HE STARS, HE DIRECTS, HE'S VAN DAMME.

Byline: Michael H. Price Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

The newest working director on the block is also one of our better-established action stars. Jean-Claude Van Damme has often lamented the lack of what he calls ``Errol Flynn-type pictures'' among the high-adventure attractions of recent years, so he has used some growing clout behind the cameras to try such an old-fashioned costume melodrama.

``The Quest'' is the picture, and it recalls such still-popular gems as ``Captain Blood,'' Flynn's own career-launcher from 1935, and Ludwig Berger's ``The Thief of Baghdad'' (1940) - with a nod to John Ford's ``The Quiet Man'' (1952) for good measure.

One epic fight scene, so elaborately photographed that a single move contains more than 20 camera angles, forms the core of a movie that at once returns Van Damme to his origins as a martial artist and proves the guy to be a deeper thinker than his film-snob detractors would be willing to acknowledge.

Of course, those who would dismiss Van Damme do so without actually seeing his movies. Which is a shame, inasmuch as the big Belgian has tended to underscore the ticket-selling cheap thrills in most of his pictures with intricate choreography, socially relevant and even prophetic ideas, and an insistence on stretching his capacity to act.

Van Damme, co-author Frank Dux, and screenwriters Steven Klein and Paul Mones have crafted here a pirates-and-pilgrims fantasia, complete with an elaborately conceived Lost City setting and so thorough a mixture of history and fancy that the one becomes indistinguishable from the other.

In New York of the 1920s, Chris Dubois (Van Damme) is a thief who finds himself abducted by gunrunners and slave racketeers. He winds up in Genghis Khan's old stomping grounds - obligated to fight or die, with a growing determination to break free once and for all.

Roger Moore, veteran portrayer of James Bond, serves ``The Quest'' as a distinguished veteran of the English Navy who has turned pirate. It's a plum role for Moore, who provides a convincing father figure for Van Damme's character - only to prove all too eager to exploit the captive's fighting prowess for profit.

The period setting allows for a homage to the films Van Damme admired as a youngster, and permits a Jules Verne-like approach to the rigors of world travel - far more complex than today's simple jaunt by air.

Van Damme the director dwells fondly on this bygone, mostly imagined world, and camera chief David Gribble renders credible an era of simpler technology but more complex motivations. Van Damme the star yields generously to Moore's droll performance - and to a veritable convention of martial-arts whizzes.

Standouts among the combatants include Mongol-style wrestler Abdel Qissi; Spain's Peter Malota, with his flamencolike acrobatic moves; African fighter Ellis Winston; and Scotland's Michael Ian Lambert.

THE FACTS The film: ``The Quest'' (PG-13; violent action, mature themes).

The stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roger Moore, James Remar, Janet Gunn.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme. Executive producer Peter MacDonald. Produced by Moshe Diamant. Screenplay by Steven Klein and Paul Mones. Released by Universal Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 35 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars