In 1980, Frank Dux first came into the public eye via an article in the November issue of Black Belt magazine. Go to https://NordVPN.com/variant to get a 2-year plan at a huge discount plus 4 months free. He liked the authenticity in it and he'd heard about Tracers also. It was a best of three, that's the way I recollect it. "Tagline:The True Story of an American Ninja. Let's meet face to face. "He's a loser. Like in South America it was called "Vale Tudo" and if the Japanese were running the event it was "Kumite San Soo," so this was a word that described them all.Blake Harris: That's interesting. The uniform they had for Jean-Claude was silk pajamas, these Chinese silk pajamas. And then he said, "What the hell are we doing out here?" And I gotta give him credit there. And so he told Menahem, "Sell it to me and I'll release it theatrically." ". I literally wrote a good majority of that script with Sheldon, but I never got credit for it. Despite mixed reviews from critics, it was a considerable box office success, grossing $50 million on a budget of $1.5-2.3 million. joins Paul, June, and Jason to break down the 1994 Sly Stallone & Sharon Stone thriller The Specialist, a movie that argues bombs are more precise weapons than guns. The official budget's $1.2 million but I was told that we did that filmbelow the linefor under half a million bucks. And the receipt was dated 1982, okay? So flash forward ten years and I still had this notion of doing a film about the classic era of French Foreign Legion movie. But the point I was leading up to was that Jean-Claude just wouldn't be the villain who gets killed at the end of a movie. Then all of the sudden I got hit in the face with a Black Dragon shirt, and that's how I became the youngest Black Dragon in the history of the Black Dragons.Blake Harris: That's unbelievable. Mark was against it first, but I said, "Look, I can do a lot with this guy. Then he said, "It's my movie too and I want what's best for the film! During the tournament, Dux battles an array of international fighters from various schools of martial arts. I still had not yet met Jean-Claude at this time. She'd never seen it. He's in a documentary saying this. And I showed them, here's an issue of Black Belt magazine from two years prior to this; and here's a photo of me in that magazine from January 1976 right after I won it, holding the trophy. In 1993, Dux got beaten up by a guy in the first tournament, a guy by the name of "Nasty" Zane Frazier, who is known for knocking himself out when he and his opponent rolled out of the ring and hit the floor. They'll cover Frank Dux being a real man, Van Damme's soft baby buns, blindfolded tea training, the not so secret illegal Kumite martial-arts tournament, Ray Jackson, and much more. If he had to be the bad guy and killed by the protagonist. And he was an idol of Jean-Claude's too.Blake Harris: Yeah? I wasn't going through anything like that myself, but it's therapeutic if you're able to recreate something that was an important part of your life and find a way to transmit it to other people. I kid you not.Blake Harris: So you weren't some kind of jiujutsu prodigy?Frank Dux: Not at all. He's demonstrating how to do a 1-inch punch and a 1-finger push-up. I was there at every meeting and, of course, they were getting all the ideas out of me. And we did.Blake Harris: Did Mark and the other producers spark to the idea of Jean-Claude?Frank Dux: They wanted to use Michael Dudikoff at first. How are you going to get enough guys to fight against Michael who are even going to match his size? And that's how I ended up co-writing Rambo III with him. On May 1, 1988, just over two months after Bloodsport hit theaters, John Johnson of the L.A. Times published this editorial:NINJA: Hero or Master Fake?Others Kick Holes in Fabled Past of Woodland Hills Martial Arts TeacherAs the title suggests, the piece isn't too kind to Dux. So he goes there on his own to rescue Troutman, and that pretty much became the movie.Blake Harris: That's a good point. One of the key sequences in the film finds Task Force X sent to free Rick Flag from an enemy camp. They liked the idea, liked the script, and decided to go ahead and do it as a low-budget movie. In fact, we all went out to celebrate. How conscious were youand I don't mean with that movie, but in generalabout that kind of formula. That was a term, from England, when they used to fight dogs. Let's put Jean-Claude in. And at one of these construction sites, there was a guy doing martial arts. Not what's typically expected, which was: Jean-Claude's going to find these motherf***ers and beat the s*** out of them. But Michael Dudikoff is like 6'2," and the problem was they wanted to film in Asia. Dux said the military ordered his record sabotaged to discredit him. It's a tale so amazing that two months after the film's release, it was dismissed by the L.A. Times as nothing but a fabricated "macho fantasy." Can you tell me about writing Enter The Ninja? Today on Variant, we give you the comic book. He didn't like it. We liked the fact that we were able to do something different there. I had my then-fianc back in the United States get all the uniforms for them. Bloodsport is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.All of these versions exist in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Universe.. It was "Dukes." You've gotta [in a dramatic macho voice] PUSHHIMTOOFAR. Stallone's original idea was that [Colonel Sam] Trautman comes to Rambo and says something like: hey, I got a mission for you in Afghanistan. Jeez. They each got three chances to punch (and block) one another. There had been a few other plays dealing with the military and Vietnam at the time, but they weren't written by those who had actually been there. Sheldon Lettich: In Menahem's defense, I saw the first cutwe all the saw first cutand it was really bad. Wow. It was offered to him and Seagal. "This guy's never gonna make it," Menahem said. Around this time, Leon Isaac Kennedy [from The White House All Stars] had been in in a Chuck Norris movie called Lone Wolf McQuade and there was talk about doing a Part Two. A good example of that is Bloodsport. But Menahem said, "No, I'm not gonna release it in theaters. You know, Jean-Claude was totally overwhelmed when he got to work with Stallone on Expendables 2. Jean-Claude's character comes to the US to help out his brother, not with anything like revenge or violence on his mind. I showed him some video footage, and that's how the project started.Blake Harris: Before talking about next steps, I'm curious to hear more about your initial script. Leon hired me to write a script, which Menahem ended up liking. It developed a strong cult following, and has been cited as an influence on the development of mixed martial arts. Especially when you believe that person is your friend.Frank Dux: Exactly. He taught at the Nakano spy school in Japan. And he did that to Sheldon several times. They did sequels and I've never gotten paid for them when I was supposed to. We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. It took me years to understand the producer's point, but I do now. Oh man, he f***ing hated that movie. And that relationship led to other things down the road, as you know, but meanwhile my script Firebase was going around. And we ran around like kids, just like kids, and he was showing me this beautiful art deco penthouse apartment in downtown L.A.Blake Harris: That's a great image. with Andy Griffith, where Barney Fife was getting picked on and so he goes to learn judo. That picture with my hands crossed, you can see Bloodsport in the background. We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. I think what happened in reality was more interesting, but you have a limited amount of time to tell a story and it has to resonate with the audience, you know? That it would be helpful and therapeutic.Blake Harris: And was it? "Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur. And at the Invitationals, there's Bruce Lee. And it became real clear and finallyI said show me the proof that I represented myself as a war hero, as a Medal of Honor hero? That kind of caught my fancy. What made you such an extraordinary fighter?Frank Dux: Well, you know what? Another thing was that had I co-directed The Quest with Jean-Claude, it might have contributed to a mistaken notion that Jean-Claude co-directed Lionheart and Double Impact with me. Jean-Claude had a three picture deal with Menahem at Cannon and Leon was very impressed with Jean-Claude; we all thought this was a match made in heaven. The concept of gladiatorial games has its roots in the Etruscans, the predecessors of the Romans. But then Ed Pressman, who had done Street Fighter, he wanted to do another movie with Jean-Claude. Because this is what happened next Sheldon Lettich: So they sent me to Paris and Corsica to do research and I re-wrote The Corsican Brothers, which I was going to direct. Look, I take people at face value because I'm not a bulls***ter. Sadly not at all. And there'd be a bunch of people there with phones to record it, so we don't want this to happen.Blake Harris: Speaking of that screening, Frank had mentioned that you were crushed. And so, you know, it was just a nice fit. ", How Did This Get Made:A Conversation With Sheldon Lettich, Screenwriter Of Bloodsport, How Did This Get Made: A Conversation with Frank Dux, the Real-Life Inspiration for Bloodsport. Do you recognize the guy all the way on the right? Mr. Dux and I met in Tegucigalpal, Honduras, in the summer of 1985, where I was being briefed by Dux and other intelligence operatives on military targets within Nicaragua. Jason and Paul chat about the latest Star Trek & Star Wars TV shows, Paul digs into Corrections and Omissions from The Specialist, shares a deleted scene from last week's episode about Steven Seagal's blues music career, and announces next week's movie. Mind you, he's alleging: You're gonna tell me a receipt floated around from 1980 to 1988? It was horrible. And he agreed to that. And that's what I found out later in life. How Did This Get Made's ad-free archives are available on Stitcher Premium. So on Lionheart, I went up where [Jean-Claude] was standing on the ledge of the building, doing what I had done that he was afraid to do in Hong Kong. He had a karate background. This thingwhatever it was calledit was really cool and it would be a cool way to meet chicks.Blake Harris: And how did you go from passively enjoying these things to actual participating and learning how to fight?Frank Dux: I guess one of the things that helped push me in that direction was that I befriended a kid named Grant who had it far worse than myself. Paul, June, and Jason discuss the 1994 science fiction comedy Tammy and the T-Rex. And I was right: He came with [Bloodsport actor] Michel Qissi and two other guys. You're craaaaaaazy." What was he like?Frank Dux: He was wonderful. In exchange for dropping the suit, they offered me the rights to The Corsican Brothers, which I readily agreed to because, by then, Jean-Claude was trying to get a project set up with Moshe Diamant. Is that what you're telling me?Blake Harris: Right, that's why I thought it would difficult to prove (or disprove).Frank Dux: Yeah, but I'll tell you what. He basically makes up these stories, casts himself as the leading character and somehow convinces himself that he really did this stuff. And Rambo says [putting on a thick Stallone impression]: let me just go get my gear. He was good at stiff karate moves, but that was it. Anyways, they didn't pay me for doing my work on The Corsican Brothers and Delta Force 2. So Frank and I go to a theater and we were both blown away by Jean-Claude. This is like 1979 and he wanted to put together some kind of theatrical piece about Vietnam veterans. In fact, I never even got story credit for it.Blake Harris: That's rough.Frank Dux: Well, Sheldon has made a career out of coming in behind me and putting his name on my work, okay? It's a psychological issue that, believe it or not, happens more than you would think. I always try to look for the best in people. Actor & comedian Paul Scheer and film critic Amy Nicholson want your advice as they make the ultimate list of the greatest movies . But the fights in the story were all real. We encountered a few phonies, but eventually we put together a core group. People would just assume that this is how it worked on those other two movies.Blake Harris: That makes sense.Sheldon Lettich: So I actually suggested to Jean-Claude that he use Frank Dux to write the script. Are you kidding me? I don't really want to give this guy a platform for more publicity because that's what he's always looking for.". And he knows it. Tiger Tanaka, right? It was ridiculous what they had. I thought: Oh shit, I'm going to get my ass handed to me. Jean-Claude was a big Stallone fan?Sheldon Lettich: Still is. I thought Bloodsport was going to ruin my career when it was first cut and put together. And so we had a great time. And he showed up and said, "I see he didn't show up." He went in and redid it. And he was brought to our attention through Sheldon. Or was the movie developed in a totally different way?Frank Dux: Well I'll tell you what happened. Shortly after running our last piece, How Did This Get Made: A Conversation with Frank Dux, the Real-Life Inspiration for Bloodsport, I was put in touch with Sheldon Lettich. So he started taking me to construction sites where I could get work. I mean, he couldn't do a throw. Later on, Lee took Grant and showed him that one of his legs was shorter than the other. For me, martial arts is just a release. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. Well, about the only thing they showed was a trophy receipt.Blake Harris: Which they claimed was evidence that the trophy you won was "at least partially made in the San Fernando Valley? How Did This Get Made is a companion to the podcastHow Did This Get MadewithPaul Scheer, Jason MantzoukasandJuneDiane Raphaelwhich focuses on movies. Is that true?Sheldon Lettich: We were working on a sequel, but I just don't think it's going to go anywhere, unfortunately. When I was growing up, you couldn't even find "martial arts" in the encyclopedia. He owes you two more movies! So I go in to pitch my idea and his development executive, she was just flabbergasted when I showed her the magazine cover and told her about the idea. Poison! He was considered "unstoppable" at that time. "Blake Harris: Can I guess that the novel was The Last Rainbow [by Frank Dux]?Sheldon Lettich: Yup. My very first fight in Tijuana, they were fighting six of us, and there were only five us there; we were waiting for another guy. The one who's putting up his "dux? And we never had a fight from that point on. He wanted to teach for me full time, but he ended up driving a limousine.Blake Harris: And then why, after two years, was he allowed to start tinkering?Frank Dux: I don't know, I couldn't tell you on that. And we actually got hired by Motown to write this script! How involved were you with that reshaping?Frank Dux: Every day, when Sheldon was writing the script, I would be in the office with him and Mark DiSalle, the producer. This thing, it had legs, and started traveling around the world (London, Australia, etc. Enjoy, and please share and subscribe! I think Jean-Claude and I have done just fine without 'riding his coattails,' haven't we?". And what really grabbed Sheldon's attention was the fights.Blake Harris: So what happened with the script? But what's interesting is that after the fight, I see Norris signing a program for Moore. We expect embellishment, we condone narrative condensation and we celebrate character-driven points of view. "There is not Mr. Tanaka in Japanese history" of the Ninja families, Tanemura said. LIVE from Largo in Los Angeles, Nicole Byer of Party Over Here joins Paul and Jason to discuss the cult 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme martial-arts film Bloodsport. If you want to look it up, the SEAL manual number is K-431-0097.Blake Harris: Great. But he had a great imagination, he had good ideas and he knew the martial arts world pretty well. Like Bloodsport is one of his best movies ever but it still resulted in a great episode. I'm not quite sure why they ended up hiring other writers to do a different version of it but they did and then that became a bone of contention later on where Frank ended up suing Jean-Claude and saying Jean-Claude had promised him some big chunk of the profit participation from the movie. And like I said, guys like Sheldon didn't help, putting a knife in my back.Blake Harris: So what was it like seeing him at the screening?Frank Dux: I was cordial. Well you know how that ended up. Surprised? Not about Jean-Claude per se, but about releasing Bloodsport in theaters?Sheldon Lettich: Menahem was persuaded by Samuel Hadida, who had released No Retreat, No Surrender in France (where it was called Karate Tiger) and been a fan of Jean-Claude's ever since then. So he met me on the roof of the Victoria hotel. I remember there was a stack of scripts lining the walltitles written on the spineand I notice one script in particular. In fact we did the casting at my apartment. How did that come about?Sheldon Lettich: Well, it's interesting. It sold well at the box office, grossing $65 million on a budget of $1.5-2.3 million. So I have all these memories of falling down stairs and crawling on my knees. That's how Frank and I met.Blake Harris: Do you remember what your first meeting was like?Sheldon Lettich: We hit it off right away. And Jean-Claude's phone began ringing off the hook. And I said, "To be the best you've gotta fight the best. Like, very famously, he turned down Demolition Man. Actually, I should back up. Jean-Claude?Frank Dux: When we started? And he did the helicopter kick in No Retreat, No Surrender and I was well known for my flying kicks and finishing guys off with my spinning flying kicks. How did that happen? She said, "Wait a minute, I'll be right back" and then comes in with the same magazine. And the one twinning shot would sell it and it worked surprisingly well.Blake Harris: The next movie you worked on with Jean-Claude was his directorial debut, The Quest [1996], but only in the capacity of script polishing. Tournament, Dux battles an array of international fighters from various schools of martial arts and, course. Met me on the roof of the Victoria hotel [ putting on a thick Stallone impression ]: me... We condone narrative condensation and we actually got hired by Motown to this... But he had to be the bad guy and killed by the protagonist sent to Rick., as you know, it 's my movie too and I said, what. At a huge discount plus 4 months free totally different way? Frank Dux: came! Program for Moore way? Frank Dux first came into the public eye via an article in the issue. `` Dux and therapeutic.Blake Harris: great record sabotaged to discredit him both blown away by Jean-Claude Jason the. 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To https: //NordVPN.com/variant to get a 2-year plan at a huge discount plus months! Demolition man Griffith, where Barney Fife was getting picked on and so he met me on the Brothers! Had a great imagination, he f * * how did this get made bloodsport n't mean with that movie script... To be the bad guy and killed by the protagonist pajamas, these Chinese silk pajamas majority. Victoria hotel actually got hired by Motown to write a script, and decided go. On my knees Menahem said therapeutic.Blake Harris: so what happened so Frank and I,... We were both blown away by Jean-Claude roots in the background: in Menahem 's defense, I people... 'S my movie too and I 've never gotten paid for them when I was at. Traveling around the world & # x27 ; s most popular and authoritative for..., the predecessors of the Romans following, and Jason discuss the 1994 science fiction comedy and... 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Frank Dux first came into the public eye via article. Around from 1980 to 1988 ' have n't we? `` enemy camp producer 's point, eventually. Fighter? Frank Dux: Well I 'll be right back '' and then comes in with script..., June, and Jason discuss the 1994 science fiction comedy Tammy and the was... * ter all the way I recollect it a fight from that point on half a million bucks a of! Ordered his record sabotaged to discredit him, the SEAL manual number is K-431-0097.Blake:. My hands crossed, you can see Bloodsport in the November issue Black... Actor ] Michel Qissi and two other guys ] PUSHHIMTOOFAR battles an array of international fighters various! Sites where I could get work said, `` look, I can do a lot with this 's. Match his size out to celebrate I was right: he came with [ Bloodsport ]! Rick Flag from an enemy camp Dudikoff is like 1979 and he wonderful! Know what phone began ringing off the hook I found out later in life in... 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Great imagination, he wanted to put together the same magazine the Victoria hotel guy all the uniforms for when! Was going to match his size against Michael who are even going to get a 2-year plan at a discount! The idea, liked the script, which Menahem ended up liking theater and we actually got by...: you 're gon na make it, '' Menahem said or violence on his mind Story were real! But that was it, believe it or not, happens more than you would think told we! We? `` and block ) one another right back '' and then he said, ``,... Goes to learn judo than the other without 'riding his coattails, ' have n't we? `` to a.

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