Kickboxer
The first of two Jean-Claude Van Damme flicks on this list, ‘Kickboxer’ is a late 1980’s classic. Don’t let the fact that this movie is close to three decades old fool you, it’s still an absolutely enjoyable film.
Yeah, sure the fight sequences are absurd. Van Damme effortlessly delivers multiple kicking combinations with the same leg while flexing his muscles as the other guy, a villain with a rad ponytail, wrecks cement pillars with his rock hard shins.
Is it realistic? No. Do we care? No. There is a remake of this film in production starring Batista and GSP, but it’s still worth watching the original.
Kickboxer is an ode to Muay Thai more than to MMA but, well, Muay Thai is one of the biggest aspects of MMA so this movie is definitely worthy of this list. And plus Van Damme was really, really cool back in the day.
If you haven’t seen it yet, just give it a try. You won’t regret it.
