DVD Review: DOUBLE IMPACT – Double The Van Dammage!
20 years on, Double Impact has not dated well with some of the fashion on display, a spill over from the ‘80s and early ‘90s, lots of neon, shoulder pads and ridiculous haircuts making the look of the film quite laughable.
While Jean-Claude Van Damme now prefers to make narcissistic reality TV shows I had the chance to revisit one of his earlier works this week as Double Impact returns to DVD on 19th September. Made in 1991, Double Impact marked Van Dammes first foray into the acting challenge of the dual role, here playing twin brothers separated at birth and distinguished by slightly different hairstyles. Van Damme plays Chad and Alex Wagner who are separated as infants when their parents are brutally murdered by members of a Hong Kong criminal cartel. 25 years later, Chad has moved to California via Paris, by way of explanation for his unusual accent, to become a karate teacher and Alex, who stayed in Hong Kong, has become involved in the criminal underworld. The pair are reunited in Hong Kong by the family bodyguard Frank (Geoffrey Lewis Every Which Way But Loose) with a plan to find those responsible for and to avenge their parents death. With a screenplay co-written by Jean-Claude Van Damme and director Sheldon Lettich, the film is a relatively simple tale of revenge and honour with thinly drawn characters and a plotline dominated by violence, action and carefully choreographed fight scenes however, it is one of Van Dammes better early efforts with an increased budget following the success of his breakthrough performances in Bloodsport and Kickboxer. Van Damme is actually quite good as the two brothers giving them enough individual characteristics to convince as two separate people. Alex is a cigar chomping badass with slicked back hair who prefers a gun to using his fists while Chad is a slightly camp karate expert with a penchant for tight, pink shorts. The special effects technology might not quite be perfect when the two appear onscreen together, shadows and eye lines are all over the place, there is a certain charm to the old school approach, with the films set piece Van Damme versus Van Damme fight well paced and edited well enough to hide any faults in the production. 
Support comes from Geoffrey Lewis playing the kind of dependable role he has played countless times before in Clint Eastwood films throughout the 70s and 80s. He adds a touch of class to the film acting as a mentor and voice of reason to the two brothers. Kung fu legend and star of many Hong Kong classics including Enter The Dragon Bolo Yeung is a formidable opponent for Van Damme. His role as a scarred, one-eyed henchman is a standout performance leading to some memorable fight sequences. Former Miss Olympia, Corinna Everson also makes an impression as the leather clad, muscular lesbian henchwoman of Alan Scarfes stereotypically English, corrupt businessman. 
Van Damme choreographed all the fight scenes for the film and they are suitably well put together affairs playing on his own strengths and fighting style with some superior clashes between himself and Yeung. James Bond and Indiana Jones stunt legend Vic Armstrong handles the second unit action scenes, although if his recent autobiography is to be believed he actually directed a lot more than just the action citing Lettichs relative inexperience as something of an issue during production. Armstrong puts together some superbly executed sequences including a 20 minute climactic scene set in a dockyard making full use of the environment as is his signature style, a crane top punch-up with obligatory something-in-my-eyes routine from Van Damme and a close call with a shipping container among the highlights. 20 years on, Double Impact has not dated well with some of the fashion on display, a spill over from the 80s and early 90s, lots of neon, shoulder pads and ridiculous haircuts making the look of the film quite laughable. Its a throwback to the brainless, action films of the era, few of which have benefitted from the passage of time. That said, it is certainly one of Van Dammes best movies and it paved the way for several of his future films (Maximum Risk, The Order, Replicant) to feature him in dual roles once again. 
Quality & Extras Unfortunately this re-release has been given a rather lacklustre treatment. The picture quality is not great, there has been no visible restoration on the transfer, it is very grainy and looks a bit poor on an HD TV. Also the extras, minimal as they were on the original Columbia Tristar/Sony DVD release, a short retrospective on Van Dammes career and the trailer, are now totally absent from this Second Sight release. Sadly, aside from the film itself, there is little to recommend this DVD over the previous release which is still relatively easy to find if you look in the right places. 
Double Impact is released on DVD today.