Double Impact Information

Double Impact is a 1991 American action film written and directed by Sheldon Lettich and also written, produced by and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme in a double role as Chad and Alex Wagner.

Plot

The story begins with the opening of the Hong Kong Victoria Harbour tunnel by business partners Paul Wagner and Nigel Griffith (Alan Scarfe). Paul attends with his twin infant sons, Chad and Alex. However, after the celebrations, the family is followed home by a Triad hit squad on orders from Griffith and crime lord Raymond Zhang (Philip Chan). A shootout ensues, in which Paul and his wife are killed by Moon (Bolo Yeung), Griffith's henchman. Chad is rescued by the family bodyguard, Frank Avery (Geoffrey Lewis), and raised abroad. Alex is dropped off on the doorstep of a Hong Kong orphanage.

In the present day, Chad (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Frank are running a successful martial arts business in Los Angeles when Frank reveals a new "business" for the two of them in Hong Kong. Soon after arrival, they find Chad's twin brother Alex (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Frank explains their shared past. It is revealed that Alex is immersed in the Hong Kong crime world ruled by Zhang, and has a girlfriend who works for Griffith's company, Danielle Wilde (Alonna Shaw). After escaping the Hong Kong Marine Police for trying to sell foreign cars with electronics inside, Chad (mistaken for Alex) is taken in by the Triads to discuss the incident. During the interrogation, Chad learns about a drug lab in Causeway Bay.

Alex and Chad arrange to destroy the lab by planting C4 in the complex one night, but Chad's clumsiness triggers a massive gunfight. The lab is destroyed, but Chad loses any respect for Alex. Later, Danielle and Alex talk on a ferry and discuss a meeting that will take place soon in a night club in Hong Kong, with Zhang and other bosses in attendance. Alex, Chad and Frank endure their third mission to take down Zhang using Cognac boxes with C4 encased in them.

Zhang discovers that both Chad and Alex are not only twins, but the twins from 25 years ago. Danielle locates the document that she had been sent to recover, but is stopped by Kara (Cory Everson), Griffith's assassin and begins to search Danielle in a sexually aggressive way. Chad heads to the Hideout in a bar where Alex has a base, Chad has to rescue Danielle after fleeing from the triads. This infuriates Alex and he begins to hate Chad even more to the point where Chad leaves the building. Alex reveals that he has no brother on the grounds that he was raised in the streets alone and had no one to help him.

After a massive hangover Alex looks at the building as it is being raided by armed soldiers working for Griffith and Zhang, after locating Frank and Danielle they`re taken hostage on the Golden Glory ship's furnace room where they are tortured. Alex and Chad have join forces and they infiltrate the ship and begin killing off soldiers. Despite ongoing tension between the twins, Chad and Alex eventually team up to start dismantling Zhang's criminal empire. Towards the end of the movie, Zhang and Griffith kidnap Frank and Danielle to lure the twins into a trap. Chad and Alex fight their way through most of the henchmen sent to kill them and finally pursue and kill Zhang and Griffith. Chad and Alex decide to put aside their differences and become brothers once more.

Cast

• Jean-Claude Van Damme "? Chad Wagner / Alex Wagner
• Geoffrey Lewis "? Frank Avery
• Alonna Shaw "? Danielle Wilde
• Bolo Yeung "? Moon
• Alicia Stevenson "? Baby Chad
• Paul Aylett "? Baby Alex
• Alan Scarfe "? Nigel Griffith
• Philip Chan "? Raymond Zhang
• Corrina Everson "? Kara
• Julie Strain "? a student
• Wu Fong Lung "? Chinese nurse
• John Sham "? Hong Kong Marine Police

Critical and box office reception

Double Impact opened on August 9, 1991 to negative critical response where most critics cited it as yet another mindless action movie that only had the gimmick of two Jean-Claude Van Dammes. Roger Ebert gave the film recognition for slick production values. Despite the negative reaction, the film was a commercial hit and spotted at No.2. at the US box office.

Soundtrack

The score by Kempel was released as the Double Impact Original Soundtrack Recordings on 1993 by Silva America. The soundtrack was released on CD contained twelve tracks with a runtime of 40 minutes.

Squeal

In 2010 Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bolo Yeung were giving a martial art demonstration and Vandamme said hopefully one day he and Yeung will put a project together "Double Impact 2" and maybe Yeung will play a friend and not any enemy.

In 2012 Van Damme mentioned in a The Expendables 2 interview he would like to make another Double Impact movie but more serious. During the interview he also gave a rough idea of the plot "Two twins one is coming back from Asia to LA to help his brother who is a con-artist and pretend to be a big Hollywood producer and he's in trouble with the mob".

Also 2012 it was announced that the Double Impact 2 script is written by Van Damme and Sheldon Lettich (who co wrote co-wrote Bloodsport" and Double Impact), Van Damme said "Hopefully, somebody smart enough, like an agent or a producer, can put that back together...I'm excited about it, you know?"

Plot

Chad is a film producer, making movies for a big company. Alex is going on holiday but has some problems with the Triads, because when Chad was in Hong Kong he got a loan of money using Alex's face. Alex then goes to Los Angeles to find Chad and discovers he has gotten a girl pregnant, and that she's the sister of a big boss from South Central.