Lionheart (film)
Encyclopedia
Lionheart is a 1990 film
, directed by Sheldon Lettich
, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme
and co-starring Brian Thompson
. Along with Harrison Page
, Deborah Rennard
, Brian Thompson
, Lisa Pelikan
, Ashley Johnson
.
The film stars Van Damme as a paratrooper
legionnaire; when his brother is seriously injured he returns to Los Angeles to enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his brother's family.
Arguably one of the more essential Van Damme films in the view of fans, the film's cast and crew included two people that had appeared in an earlier Van Damme film: Michel Qissi (a good friend of his) and Sheldon Lettich. This was the second time Qissi played a villain in a Van Damme film, the first being notably as Tong Po in Kickboxer
(1989). Lettich helped write one of Van Damme's breakthrough films, Bloodsport
, along with another Van Damme film, Double Impact
.
in the French Foreign Legion
stationed in Djibouti
, North Africa. His brother, who is married to an American woman, is burned alive by the members of a drug squad in a drug deal gone wrong and suffers third-degree burns, and dies shortly thereafter. Lyon deserts his legion when they would not let him leave to see his brother by attacking fellow Legionnaires, commandeering a jeep, escaping through the desert and working on a tramp steamer
in an effort to flee to the U.S.
to help the family of his murdered brother. Meanwhile, the Legion commanding officer arrives at the French Embassy to the United States, where he is told that the LAPD
could not care less about hunting down Lyon, to which he orders two Legionnaires to find Lyon. He arrives in New York and needs to travel to California to be with his brother's family. Along the way, he meets Joshua, a man who runs fights for money, and also learns that his brother's murderers have been arrested and convicted. Tagging along with Joshua, Lyon meets Cynthia, who also specializes in the same thing. Figuring that this would be the best way to earn the money his family needs, Lyon fights in no holds barred
bare-knuckle
fights to finance the trip. Once they reach to L.A., he tracks down his brother's widow, who is reluctant at first to accept any sort of financial help even though it is apparent that she needs it, mostly because she is angry with him since she feels that he deserted his brother years ago. Lyon then decides to start fighting to help his sister-in-law and his niece and Joshua would act as an insurance man who delivers checks to her frequently.
Meanwhile, agents of the Foreign Legion have caught up with him in Los Angeles, and they are now trying to apprehend him once more. Lyon does not want any part of it, and a fight ensues. After a struggle, he manages to escape, but with a broken rib. It is also learned that Cynthia, Lyon's sponsor, has been seeking to take advantage of Lyon's string of victories by stacking the odds in favor of a hugely tough fighter named "Attilla the Hun", to which she will use Leon by betting a large amount on "Attilla", and makes an arrangement with the Legion soldiers that she will hand him over to them after he has been defeated thoroughly. Leon has his final fight with Atilla, but though he is hampered by his broken rib. The snag with Attilla is (as is unknown to Lionheart) that his trademark move following every win is to "kill" his opponent. After an intense fight where it appears "Attilla" has won, Joshua reveals during a time-out that they both were being used. Joshua also reveals that for the best of reasons (Lionheart's family), he has placed all of his own money on Attilla as a form of "insurance". Lyon, angered by this news, bounces back and summons up all his remaining strength to defeat Atilla. Two members of the Foreign Legion are in attendance though, and they escort him back to the apartment, where they give him some time to wash up before being deported back to Africa, where he will be court martialed for desertion
. After an emotional good-bye, Lyon and the Legion members speed off. Just down the road, moved by the family's heartbreak, they decide to lie to the Foreign Legion command by making it appear that they failed in their mission to recapture Lyon, and they let him go out of respect for his determination, will power, and personal integrity, both during the fight and helping out his sister-in-law all this time. Ecstatic, Lyon returns to the apartment, where his sister-in-law, niece, and Joshua are all both surprised and thankful that he has come back.
On the aggervate website Rotten Tomatoes
it currently holds a 33%. based on 12 reviews, only 4 critics gave the film a positive review(with only two positive review from a top critic. On the liked it it got a 54%.
£283,848 (UK) (19 October 1990)
€2,745,637 (Germany) (22 November 1990)
€658,874 (Spain)
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, directed by Sheldon Lettich
Sheldon Lettich
Sheldon Lettich is a screenwriter, film director and producer.-Early life:He was born in New York City, but moved to California at a young age and grew up in the Los Angeles area. After graduation from high school he spent nearly four years in the U.S...
, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
and co-starring Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson (actor)
Brian Thompson is an American actor. His distinctive square-jaw profile, powerful voice, and imposing stature has led him to be typecast as a villain in many action films and TV series, and a some comedies: Joe Dirt, The Three Amigos, Weird Science, Key West, and Life Stinks.-Career:Thompson has...
. Along with Harrison Page
Harrison Page
Harrison Page is an American television and film actor who has appeared in many popular shows, including Cold Case, JAG, ER, Ally McBeal, Melrose Place, Quantum Leap, The Wonder Years, 21 Jump Street, Murder She Wrote, Fame, Gimme a Break!, Benson, Hill Street Blues, Webster, The Dukes of Hazzard,...
, Deborah Rennard
Deborah Rennard
Deborah Rennard is an American actress. She remains best known for her recurring role in Dallas as J.R. Ewing's secretary Sylvia "Sly" Lovegren. She appeared in the series from 1981 to 1991 and also in the film J.R. Returns...
, Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson (actor)
Brian Thompson is an American actor. His distinctive square-jaw profile, powerful voice, and imposing stature has led him to be typecast as a villain in many action films and TV series, and a some comedies: Joe Dirt, The Three Amigos, Weird Science, Key West, and Life Stinks.-Career:Thompson has...
, Lisa Pelikan
Lisa Pelikan
Lisa Pelikan is an American stage, film and television actress.She was born in Berkley, California, the daughter of American parents Helen L., a psychologist, and Robert G. Pelikan, an international economist who served as the minister-counselor from the United States at the Organization for...
, Ashley Johnson
Ashley Johnson
Ashley Suzanne Johnson is an American actress, best known for her two-season role as Chrissy Seaver in the TV show Growing Pains, and for her voice work in television series such as Teen Titans and Ben 10 Alien Force....
.
The film stars Van Damme as a paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
legionnaire; when his brother is seriously injured he returns to Los Angeles to enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his brother's family.
Arguably one of the more essential Van Damme films in the view of fans, the film's cast and crew included two people that had appeared in an earlier Van Damme film: Michel Qissi (a good friend of his) and Sheldon Lettich. This was the second time Qissi played a villain in a Van Damme film, the first being notably as Tong Po in Kickboxer
Kickboxer (film)
Kickboxer is a 1989 martial arts film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and former world Kickboxing champion, Dennis Alexio. Like Van Damme's previous film, Bloodsport, it showcases Van Damme's martial arts fighting abilities...
(1989). Lettich helped write one of Van Damme's breakthrough films, Bloodsport
Bloodsport (film)
Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres. The film is based on the claimed adventures of Frank Dux, and was followed by three sequels Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite , Bloodsport III and Bloodsport 4: The...
, along with another Van Damme film, Double Impact
Double Impact
The score by Kempel was released as the Double Impact Original Soundtrack Recordings on 1993 by Silva America. The soundtrack was released on CD contained twelve tracks with a runtime of 40 minutes....
.
Plot
Van Damme plays Lyon Gaultier, a paratrooperParatrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
in the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
stationed in Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
, North Africa. His brother, who is married to an American woman, is burned alive by the members of a drug squad in a drug deal gone wrong and suffers third-degree burns, and dies shortly thereafter. Lyon deserts his legion when they would not let him leave to see his brother by attacking fellow Legionnaires, commandeering a jeep, escaping through the desert and working on a tramp steamer
Tramp steamer
A ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule or published ports of call. As opposed to freight liners, tramp ships trade on the spot market with no fixed schedule or itinerary/ports-of-call...
in an effort to flee to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to help the family of his murdered brother. Meanwhile, the Legion commanding officer arrives at the French Embassy to the United States, where he is told that the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
could not care less about hunting down Lyon, to which he orders two Legionnaires to find Lyon. He arrives in New York and needs to travel to California to be with his brother's family. Along the way, he meets Joshua, a man who runs fights for money, and also learns that his brother's murderers have been arrested and convicted. Tagging along with Joshua, Lyon meets Cynthia, who also specializes in the same thing. Figuring that this would be the best way to earn the money his family needs, Lyon fights in no holds barred
No holds barred
No holds barred or no-holds-barred may refer to:Sports*One of several types of fighting, including:** Hand-to-hand combat, where indeed no maneuvers are prohibited** Hybrid martial arts, which combine elements from several particular martial arts...
bare-knuckle
Bare-knuckle
Bare-knuckle means without gloves, bandages or any other protection for and/or dangerous 'arming' of the knuckles, a larger part or even the whole hand...
fights to finance the trip. Once they reach to L.A., he tracks down his brother's widow, who is reluctant at first to accept any sort of financial help even though it is apparent that she needs it, mostly because she is angry with him since she feels that he deserted his brother years ago. Lyon then decides to start fighting to help his sister-in-law and his niece and Joshua would act as an insurance man who delivers checks to her frequently.
Meanwhile, agents of the Foreign Legion have caught up with him in Los Angeles, and they are now trying to apprehend him once more. Lyon does not want any part of it, and a fight ensues. After a struggle, he manages to escape, but with a broken rib. It is also learned that Cynthia, Lyon's sponsor, has been seeking to take advantage of Lyon's string of victories by stacking the odds in favor of a hugely tough fighter named "Attilla the Hun", to which she will use Leon by betting a large amount on "Attilla", and makes an arrangement with the Legion soldiers that she will hand him over to them after he has been defeated thoroughly. Leon has his final fight with Atilla, but though he is hampered by his broken rib. The snag with Attilla is (as is unknown to Lionheart) that his trademark move following every win is to "kill" his opponent. After an intense fight where it appears "Attilla" has won, Joshua reveals during a time-out that they both were being used. Joshua also reveals that for the best of reasons (Lionheart's family), he has placed all of his own money on Attilla as a form of "insurance". Lyon, angered by this news, bounces back and summons up all his remaining strength to defeat Atilla. Two members of the Foreign Legion are in attendance though, and they escort him back to the apartment, where they give him some time to wash up before being deported back to Africa, where he will be court martialed for desertion
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
. After an emotional good-bye, Lyon and the Legion members speed off. Just down the road, moved by the family's heartbreak, they decide to lie to the Foreign Legion command by making it appear that they failed in their mission to recapture Lyon, and they let him go out of respect for his determination, will power, and personal integrity, both during the fight and helping out his sister-in-law all this time. Ecstatic, Lyon returns to the apartment, where his sister-in-law, niece, and Joshua are all both surprised and thankful that he has come back.
Reception
The critical reception for the film was mixed, but was responded to negatively by most critics.On the aggervate website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
it currently holds a 33%. based on 12 reviews, only 4 critics gave the film a positive review(with only two positive review from a top critic. On the liked it it got a 54%.
Box office
Lionheart performed rather well at the box office. Ranging from $24,078,196, with a budget of $6,000,000. Along with the following grosses in other countries:$24,078,196 (USA)£283,848 (UK) (19 October 1990)
€2,745,637 (Germany) (22 November 1990)
€658,874 (Spain)