# Double Team (film)
**Double Team** is a 1997 action film directed by the Hong Kong filmmaker [Tsui Hark](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsui-hark), starring [Jean-Claude Van Damme](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-claude-van-damme) as counter-terrorist agent Jack Quinn, Dennis Rodman as weapons specialist Yaz, and [Mickey Rourke](https://www.edgepedia.org/mickey-rourke) as the international terrorist Stavros.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/double-team-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtexmde) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team) It was released by Columbia Pictures on April 4, 1997, ran 94 minutes, and carried an R rating.[3](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/double-team.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Tsui Hark, in the first of his two American films, both Van Damme vehicles (the other was *Knock Off*, 1998)[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/double-team-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtexmde) • [4](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789622090569.pdf) |
| Cast | Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, Mickey Rourke, [Paul Freeman](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-freeman-actor), Natacha Lindinger, Valeria Cavalli[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/double-team-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtexmde) |
| Release | April 4, 1997, Columbia Pictures, R rating, 94 minutes[3](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/double-team.html) |
| Writers and crew | Story and screenplay by Don Jakoby with Paul Mones; cinematography by Peter Pau; music by Gary Chang[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119013/fullcredits/) |
| Rodman's debut | Dennis Rodman's first motion picture, released in April 1997[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team) • [6](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1997/04/03/It-had-to-happen-Dennis-Rodman-is-in/4465860043600/) |
| Box office | Budget of $30 million; one source reports approximately $48.14 million grossed, another calls the film a box-office bomb taking in $11.4 million[7](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/1153229) • [8](https://moviemansguide.com/main/2019/06/review-double-team-bd/) |
| Critical score | Metascore of 44 on Metacritic, categorized as mixed or average[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/double-team/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Jack Quinn, a top counter-terrorist agent, is ready to leave the spy game when the evil Stavros kidnaps his wife and unborn son.[10](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/doubleteam) After Jack kills Stavros's son, he is sent to a high-security retirement colony for superspies who have gone soft.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team) When his wife and newborn son are kidnapped, Jack escapes the colony with the help of Yaz, a deadly arms dealer, to finish the job and save his family.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team) • [10](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/doubleteam)
## Production and context
**A Hong Kong crossover.** Double Team continued Van Damme's pattern of working with Hong Kong action directors on their American debuts: [John Woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-woo)'s *Hard Target* (1993), Ringo Lam's *[Maximum Risk](https://www.edgepedia.org/maximum-risk)* (1996), and now Tsui Hark, his third famous Hong Kong director.[11](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/double-team) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team) Tsui, known in Hong Kong for films such as the *Once Upon a Time in China* and *[A Chinese Ghost Story](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-chinese-ghost-story-epmq3fs21g)* series, made *Double Team* as the first of two American movies before returning his focus to Hong Kong productions.[12](https://psychotronic.info/1997/04/04/double-team/) • [4](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789622090569.pdf)
The film was produced by Mandalay Entertainment with Moshe Diamant producing, on a budget of $30 million.[3](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/double-team.html) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119013/fullcredits/) • [7](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/1153229) Screen Slate notes it was made for less than half the budget of John Woo's *Face/Off*, released the same year.[11](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/double-team)
Rodman, then a [Chicago Bulls](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-bulls) champion and one of professional basketball's most flamboyant figures, made his film debut in the role of Yaz, a weapons dealer, appearing opposite Van Damme and Rourke.[6](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1997/04/03/It-had-to-happen-Dennis-Rodman-is-in/4465860043600/)
## Style and set pieces
The film is bookended by large set pieces: an early carnival scene with slow-motion shoot-outs and fiery explosions, and a final showdown between Van Damme and Rourke, flanked by a [Bengal tiger](https://www.edgepedia.org/bengal-tiger), in the Roman Colosseum.[11](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/double-team) • [9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/double-team/critic-reviews/) Between them, the bulk of the runtime plays as a hybrid of prison movie and political intrigue, with action sequences including a fight against a man wielding a knife between his toes, underwater combat with lasers, and an escape scheme in which Van Damme's character slices his own fingerprint off.[11](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/double-team)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to negative. The film holds a Metascore of 44 on Metacritic, with 4 positive, 10 mixed, and 8 negative reviews among 22 counted.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/double-team/critic-reviews/) The Los Angeles Times's Kevin Thomas called it a slam-bang film positioned to connect with action fans at home and abroad, while the [Chicago Tribune](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-tribune)'s Michael Wilmington described it as "loony but likable" and credited Tsui with making it work.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/double-team/critic-reviews/) Variety praised its visually exciting set pieces in tourist locations and its shrewd eye for the international market, where Van Damme was a bigger draw than in the United States.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/double-team/critic-reviews/) Movieguide, reviewing for families, called it novelty action fare overwhelmed by graphic violence and a poor script.[3](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/double-team.html)
Rodman received Golden Raspberry nominations for Worst Supporting Actor and Worst New Star, though the VideoHound entry notes he "easily steals the flick" with most of the good lines.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team)
Box-office figures conflict between sources: one database lists a $30 million budget and approximately $48.14 million grossed,[7](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/1153229) while a Blu-ray review states the film "bombed at the box office taking in a mere $11.4M."[8](https://moviemansguide.com/main/2019/06/review-double-team-bd/)
## Legacy
Retrospective commentary treats the film as a distinctive artifact of late-1990s action cinema. Screen Slate calls it one of the more colorful, strange, and unclassifiable Hollywood action films of the 90s, arriving just before Van Damme's move to direct-to-video work and Hollywood's shift toward CGI spectacle.[11](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/double-team) The British Board of Film Classification records a 93-minute cinema version classified on April 23, 1997, and shorter 89-minute home entertainment versions from 1998 and 1999.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/double-team-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtexmde)
## References
1. [Double Team, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/double-team-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtexmde)
2. [Double Team, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever via Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/double-team)
3. [Double Team, Movieguide review, April 4, 1997](https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movies/double-team.html)
4. [Kenneth Chan, Remade in Hollywood: The Global Chinese Presence in Transnational Cinemas, Hong Kong University Press](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789622090569.pdf)
5. [Double Team (1997) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119013/fullcredits/)
6. [It had to happen. Dennis Rodman is in..., UPI Archives, April 3, 1997](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1997/04/03/It-had-to-happen-Dennis-Rodman-is-in/4465860043600/)
7. [Double Team box office and production data, New On Netflix USA](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/1153229)
8. [Double Team Blu-ray Review, Movieman's Guide to the Movies](https://moviemansguide.com/main/2019/06/review-double-team-bd/)
9. [Double Team Critic Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/double-team/critic-reviews/)
10. [Double Team, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/doubleteam)
11. [Double Team, Screen Slate, June 13, 2022](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/double-team)
12. [Double Team, Psychotronic Film Society, April 4, 1997](https://psychotronic.info/1997/04/04/double-team/)
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*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*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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