Knock Off (1998)

Action star Jean Claude Van Damme plays a fashion designer who must join forces with a C.I.A. agent to combat terrorism.

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writer:

Steven E. de Souza

Stars:

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	Marcus Ray
Rob Schneider	...	Tommy Hendricks
Lela Rochon	...	Karen Lee
Paul Sorvino	...	Harry Johanson
Carman Lee	...	Detective Ling Ho
Wyman Wong	...	Eddie Wang
Glen Chin	...	Skinny
Michael Wong	...	Han (as Michael Fitzegerald Wong)
Moses Chan	...	Officer Fong
Lynne Langdon	...	V-Six Secretary
Ray Nicholas	...	Karl (as Raymond Leslie Nicholas)
Jeff Wolfe	...	Skaar (as Jeff Joseph Wolfe)
Michael Miller	...	Tickler
Steve Brettingham	...	Hawkeye
Mark Houghton	...	Bear

Storyline

A Hong Kong fashion designer (Jean Claude Van Damme, if you can believe that billing) who had previously been involved in knock offs of major label merchandise, such as "Pumma" running shoes, attempts to go straight with the help of his new partner (Rob Schneider), who is secretly an undercover CIA agent involved in an investigation of the black market. Their main product, jeans, is involved in the knock offs, which brings a representative (Lela Rochon) of the American company to investigate. Paul Sorvino also appears as the head of the CIA operation in Hong Kong. However, just as Schneider is not as he initially seems, everyone in the film switches roles by film's end.

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong | cia | undercover | market | van | 

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Taglines:

There is no substitute.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Certificate:

16

Details

Official Sites:

Sony

Country:

Aruba Hong Kong USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kontraband

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,516,231 (USA) (4 September 1998)

Gross:

$10,076,136 (USA) (30 October 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Knock Films A.V.V., MDP Worldwide, Film Workshop

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A lot of quality fight choreography by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung was cut from the films final release. This included the drastic shortening of both Jeff Wolfe and Michael Miller's fights against Jean-Claude Van Damme in the finale. In the UK DVD Making Of, a glimpse of Jeff Wolfe's extended fight can be seen.

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Goofs

At the beginning, the dead guy that flew out of the boat,uses his own hand to push himself over as he is being kicked to turn over.

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Quotes

Tommy Hendricks: You're the king of knock offs!
Marcus Ray: I was. But you're still a fake.

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Connections

Featured in Dans la peau de Jean-Claude Van Damme (2003)

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Soundtracks

Crazy Mood
Words and Music by Caroly Larson and Gabe Lee
Copyright SOCAN 1997
Produced by Stephen Traub

User Reviews

Needs to be taken in context to be appreciated

Tsui Hark's career took a serious down turn when he decided to try his chances in Hollywood. To be fair though, this seems to be true of pretty much everybody that decides to try a career in Hollywood. Tsui got off to a bad start when he was teamed up with Jean Claude Van Damme (an indignity every HK director seems to have to suffer on arrival in the US) to make the movie DOUBLE TEAM. I haven't seen DT, but it seems to be universally despised. However, so is KNOCK OFF for the most part, which I find to be very unfair as it has a lot to offer.

To properly appreciate the film, however, one has to take it in the proper context. One has to realise that Tsui Hark realised he was not going to be taken seriously in Hollywood, and would probably be consigned to cheesy action B-movies for ever if he stayed. I have no doubt he already planned to return to Hong Kong when he made KNOCK OFF, and decided to have a little fun first - and channel a lot of Hollywood money into Hong Kong hands at the same time. Keeping this in mind whilst watching the film reveals a whole level to it that I suspect most viewers do not appreciate.

It's clear that the script for the movie is rather absurd, but quite cleverly so. The concept of the Russians trying to take over the world by fitting miniature bombs in knock off children's toys is not one that was ever meant to be taken very seriously. Having the Russians as the main villlains is a quaintly out-dated set up, but the real interest is in the backdrop, where Tsui shows a little love for the people of Hong Kong and worries about the hand over to China in 1997.

He also decides to have a little fun at the expense of Van Damme, who is given a rather ridiculous role that makes fun of his usual image (perhaps this is why Van Damme fans don't like the movie? Though VD himself seems quite a willing participant in the fun-poking).

Rob Schneider is quite amusing but dangerously annoying as the comedy side kick, whilst Lela Rochon is particularly attractive as the primary glamour interest (who also kicks no small amount of ass). Few woman sharing a movie with Carmen Lee could come away looking good, but she manages it. The rest of the cast are an assortment of anonymous alleged russians and CIA agents, and some familiar Hong Kong faces round out most of the rest of the cast.

Tsui Hark handles the script tightly, sticking close to its B-movie heart but using it to set up some fun and playful scenes. It should all be taken a little tongue in cheek - those that have seen Tsui Hark's better works should appreciate that straight away.

As well as fun with the script and with JCVD, Tsui Hark also decides to have a *lot* of fun with his camera. Hyperkinetic camera work has always been his trademark, and here he decides to hold nothing back. There are some amazingly sophisticated and inventive shots and movements, giving the film a unique visual style (that Tsui revisited and expanded on when he returned to Hong Kong and made TIME AND TIME). It is for the visionary camerawork that the movie should really be seen.

There's also some pretty good action though, well above the average for Jean Claude Van Damme - thanks to Sammo Hung and Yuen Bun's involvement as the 2nd unit crew, no doubt. JCVD is usually something of a one-trick pony, and has barely a 10th of the physical agility and skill of his Asian contemporaries. The action directors manage to use him well here though, and the camerawork makes him look far better than he's ever done before.

It's a sad fact that most of the people that watch KNOCK OFF will probably be Jean Claude Van Damme fans, because to be honest anybody that thinks JCVD is a good martial artist probably doesn't have the experience to appreciate a Tsui Hark film. On the other hand, many Tsui Hark fans will avoid KNOCK OFF because of the presence of Jean Claude Van Damme. This is a shame, as it's really more a Tsui Hark film than a Van Damme film.

Whilst it may be Van Damme's best movie, few would dream of arguing that it's Tsui Hark's best, despite his inventiveness being in pretty good shape. It's still broadly bound by the limits of a Hollywood action movie, though, and no match for works like ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA or THE BLADE. It would be nice to imagine that his time in Hollywood would lead to more Americans appreciating his groundbreaking Hong Kong movies, but I doubt that it has.

Still, the movie is recommended for Tsui Hark fans. Not his best, but delivers plenty of entertainment none-the-less.