main reason for casting Daniel Bernhardt for the lead role is because he was the winner in a Jean Claude Van Damme look alike contest. When you think about it, he does resemble Van Damme, especially in that scene when he is shown kissing the concrete. But continuing the Bloodsport saga with a character resembling Van Damme's previous portrayal is weak. It only means this new "creative" team lack original ideas, creativity and imagination. Contrast this to what Albert Pyun did to the continuity of the Kickboxer franchise. When Van Damme refused to continue as Kurt Sloan because a bigger payday awaits him if he signs the contract for Universal Soldier, it was up to Pyun to come up with a solution. He decides to kill off Kurt's character and start with a new protagonist, David Sloan. This clever move gave the opportunity to make more sequels such as the somewhat passable Kickboxer 2 and the fun Enter The Dragon pastiche Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (Kickboxer 3 doesn't belong here as it's a certified dud. Don't even mention the Marc Dacascos starrer Kickboxer 5 which is awful, horrible garbage). Kickboxer in the hands of director Pyun, deliberately distanced itself from the Kurt Sloan character as David is far from Kurt's personality or even look. Sasha Mitchell doesn't resemble Van Damme (the guy's kind of skinny while Jean Claude is buffed) and it's better that way and good for the continuity of the story.

But that's not what they did to the Bloodsport 2 script. If they really wanted a Van Damme look alike, they could've just hired Olivier Gruner as he also has a passing likeness to the Belgian as well as the accent to go with it. Though about the script, I don't know why they didn't get Sheldon Lettich on board to write the screenplay but the most obvious explanation is they don't want to spend too much money on a script writer. That's why they ended up with a lousy script. The story and the way it's presented is totally different from the original. In the first movie, most of the backstory is narrated through flashbacks by the protagonist. In the sequel, the exposition scenes are told through a tale recounted by the protagonist's sensei. To be honest, this intro scene is kinda cheesy and is totally not in the spirit of the original. In the original film, the flashback was pretty brisk in pace, in trying to cram as much backstory info as much as possible and it still felt fast paced and fresh, especially in the memorable training montage. In this film though, the first act felt like a total drag and sluggish. I really wanted the story to hurry up and get to the kumite already.

The movie itself feels and looks like a C minus version of the original. Donald Gibb returns but plays a different character (which is kind of pointless, to be honest). The writer of the script really did a major disservice to the fans by not being faithful to the original. Remember that in the original, the fighters would be welcomed by two "receptionists" dressed in formal oriental costumes. This is somehow duplicated for this film but the aura of oriental mystique and mystery is gone. The kumite receptionist is kind of bored and indifferent and he actually holds a written list. One wonders if it is a list of the fighters or maybe a list for a game of mahjong or maybe a list of people who are indebted to the dude.

The fighting area itself looks shabby and far from the elegance of the original venue of combat in the first movie. The score board with the names of the fighters is also missing which should have been a requirement. The film is merely a faceless tournament film like Bloodfist without the score board. Even the Filipino comedy film Smith And Wesson which parodied the original, were able to come up with a somewhat working replica of the score board (The score board is also in the David Bradley starrer American Samurai).

There's one sequence here which the director seem to get right and this is the interlude before the final fight. The scene involves a guy with a gun and that asian actor who played the former owner of the Bonsai club in Showdown In Little Tokyo. This sequence makes one wonder if somebody else directed this specific scene. The scene felt like it was directed by Mark L. Lester (one of the best action film directors).

The fighting in Bloodsport 2 is somehow okay but a bit on the mediocre side. The new stable of fighters aren't as memorable as the combatants from the original. In the first movie, the fighters each have distinct fighting styles and personalities. In the sequel, the fighters don't really stand out and are less visually appealing. There's even a female fighter but she's no Cindy Rothrock or Cynthia Luster. Compare this to the fighters in the original film: Paco, Suan Paredes, Chong Li, etc. The final boss fighter isn't as threatening or as developed a character as Chong Li. He also has a silly moniker ("Demon", duh). He is actually one dimensional and isn't scary or intimidating, at least not in the same way that Bolo Yeung's character was in the original. The other fighters are also kinda hilarious. There's a throwback character from the original, the monkey style fighter, but this time, he is of Chinese nationality. And the sound editor actually put monkey sounds over the guy. Like wtf. Maybe the filmmakers were afraid the audience would not get it so they had to add the monkey sounds. Totally bonkers.

Not only is the film plagued by uninspired characters, the music is also lame. Unlike the glorious score by Paul Hertzog, the music here doesn't do anything. The music in the original does a great job in accentuating the action but not in this film where It is just forgettable.

But the biggest offense of the film is in literally ripping off the original's third act. It plagiarizes the sequence where Chong Li kills his opponent and where all the people in the venue stood up to mourn the departed fighter. Demon also walks up to Cardo and says something like what Chong Li did in the original. This really takes the cake because with the right lead actor, writer, production company and director, the sequel had so much potential, only to be squandered by this debacle of a movie. It didn't have to rip off the original if the filmmakers behind it had any ounce of imagination.

Finally, we get to the leading man, Daniel Bernhardt. The dude looks good but it doesn't look like he should be in this kind of role. He should be in a soap opera, not a beat 'em up movie. There's just something missing in the guy's portrayal; some much needed grittiness is sorely lacking. I would have preferred Don "The Dragon" Wilson or David Bradley to be in the lead role instead because they do have that certain spunk which a lot of the eighties and nineties action stars possess in abundance. And quiet frankly, there's not enough fireworks or intensity in Bernhardt's performance, so to speak. He simply aped and copied Van Damme's moves from the original and didn't have any unique or signature moves of his own. He should have stayed in modeling or worked as a male prostitute (just kidding).

In hindsight, there were several missed opportunities with this sequel. First is the chance to potentially start a new tale about the kumite with a new protagonist and somehow connect this sequel with the original by including a few of the supporting characters from the previous film (the female reporter for example). Second, the fights should have been better executed with a more inspired choreography.

To conclude, Bloodsport 2 is simply a shameless cash grab and a complete farce. It is one of the worst direct to video garbage that came out in the mid nineties.

Alex, notorious street fighter and thief, meets the kung fu master Sun in prison, who teaches him the deadliest of all martial arts disciplines: "the iron hand". However, after his release, Alex has to fight in "Kumitte" - brutal full-contact fights without rules. Alex quickly realizes that there is much more at stake. He has to fight for his life...

I didn't expect this to be better than Bloodsport, it's hard to top that 1988 classic, however this sequel isn't too bad. It's watchable at least for the kumite and there's plenty of matches featuring an array of different styles. Donald Gibbs reprises his role as Jackson. Daniel Bernhardt, who resembles Van Damme and Sean Connery, does well as the hero. He fights well, though he lacks Van Damme's unique Belgian charm. The main villain, however, is bland and not as imposing as Bolo Yeung. The bits between the fights are so-so and isn't as interesting. Overall, a passable effort.

After watching "Bloodsport" and enjoying that movie to the fullest, I just had to watch the sequels too even though van Damme has nothing to do with them. Instead, Swiss Daniel Bernhardt takes the role of our fighting hero. In my opinion, he makes a really good replacement for van Damme. The fight scenes are really great in this movie too, and there are lots of it to make every martial arts fan out there satisfied. The villain in this movie, 'Demon', is unfortunately not nearly as interesting as Bolo Yeung's 'Chong-Li' was in the first. But that's a minor detail. But seriously, this "Iron-hand"-stuff should have been removed from the script. It was just too ridiculous in a movie that tries to be a bit realistic. On the upside: It was really cool to see that Donald Gibb returned as 'Jackson'.

Obviously, you will not like this movie if you did not like 1988's Bloodsport (though there ARE some cases where the sequel is better than the original). This review is thus addressed to those who liked Bloodsport and are wondering whether they should bother to watch Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite. My answer would be yes.

Sure, Jean-Claude Van Damme isn't here (Donald Gibb serves as the link between the two movies), but Daniel Bernhardt, as petty thief Alex Cardo who discovers the meaning of honor, makes for a likable, charismatic lead, who also bears somewhat of a resemblance with Jean-Claude.

Also interesting is the narration, told in flash-back by Alex Cardo's trainer, Master Sun (played by James Hong) to a throng of young disciples. In these moments in particular, Bloodsport II shows that it is completely aware of what kind of movie it is, that it does not aspire to be anything more, and even pokes fun at itself (see the excellent ending, for example).

In short, Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite is not as awesome as it's predecessor, but it does what it aspires to do: it gets the job done. The cinematography isn't as good here as the first time, making the fights less impressive, but they're good enough. The story and the fact that the movie changes location (from Hong Kong to Thailand), contribute to not make it a rehash of the original. The actors, from Daniel Bernhardt to Donald Gibb, passing by James Hong and Pat Morita, are just right. And just like in the first one, you may know exactly how it's going to end, but it's still a joy to watch.

I can say this Bloodsport is as good as the first one but this has better fighting scenes. This has better fighting than 1 and 3. I haven't seen the fourth one though. Well all I can say is it's very good. Watch this movie because in my view it's worth watching.

No pun intended - I don't know if the honor code and the fighting code even matters to you. It was quite the paper thin string that held the first movie together. Now I can't really say if this is supposed to play in the same universe as the first one. But you do get Jackson back (D. Glib) ... which I guess is a nice touch.

What I do agree with others: the fight scenes are at least as good as the first one. Sometimes probably even better. The main actor (from Swiss) is really good - he is a stunt coordinator or became one if I got it right. So he knows his stuff. And you also get two other greats in this: Pat Morata (Karate Kid/Miyagi) and James Wong - nice touch to say the least.

The story is paper thin - it even copies certain beats (like the last opponent of our main bad guy before he takes on our hero ... and the reaction to it. But even in that moment you can tell what the biggest flaw of the movie is: it does not have a good enough villain ... and by good enough I mean bad enough of course (yes my puns, you know you love them).

And all told like a fairy tale of sorts ... why not? Maybe a cautionary tale even? Who knows ... who cares?

As a kid in the early 90s super duper, as someone with a developed brain please stop now for the love of god

How can people still use 100lb 5 ft tall men as the best fighters representing their nations...

The fight scenes are trash, the plot is trash, the actors... at least I recognized the big american fellow. It's been released in 1996, they had 4 years of cage fights of early ufc. The movie makers could learn something from that but no. This should never been filmed.

This is basically a realistic documentary on the totally real Kumite that totally happened in real life! wow! basically its like Mortal Kombat but without the costumes...

Actors: Although it doesn't have the classic fued between Van Damn and Bolo Yeung, it does have Donald Gibb. The new guy Daniel Bernhardt does a good job.

Fight Scenes: The fights are well done and the actors are athletic.

Music: Sounds somewhere in between Mortal Kombat and salsa dancing music.

Philosophy: To own something one must earn it, not steal it...or maybe both?

Conclusive Thoughts: The characters are not as interesting, one guy had clown style makeup on while fighting the first female warrior allowed in the tournament. The fight scenes with the generic fighters combined with the Mortal Kombat Salsa music worked well together. A backstory for some of the tournament fighters would make it more interesting and would add some plot depth.

I have now seen the 4 bloodsport films and this is the best followed by the first then the third and finally the fourth. This has a reasonably decent story and the martial arts scenes are some of the best around. For the record Bloodsport 4: The Final Chapter is quite bad. The fight scenes and story are ridiculous, but Bloodsport 2 has to be recommended to any action movies fan.

This movie begins with some kids running into a house and starts listening to an old man. The old man says that there was a man who had both good and bad inside him. The man's name was Alex and was a simple thief and a good fighter. Alex arrives at a house and walks into a big house witch is owned by an old man. He was the teacher in "Karate Kid" to you who didn't know that. Anyway he is looking for some old sword witch is a special sword. Alex tries to steal the sword and guards notices him and attacks him. Alex manages to get away with the sword. The next day he meets the girl from the party yesterday and a friend. After a while the police comes and takes Alex away. Alex arrives at a prison and gets surprised. There's a lot of people there and already on the first day Alex starts to hit them. He meets the old man from the beginning and says that he can take care of himself. A few seconds later he gets punished really hard. The old man comes to his rescue. The next day prisoners starts to hit Alex again. After a time with some hitting and kicking in the prison the old man tells him about some powerful skill. The "Iron Hand". The Iron Hand is a way to protect oneself. After a time Alex gets released from the prison. Alex promises the old man that he would win the special sword on the competition. And now Alex adventure starts really. There is only one problem now. To get the invitation. You have to have an invitation to get in the competition, and you have to earn it.

I won't tell anymore because i think i have told pretty much about the movie right now.

The bad thing about the movie is that it's so boring in the beginning and not interesting at all. The good thing is the scenes with hitting and punching. There's a lot of fighters in the competition. Alex meets many friends there. For example he meets Ray who was in the first movie.

The music isn't so good though. The first movie had much better music and story. Good actors too, like Jean-Claude. This movie would get 6,4 out of 10. The first movie would get 9,9 out of 10.

this sequel (that's really not a sequel)is OK,i guess.in my opinion it starts out stupid,with a ridiculous plot line.but ii does get better as it goes along. i really liked all the different fighting techniques,and the fights overall were at least as good as the 1st one.i thought the music they chose sucked,in a real big way.the hero of the movie starts out unlikable but becomes likable as the movie progresses.this movie is not a continuation of the 1st one.only one character returns,in a minor role.the movie in some ways,is a carbon copy of the original,especially once the fighting starts.i found the ending a bot too abrupt and anti climatic,but that's just me.for me "Bloodsport 2" is a bit better than average,so i give it a 6/10

Bloodsport was absolutely brilliant. The fight scenes were coordinated very well. If you've seen the first Bloodsport you must see this one. The story was even good. I have seen the first three Bloodsport's and this one is definitely the best. What can I say? I loved it.

The first 30 minutes of "Bloodsport II" are just plain ridiculous: a sort of "Karate Kid (or is it Karate Grownup?) In Prison", with a cut-rate Olivier Gruner (who is, in turn, a cut-rate Van Damme!) as the student and a cut-rate Miyagi as his teacher (actually, the real Miyagi, Pat Morita, is also in the cast!). Daniel Bernhardt shows little screen presence here, but it's his acting debut, so I guess he can be forgiven. But when the movie starts concentrating on the fighting it becomes quite good, with enough variety of styles among the different tournament participants to keep things interesting (there are even some submission victories, somewhat rare for this type of movie). Fighting female fans should note the presence of Lisa McCullough as the only woman fighter on board; she definitely knows her stuff. (**1/2)

Hello again fight fans and get ready for another dose of DANIEL MANIA!!!

Well besides the first movie, this was the best tournament movie ever. There were plenty of fights, more than the first one, and the story was great not to mention the villian. Oong Soo Han was the absolute best Bloodsport villian ever. He was ruthless and nearly unstoppable. This movie also had more variety in it's combatants, not to mention the great choreography. This movie also had something no other tournament movie ever had and that was the fact that nothing interfered with the final battle. In most movies like this true fans are often let down when the movie has gone well and the director decides to confict some other event in the movie with the final battle. Trust me many great tournament movies have often been ruined by such stupid ideas. But thank god that the director of this movie had more sense than many others who would have ruined this masterpiece. I mean the final battle in this film went as smooth as a Rocky fight!! So all in all I give this a 10/10 and believe me it definitely earned every point!!!

• Be sure to keep your eyes open for my next DANIEL MANIA comment of the day!!!!

Film Suggestions for DANIEL MANIA! tournament movies

Bloodsport, The Quest, The Quick and the Dead, Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Enter the Dragon, 8 Mile, Mortal Kombat, Bloodsport 3, Game of Death, Grappler Baki.

Well, following up on the 1988 classic "Bloodsport" movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme certainly was no small feat. And oddly enough, I actually never gotten around to watching this 1996 sequel before now in 2023. Sure, I knew about its existence, but I just never bothered to watch it as it didn't star Van Damme.

But since I had the opportunity to actually sit down and watch it here in 2023, I opted to give the movie the benefit of the doubt and actually take the time to watch it and give it a chance.

The storyline in the movie, as written by Jeff Schechter, was somewhat of a mixed bag of nuts. There were new elements to the storyline and new characters, but at the same time it was a heap of amazingly lazy writing as Jeff Schechter just cashed in on everything right from the 1988 movie. I mean, the character was a clone of Frank Dux (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) and even the main 'villain', known as Demon, was a watered-down clone of the Chong Li (played by Bolo Yeung).

It was, however, nice to see actor Donald Gibb return to reprise his role as Ray 'Tiny' Jackson. Aside from Donald Gibb, then the movie also had the likes of Pat Morita, James Hong and Philip Tan on the cast list. I have to say that Daniel Bernhardt actually carried the movie quite nicely, but it was just too much of a clone of Frank Dux to be overly interesting, even down to the mannerisms and facial expressions.

Now, if you haven't watched the 1988 "Bloodsport" movie, then the 1996 "Bloodsport 2" movie actually is a good movie. But in light of having seen the first movie several times and being a fan of it, then I have to say that directors Alan Mehrez and Philip Tan just didn't really deliver much of anything grand or new here. It was just playing it safe by riding on the success of the previous movie from 8 years earlier.

There is enough fighting and martial arts in the movie to make you forget about the copy-paste job that writer Jeff Schechter did here. And truth be told, it is the fighting that keep the movie watchable.

Despite of all of its shortcomings, then "Bloodsport 2" proved to be adequate entertainment, if you just forget about the 1988 movie "Bloodsport". My rating of "Bloodsport 2" lands on a six out of ten stars.