Lionheart (1990)

When i saw this film i was just 15 and it touched me how Leon wanted to fight for his brothers wife and kid.The films fight scenes are well staged and when i watched the film again recently i was surprised by how much i enjoyed it.Thats the thing,its a really enjoyable film,you can harp on all day about how Van Damme isn't the worlds best actor,how the sound mix is wobbly and the film looks as though it has been churned out for TV but its a good story well executed and that is the long and short of it.Van Damme has gone on to make many a film in a similar vein but i felt it was on this production that he came off best.The trainer played by Harrison Page helps lift the film too. 8/10

Fmovies: In the Jean-Claude Van Damme martial arts movie "Lionheart," audiences get to see a side of the Muscles from Brussels not seen in previous action films like "Bloodsport" (1988) and "Kickboxer" (1989): Van Damme acting and fighting like there's no tomorrow. I must be crazy for giving "Lionheart" such a high rating based on "acting" from Van Damme but if one can get past the phony Hollywood theatrics and the like, you can see what is very easily the best of Van Damme's early work simply because he isn't trying too hard... yet.

For the most part in "Lionheart," the flashy, impossible athleticism of the Belgian-born martial arts sensation's earlier works has been shunned in favor of straight-up no-holds-barred brawling, which is essentially what this picture is about. After his drug-dealing brother is set on fire in Los Angeles, Lyon Gaultier (Van Damme) deserts his post in North Africa with the French Foreign Legion and high-tails it to the United States to reconnect with his brother's wife and five-year-old daughter, with two agents in hot pursuit with orders to bring him back at any cost. Once here, he happens upon a bare-knuckle brawl underneath a bridge and immediately stuns the natives when he dispatches his first opponent with surprisingly little difficulty.

At this same match, he also meets Joshua (Harrison Page), a street-wise hustler who becomes Lyon's self-appointed manager and gives Lyon the nickname "Lionheart." Soon enough, Lyon's brawl becomes the talk of the tight little circle interested in such senseless "human cock-fighting," and shamelessly amoral rich-woman fight promoter Cynthia (Deborah Rennard) signs on Lyon as her champion for several no-holds-barred street fights. The arenas themselves are as ridiculous as they could possibly get - an underground parking lot, a racquetball court, a half-filled swimming pool, and a tennis court - but they get the job done in serving shameless blood-sport for the rich who are thirsty for guys beating the living daylights out of each other. At the center of it, of course, is determined Lyon, who puts aside his own reservations about fighting for the rich and focuses squarely on putting money in his family's pockets.

For all its scenes of combat and many, many missteps, "Lionheart" is very easily the best of Van Damme's early martial arts movies simply because it'll give fans of the genre what they want: maximum Van Damage and, boy, does he damage some of his sparring partners and take some damage of his own. The fight choreography (by Frank Dux, the real-life character Van Damme played in his earlier "Bloodsport") is brutal and realistic, with little flash & glitter. It's intense stuff that really captures the beauty and brutality of no-hards-barred combat.

The script, which mostly consists of four-letter words, is obviously the weakest point here. But how can you possibly expect a script authored by Van Damme himself and director Sheldon Lettich to be Academy Award-winning material? What people want to see here is fighting, although there are some heartfelt scenes between family that could probably warm the hearts of those who care to see such drama.

More gladiator combat spectacle than dramatic actioner, "Lionheart" takes us to the Lion's Den and never looks back.

8/10

Lionheart (or A.W.O.L. - as i tend to refer to it) in my opinion is possibly Van-Dammes best film.... and yeah I'm biased! It has a very decent storyline which is realistic - especially as its set in America and features some well know actors such as Deborah Rennard, Brian Thompson and Harrison Page.

film moments . . . the fight between Gauliter and Sonny is seriously intense and even though I've watched this film on numerous occasions since 1990 it still is a great scene to watch! favorite parts of the movie is where Gaultier is insubordinate to his Commanding Officer and also the bookie at the Attila fight... "One minute to post my friend" great stuff! and for those interested in purchasing a copy Viva Video Inc. have recently released Lionheart on VCD!

Lionheart fmovies. Well, I wasn't expecting such a dramatic movie, but this one really

made me cry, especially at the ending scene. The movie begins in

Djibouti, where a legionary camp is placed. The casting is wisely done.

Especially the guys which were following Lion in US. Deborah Rennard is

very cool. I think she deserved better in Hollywood. Harrison Page

perfectly fits in his role. And Van Damme... Maybe he should have made

more drama movies, he proved he is good at it. You should have this on, if you are a fan of Van Damme, I think it is his best movie, even better than Bloodsport. Well we're expecting more drama movies from Van Damme.

Before we head off down critical trail, lets be charitable. This is a Van Damme flick - more or less its own genre, certainly sufficiently signposted for the unwary to avoid if this is not their comfort zone. Now I have to admit to a certain bias - we have almost every film Van Damme has ever made, and for the most part, on simply an entertainment scale, Jean Claude delivers the goods. (Even as late as REPLICANT)

This offering - known pretty much EVERYWHERE but the US as WRONG BET (By far the better title when you watch it) is value for money. You wanna see classical acting? go study Laurence Olivier's HENRY V. You fancy mind bending sci-fi...hell, Kubrick's 2001 ain't never gonna be topped. You want to laugh yourself senseless? go watch a Renny Harlin flick...but you want to see some serious hurting on screen...let Van Damme loose.

I am tiring of the incessant complaints that Van Damme can't act! Did he ever say he could? How many of his detractors could do any better? Could John Wayne? did anyone ever want to SEE him being anything BUT John Wayne? JCVD does a half decent job here I have to say and it strikes me as a case of "let him who is without sin" etc etc when it comes to assassinating his thespian talents.

This film has plenty going for it......namely action, conviction and courage. In the genre in which it finds itself necessarily categorised, I believe a 7 is in order!

Lionheart is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best films! Van Damme was good, classic 80s series Sledge Hammer star Harrison Page was very good.The Qissi brothers were very good and loved Abdel's character Attila!He is such a great one as I like many things about him!Brian Thompson was good as always Voyo Goric was here and look for Tony Halme AKA Ludvig Borga near the end in the big fight!The movie is never boring and boasts lots of action and great music by John Scott!If you like Van Damme and fighting films then check out Lionheart!