Lionheart (1990)

Lionheart is a 1990 American martial arts film directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page, 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.

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.

Filming:

Principal photography began on November 8, 1989. The majority of the film was shot in the Los Angeles area, including scenes set in New York City. Jean Dry Lake, in the Nevada desert, stood in for Djibouti in the film’s escape scene. As a first time director, Lettich felt challenged by some members of his crew, and had an especially contentious relationship with cinematographer Robert C. New, whom he came close to firing. Fight choreography was a joint effort between Van Damme, Michel Qissi and Frank Dux.

Box office:

Lionheart debuted on August 1, 1990, in France, where the star had accrued an early following thanks to his francophone background. Released there as Full Contact, it became his first film to cross the symbolic one-million-spectator threshold in the country, finishing with 1,226,025 admissions. In the United States, the film opened on January 11, 1991. It was another breakthrough for the actor, debuting in 3rd position with sales in excess of $7 million during its first weekend. Although it fell down the charts rather quickly, the film finished its domestic run with a tally of $24,078,196, by far the best of Van Damme’s career up to that point.