
(Photo by Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection)
Jean-Claude Van Damme Movies Ranked
We’re ranking the films of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme! We start with his Certified Fresh projects, including voicing Master Croc in Kung Fu Panda 2, and the meta JCVD, which flexed his acting muscles. His Fresh films include John Woo’s American debut Hard Target, villainous turns in Minions: The Rise of Gru and The Expendables 2. And among the fan favorites: prime slabs of ’80s action in Bloodsport and Kickboxer.
82%
Critics Consensus: JCVD is a touching, fascinating piece, with Jean-Claude Van Damme confounding all with his heartfelt performance.
Synopsis: Weary action star Jean-Claude Van Damme (Jean-Claude Van Damme) returns to Belgium to find relief from his troubles but instead stumbles into a bank robbery.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra
Directed By: Mabrouk El Mechri
82%
Critics Consensus: The storyline arc may seem a tad familiar to fans of the original, but Kung Fu Panda 2 offers enough action, comedy, and visual sparkle to compensate.
Synopsis: Now known as the Dragon Warrior, Po protects the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five. However, a... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman
Directed By: Jennifer Yuh Nelson
93%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: One year after avenging his brother's murder, MMA champion Kurt Sloane finds himself imprisoned by a powerful gangster in Thailand. To win back his freedom,... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert, Mike Tyson
Directed By: Dimitri Logothetis
100%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A bouncer agrees to help Interpol hunt down a crime boss so that he can regain custody of his daughter from social services.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sveva Alviti, Sami Bouajila, Sam Louwyck
Directed By: Julien Leclercq
80%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Picked on by Seattle bullies, a karate student (Kurt McKinney) learns enough to face a Soviet (Jean-Claude Van Damme) twice his size.
Starring: Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails, Kathie Sileno
Directed By: Corey Yuen
79%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A former Navy SEAL (Tom Everett Scott) becomes trapped in the wilderness with drug runners and an old enemy (Orlando Jones).
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tom Everett Scott, Orlando Jones, Linzey Cocker
Directed By: Peter Hyams
69%
Critics Consensus: The Minions' antic shenanigans are beginning to grate despite this sequel's injection of retro chic, although this loony marathon of gags will still delight young children.
Synopsis: In the heart of the 1970s, amid a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Oscar® nominee Steve Carell) is growing up in the... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Steve Carell, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA
Directed By: Kyle Balda
68%
Critics Consensus: Taut, violent, and suitably self-deprecating, The Expendables 2 gives classic action fans everything they can reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot-'em-up -- for better and for worse.
Synopsis: Mercenary leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and the rest of the Expendables team reunite when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) hires them... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren
Directed By: Simon West
62%
Critics Consensus: Hard Target gets a boost from John Woo's stylish direction, but at heart, it's still another silly, explosion-dependent action thriller in the Jean-Claude Van Damme oeuvre.
Synopsis: Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a sailor skilled in martial arts, is employed to guard Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) as she tracks down her father,... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Arnold Vosloo, Yancy Butler
Directed By: John Woo
56%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Richard Brumère, aka "La Brume" ("The Mist"), a former French secret service special agent turned mercenary, is back in the saddle as the immunity he... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Alban Ivanov, Assa Sylla, Samir Decazza
Directed By: David Charhon
57%
Critics Consensus: The mooted final installment in the long-running series is a hyper-violent, often grim throwback to action movies of yore -- which will appeal to some audiences just as emphatically as it deters others.
Synopsis: Archenemies Luc Devereaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) contend with a terrifying army of reanimated supersoldiers.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Scott Adkins, Kristopher Van Varenberg
Directed By: John Hyams
53%
Critics Consensus: Sudden Death may not be a classic, but exciting set pieces and strong work from Jean-Claude Van Damme help this action thriller pay off part of its Die Hard debt.
Synopsis: Ex-fireman Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) has a new job working security at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. Hoping to impress his kids, he's scored tickets... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Raymond J. Barry, Whittni Wright
Directed By: Peter Hyams
50%
Critics Consensus: This is where it all began for the Muscles from Brussels, but beyond Van Damme's athleticism, Bloodsport is a cliched, virtually plotless exercise in action movie recycling.
Synopsis: U.S. soldier Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) has come to Hong Kong to be accepted into the Kumite, a highly secret and extremely violent martial-arts... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton
Directed By: Newt Arnold
43%
Critics Consensus: It's no Terminator, but for those willing to suspend disbelief and rational thought, Timecop provides limited sci-fi action rewards.
Synopsis: When mankind perfects time travel, the government establishes the Time Enforcement Commission to thwart criminal attempts to alter the timeline. Police officer Walker (Jean-Claude Van... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, Ron Silver, Bruce McGill
Directed By: Peter Hyams
41%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi) has always been there for his brother, Eric (Darren Shahlavi), who's known in the martial arts world as a modern-day warrior.... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Dave Bautista, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Gina Carano, Alain Moussi
Directed By: John Stockwell
36%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio) is an American kickboxing pro, helped by his brother, Kurt (Jean-Claude Van Damme), in his quest for glory. But when the... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio, Dennis Chan, Michel Qissi
Directed By: Mark DiSalle, David Worth
32%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Nearly 25 years after seeing his father killed by Hong Kong crime boss Raymond Zhang (Philip Chan Yan Kin), Chad Wagner (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis, Alan Scarfe, Alonna Shaw
Directed By: Sheldon Lettich
39%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Léon Gaultier (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a soldier in the French Foreign Legion, serving abroad in East Africa. But after his brother is cruelly murdered,... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page, Lisa Pelikan
Directed By: Sheldon Lettich
34%
Critics Consensus: Universal Soldier unites a pair of veteran action stars behind a potentially intriguing premise, but on this battlefield, entertainment value is largely AWOL.
Synopsis: During the Vietnam War, soldier Luc Devereaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) finds that his superior officer, Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), has turned violently deranged, and the... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Ed O'Ross
Directed By: Roland Emmerich
35%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: French police officer Alain Moreau (Jean-Claude Van Damme) makes an astonishing discovery: Mikhail, a man who died recently in a breakneck car chase, is the... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, Zach Grenier, Jean-Hugues Anglade
Directed By: Ringo Lam
36%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An escaped convict, Sam Gillen travels to a farm to search for money from an earlier heist. While out on the property, he meets pretty... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rosanna Arquette, Kieran Culkin, Ted Levine
Directed By: Robert Harmon
29%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When ambitious boxer Alain LeFevre refuses to accept a mobster's bribe, he ends up with a price on his head. A marked man, LeFevre takes... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniel Caltagirone, Steven Berkoff
Directed By: Peter MacDonald
27%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Detective Jake Riley is on the trail of serial killer Edward "The Torch" Garrotte, who murders mothers and sets them ablaze after they're dead. Nearing... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent, Ian Robison
Directed By: Ringo Lam
22%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In a future beset by chaos and violence, mercenary Gibson Rickenbacker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is charged with a mission that could change everything: protecting beautiful... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Richter, Vincent Klyn, Alex Daniels
Directed By: Albert Pyun
20%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A bullied employee (Adam Brody) must unleash his inner beast after a team-building retreat in the wilderness goes awry.
Starring: Adam Brody, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Megan Boone, Kristen Schaal
Directed By: Rob Meltzer
- -
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A war veteran tries to help a boy and his younger brother when they get mixed up with a vicious drug lord and his gang.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, David Castañeda, Elijah Rodriguez, Nicholas Sean Johnny
Directed By: Lior Geller
14%
Critics Consensus: Jean-Claude Van Damme makes a forgettable directorial debut with The Quest, a bland retread of better heroes' journeys.
Synopsis: In the slums of New York City during the 1920s, petty thief Chris Dubois (Jean-Claude Van Damme) finds himself on the run from the police.... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roger Moore, James Remar, Janet Gunn
Directed By: Jean-Claude Van Damme
15%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A former black-ops agent (Jean-Claude Van Damme) begins a blood-soaked quest to find the organ thieves who stole his kidney before he could donate it... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Darren Shahlavi, Terese Cilluffo, John Ralston
Directed By: Ernie Barbarash
13%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Framed for murder, a man (Jean-Claude Van Damme) must find a sacred scroll in Jerusalem before it falls into the wrong hands.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Charlton Heston, Ben Cross, Sofia Milos
Directed By: Sheldon Lettich
11%
Critics Consensus: Though it offers mild entertainment through campy one-liners and the overacting of the late Raul Julia, Street Fighter's nonstop action sequences are not enough to make up for a predictable, uneven storyline.
Synopsis: Gen. Bison (Raul Julia), the evil dictator of Shadaloo, captures a busload of relief workers and holds them for ransom. Col. Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme)... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Ming-Na Wen, Damian Chapa
Directed By: Steven E. de Souza
11%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An international spy (Jean-Claude Van Damme) teams with a flamboyant weapons dealer (Dennis Rodman) to escape from a penal colony and save his family.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, Mickey Rourke, Paul Freeman
Directed By: Hark Tsui
10%
Critics Consensus: Muddled plot; stiff acting.
Synopsis: Fashion designer Marcus Ray (Jean-Claude Van Damme) has been selling knockoff jeans in Hong Kong, but he's about to get caught -- and not just... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Paul Sorvino
Directed By: Hark Tsui
5%
Critics Consensus: Universal Soldier - The Return fails on almost every level, from its generic story to its second rate action and subpar performances.
Synopsis: After being brought back from the dead as a genetically enhanced warrior, Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is now fully human and working with scientist... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, Heidi Schanz, Xander Berkeley
Directed By: Mic Rodgers
0%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A deep cover operative awakens to find himself imprisoned on a submarine. With the help of a fellow prisoner and an amateur agent, he must... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Kilpatrick, Kristopher Van Varenberg
Directed By: Pasha Patriki
0%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Veteran Eddie (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is on the verge of a breakdown. Depressed and grappling with a difficult loss, he travels to a desert town... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Pat Morita, Danny Trejo, Gabrielle Fitzpatrick
Directed By: John G. Avildsen
0%
Critics Consensus: Derailed is one of those familiar and pulpy cautionary tales that depend largely on implausible coincidences and preposterous twists.
Synopsis: Secret agent Kristoff (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to escort Galina Konstantin (Laura Elena Harring), a thief in possession of a deadly virus, on a... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tomas Arana, Laura Harring, Susan Gibney
Directed By: Bob Misiorowski
0%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An undercover officer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) investigates murder and mayhem in a prison where kickboxing comes in handy.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb, George Dickerson
Directed By: Deran Sarafian


