Lionheart
Directed by Sheldon LettichLyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.
- flavo43December 21, 2025Lionheart (1990) initially struck me as another cookie‑cutter action film built on familiar fight‑movie tropes, and on first viewing I didn’t think much beyond that. But years later, after watching Sense8 and seeing its affectionate nods to Jean‑Claude Van Damme, I revisited the film with fresh eyes. It didn’t completely transform my opinion, but it did deepen my appreciation for what Lionheart was trying to do. Beneath the straightforward structure lies a story about loyalty, sacrifice, and finding dignity in unlikely places. The characters feel more grounded than I remembered, and the emotional beats land with more sincerity. While it’s still a simple film, it’s also a more thoughtful one than I initially gave it credit for. It was decent before—now, with context and hindsight—it’s a better film.
- dvd7227December 14, 2024Lionheart is similar to the other fight flicks with Van Damme seeking some sort of revenge or fighting for no reason. It has some good fight scenes if you’re looking for quick cuts of punches and flying kicks. It’s close to being one of his top movies but suffers from bad scene cuts and bad pacing of the story, for the best Van Damme flicks I would recommend Bloodsport or a story driven film like Timecop.
Lionheart Trivia
Lionheart was released on August 1, 1990.
Lionheart was directed by Sheldon Lettich.
Lionheart has a runtime of 1h 45m.
Lionheart was produced by Eric Karson, Ash R. Shah.
Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.
The key characters in Lionheart are Lyon Gaultier (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Joshua Eldridge (Harrison Page), Hélène Gaultier (Lisa Pelikan).
Lionheart is rated R.
Lionheart is an Action, Crime, Drama film.
Lionheart has an audience rating of 5.3 out of 10.
Lionheart had a budget of $6M.
Lionheart has made $24.3M at the box office.