Double Impact 4K Review (MVD Rewind Collection)

Double Impact is a 1991 action film co-written, produced, and directed by Sheldon Lettich (Lionheart, The Order, The Hard Corps, Perfect Target, The Last Patrol, and Only the Strong). It was co-written and produced by Jean-Claude Van Damme (The Quest, Legionnaire, The Order, Inferno, Assassination Games, 6 Bullets, We Die Young, and Pound of Flesh). It’s loosely based on novel “The Corsican Brothers” from author Alexandre Dumas. It was produced by actor Michael Douglas (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The China Syndrome, Starman, Flatliners, Face/Off, Romancing the Stone, and The Rainmaker). Director Albert Pyun was originally considered the direct this project. It had an estimated budget of $15,000,000 and it grossed $30,102,717 worldwide at the box office!!!! Alex (played by: Jean-Claude Van Damme from Kickboxer franchise, Bloodsport, Universal Soldier franchise, Hard Target, Lionheart, Timecop, Cyborg, and Street Fighter) and Chad (played by: Jean-Claude Van Damme from Black Eagle, Knock Off, Darkness of Man, Kill Em All franchise, Double Team, Nowhere to Run, The Expendables 2, and Replicant), twins separated at the death of their parents. Chad is raised by family friend Frank Avery (played by: Geoffrey Lewis from The Devil’s Rejects, The Way of the Gun, Night of the Comet, 10 to Midnight, Out of the Dark, and The Lawnmower Man) in Paris, Alex becomes a petty crook in Hong Kong. Chad rejoins his separated brother Alex to convince him that they found the killers in Hong Kong that were shady business partners from the past Raymond Zhange (played by: Philip Chan from Hard Boiled, Police Story 3: Supercop, Bloodsport, and Flaming Brothers) and Nigel Griffith (played by: Alan Scarfe from Lethal Weapon 3, Kingdom Hospital, Once a Thief, and Cathy’s Curse) plus enforcer Moon (played by: Bolo Yeung from Bloodsport, Enter the Dragon, Tiger Claws franchise, Breathing Fire, Ironheart, Bloodfight, and TC 2000) that were responsible for killing their parents that changed their lives forever. Alex becomes suspicious of Chad especially when it comes to his stunning girlfriend Danielle Wilde (played by: Alonna Shaw from King of New York, The Taking of Beverly Hills, Cyborg Cop, and Miami Vice)!!!! Double Impact is the first time that action star JCVD played dual roles, he would later revisit the concept in both Maximum Risk and Replicant. Lead actor JCVD and director Sheldon Lettich did 4 collaborations over the years, this was their 2nd best effort together after Lionheart. I’m really surprised that Lettich didn’t do more action films behind the camera. He ended up writing Bloodsport, Rambo III, and the Max franchise. Double Impact is one of the better productions that Van Damme headlined back in the day. It has an interesting concept plus multiple quality villains. Hollywood hero Jean-Claude Van Damme proves that he does have some acting skills in this. He is both Alex and Chad Wagner, they may be twins but they are barely anything alike. Chad is a nice guy that has had a privileged life and Alex is a smuggler that’s just trying to survive the game. They are forced to work together to get vengeance for their parents. JCVD even fights himself and that’s extremely entertaining especially for the very first time. Bolo Yeung is Moon, he’s the one that protects one of the main villains here. He’s the muscle and the one they have to go through to complete their dangerous mission. He has a memorable look with the eye and scar. It’s great to see another impressive brutal battle between Bolo and JCVD since Bloodsport. Their chemistry when it comes combat just works compared to most of Van Damme’s other foes during his career. The two main bad guys in Double Impact includes the talented combination of Philip Chan and Alan Scarfe. Lead actress Alonna Shaw looks amazing as Danielle Wilde. I can’t believe that she didn’t do much after this. She really stood out, top notch eye candy. Veteran character actor Geoffrey Lewis steals the show as “Uncle” Frank Avery. Lewis was always consistent, I can’t remember a bad role from him no matter what he did. He’s the type of performer that elevates everything that he’s featured in. The supporting cast includes Corinna Everson (Natural Born Killers), Julie Strain (Out for Justice), Andy Armstrong (Total Recall), Peter Malota (The Quest), Kamel Krifa (Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor), Eugene Choy (Forced Vengeance), David Lea (Tango and Cash), John Cheung (Bloodsport), Sing Chen (Ninja Terminator), Leo Lee (Big Trouble in Little China), Kwok-Kai Ng (Project A), Yuk-San Cheung (Knock Off), John Sham (The Island), and Shelley Michelle (Rising Sun). It has a great mix of action, drama, dark comedy, suspense, and crime. It has wild stunts, explosions, bullets flying, and intense showdowns. There’s loads of violence and even some gore for this 90’s action feature. There’s plenty of unintentional humor that just adds to this over the top atmosphere. Double Impact is a total blast, the dynamic between the brothers is always fun. It has a steady flow and a great pace to it so it keeps itself entertaining. I enjoy it more and more on each revisit, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from the MVD Rewind Collection! This 2160p (1.85:1) transfer with HDR10 is from a brand new 4K 16-bit restoration from the original camera negative approved by director Sheldon Lettich. I’ve owned this on almost every format possible and this is definitely the best it’s ever looked on home video. It’s massive improvement over the previous 2019 Blu Ray. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English: LPCM 2.0 tracks on the UHD. The audio is way better than expected, it sounds excellent in the highest possible quality available. Double Impact is packed with so much action, fights, and crazy violence. All of the dialogue is crisp, the revenge is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. It has the almost 53 minute “The Making of Double Impact: Part One” and the almost 59 minute “The Making of Double Impact: Part Two” 2019 retrospective documentaries directed by Richard Schenkman (Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God… Be Back by Five, Angel 4, The Man from Earth franchise, I Spit on Your Grave: Vengeance Is Mine, Jah No Dead: The Making of Rockers, We All Descend: The Making of Terminus, Lionheart: The Inside Story, The Making of The Linguini Incident, and The Making of Black Eagle). It has interviews with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sheldon Lettich, Corinna Everson, Peter Malota, Jeff Rector, Jerry Rector, and Ashok Amritraj. It’s a honest, hilarious, and inside look into the action packed production. They go over it’s origins, influences, and development. It was inspired by a novel. They chat about it’s story and what it became. Cannon didn’t want to do this originally with the action star before Bloodsport came out. Van Damme was just starting out with a few things under his belt and they thought he was poison at the time. Van Damme had to fulfill a contract. The Double Impact title came from what Van Damme called his double hit moments when they were cut together for his previous efforts. Lettich was brought in to work on the script and it lead to him getting the directing gig for it. Actress Tia Carrere almost landed Double Impact back in the day when they were casting it. They break down the actors, the concept, locations, certain scenes, action, stunts, it’s original release, double Van Damme, Michael Douglas producing, awful food while making it, and many other interesting subjects. This is one of the main reasons to pick up this home video release especially if you don’t own the previous MVD version. JCVD barely does any bonus material so this is a very rare appearance. This is a top notch detailed and informative extra, it’s worth adding to the collection just for this. It has almost 54 minutes of 23 “Deleted / Extended Scenes”. It has extended violence that was trimmed down during fights, additional character moments, and an alternate extended ending. Lots of awesome material in this but just a warning, the quality is just okay but it’s better than nothing. It has the almost 8 minute “Anatomy of a Scene” with director Sheldon Lettich. It explores a suspense and chase scene with comments from the filmmaker. It has the almost 7 minute archival “Behind the Scenes” featurette from 1991. It has a little over 8 minutes of “B Roll Selections”. It has the almost 5 minute “Film Clips”. It has a little over 6 minutes of archive “Cast and Crew Interview Clips” with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Charles Layton, and Moishe Diamant from 1991. It has an under a minute “MVD Rewind Collection Promo”. It has a variety of MVD Rewind related “Trailers” which includes Double Impact. It has a retro style slipcover, reversible artwork, and a mini poster for this 35th anniversary edition. It’s available everywhere right now including the MVDShop.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!