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Knock Off (1998) 4.4
Ratings:
4.4/10 from 8,663 users
Metascore: 37/100
Reviews: 136 user | 57 critic | 13 from Metacritic.com 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 TsuiWriter:Steven E. de Souza |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jean-Claude Van Damme | ... | ||
| Rob Schneider | ... |
Tommy Hendricks
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| Lela Rochon | ... |
Karen Lee
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| Paul Sorvino | ... |
Harry Johanson
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Carman Lee | ... |
Detective Ling Ho
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Wyman Wong | ... |
Eddie Wang
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| Glen Chin | ... |
Skinny
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| Michael Wong | ... |
Han
(as Michael Fitzegerald Wong)
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Moses Chan | ... |
Officer Fong
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| Lynne Langdon | ... |
V-Six Secretary
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| Ray Nicholas | ... |
Karl
(as Raymond Leslie Nicholas)
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| Jeff Wolfe | ... |
Skaar
(as Jeff Joseph Wolfe)
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Michael Miller | ... |
Tickler
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Steve Brettingham | ... |
Hawkeye
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| Mark Houghton | ... |
Bear
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Edit
Plot Summary
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Add Synopsis
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. Written by John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
Taglines:
There is no substitute.Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for continuous violence and brief language | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
4 September 1998 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Kontraband See more »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
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Edit
Karen Lee: They're already getting away with it.
Tommy Hendricks: I know. I'm trying to mind fuck them. On the placement test at Langley, I was off the chart in verbal skills.
Karen Lee: [shouting] Can I die alone, please?
See more »
Music and Lyrics by Samuel Hui
Original Publisher/Chappell Music, HK Ltd.
Arranged by Raymond Wong
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Hong Kong superstar and director Sammo Hung served as the film's 2nd unit director. The release print of "Knock Off" suffers from the removal of a lot of the martial arts action shot for the film, with a couple of sequences being very heavily edited. The final battle between Jean-Claude Van Damme's character and Australian actor/stuntman Michael Miller is less than half of the action shot for their fight, and upon careful viewing you can pick up the fact that the fight has raged across several different sections on the boat, while the fight between Jeff Wolfe's character Scar and Jean-Claude's is the most heavily edited with more of the action being shown in the "Making Of" featured on several of the DVD editions than in the finished film. See more »Goofs
(at around 18 mins) Jean-Claude Van Damme tries to stop a black van by hooking his rickshaw onto the side mirrors of a van whose driver is a Caucasian. In the next shot (15:25), the driver turns into a Chinese stunt double. See more »Quotes
Tommy Hendricks: You're never gonna get away with this.Karen Lee: They're already getting away with it.
Tommy Hendricks: I know. I'm trying to mind fuck them. On the placement test at Langley, I was off the chart in verbal skills.
Karen Lee: [shouting] Can I die alone, please?
See more »
Soundtracks
"Ten Girls"Music and Lyrics by Samuel Hui
Original Publisher/Chappell Music, HK Ltd.
Arranged by Raymond Wong
See more »
Formulas are good. Be it the DIE HARD clone, or the buddy-picture. Action formulas win. It's got to be by the book. Or it dies.
Action movie directors rarely break the mould. Instead the mould breaks them. Ringo Lam and John Woo both came to the US when the Hong Kong action style was in vogue. But action movies need more talk and less action to satisfy American audiences. So in trying to replicate THE KILLER, they make a mess like REPLACEMENT KILLERS.
Until now that is. KNOCK OFF got abysmal reviews and audiences hated it. I don't dig that many action movies. And I loved it. Director TSUI HARK injects such enthusiasm into things it is almost impossible not to enjoy.
Hark treats us to an unrivalled, and insane array of camera tricks to liven up proceedings. Entirely unpretentious, it is action to the power of ten. Bad guys defy gravity and inertia, and the same hooded goons get beaten up time after time. There is even one character who dies, and returns inexplicably not once but twice.
Ridiculous? Yeah. But gloriously unapologetic. KNOCK OFF promises action and delivers. If you want to take it seriously then do so, vent your rage and kill it on the sliding scale. The joke is on you. KNOCK OFF invites ridicule. It also defies it. For that reason I'll give it a ten.