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Frank Dux

Also referred to as Frank Dukes, Frank Deuce, Frank Duke's, Frank Ducks, Frank Binks

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Bloodsport The Rewatchables
Bloodsport

Recasting Couch

Conor McGregor in the Frank Dux role; Nate Diaz; Rampage Jackson

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:16Read transcript
  • For a reboot you need Conor McGregor in the Jean-Claude Van Damme role, finding out about the Kumite and jumping in, perhaps forced by mobsters; whether he can do the humility the Frank Dukes character requires is answered yes, since his documentary shows a tender side, melting when Arnold Schwarzenegger does the 'I'll be back' line; Nate Diaz and Rampage Jackson round out the cast.
Bloodsport The Rewatchables
Bloodsport

Which Sports-Movie Event Would You Most Want to Attend?

Chong Li versus Frank Dux in the Kumite final; the Victory soccer game; Sidney Dean and Billy Hoyle versus the King and Duck; the Friday Night Lights title game; Doug and Kate's pairs final in The Cutting Edge; Blades of Glory; the Slap Shot title game; the Cool Runnings bobsled race; the dead ballplayers' cornfield game; Snake Plissken's full-court shot

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:08Read transcript
  • Asked how high the Chong Li versus Frank Dukes final ranks among sports-movie events to attend, ringside with the Atlantic reporter: the storylines write themselves and it has to be number one on stakes alone, a fight to the death, a reigning champion undefeated for years, the first American with a chance to win, a fighter carrying the lineage of a mentor whose son died, and Chong Li coming off his second kill of the tournament. — Shea Serrano
  • The soccer game in Victory is one host's pick, beating the Nazis before the crowd breaks through the walls, but it is argued down as more about the escape than the game, while the Kumite final is hype all the way; Vision Quest, never seen by one host, is called Matthew Modine's apex and the greatest wrestling movie ever.
  • The remaining picks: Sidney Dean and Billy Hoyle versus the King and Duck, which you could probably wander up to for free; the Friday Night Lights title game; Doug and Kate's pairs figure-skating gold in The Cutting Edge, with Blades of Glory preferred; the Slapshot (as transcribed) title game, a brawl for three periods; the Cool Runnings bobsled race; a dozen dead racist ballplayers returning to play in a cornfield; and Snake Plissken's court-to-court basketball challenge ending in a full-court shot.
Bloodsport The Rewatchables
Bloodsport

Apex Mountain

Leah Ayres; Bolo Yeung as Chong Li; Frank Dux; Jean-Claude Van Damme's splits

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:01Read transcript
  • Donald Gibb is proposed as a yes, coming off Revenge of the Nerds and First and Ten into a $65 million film where he is focal, but he was the tenth most important person in Revenge of the Nerds and the hosts settle on that film as his apex, noting this conversation has never happened on a podcast.
  • The actress Leah Ayers (as transcribed) is a yes: her IMDb is a hundred TV shows she was never on full-time, with a good run on Walker, Texas Ranger.
  • Chong Li, aka Bolo Young (as transcribed), is this over Enter the Dragon because he never fights Bruce Lee there, and this character is iconic and spawned countless memes; Kowloon Walled City is floated but Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is suggested as its actual apex.
  • Frank Dukes (as transcribed) hit his apex here, any time before the internet; Forrest Whitaker did not; it is Van Damme's splits apex.
Bloodsport The Rewatchables
Bloodsport

Half-Assed Internet Research

Frank Dux's claimed 329-0 Kumite record was disproved by the Los Angeles Times; Sheldon Lettich says Dux's tall tales inspired the script and a corroborating witness later recanted; Dux was fight coordinator and trained Van Damme for three months; Kowloon Walled City was later demolished; Van Damme does six splits; the knocked-out tooth was real; Paco was Muay Thai champion Paulo Tocha and Swan Paredes actor Michel Qissi became Tong Po; the arcade game is Karate Champ; Mortal Kombat drew on the film

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:47Read transcript
  • Frank Dukes' (as transcribed) résumé, shown at the end of the film, claimed 329 Kumite matches from 1975 to 1980, undefeated, with 36 consecutive knockouts; the internet is full of doubt, a Los Angeles Times story a few months after release disproved everything, and a trophy he said was awarded to him turned out to have been made down the block from his house.
  • He also said he was in the CIA and his father in the Mossad; co-writer Sheldon Ledich (as transcribed), one of the two writers, is quoted saying he knew Dukes for months, that most of his tales turned out to be bullshit, but the Kumite stories sounded like a great movie.
  • Dukes' real mistake was claiming it happened to him instead of pitching it as a movie idea, since he could have written 25 martial arts films; one story has him saying the film toned it down and the real fights happened on a temple roof with tiles cracking underfoot; that kind of fabrication only worked pre-internet, or if you are running for president.
  • Lettich (transcribed 'Letitch') is also quoted about Richard Bender, who swore he attended the Kumite and years later confessed Dukes coached his story; photos of Dukes do not look like a fifteenth-degree ninjutsu expert who killed for the CIA, and he is clearly what Steven Seagal later became; he was the film's fight coordinator and put Van Damme through a three-month training program.
  • The film was shot inside Kowloon Walled City, which was later knocked down entirely, possibly for an airport; cursory research says it was a constant fire hazard associated with crime where fugitives could hide; the hosts joke Janice's Atlantic story on the Kumite got it torn down.
  • How many splits Van Damme does: four are named, the drawn-and-quartered device, the temple roof, the chairs and the Pumala fight, a trailing fifth is counted without being named, and being dragged by Pumala makes six; the jump over Chong Li in the air is proposed as a seventh but ruled not to count, so the answer is six.
  • The fighter elbowed in the mouth really was knocked unconscious and lost teeth, and it was kept in the film; Bolo was in Enter the Dragon; Paco was played by Paolo Tocha (as transcribed), a Muay Thai champion; Michael Kissy (as transcribed), who played Swan Paredes, the broken-leg guy, went on to play Tong Po in Kickboxer, because in Thailand they could not find a local for the part and put makeup on him.
  • The arcade game played is Karate Champ from 1984, and the idea that martial-arts skill translates to the game is enjoyed; Mortal Kombat took huge inspiration from the film, with Johnny Cage the obvious character, and game creator John Tobias is quoted as wanting to make a gritty game based on it.
Displaying all 4 discussions