On December 3, 2024, Lionsgate is releasing a SteelBook for Kickboxer on 4K Ultra HD. Directed by Mark DiSalle (The Perfect Weapon) and David Worth (American Tigers), this 1989 cult martial arts hit further elevated the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme (Black Water), and was responsible of the sparking the kickboxing boom of the 80s and 90s.
In the film, kickboxing champ Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio) is crippled in the ring by the evil Tong Po (Michel Qissi). Eric’s younger brother, Kurt (Van Damme), seeks vengeance. Kurt learns Muay-Thai from fight guru Xian Chow (Dennis Chan). Thanks to Chow’s unconventional training methods, Kurt becomes an expert kickboxer.
Details and features have yet to be announced, but there is a possibility that we may be seeing an uncut version, or at least a well-equipped edition, of this upcoming release. Blu-ray.com member JoelGoodsen had this to say:
As most of you probably know, I am a HUGE Kickboxer fan and own a 100% complete uncut copy on disc. The last year or so I have been driving everyone crazy in the Kino thread (sorry people!), championing for a UNCUT Kickboxer 4K with original audio. I’ve made no secret of how they butchered the US cut and it is unwatchable to me. The dubbing of Dennis Alexio’s voice and cutting out a couple decent scenes (Kurt visiting Eric in hospital) are a couple examples of why. The uncut version is the superior film by far. Besides driving everyone insane in the Kino thread, behind the scenes, I was also emailing Lionsgate and making a passionate plea for it to happen. I reached out to basically everyone I could at Lionsgate.
In November, Lionsgate responded to me and said that due to my constant plea and request, they were going to do a Kickboxer 4K! (very proud moment for me personally. Hard work and persistence can pay off in life sometimes!). As you can imagine, I was over the moon and had a few bottles of MGD that night!
I was put in touch with the mastering department at Lionsgate, where I provided them via file transfer, my UNCUT copy of Kickboxer. Lionsgate told me that they have been searching for an uncut film print of Kickboxer, because as you know, you can’t make a 4K without a film print, but so far, they had not found anything. All they had in their possession at their Burbank lab was a 1" C PAL tape dubbed in German. Due to this, I also extracted the original non dubbed audio from my uncut disc and provided the audio track to them.
Once I knew they had not been able to find any film prints so far, I literally reached out to numerous people and sources to see if I could find a uncut film print for them to use. I did have some minor success in locating a possible print, but as I do not work for LG and are basically just a passionate fan on a labour of love mission, I could only get so far. After exhausting every avenue and doing as much research as I could, I provided all possible leads to LG. Hopefully one of those leads has turned into something positive. I do know that if a UK film print was found, you could technically make a near fully uncut version with the US version.
Lionsgate informed me that nothing is set in stone yet, but if they can’t find a film print of the uncut version to do a 4K, they may just include it as a special feature in SD or HD up-conversion. This is where the uncut English audio I provided should come in handy.
A couple weeks ago, I had a 10 minute phone conversation with director Mark DiSalle, who kindly gave me his time, even though he was walking his dog! I have also been in touch with co-director David Worth. Mr. Worth said he would happily provide a audio commentary and for me to set it up as he is ready whenever. He shot alot of scenes, such as the deleted hospital scene. I also have a few other cool things that I would like to provide and have offered to make this disc special. I have reached out to Mr. Felsher, but no response so far. I know the film like the back of my hand, so I have offered assistance should any prints turn up or any help is needed on special features. This is the one and only chance we will ever get for a uncut Kickboxer special edition. Hopefully we get plenty interviews etc.
In a nutshell; I have provided Lionsgate with a uncut copy for reference and the original English audio track from the uncut version. The good people at Lionesgate are doing everthing they can to release the uncut version on 4K, but it all comes down to finding a film print, which I have done my best to find/provide links for them and they are also doing their best looking for a uncut print. Hoping to speak to LG over the coming months, but it is a wait and see what happens situation in regards to a uncut print at the moment.
A personal big thank you from myself to Lionsgate for hearing the plea of this passionate film fan, allowing me to provide a copy of the uncut version/audio and giving Kickboxer a chance on 4K. I apologise for driving you all insane! haha. Hopefully I can help out with the release in the meantime and the release turns out as good as possible. Please keep in mind, it is still months away, things could change and nothing is set in stone. Lionsgate are doing their best and we can look forward to a final announcement when all the work is done.
That’s a fantastic story of how one Fan can make a difference. I’ll cross my fingers for the 4k being included but I’ll get it anyway (I am hoping they didn’t pull the trigger until they’d exhausted all leads because I’ll be miffed if an uncut release follows in 6 months).
What does he mean when he says he has an uncut copy on disc? Surely it can’t be a regular DVD because he mentions uploading to the LG guys.
It’s unclear. Hardcore collectors have ways ti find things - it’s unlikely to be a commercial release but it might have been from a limited run somewhere back before we knew every little bit of minutiae. From what they say about the UK film print, it seems that releases in other territories had different cuts, so it could be they are well in with someone who has mangaged to get an uncut print (or knows someone who knows someone), a bit like the people who own “missing” episodes of Doctor Who after scouring the basements of third world TV stations.
Wow, Joel has been tireless in his effort to get the ultimate edition of this film on disc. He says in the linked thread that he even reached out to large JCVD fan pages on Instagram to ask them to put out the call to see if anyone owned an uncut Kickboxer film print (so Lionsgate could produce the uncut 4K). Not a single one was willing to ask their subscribers.
