Trailer
Plot summary
Orphaned as a child, Christopher Dubois looks after a group of young orphans in 1925 New York, stealing and running cons to support them. He robs a group of gangsters, and the struggle that follows brings the police after the children he has promised to look after. Dubois escapes by stowing away on a ship, where pirates seize him and force him into hard labor. The mercenary Lord Edgar Dobbs comes aboard and the two save each other's lives. Dobbs offers to take him home, but instead sells him into slavery on a Siamese island, where he is trained in Muay Thai. Dobbs buys his freedom so he can fight for the United States at the Ghang-gheng, an ancient tournament in the Lost City of Tibet where fighters from many nations compete for a solid gold statue, the Golden Dragon.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Quest (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Martial artist Frank Dux sued Jean-Claude Van Damme in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming he was never properly paid for writing an earlier draft of the story, and sought $900,000 in damages at a jury trial.
- The jury ruled for Van Damme in the Dux lawsuit, but the win still cost him roughly $250,000 in his own legal defense.
- According to Tatum O'Neal's autobiography, Van Damme courted her for the role of journalist Carrie Newton, telling her she was his top choice, and the two briefly dated before he changed his mind and cast Janet Gunn instead.
- Fighter Darren Shahlavi turned down a role in the tournament sequence after producer Moshe Diamant told him he would have to pay his own airfare and housing to take the job.
- Roger Moore said Van Damme had promised him an above-the-title billing credit to sign on, but Moore only learned during the film's promotion that the promise had been broken, deepening his dislike of the star.
- While the budget was publicly quoted as high as $35 to 40 million, Van Damme later told Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas that only $12 million had actually been spent making the film.
