BLOODSPORT (1988) basically created the blueprint for a generation of tournament movies and fighting games. The Kumite, the rivalries, Bolo Yeung stealing every scene he’s in. So much of the genre spent the next few decades borrowing from it.
I know every generation has their class struggles, but let me tell you about the summer of 1990 when Supersoakers hit the market and only a few kids could afford them and the rest of us were hunted for sport.
Bloodsport (1988) having a low critic score never matched the movie’s actual legacy. Van Damme doing full splits, the Kumite fights, Bolo Yeung stealing scenes every five minutes. That movie absolutely knew what people came to see.