Knock Off Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
There is no substitute.
It is June of 1997. In 72 hours, Hong Kong will return to Chinese rule after 150 years as a British-ruled colony. Marcus Ray and Tommy Hendricks are sales reps for V SIX Jeans, and they are enjoying life in Hong Kong in this time before the island nation's transition back to Chinese rule. While Tommy busily prepares for the latest fashion show, Marcus is off looking at knock off goods — imitation watches, jewelry, and baby dolls, in which his longtime friend Eddie Wang and his Hong Kong associate, Skinny Wang, are involved. When Marcus and Tommy's supervisor Karen Leigh arrives and informs them that much of their last shipment of jeans was filled with knock off imitations, the two can't believe her, but they agree to help in raiding a warehouse to prove their innocence. After a violent encounter that involves local police Ling Ho and Lieutenant Han, Marcus eventually learns that Tommy is an undercover CIA agent, and so is Karen. Meeting with their boss, agent Harry Johansson, Marcus learns of a conspiracy involving the Russian mafia and their attempts to smuggle tiny, but highly explosive "microbombs" to the worldwide terrorist black market. And these are bombs that explode into green flame when detonated. Marcus, Tommy, and Karen set out to stop the conspiracy and figure out who's behind it.
| Jean-Claude Van Damme | Marcus Ray |
| Rob Schneider | Tommy Hendricks |
| Lela Rochon | Karen Lee |
| Paul Sorvino | Harry Johanson |
| Carman Lee | Detective Ling Ho |
| Wyman Wong | Han |
| Glen Chin | Skinny |
| Moses Chan | Officer Fong |
| Lynne Langdon | V-Six Secretary |
| Ray Nicholas | Karl |
| Jeff Wolfe | Skaar |
| Michael Miller | Tickler |
| Steve Brettingham | Hawkeye |
| Mark Houghton | Bear |
| Hark Tsui |
3.90 out of 10 (2254 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Convoluted story line hampers what could have actually been a fun film.
posted on 06 Aug 2009No doubt that this is a bad movie but it has some pretty well put together action scenes (thats if you can suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy how snazzy they look). This film does appear as if its been edited with a chainsaw but in the case of this film it does actually help the pace and match's the bizarre directing style. They could have done alot more with the comedy side of things with the actors they had but I don't think the screenplay was really priority one with this film. If you see it for free on TV you may just enjoy but if you paid to see it...lets just hope you really like Jean Claude. Watch for this director to become the next John Woo. Maybe.
I Really Don't Like Rob Schneider... But Van Damme Is OK, I Guess
posted on 08 May 2009Rob Schneider is not funny, he never has been funny, his comedy has always sucked, his films have always sucked, and he will always suck as a comedian and an actor, he can't even act, Rob Schneider sucks. Rob Schneider sucks more than Pauly Shore sucks, and that means he sucks a lot, Rob Schneider really sucks.From what I recall about this film having only viewed it about 4 times in my life, I remember very little. It didn't make an impression on me at all. The only thing I can remember about this film was something to do with little bombs that the guy from 'Goodfellas' was putting in teddy bears, Rob Schneider whipping Van Damme with an eel, and Lela Rochon trying to be really sexy. According to IMDb.com, Van Damme is a Hong Kong knock-off artist who is trying to work with the C.I.A to counteract terrorism in South East Asia - or something. I just failed to see the point of this film. The action wasn't particularly good, and whenever the film-makers tried to make it right-wing and really cool, they got a headache and faked it.Judge Dredd was better than this.The problem I have with this film is the same problem I have with Van Damme's later film, 'Inferno/Desert Heat'. The film itself isn't sure what it wants to be. It doesn't know whether it wants to be a comedy or an action film. One might compare this film to 'Rush Hour' starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker but the thing is, that film actually works whereas this film simply doesn't and the comedy is embarrassing to look at.
Very Funny!!!
posted on 03 May 2009I've read the reviews and wanted to watch Knock Off out of curiosity, to see how bad this production is. But it wasn't bad at all. The special effects wasn't great, but the movie had a good plot. It was hilarious especially when the fake jeans came apart as the two leads were pulling it. JCVD was really funny. I enjoyed this one better than Double Team. In Knock Off, he was more energetic, vibrant, full of life. I like Marcus Ray (JCVD's character). I think this movie is a visual feast.
Pick Something Else Or You'll Be Sorry....
posted on 06 Mar 2009I was thoroughly dissapointed. The camera work was shabby and the explosions seemed superimposed. I was shaking my head the whole time because I saw so many bad things. The movie had a bad plot, bad explosions, bad writting, but had some good named actors/actresses (unfortunate for them). Nowadays, movies are up in the 2 hour range or longer. This movie was only 1 1/2 hours long, but because it was so bad it was a blessing in disguise. I wished for my money back. Sorry.....
Better than you think
posted on 19 Feb 2009I saw it with no prejudice, meaning i'd never heard off it before, seen no trailers or anything. I switched on the TV and saw Rob Schneider and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the same film. Interesting. Grant it there's not much in the storyline. But the cinematography especially and special effects were very good. There was comic relief from Rob and action from Jean-Claude Van Damme. And it had the beautiful Lela Rochon thrown in on top. Overall, I thouroughly enjoyed watching the film becasue of it's smooth and comical style!
Really, really stupid plot - but worth watching for Lela Rochon!
posted on 16 Feb 2009Marcus Ray is a fashioner designer trying to go straight. He is the king of counterfeit goods in Hong Kong. However when a counterfeiter friend is targeted by a Russian mob, Marcus finds that fake goods are the least of his worries. He uncovers a terrorist plot to put tiny but powerful bombs in counterfeit goods and ship them around the world, soon he's up to his ears in CIA, mobsters, bombs and fake goods.The plot in one line - Van Damme saves the world from exploding jeans. It's as stupid as it sounds... at every step the sheer ridiculousness of the plot will stay with you. The plot tries to move away from the exploding jeans idea by introducing lots of double crosses, confusion and explosions - building to a visual showing the whole US being destroyed by exploding jeans. But the daftness never goes away - in fact all the mobsters and CIA agents constantly showing up and switching sides just makes it all the more silly.The direction however is pretty good. Tsui shows plenty of nice touches - zooming into and through electrical components etc (although it gets old quite quickly), and is good at handling action scenes. In fact most of the fight scenes are pretty good - the final 20 minutes on a barge are good.
But the special effects in some of the scenes are poor - those big green explosions don't look right at all. But Tsui does many to bring the fun out of some of Van Damme's skills - although there is some very bad wire work on the barge as Van Damme climbs up containers etc - twice he looks like he's being thrown around by invisible forces. However, despite the fun action scenes - you'll still struggle with the sheer stupidity of the story and the laziness of some of the action, for example Van Damme walks out of a building just for it to explode killing everyone - and this happens several times! Thrills like this are quite lazy considering.The cast are uniformly good - I'm surprised how many well-known names and faces were in this piece of rubbish! Mind you, both Van Damme and Schneider are used to having to work with poor material - but even they struggle with this, Van Damme appears to be laughing at himself some of the times while Schneider (usually funny despite the material) is poor. Paul Sorvino is another one capable of so much more who finds himself with a thankless role.
Similarly Michael Wong (you'll know his face) seems to turn up for a few action scenes but have nothing else to do. Lela Rochon has the best role in the whole thing - she's sexy and dangerous and appears to be having fun, but even her material is a bit stale and she has to go through all the 'is she a good guy or a bad guy' stuff at some point. Having said that she stills gives the best performance in the film (and well done for not doing a nude scene - you're sexy wearing whatever!)Overall the action scenes are quite fun to watch but the plot really sucks.
The performances from famous actors are mainly poor because of the material and the plot twists they must endure are stupid.....and after this I really don't want to see another person just manage to jump out of a building before it explodes! The blame for this must lie with Mr de Souza - he once wrote big hits like Die Hard, 48 hrs and errr...Commando. However his current run includes Street Fighter, Beverly Hills Cop 3, Judge Dredd and this. Please Hollywood - stop sending this man cheques!
Van Damme Coasting on a half-tank
posted on 30 Jan 2009The film was better than I expected it to be (then again, I was expecting it to be total garbage), but that's only because of the hong-kongish editing and panache that Tsui Hark excels in. Rob Schneider is reasonably funny, but not as funny as Jean-Claude as a totally mismatched 'fashion' designer. It's a step down from Double Team, and far from his best action flick. But any script from DeSouza is worth a listen. Rent it anyway.
Knock Off is the Perfect Title for this Movie
posted on 27 Dec 2008First off, let me say that this is by far one of the worst films of 1998
(right beside 'The Avengers') and probably one of the worst of the decade
(so far). 'Knock Off' is the best example of a movie being appropriately titled that I have seen in a while. Because this movie is a knock off of about every action movie you've ever seen and the camera work is definately lifted from the great director, Sam Raimi.The plot, from what I could understand of it, seems to be about the Russian Mafia wanting to smuggle "Microbombs" into some country. Guess how?
Through "knock off" designer jeans! And if they don't get their $100 million they're demanding, they hit a button and all the pants explode... yep, it's true.As if the plot weren't bad enough, the acting is downright horrid (even for a Van Damme movie). Everyone involved gives a stiff performance (even the talented Lela Rochon).Now, all the above, combined with cliched action scenes and sickening camera angles (Raimi is so much better at making wacky camera angles work) make this one of the worst movies I have seen in a while. I got in for free, and I still wanted to demand some money for having to sit through this worthless action movie. Tsui Hark is a great director... in Hong Kong. But, so far his US efforts
(the other being 'Double Team') have been horrible. Oh, well, maybe next time, Tsui...
I can't beleive I paid 6.25 for that tripe
posted on 15 Dec 2008ProsThis film used some very interesting and unique camera angles.ConsAn incredibly lame and inconsistent plot. Most action movies emphasize action over substance, and in some cases this is alright as the fight scenes are fun to watch. This movie's muddled, incoherent fight scenes leaves you disoriented and screaming at the sheer lunacy of it all. This movie won't score points with the most dedicated of Van Damne fans.Bottom lineA slick and interesting directorial strategy doesn't even come close to making up for an ineffective and ill-conceived plot.
Positive reaction
posted on 30 Nov 2008I still don't understand that most people think that this is a bad movie. Up to now I think this is Jean Claude his best. The action is much faster (thanks to Sammo Hung en Tsui Hark), and he's (van Damme) finally making fun of himself. Ok, the special effects are pretty bad and cheap, but inventive. The humor is kind of slapstick humor sometimes, but what do you expect in a Hong Kong movie ? I rated it 8/10. When you like Jeane Claude van Damme, but think he's too slow, then watch this movie!
Needs to be taken in context to be appreciated
posted on 07 Oct 2008Tsui Hark's career took a serious down turn when he decided to try his chances in Hollywood. To be fair though, this seems to be true of pretty much everybody that decides to try a career in Hollywood. Tsui got off to a bad start when he was teamed up with Jean Claude Van Damme (an indignity every HK director seems to have to suffer on arrival in the US) to make the movie DOUBLE TEAM. I haven't seen DT, but it seems to be universally despised. However, so is KNOCK OFF for the most part, which I find to be very unfair as it has a lot to offer.To properly appreciate the film, however, one has to take it in the proper context. One has to realise that Tsui Hark realised he was not going to be taken seriously in Hollywood, and would probably be consigned to cheesy action B-movies for ever if he stayed. I have no doubt he already planned to return to Hong Kong when he made KNOCK OFF, and decided to have a little fun first - and channel a lot of Hollywood money into Hong Kong hands at the same time. Keeping this in mind whilst watching the film reveals a whole level to it that I suspect most viewers do not appreciate.It's clear that the script for the movie is rather absurd, but quite cleverly so. The concept of the Russians trying to take over the world by fitting miniature bombs in knock off children's toys is not one that was ever meant to be taken very seriously. Having the Russians as the main villlains is a quaintly out-dated set up, but the real interest is in the backdrop, where Tsui shows a little love for the people of Hong Kong and worries about the hand over to China in 1997.He also decides to have a little fun at the expense of Van Damme, who is given a rather ridiculous role that makes fun of his usual image (perhaps this is why Van Damme fans don't like the movie? Though VD himself seems quite a willing participant in the fun-poking).Rob Schneider is quite amusing but dangerously annoying as the comedy side kick, whilst Lela Rochon is particularly attractive as the primary glamour interest (who also kicks no small amount of ass). Few woman sharing a movie with Carmen Lee could come away looking good, but she manages it. The rest of the cast are an assortment of anonymous alleged russians and CIA agents, and some familiar Hong Kong faces round out most of the rest of the cast.Tsui Hark handles the script tightly, sticking close to its B-movie heart but using it to set up some fun and playful scenes. It should all be taken a little tongue in cheek - those that have seen Tsui Hark's better works should appreciate that straight away.As well as fun with the script and with JCVD, Tsui Hark also decides to have a *lot* of fun with his camera. Hyperkinetic camera work has always been his trademark, and here he decides to hold nothing back. There are some amazingly sophisticated and inventive shots and movements, giving the film a unique visual style (that Tsui revisited and expanded on when he returned to Hong Kong and made TIME AND TIME). It is for the visionary camerawork that the movie should really be seen.There's also some pretty good action though, well above the average for Jean Claude Van Damme - thanks to Sammo Hung and Yuen Bun's involvement as the 2nd unit crew, no doubt. JCVD is usually something of a one-trick pony, and has barely a 10th of the physical agility and skill of his Asian contemporaries. The action directors manage to use him well here though, and the camerawork makes him look far better than he's ever done before.It's a sad fact that most of the people that watch KNOCK OFF will probably be Jean Claude Van Damme fans, because to be honest anybody that thinks JCVD is a good martial artist probably doesn't have the experience to appreciate a Tsui Hark film. On the other hand, many Tsui Hark fans will avoid KNOCK OFF because of the presence of Jean Claude Van Damme. This is a shame, as it's really more a Tsui Hark film than a Van Damme film.Whilst it may be Van Damme's best movie, few would dream of arguing that it's Tsui Hark's best, despite his inventiveness being in pretty good shape. It's still broadly bound by the limits of a Hollywood action movie, though, and no match for works like ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA or THE BLADE. It would be nice to imagine that his time in Hollywood would lead to more Americans appreciating his groundbreaking Hong Kong movies, but I doubt that it has.Still, the movie is recommended for Tsui Hark fans. Not his best, but delivers plenty of entertainment none-the-less.
So Very Bad
posted on 03 Jun 2008Tough guys Jean Claude Van Damme and um, Rob Schnieder. Fight tough guys in this rather dismal movie, the acting is bad and there are a few too many fights. There is very little I can compliment this film on as it is on of the big Turkeys of 1998. Jean Claude Van Damme should know better. Rob Schnieder can go to hell becuase I have no idea who he is.4/10If you like this try:SoldierDiscloser
I quite liked it.
posted on 10 May 2008Knock Off is set in Hong Kong during June 1997 as it is returned to Chinese rule after over a century of British rule, as the festivities are about to start V-Six Jeans executives Marcus Ray (Jean-Claude Van Damme) & Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider) are paid a visit by V-Six Jeans American corporate executive Karen Lee (Lela Rochon) who says that half of their last shipment they sent to the States were knock off's. They get the local police involved & decide to raid a factory belonging to Eddie Wang (Wyman Wong) who was storing the consignment before shipment, it turns out that the Russian mafia have counterfeited V-Six Jeans with small bomb devices in the buttons which can be detonated at any time by remote control & intend to black mail the Government with the threat of blowing millions of innocent jean wearing Americans up after flooding the States with the knock off's...This Aruban, Hong Kong & American co-production was directed by Hark Tsui who had made the awful Double Team (1997) with JCVD but one year earlier & I have to say that I quite liked Knock Off, it's no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's fun if nothing else & much, much better than the aforementioned Double Team. The script by Steven E. de Souza definitely doesn't take itself too seriously with many comical & light hearted moments, both during the action scenes & the dialogue. There are some neat one-liners as various character's trade insults, argue with each other & try to be sarcastic, Knock Off might make you smile on a few occasions which is probably a good thing since you can't take it seriously at all. There's plenty of action although it's rather silly at times but one could say that's more down to director Tsui than Souza's script, it moves along at a nice enough pace but it can also be a frustrating film. The storyline is weak & the disjointed plot is a pretty poorly strung together excuse for various oddball action set-pieces. Most of the character's are very underdeveloped, the Russian mafia angle in particular seems almost like an afterthought, the various twists are a bit underwhelming too & the main bad guy at the end just comes from nowhere & has little or no motivation. Having said that JCVD & Schneider's character's are likable & Rochon's feisty CIA agent with attitude is memorable.Director Tsui does a decent job here, he certainly injects the films action scenes with a degree of energy & visual flair. From high camera angles he has the camera spiral towards the ground to focus on JCVD, from placing a camera actually inside knock off trainers to see the glue & steams tear apart to various other cool little tricks & camera positions Knock Off looks pretty good & has had a fair amount of imagination put into it's visuals. The action scenes are undoubtedly silly, from JCVD holding off an entire mob of machete wielding thugs to a scene when he drives a car out of a second storey car park window which then hits a metal container, flips over & JCVD them drives off! The fights are OK but maybe not violent or bloody enough, all this comedy stuff is fine but when it comes down to it I'd have liked to have seen some proper action violence. There are many scenes which don't really work, many scenes which look silly, in reality wouldn't be possible & really do stretch the films already very thin credibility.With a supposed budget of about $35,000,000 Knock Off is well made & has good production values & stunts although the green CGI computer explosions look awful. Mostly shot on location in Hong Kong while the 2nd unit stuff was shot in the Philippines. The acting is alright, JCVD is up to his usual standards, Schneider is OK as the comic relief while Lela Rochon steals every scene she's in.Knock Off is a decent & fun action flick from JCVD, it's better than a lot of his recent output & much better than Double Team but it's maybe a bit too silly & the story is rather weak for it to become any sort of classic. Good harmless if forgettable & very far fetched fun.
Not Van Damme
posted on 29 Apr 2008I love Van Damme's movies, but this one was terrible. Actually, I think it was more the director. The actors were terrible, and what's up with all the slow and fast motion sceens?!? I agree with the other viewer about the movie trying to be like Jackie Chan movies. It's just not Van Damme's style.
Weirdo
posted on 22 Apr 2008This is so weird!The movie is not a good one, but has some interesting things, it´s camera movements are different, and make the action strongest, but in some scenes this camera makes you crazy and you don´t understand what the hell is going on.Jean Claude in his common line of actuation.There´s no more !
ppl who claim to be put off by his butt and biceps secretly yearn for his flowy hair
posted on 30 Aug 2009What is it with JCVD critics? It seems that only the movies in which he has long hair have any relative success in comparison to his other movies. Hard Target, Timecop, Replicant, if he doesn't have the flowy hair, he gets ripped apart: Universal Soldiers, The Quest, Sudden Death, Street Fighter, Knock Off, if it isn't hair, he has to have that flowy thing beneath his cap in Legionnaire.
I made my dad watch this movie at the theaters (I think this was the first movie that made me think there are actually movies that are not formatted for the big screen) with me instead of going to see Dark City--which I haven't seen to this day and kick myself in the foot everyday for it.*********SPOILER ALERT: But that said, I mean, when was the last time you saw leathal glasses? The Godfather? And that pillar scene just boosts up the value of the movie. You can question my taste all you want for giving thumbs up for Sudden Death, but at least I don't settle for flowy hair. And just to think that this movie put Tsui Hark in hibernation just to cook up Time and Tide in his come back from hermitage makes this movie pretty important and special. Without this cause, how could there have been the Time and Tide effect?