{ "id": "eprpxt4ag7", "slug": "knock-off", "title": "Knock Off", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", 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"geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Knock Off is a 1998 action comedy directed by Tsui Hark, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a Hong Kong counterfeit-goods dealer caught in a terrorist conspiracy.", "snippet": "Knock Off is a 1998 action comedy directed by Tsui Hark, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a Hong Kong counterfeit-goods dealer caught in a terrorist conspiracy.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-comedies.action-comedies-1970s-to-1990s", "markdown": "# Knock Off\n\n**Knock Off** is a 1998 action comedy film directed by [Tsui Hark](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsui-hark), starring [Jean-Claude Van Damme](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-claude-van-damme) as a Hong Kong counterfeit-goods dealer who is drawn into a terrorist conspiracy involving micro-bombs hidden in counterfeit jeans. It was written by Steven E. de Souza, produced by Nansun Shi, and released theatrically in the United States by [TriStar Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/tristar-pictures) on September 4, 1998.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61004-KNOCK-OFF?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Knock-Off) It was the second of two Hollywood films Tsui Hark made with Van Damme, after *Double Team* (1997), and the last before he returned to Hong Kong productions.[3](https://www.filmcomment.com/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | September 4, 1998 (wide, Sony/TriStar); R rating; 90 minutes[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Knock-Off) |\n| Cast | Jean-Claude Van Damme (Marcus Ray), Rob Schneider (Tommy Hendricks), Lela Rochon (Karen), Paul Sorvino (Johansson)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61004-KNOCK-OFF?cxt=filmography) |\n| Key crew | Director Tsui Hark; writer Steven E. de Souza; cinematographer Arthur Wong; editor Mak Chi Sin; music by Ron Mael and Russell Mael[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61004-KNOCK-OFF?cxt=filmography) |\n| Budget and gross | $35 million budget; $10,319,915 domestic gross; $7.8 million overseas[4](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1998-2/knock-off/) |\n| Opening weekend | $5,516,231 from 1,800 theaters, ranking #4 behind *There's Something About Mary*[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Knock-Off) • [4](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1998-2/knock-off/) |\n| Critical scores | Metascore 37 (generally unfavorable); 9% on the Tomatometer from 43 reviews; 27% audience score[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/knock-off/critic-reviews/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_off) |\n| Setting | Hong Kong's counterfeit-goods trade in the 72 hours before the 1997 handover to China[7](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/knockoff) • [8](https://nitrateonline.com/1998/rknockoff) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and setting\n\nThe story opens 72 hours before Britain hands Hong Kong back to China. Marcus Ray (Van Damme), a fashion designer called the \"King of the Knock-Offs,\" sells counterfeit jeans in Hong Kong with his partner Tommy Hendricks (Schneider). A shipment of jeans to the United States proves counterfeit, and Ray's company's products turn out to be the housing for thousands of tiny micro-bombs scheduled for shipment to America as part of a Russian Mafia plot to hold United States security for ransom. Ray's partner and his boss Karen (Rochon) are both undercover CIA agents, and Ray must help the agency prevent the attack.[7](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/knockoff) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_off)\n\nThe title refers to cheap, Hong Kong-made copies of brand-name goods, from dolls to jeans.[9](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/sep/09/knock-off-big-turnoff/) The film opens with a crate of dolls submerged in Hong Kong harbor that explode and kill Russian-speaking divers, and it closes with fireworks over [Victoria Harbour](https://www.edgepedia.org/victoria-harbour) celebrating the just-completed handover.[8](https://nitrateonline.com/1998/rknockoff) • [10](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/so-close-to-real-tsui-hark-s-knock-off-at-25) Reviewers noted that the historic background often seemed incidental to the plot; the [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-chronicle)'s Bob Graham called it \"almost irrelevant,\" as in Wayne Wang's *Chinese Box*, the other film set during the handover.[11](https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Van-Damme-s-Knock-Off-Not-Quite-the-Real-Deal-2992544.php)\n\n## Production\n\nVan Damme had courted Tsui Hark intensively, flying to Hong Kong several times and then sending lawyers, producers, and others to meet at the director's convenience. Tsui, who had wanted to examine the Hollywood film industry, stayed in Los Angeles and agreed to direct two films for Van Damme: *Double Team* (1997) and *Knock Off*.[3](https://www.filmcomment.com/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/) Neither film was shot in the United States, and a large part of *Knock Off* was shot in Hong Kong to keep costs under control. Tsui parted ways with the producers when they would not give what he felt was enough screen time to the film's [Chinese characters](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-characters).[3](https://www.filmcomment.com/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/)\n\nThe film was financed by MDP Worldwide, which took the project to the 1997 American Film Market for pre-sales; distributor sales covered the majority of the $35 million budget. Sony acquired domestic distribution in late March 1998, first dating the film for August 21 before moving it to the [Labor Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/labor-day) frame of September 4 to avoid *Blade*. It was not screened for critics.[4](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1998-2/knock-off/) [Sammo Hung](https://www.edgepedia.org/sammo-hung) served as second unit director and Yuen Bing as action director.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-07-ca-20236-story.html)\n\nThe band Sparks wrote the theme song, which opens with the lines \"I confess that this is really not my song / I bought it in Hong Kong / It's a knock off\"; Ron and [Russell Mael](https://www.edgepedia.org/russell-mael) are credited with the music.[10](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/so-close-to-real-tsui-hark-s-knock-off-at-25) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61004-KNOCK-OFF?cxt=filmography)\n\n## Style and reception\n\nCritics divided sharply over Tsui's visual approach. The Los Angeles Times' Kevin Thomas, one of the few reviewers allowed a preview, called it \"fast, light and funny\" and \"one of Van Damme's best movies ever,\" praising Arthur Wong's \"breathtakingly mobile camera work.\"[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-07-ca-20236-story.html) Others described the same qualities as flaws: the New York Times' Lawrence Van Gelder wrote that the film \"runs breathlessly over land and water in familiar comic book fashion, offering more action than sense,\" and the Austin Chronicle's Russell Smith summed it up as \"loud, stupid, blurry, frenetic.\"[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/knock-off/critic-reviews/) The aggregated scores reflect the negative balance: a Metascore of 37, with 6 of 13 counted reviews negative, and a 9% Tomatometer with the critics consensus \"Muddled plot; stiff acting.\"[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/knock-off/critic-reviews/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_off)\n\nAudiences were also unenthusiastic: the film received a D+ CinemaScore and fell 65.1% in its second weekend.[4](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1998-2/knock-off/) Against the $35 million budget, the domestic run closed at $10,319,915 and overseas grosses added only $7.8 million.[4](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1998-2/knock-off/)\n\n## Retrospective view\n\nLater commentary has treated the film more generously as a document of its moment. A MUBI Notebook essay marking the film's 25th anniversary argued that its frenetic plotting and visual style, mixing slow motion, undercranking, superimposition, freeze frames, and special effects, channel the instability of Hong Kong at the handover and of a globalized world of counterfeit goods and unmoored images.[10](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/so-close-to-real-tsui-hark-s-knock-off-at-25) The Film Comment interview notes that both Van Damme films, while not triumphs, featured innovative cinematography and introduced Tsui to non-linear digital editing systems.[3](https://www.filmcomment.com/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/) The film has since received a 4K Ultra HD restoration from the original camera negative in its 2.35:1 aspect ratio, released by MVD Rewind Collection with new interviews with de Souza and producer Moshe Diamant.[13](https://mvdshop.com/products/knock-off-2-disc-collectors-edition-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Knock Off (1998), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61004-KNOCK-OFF?cxt=filmography)\n2. [Knock Off (1998), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Knock-Off)\n3. [An Annotated Tsui Hark Interview (Part II), Film Comment](https://www.filmcomment.com/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/)\n4. [Knock Off (1998), Bomb Report](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1998-2/knock-off/)\n5. [Knock Off Critic Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/knock-off/critic-reviews/)\n6. [Knock Off, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_off)\n7. [Knock Off, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/knockoff)\n8. [Knock Off, Nitrate Online review (1998)](https://nitrateonline.com/1998/rknockoff)\n9. ['Knock Off' Big Turnoff, The Spokesman-Review (1998)](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/sep/09/knock-off-big-turnoff/)\n10. [So Close to Real: Tsui Hark's \"Knock Off\" at 25, MUBI Notebook](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/so-close-to-real-tsui-hark-s-knock-off-at-25)\n11. [Van Damme's `Knock Off' Not Quite the Real Deal, San Francisco Chronicle (1998)](https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Van-Damme-s-Knock-Off-Not-Quite-the-Real-Deal-2992544.php)\n12. ['Knock Off' Is the Real Thing: Fast, Funny, Los Angeles Times (1998)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-07-ca-20236-story.html)\n13. [Knock Off (2-Disc Collector's Edition) (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray), MVD Shop](https://mvdshop.com/products/knock-off-2-disc-collectors-edition-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action comedies › Action comedies, 1970s to 1990s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Knock Off\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Knock Off](https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off](https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Knock Off\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/knock-off. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Knock Off is a 1998 action comedy directed by Tsui Hark, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a Hong Kong counterfeit-goods dealer caught in a terrorist conspiracy." }