As others have mentioned, both are kind of douchebags in real life, so I call that a tie.
JCVD is a better action star. As a former body builder, he has a better physique. And while martial arts aren’t about flashiness, when it’s on film, it needs to be. Most of JCVD’s fight scenes are well thought out and entertaining to watch, Seagal’s are hit and miss. Point JVCD.
Both are terrible actors, but Seagal is slightly less terrible. JVCD has no range at all and I have a hard time ever taking anything he says seriously, which is admittedly entertaining in it’s own right, but it’s acting. Seagal has no range either, generally playing some kind of quiet super badass, but at least it’s believable and he can speak unbroken English. Point Seagal.
In terms of pure entertainment, JCVD is better. There’s several movies of JCVD’s that I really like, Kickboxer, Time Cop, Cyborg, Hard Target and, of course, Bloodsport really is an all-time great martial arts flick. Seagal, I really like both Under Siege movies, as much as I like Blood Sport, but the rest of his films are definitely inferior. Point JVCD.
Impersonations. Silly point, but, well, it’s important to me. I don’t care who you are, but if you can be hilariously impersonated, you gain a point of awesome (eg, William Shatner, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson). Having seen bits on MadTV making fun of both of them, it really seems kind of hard to make fun of JVCD because he’s already kind of ridiculous and all they can really do is make fun of his horrible acting. Seagal, however, seeing Will Sasso impersonate him with the squinty eyes and flying off the handle and snapping everyone’s neck is just… awesome. Point Seagal.
Typical film progression. To make a Seagal movie, come up with a three word title (eg, Out for Justice, Hard to Kill, Above the Law), make the main character a bad ass that everyone is scared of, and have all the fight scenes be a clinic in how to beat everyone up without getting touched. To make a JCVD movie, start with a guy who is inexplicably in awesome shape but can’t fight at all, quickly learns to be able to fight, and then goes on and kicks everyone’s ass (eg, Blood Sport, Kickboxer, etc.) OR start with a guy who inexplicably knows all kinds of awesome karate and have the plot revolve around something that either lets him play multiple roles (eg, Double Impact, Maximum Risk, The Order) or otherwise lets him be on screen simultaneously (eg Time Cop). Personally, I think JVCD’s formulae win by virtue of hilarity. Point JVCD.
So, yeah, I voted for JVCD. I kinda had to stretch to find things to give Seagal points on, because otherwise it would look worse than I really feel it is.
