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| Released: |
1996 |
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| Genre: |
ACTION
ADVENTURE
WORST
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| Origin: |
US |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
94 |
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ANTI Reviews
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| | Jean-Claude Van Damme joins ranks with other self-directed actors: Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles and Oscar-winning filmmakers Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty. Of course, Emilio Estevez did it a couple times, too. | | | | (Mike Clark, USA Today) | | If you, too, are under the impression movies are made by smart, talented but occasionally misguided people, go see The Quest and have your little illusions shattered. This tale of a kidnapped clown trained as a world-class fighter, who then travels to the non-violent country of Tibet to compete in some mysterious, weird fighting match against the stereotypical macho guys of the world, is so stupid that the word ‘bad’ only begins to claw at the margins of what this movie is and shall forever be. Anyone considering viewing The Quest should keep in mind it is unsuitable for entertainment purposes and should only be used as a form of punishment. | | | | (Stacey Richter, Tucson Weekly) | | Jean Claude Van Damme's directorial debut, and, judging by its somnolent pace and inability to generate any energy, it may also be his last venture behind the camera. While no one could reasonably expect this to be a ‘good’ film in the traditional sense of the term, it comes as a surprise that The Quest is actually boring - even the fight scenes lack panache. The level of high-tension violence expected from a Van Damme film is blunted by poor direction, uninspired camera work, and a bland villain. During the climactic battle, it's difficult to stifle a yawn. | | | | (James Berardinelli, Reelviews) | | In his directing debut, the Muscles From Brussels jumps in over his head, flailing around in a period adventure that's just as clunky as it is convoluted. | | | | (Michael Sauter, Entertainment Weekly) | | A nonsensical movie with nothing on its mind but slo-mo body blows... Why we should care about any of this is difficult to fathom... As for Van Damme's new career as director, what's that phrase? Don't quit your day job. | | | | (Ken Korman, Video Magazine) | | It was famously noted of Fred Astaire after his first screen test: 'Can't act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." At mid-career, one can say with greater confidence of Jean-Claude Van Damme: 'Can't act. Can't direct. Slighlty bland. Can fight a little." [The Quest ] is inferior even by his own standards. | | | | (Philip French, Observer) | | It's supposed to be set in the 1920s, but since the reporter heroine is shown snapping away with what appears to be a single-lens reflex camera, one assumes that historical accuracy didn't come too far up the film-makers' list of priorities. | | | | (Anne Billson, Sunday Telegraph) | | It's the sort of movie that makes you wish you'd been there at the script conference: 'So Jean-Claude plays this stilt-walking, kick-boxing Pierrot who looks after a gang of street urchins in 1920s New York. Okay? On the run from the Mafia, he ends up on a boat full of Lascars, and just as they're about to razor his triceps, up sails Roger Moore cooing 'The name's Dobbs, Edgar Dobbs." Well, it made the bosses at Universal reach straight for their cheque-books. The rest of the narrative inmvolves something called the Ghan-Gheng an international; boxing tournament staged in the 'Lost City' by a bunch of Tibetan monks - invitation by scroll only. (Even the people who live here refer to it as the 'Lost City', which must make it difficult getting home from the pub of a night.) Mercifully, irony-blindness produces unintentional hilarity: the High Priest pulls balls out of a bag, declaring fixtures like 'Africa versus Scotland!' The Scottish team, of course, sport kilts and tam-o'-shanters. And somebody forgot to tell Jean-Claude that Africa isn't a country. | | | | (Matthew Sweet, Independent on Sunday) | | Never ludicrous enough to generate affection. | | | | (Geoff Brown, Times) |
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, Roger Moore 
