Feb 24 2010
Who Would You Rather Be in the 80s? Jean Claude Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren?
This is one hell of a debate. You just can’t teach the awesomeness of a JCVD and a Dolph Lundgren. I mean when you think 80′s and early 9os action stars you can’t leave these guys out.
No, they weren’t A-list actors but come on guys. It’s impossible to mess with characters like Ivan Drago, He-Man, and basically anything Van Damme did before 1989.
It’s as great a topic as any and I’ve used 5 criteria below to make the comparison
Body Comparison
Let’s face it. While it might be a little homoerotic to discuss this, it’s a factor. Van Damme and Lundgren are chiseled as all hell. However, Van Damme is apparently 5’8 or 5’9 and that just sucks. Lundgren is an imposing 6’5 and some say 6’6. When this guy moves, the room moves. I think I’d rather be a Lundgren in terms of body.
Edge – Dolph
Dancing Ability
Let’s just go to the video tape on these.
Van Damme
now Dolph
Edge – JCVD
Martial Arts Ability
Lundgren didn’t really get into martial arts until a bit later in his career and seeing him in a movie with Brandon Lee was just kind of weird. Like, I don’t believe in Lundgren as a martial arts star. Whereas Van Damme? Come on! The guy bleeds martial arts. Plus the splits give him the edge.
Edge – JCVD
Women in Their Lives
Lundgren has been linked to Janice Dickinson, Leslie Ann, Paula Barbieri, Samantha Phillips, Grace Jones, Stephanie Adams and Annette Qviberg.
Van Damme has been linked to Jewel, Princess Stephanie, Savannah Samson, Tatum O’Neal, Kylie Minogue, Glady Portugues, and more.
I think Lundgren had hotter chicks but Van Damme was the more wild partier
Edge – Dolph
Overall Coolness
This one is tough. Van Damme definitely seems like the more outgoing of the two but I think more crazy of the two. Dolph seems more low key and might just be a “better” guy. But remember, we’re talking 80s here. It’s a very tough call.
Edge – Tie
Final Verdict
While overall we are looking at a tie here I think it just comes down to who I’d rather look like. I gotta give the edge to Lundgren. It’s very close though.
More Unreal Posts
Extra point for Dolph – he has a degree in Chemical Engineering. Let’s see JCVD top that.
Dolph. He speaks 5 lanuages, has that Chemical Engineering degree from MIT. That means he can pick up hotties from all over the world, even Russia’s Miss Atom.
Dolph. Van Damme got his ass knocked out by Chuck Zito.
Please… Dolph!
…why? Because Dolph is an Adonis and JCVD looks like a roided out Pig.
Dolph Lundgren for sure because he “nose” crime.
OK thank God I said Dolph.
Yeah, Dolph in a landslide. Beyond the education, I wouldn’t be able to get over the height advantage. Even with JCVDs physique he would still struggle to see over people and possibly would suffer from a Napoleon complex. At Dolph’s height he would command everyone’s attention in nearly every room he walked into.
I would rather be Dolph. Solely because his hair is better.
hmm.. i think i’m the only one who’d stick with jcvd… can’t explain why…
maybe cause i hate blonde guys…
am blonde by myself… should i hate myself now?
I’d go with Dolph because he’s really smart. He also seems like less of a douche in real life, though it’s hard to judge that for sure.
Dave, thank you so much for saying that!
Im going with Mr. Bloodsport.
Plus, Van Damme has kicked Dolph’s ass in TWO Universal Soldier films.
Dolph was the European karate champion in 1980 and 1981, in what way does that constitute not getting into martial arts until later in his career?
I had zero clue about that Mark. Guess that makes him even more badass. Put it this way, he didn’t do martial arts in movies until past 1990.
I meet Dolph a few years back in Sweden, during my Kyokushin karate camping. He has a 3rd degree black belt.
He was awesome and super nice. I’ll vote for Dolph.
Oops, wrong link above… here you go http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/VanDammedia/Items/towaleed02.jpg
I also forgot to mention that Van Damme won 18-1 int’l fight competitions by KO before being a movie star (under the name Jean-Claude Van Varenberg) and he’s taking a real Muay Thai fight in Las Vegas on October 2010 too!
Jean-Claude Van Damme is a true legend in my eye’s he is someone I look up to very much and respect he has given me a lot of inspiration in my life and that is why he is my idol.
Both Van Damme & Lundgren are my top action heroes…but I’d say Jean-Claude Van Damme rules! I mean come ‘n, he is one of the top three int’l 80s/90s action heroes along with Schwarzenegger & Stallone! He is still in great shape and he’s a smart person. I read some comment above that compares who of the 2 stars speaks more languages, well, Van Damme speaks French, Dutch/German, Spanish and English…he even spoke to me in Arabic better than I do! Plus, you go to any country in the world and say “Van Damme” everyone knows who he is…but you say “Lundgren” some people say “Who?” — with huge respect to Mr. Lundgren but it is the truth.
Go to Facebook.com ‘n check the fan numbers on both Van Damme’s and Lundgren’s fan pages = Van Damme all the way, pals.
you wrote [No, they weren’t A-list actors but come on guys. It’s impossible to mess with characters like Ivan Drago, He-Man, and basically anything Van Damme did before 1989.]
1- who said that van damme and lundgren are not A-list actors? there are millions arround the world who see them as A-list actors, so why would we listen to the few critics? lol
2- 1989? but van damme made Lionheart in 1990, Double Impact (1991), Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994), Maximum Risk (1996), Double Team (1997), Replicant (2001), In Hell (2003), Wake of Death (2004), Until Death (2007) and JCVD in 2008
i can’t remember all his great movies but do u have any idea how succesful are these films worldwide not only in usa?
we are talking about 2 walking legends here. but to make a choice, i say jean claude van damme is the one!
Vam did baley to gain fantastic balance. Dolph can not throw kicks like vandamme and keep his balance. Y h dolphs bigger but slower. Van damme wins all the wayVan damme looks fantastic in his films and he has spARED in real life
Jean Claude Van Dmme will make him look silly. van damme was born a fighter will fantastic flexabilityb. you all go for dolph because he’s bigger. size dont matter its technique. JCVD is faster and wizer
Van damme looks better, moves better, fights better u are a dik if u don’t agree
Van damme was also european kickboxing champion……. His record is for us all to see on wikipedia…. just look it up…. Lundgren is also bad ass tho, but out of the two, van damme wins.
I am a fan of both, but I strongly prefer JCVD’s work — just b/c it is heavier on the martial arts. For the same reason I also like David Bradley’s films — he moves like JCVD, and is also a martial arts champion (that is how he was scouted for American Ninja 3) — Dudikoff didn’t know jack in the first film, and only began training martial arts for AN2. Bradley was the real deal from the start.
Back to Dolph and JCVD… but when it comes to their physiques, Dolph’s is just FAR more imposing! If only Dolph had more martial arts fights in his films — they are just too few and far between. There were some good moments in “I Come In Peace” and “Showdown…”, perhaps “Bridge of Dragons” too, but that is about it. JCVD often puts down the guns in favor of kicks. Isn’t that what you’d want from a martial arts film?
I also like Scott Adkins, Bryan Genesse, and Gary Daniels… all three are AMAZING kickboxers in their own rite (Genesse also does Kung Fu).
Dolph Lundgren all the way!
His height, his hair, his coolness, his intelligence, his cold blue eyes makes it an easy choice.