Lionheart
by Sheldon Lettich
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ashley Johnson, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lisa PelikanDirector: Sheldon Lettich
Brand: Universal
Writer: Jean-Claude Van Damme
Producer: Eric Karson
Writer: Sheldon Lettich
Producer: Anders P. Jensen
Producer: Ash R. Shah
Producer: Sundip R. Shah
Writer: S.N. Warren
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-09-09
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Lionheart
Movie Review: Heart Of A Lion, No Brain At All
Summary: 2 Stars
When his brother is murdered during a drug deal gone wrong, Lyon Gaultier (Jean-Claude Van Damme) deserts his post at the French Foreign Legion and stows away to America. Arriving in New York, he must make his way across the country to his brother's widow (Lisa Pelikan, "Return to the Blue Lagoon"), whom he hopes to support with proceeds won from illegal underground street fighting...all while contending with a pair of Legionnaires on his trail.
I've seen about half of Van Damme's films, and thus far, "Lionheart" is one of my least favorite for the fact that there's not enough action, and what's there is not very good. Van Damme has about seven hand-to-hand fights with various thugs and fighters of differing time lengths, but only one of them is against another martial artist (Paco Prieto, "Only the Strong"), and even it isn't exactly show-stopping. I'm not saying that guys like James Thompson ("Gunhed"), Jeff Langton ("Final Impact"), Stuart Wilson ("The Rundown"), Magic Schwarz ("Over the Top"), or Abdel Qissi ("The Quest") don't look like tough guys...they just aren't very interesting fighters and don't give Van Damme a chance to show off his better moves. Since the fights were choreographed by Van Damme himself (and Frank Dux and Michael Qissi), I'm very much surprised that they're not showier, but the fact that they aren't kills at least half of this Van Damme vehicle.
The acting keeps the movie afloat, mostly through the efforts the vastly underrated Harrison Page ("Sledge Hammer!"), who plays the stereotypical role if ever there was one of Van Damme's sidekick/partner/comic foil but is very entertaining in doing so. The aforementioned Lisa Pelikan does well as the widowed single mother, as does Deborah Rennard ("Dallas") as the wealthy, scheming fight organizer who freely switches between using Van Damme as a gambling chip and a piece of meat. A young Ashley Johnson ("What Women Want") plays Van Damme's niece, and Brian Thompson ("Cobra") and Michael Qissi ("Kickboxer") have small, minion-ish parts. Everybody does fine, but nobody stands out besides Page. Van Damme gives the usual performance that needs no elaboration.
Not much is to be said about the story; some folks claim it's one of Van Damme's better plots, but I don't agree that it goes anywhere. There is some social half-statement about the "sick aristocracy" whose members get off on watching the less fortunate pummel eachother, but again, it doesn't really go anywhere. In all, the storyline didn't keep me interested, and neither did most other things about the movie. As a fan of action/fight movies in particular, I was surprised that I wasn't more entertained by this kind of film, but seeing as there are plenty more Van Damme movies out there, I don't feel too bad about giving up on this one.
Summary of Lionheart
Van damme quits the foreign legion to become a professional street fighter. Super martial arts action. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 11/02/2004 Starring: Jean-claude Van Damme Run time: 105 minutes Rating: RAction & Adventure DVD Video
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