Knock Off - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Knock Off



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
As much as I adore Van Damme, it’s not exactly shocking news to most people that his career was fading from the limelight around 97 and 98. The man went from pumping out hit after hit after hit, to make some questionable choices that had the box office turning against it. As goofy fun as it was, ’96’s Double Team with Dennis Rodman bombed its theatrical release, Maximum Risk (as good as it was) sadly didn’t do as well as expected, and his remake of Bloodsport in the form of The Quest was also a dud. But in 98 he had a chance to work with Hong Kong legend Tsui Hark in an attempt to light the box offices up again….and….well, yeah, Knock Off is a bizarre film that feels both American and Chinese simultaneously, while ostracizing both markets. Don’t get me wrong, I have a soft spot for Knock Off, as it is about as close as we ever got to Van Damme doing a Hong Kong film, but it is certainly one that has its share of problems. Despite being written by the man who had a hand in writing 48 Hours, Die Hard, and The Running Man.

Van Damme plays knock-off fashion entrepreneur Marcus Ray, who works in the Hong Kong district hobnobbing with the fashion elite by day, and making his real money by proliferating knock-off designer products to the rest of the world. He and his partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider) is going to make him a legit businessman. But the thing is, Tommy is working for the CIA, and with the help of his boss Harry (Paul Sorvino), they’re trying to catch some terrorists. The problem is. Harry is playing both sides, and now it’s up to Tommy and Marcus (along with investigator Karen Lee) to try to take down the two-timing CIA boss.

Knock Off is absolutely bonkers, and in both a good and a bad way if you look at it critically. Tsui Hark was a crazy director in Hong Kong, and he imparts his very frenetic and quick-cut styling to this production. Knock Off is never boring, never slows down, and actually has some really cool fight scenes in it (that end fight with the shipping containers is actually really impressive). Well, except for the fact that Van Damme’s stunt double, Todd Senofonte, is even more obvious in this film than he was in Sudden Death. Which was sadly a problem in a lot of Van Damme’s later films.

The flip side of this equation is that we have Rob Schneider. Look, I don’t mind Rob in many of his movies, and I loved his early works with Adam Sandler. But the choice to try and turn him into the comedic relief in action and sci-fi movies (god, I can’t help but shudder when I think of Judge Dredd) was a failed experiment that should never have happened. Sure, Rob is trying his best to pull off his best “Rob Schneider” schtick, but it’s strangely out of place in what is a strangely hypnotic action film that feels both very much Hong Kong, yet very much Hollywood at the same time. Most likely because it’s featuring a lineup of Hollywood stars, but Tsui Hark was allowed to shoot it IN Hong Kong with a local crew of Hong Kong workers. Heck, even the second unit direction was handled by legendary Sammo Hung!

Knock Off SHOULD have been better received than it was with the pedigree behind it, but sadly, the film dive bombed at the box office, and would be one of the last films of his to get a theatrical release before Van Damme was relegated to DTV shelves (Universal Soldier: The Return would be his final one). And all of that being said, I strangely can’t help but watch it every time it came on TV. The movie isn’t great, but the fight sequences are wild and fun, with a strange and goofy tone that is hard to describe if you’ve never experienced it.




Rated R for continuous violence and brief language




Video: Video:

Like most MVD Rewind releases, I couldn’t find any information on what was done to it, and what type of master the film received. Either way, Knock Off has always had this weirdly “worn” aesthetic to it that follows its way from DVD, to the Blu-ray on this disc, and the 4K UHD disc as well. The 4K disc features slightly overboosted contrast that was part of the shooting style, and an overabundance of burnished colors and facial tones that push bronze and a ruddy look simultaneously. The Blu-ray that I sampled looks nice, but the 4K handily outclasses it with better detail levels, stronger blacks, and better grain structure (I sometimes felt like the Blu-ray’s grain could freeze on screen a few times, especially in the beginning). The opening shot underwater is intensely gritty and grainy, while the rest of the film slowly stabilizes to a cleaner and more precise look. One thing to note. Tsui Hark is obsessed with using those “hellish” greens and reds that were so popular in mystical Chinese films, and it looks VERY odd in this modern-day production. But that being said, both the 4K and the Blu-ray disc look pretty good considering how the film was shot and produced. And it’s a welcome chance to FINALLY get rid of my 25-year-old DVD.









Audio:

Same as Double Impact, Knock Off sports a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, with a 2.0 LPCM mix for good measure. I actually like the 5.1 mix more than I liked the 5.1 upmix on Double Impact, mainly due to the fact that this doesn’t feel like a 2.1 mix in 5.1 guise. The surrounds open up a good bit more, with slamming waves, exploding fireworks, and the sound of shipping containers slamming into things from all angles during the final battle. Dialog is clean and clear as expected, with no signs of harshness or being overwhelmed by the pop songs from Sparks.









Extras:

• Interview with Steven E. de Souza
• Interview with Moshe Diamant
• 2020 Interview with Steven E. de Souza
• Making Knock Off
• Theatrical Trailer
• Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

Final Score: ​

Knock Off may be objectively a bad film, but it’s a bad film that feels so Van Damme good if you get into the groove. It’s not for everyone, but the film has garnered a sort of a cult following among Van Damme fans over the years. And, along with Double Team, is one of the few Van Damme films that still needed a proper Blu-ray release (I’m not counting that insanely bad Mill Creek release of Double Team). The 4K UHD looks good, the sound is solid, and we actually get some decent extras on the disc. Again, this is NOT for everyone, but as someone who grew up looking forward to the double feature of Knock Off and Double Team on TNT action nights, it’s worth checking out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Paul Sorvino, Glen Chen
Directed by: Tsui Hark
Written by: Steven E. de Souza
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English LPCM 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: MVD Visual
Rated: R
Runtime: 91 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 17th, 2026

Recommendation: Guilty Watch