nagrain I grew up as a fan of JCVD but watching this over again now in my late 30's I've got to say this is truly a good movie with good musical scores to accompany the emotions. It's not easy to understand the efforts in fighting to keep a family above grounds especially if you haven't a family of your own to provide for. Lionheart helps us to remember that there is still beauty in life worth fighting for even when life isn't fair and fills up with such ugliness. It's what we make of it, either we hide away in the dark or run into the light even if it means going AWOL. This is truly a movie I would keep close to heart, to fight when that's all you can do to keep all that you have left.

Leofwine_draca A simplistic but effective early film from Van Damme, his fourth starring role after BLOODSPORT, CYBORG, and KICKBOXER. While some of the scenes and music appear to have been ripped off from ROCKY, this is still engaging viewing, with interesting acting and some great fight scenes to break up the rather soppy melodrama of the plot.Van Damme is definitely in his prime in this film, and it shows as he kicks, punches and elbows his way through a series of increasingly sadistic baddies in the ring. While his accent may be thick and his words not always in the right order, Van Damme still manages to inject some charm and charisma in the scenes he shares with his brother's family. Harrison Page is also surprisingly effective in a role as a down at heel, crippled fight veteran, and the viewer really warms to him by the end of the film. The female villain is nicely villainous, while Brian Thompson puts in another loathsome performance and gets a well-deserved kick to the face at the end of the film.The fights themselves are fun and outlandish, with plenty of martial arts moves and agile stunts. Beginning underneath a bridge, they move to a car park, a deserted warehouse, a squash court, and even a half-filled swimming pool. The enemies themselves are hilarious parodies, including an animalistic Scotsman who jabs his finger into Van Damme's eyes.However it's the final fight which really delivers the groceries, as it were. Van Damme, who has a broken rib, is forced to take on Attila, a maniac who feels no pain and toys with his opponents before breaking them in half. He's also virtually indestructible. We witness Van Damme being beaten to a pulp (Page tells him "he's gonna kill your ass, man, he's gonna kill your ass!") over and over again, until the audience begin to clap, the music builds and he literally kicks the living daylights out of Attila at the end, as everyone cheers and claps. This final bit is really great and worth waiting for, just like the final fight in KICKBOXER. Thus A.W.O.L. is something of a crowd-pleaser. I'm not ashamed to say that it's the only Van Damme that makes me cry, right at the end, and I'm no sentimentalist; something about Page's character in particular is completely moving.

breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com With the successful releases of Bloodsport (1988) & Kickboxer (1989), Jean-Claude Van Damme was on his way to be a big martial arts star attraction. A year later Van Damme would return to one of his friends that helped him make it to stardom. That man is Sheldon Lettich, the screenwriter for Bloodsport (1988). Here Lettich is the screenwriter along with Van Damme and also directs the film in which Van Damme stars in. Does it all play out though, not exactly to what some may want or expect. For most Van Damme fans it will please, but for others it'll annoy beyond belief.Van Damme plays French Foreign Legion deserter named Lyon who takes it upon himself to travel to L.A. at whatever cost to help out his brother and sister-in-law who are in need of financial help. For him deserting the Foreign Legion, his captain sends out two spies to try and find him. I'm beginning to see a pattern where Van Damme plays a character that is so devoted to his family that he'll travel half way around the world to see them. He did that for Bloodsport (1988) & Kickboxer (1989). I hope he starts to play some other kinds of characters because this is starting to get too typical for him. Upon getting to L.A., he befriends a bum named Joshua (Harrison Page) who helps him earn a load of money by doing local fights for him.Through Joshua, he then meets Cynthia (Deborah Rennard), the head of some big coporation that sets up these fights. It is here that Lyon acquires his name Lionheart and where he must choose to fight for himself or his family. Now this is an OK plot if it were executed in the right way but that isn't accomplished here. There is not one shred of a background on any character until about some ways into the running time and that's agitating because what does the audience have to connect with? They won't have anyone to sympathize for because no one knows what they're going through except that someone was hurt.The character development is another flaw. It's not that its absent but more of badly placed timing. There are some characters that will all of a sudden change their mind within a split second and expect the audience to be OK with their decision. It doesn't work like that. The characters themselves are nothing to be fond of either. The only two likable individuals are Lyon and Joshua. That is it. The character of Joshua actually has the most character development, which helps make him likable for audiences. Van Damme also shows good emotion but it's hard to watch him and Joshua alone to expect entertainment. None of the other characters stand out or make themselves worth standing out. And some viewers will loathe the Cynthia character. She's mean spirited, two faced and poorly acted by Ms. Deborah Rennard. The choreographed fight scenes are nothing great either. In fact, with every fight, Van Damme's opponents and fight sets get stranger and stranger. For example, an arena made of cars? Why would anyone want to risk their car being damaged in the fight? Or an arena made from a dry pool? Can these people be any cheaper? And the music by John Scott isn't good either. Some of it so out of place it feels like it doesn't belong at all. A hard watch to enjoy.Van Damme and only one of his co-stars are the only things worth watching here. The rest of the cast is forgettable along with silly fight scenes, bad music and extremely schlocky writing.

muzafar.h.bokhari (amraampk) Jcvd had been my favorite actors in early 1990s , i still have got his autographed photo he sent me in 1994. Even now in these times he is at least better than that freak Steven seagal. Some times on occasions along with his martial art moves he also delivers a solid performance being an actor like he did in Jcvd and in hell. However in this particular movie he delivered a fantastic performance both as an artist and martial arts tough guy. The fights were i believe after bloodsport were the most best , van dammes kicks were really awesome ,on the other hand he also played another face of a family man. The movie started when is his brother was killed by hired thugs/drug gangs after being set ab lazed , he who is serving in french foreign legion had to escape from his over zealot strict superiors to get to his sis in law and a niece he never saw. Now when he is U.S he s got no home and nothing to live on here he finds organized street fights where money is poured and paid in form of bets. Van damme meets a man named Joshua and shows him the fight skills and impresses him. Then Joshua takes him to Cynthia a very rich woman running the organized underworld fight biz while also she has connections to drug cartels. Inside she is quite vicious mean and cunning lady when she observes Lyon (van damme) s fight potential she is very anxious to capitalize on it. May she has some connection to death of his bro. Lyon for the sake of his remaining family is reluctantly agreed to fight for her while is being pursued by his officers of the legion. His manger Joshua is very concerned and sympathetic for him , always ready to help. i think i perhaps have seen this film some 20 times and still i ve not been bored. Wehn it comes to Van damme i consider it his one real great movie to be remembered.