THE QUEST

"THE QUEST"
(1996) (Jean Claude Van Damme, Roger Moore) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Minor	Moderate	Minor	Moderate

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	None	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Moderate	Minor	Minor	Heavy

QUICK TAKE:: A street hustler competes in a contest of the world's best fighters.

PLOT:: The time is 1925. Chris DuBois (JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME) is a N.Y. city street hustler, ally to the street urchins, and foe to the police and local gangs he steals from. Escaping from the police, he ends up on a cargo ship and is soon enslaved. Freed by Lord Dobbs (ROGER MOORE), a black marketeer, he ends up being bartered to an island native who trains fighters for a secret, invitation only competition. The best fighters from all over the world have been invited to determine the international champion, who, by the way, will take home a huge solid gold dragon. The gold spikes the interest of Dobbs who "buys back" Chris and then plots on how to steal the dragon, since he doesn't believe Chris has a legitimate chance of winning it. The film ends up with a prolonged fight competition, showcasing the physical prowess and agility of fighters from all over the world.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they like Van Damme or similar martial arts type films.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For adventure violence and martial arts fights.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME plays a street hustler (who steals for food and fights with the police) who is thrust into a fight competition where he must use his physical prowess to survive.
ROGER MOORE plays a black marketeer who only looks out for himself and any profit he might be able to make.; ROGER MOORE plays a black marketeer who only looks out for himself and any profit he might be able to make.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: A bartender offers to pour some whiskey into a cup of coffee.
People are occasionally seen drinking in the background of scenes.

BLOOD/GORE: Surprisingly little (for all the fighting that occurs) -- just a few bloody lips.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Three thugs rob a bar and threaten the bartender with a knife.
Chris and his young protegees steal in order to survive ("If we want something, we take it...") -- they steal money out of an office.
Chris fights with the police as they try to apprehend him.
A gang member holds his gun to the back of a child's head demanding his money or the kid's life.
Finding Chris as a "stowaway" on their ship, a group of sailors make him their slave and treat him poorly.
Three local bullies pick on a weaker teen.
Chris knocks out two people in order to steal their clothes for a disguise.
Dobbs and his accomplice essentially are thieves, in this story they decide to steal a solid gold dragon.
This is minor considering all of the above, but here it is anyway: "Shut up" is uttered twice.

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: Minor: Escaping from the police, Chris leaps onto and then hangs from a cargo crate high above the ground.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Knife: Used during a bar robbery.
Machine guns/Hand guns: A local gang returns to retrieve their money from Chris and the kids, and shoot the place to pieces. In addition one of the members holds a hand gun to one of the kid's heads. During the ensuing fight, a pistol goes off and strikes a child in the arm.
Naval warfare: Cannons and guns are fired, injuring and killing people.
Straight razor: Used to threaten a tied-up Chris on a ship.
Cross bows: Fired at, and bring down, a German dirigible (being used to steal the gold dragon).

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: All of the martial arts scenes may inspire lots of kicking and punching.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 1 "s" word, 4 Hell's, 1 ass, 1 bastard.

SEX/NUDITY: Part of a sumo wrestler's buttocks is seen, as are another competitor's as he lies on the floor.
Upon seeing an attractive reporter Dobbs bets 50 pounds that he can gain "the most intimate knowledge of her."

SMOKING: Both Dobs and his accomplice smoke cigars throughout the movie.
A woman smokes a cigarette.
Another man smokes a cigar.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: There is a dream/flashback scene where Chris as a child is told by a woman that things don't look good since his mother is very ill and then she gets up and leaves him orphaned in the city park.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Fighting and it's effects on the body (not realistically portrayed by any means).
Being abandoned if your parents get sick.

VIOLENCE: (All of the fighting listed below includes kicks and punches to the head, body and occasionally the groin area.)
Chris thwarts a bar robbery by beating up two of the three robbers (one who holds a knife to a bartender).
Chris strikes several policemen as they try to bully him off the street.
A local gang returns for their money and shoots the kids place to pieces and one of them holds a gun to the back of a child's head until Chris beats them all up.
A sailor threatens Chris with a straight razor.
There is a naval battle between several ships: Cannons and guns are fired from ship to ship, injuring and killing people.
Some locals on a beach attack Chris unexpectedly to test his readiness for fighting.
Three local bullies pick on and beat a weaker local and Chris comes to the rescue by beating them up.
Chris knocks out two people in order to steal their clothes for a disguise.
One of the competitors comes into a room and knocks out one of Chris' companions.
The heavyweight champion, Maxie Devine, picks a fight with Chris (big mistake!) and of course gets beat up.
There are two short scenes of kickboxing before the big final competition.
Big final competition: Extended scenes where the competitors finally face off and there is much violence (punching, kicking, strangling, etc...)
A competitor is killed as his opponent raises him in the air and then drops him down breaking his neck (or back -- we can't really tell).
And finally, there is the obligatory last fight scene where Chris is beaten to a pulp, but somehow, incredibly, gets to his feet, and then beats the pulp out of his evil opponent.

Reviewed April 26, 1996

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