This movie is considered the magum opus for Jean-Claude Van Damme and turned him into a star. Based on the story of real life martial artist Frank Dux. Frank had gone to Hong Kong to be accepted into the Kumite, a highly secret and extremely violent martial-arts competition. While trying to gain access into the underground world of clandestine fighters, he also has to avoid military officers who consider him to be AWOL. Frank enters the kumite to fight for a fight to the death.
Frank's story was published in Black Belt magazine in 1980 and he claimed he was the only person that was allowed to talk about the tournament in public. For years, no one could find any connections or evidence that the Kumite ever existed. Despite having no evidence the story caught the attention of Hollywood and the movie movie was created.
Bloodsport continue to have influence on pop-culture for decades to come.
Bloodsport and the Kumite was cited to have heavy influence on the development of Mortal Kombat. Game developer Midway originally wanted Van Damme as a character but was unsuccessful in attracting the actor. So the character Johnny Cage was created as a substitute.
Mortal Kombat was groundbreaking in fighting games and video game violence. The video game rating system was birthed over the outage of having the ability to dismember your opponent after beating them. There is no denying the impact that Mortal Kombat would have in entertainment.