Taglines: When the streets are a jungle…there can only be one king.
Lionheart movie storyline. Lyon Gaultier is a paratrooper in the French Foreign Legion, stationed in Djibouti, North Africa. His brother, who is married to an American woman in Los Angeles, is burned alive during a deal gone wrong and suffers third-degree burns, dying shortly afterward. Lyon deserts his legion when they withhold letters from his brother’s wife and ultimately refuse to let him see his brother.
He steals a jeep and escapes through the desert, finding work on a tramp steamer headed for the U.S. Meanwhile, the Legion commanding officer also travels to the States, arriving at the French Embassy, where he is told that Lyon’s desertion is ranked at low importance with the LAPD, so he orders two of his own Legionnaires to do the job.
Lyon arrives in New York City and travels 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 he cannot avenge his brother’s murder, as he failed to identify his killers before dying. Tagging along with Joshua, Lyon meets Cynthia, who organizes underground fights for the rich elite and decides to sponsor him. 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 L.A., he tracks down his brother’s widow, who is reluctant to accept financial aid, even though she obviously needs it, because she is angry with Lyon for “deserting” his brother years ago. Joshua introduces Lyon in the fighting circuit as the titular “Lionheart,” derived from “Lyon.” Lyon continues fighting, and Joshua uses the prize money to give to Lyon’s sister-in-law in the form of checks, with Joshua claiming to be from a life insurance firm her husband allegedly subscribed to long ago.
Lionheart (also known as Wrong Bet, A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave, Leon and Full Contact) is a 1990 action film, directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and co-starring Brian Thompson, along with Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard, Lisa Pelikan, and 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.
Lionheart (1991)
Directed by: Sheldon Lettich
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard, Lisa Pelikan, Ashley Johnson, Brian Thompson, Michel Qissi, George McDaniel, Ash Adams
Screenplay by: S.N. Warren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sheldon Lettich
Production Design by: Gregory Pickrell
Cinematography by: Robert C. New
Film Editing by: Mark Conte
Costume Design by: Joseph A. Porro
Set Decoration by: Kerry Longacre
Art Direction by: Brian Densmore
Music by: John Scott
MPAA Rating: R for graphically violent fight scenes and for strong language.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: January 11, 1991
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