The contest format is hopelessly repetitive and inert, the characters would seem underdeveloped in a comic book, and the restricted setting ensures that the action will never develop any real scale or velocity.

Hacking through the jungle of cliche and reservoir of bad acting in Bloodsport are some pretty exciting matches.

A well-plucked turkey, humourless and plagued by a script full of stilted mumbo-jumbo.

It may be focused rather single-mindedly on ruthless hand-to-hand combat, accentuating muscly he-men who are often shirtless, but the repetition isn’t too bad.