Lionheart (1990)
Lionheart is a 1990 American martial arts film directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page and Lisa Pelikan and Brian Thompson. It also features the acting debut of Ashley Johnson. Van Damme plays a French Foreign Legionnaire stationed in Africa, who must desert to the United States and enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his murdered brother’s family. The film premiered in France on August 1, 1990, and opened in the U.S. on January 11, 1991. It received lackluster reviews, but marked Van Damme’s breakthrough as a theatrical leading man in North America. It was released in the United Kingdom as A.W.O.L: A
Plot
Lyon Gaultier is in the French Foreign Legion stationed in Djibouti, East Africa. After his brother, who lives in Los Angeles, is set on fire during a drug deal gone bad, Lyon receives a letter from his sister-in-law Hélène begging him to come see his dying brother, who has been calling his name in agony. Lyon escapes the Legion in a daring breakout and sets off across the desert, until he reaches a dockyard on the coast, where he finds work aboard a tramp steamer headed for the United States. Lyon’s Legion Commander, anticipating his destination, sends two of his own men to Los Angeles to bring Lyon back to meet court-martial.
Arriving in New
York City with no money to cross the country to Los Angeles, Lyon is attracted to an illegal street fight being run by a tramp named Joshua Eldridge. He volunteers for the next fight and easily defeats his opponent. Impressed, Joshua takes Lyon to meet Cynthia Caldera, an unscrupulous organizer of underground fights for the rich elite. Cynthia agrees to sponsor Lyon, dubbing him “Lionheart” and setting him up in a no-holds-barred fight against Sonny, a fighter known for heavily taunting his opponents. Lyon defeats Sonny easily, then leaves with Joshua to find a phone booth to call Hélène, fending off an attack by a local street gang of punks.
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Cast:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme as Lyon Â
- Harrison Page as Joshua Eldridge
- Deborah Rennard as Cynthia Caldera
- Lisa Pelikan as Hélène Gaultier
- Ashley Johnson as Nicole Gaultier
- Ash Adams as Francois Gaultier
- Brian Thompson as Russell
- George McDaniel as Adjutant
- Vojislav Govedarica (Voyo Goric) as Sgt. Â
- Michel Qissi as Moustafa
- Stefanos Miltsakis as Jeep Driver
- Billy Blanks as African Legionnaire
- Tony Halme as Security Guard
- Clement  Franckenstein as English Investor
- Abdel Qissi as Attila
- Magic Schwarz as Raquetball Fighter
