Lyon (1990)
(alternately titled: Lionheart)
Between 1979-2022, Jean-Claude Van Damme of martial arts fame, appeared in 76 feature films. In the early 1990s I watched a few of his films on rented VHS tapes. Nothing memorable. Good for an afternoon of nothingness.
Very recently I watched this film because I am interested in learning how the French Foreign Legion (FFL) and natives in the Sahara Desert have been depicted by Hollywood on the big screen.
This film starts off in LA where the brother of our hero, Lyon, is badly injured in a botched up drug deal and is screaming for Lyon from his hospital bed. The movie then shifts to a FFL base in the small Arab country of Djibouti, where Lyon is based. The base commander refuses to allow Lyon a leave, so he makes a spectacular escape and stows away on a ship departing Djibouti. Two other legionnaires in civvies are on his trail with orders to recapture him.
That's all we see of Africa. Only minutes.
After a long voyage our hero makes it to the USA, where most of the film's events play out.
The injured brother perishes before Lyon can get to LA, leaving behind a widow (Deborah Rennard) and a little daughter. The widow is furious that Lyon did not make it to LA before his brother died and wants nothing to do with him although her debts are piling up.
Lyon decides to earn money in no-holds-barred bare-knuckle street fighting and send it to his brother's widow. Lyon starts with small fry opponents and as his wins pile up his fame as a fighter grows. In the meantime he picks up a Black manager (Harrison Page). His opponents get tougher and tougher and his fights harder and harder; climaxing into being pitted against a brute of a man while nursing a bruised rib. Same basic formula used in "Rocky" (1976) and "The Karate Kid" (1984). The ending is a happy ending with Lyon winning the big showdown, reconciling with his brother's widow, and settling in with her and her daughter in LA. The two legionnaires on his trail witness Lyon's heroics and decide that he earned his freedom from the clutches of the FFL.
The movie is action-packed and fast-moving. The fight scenes were well done. In fact, the entire production was a quality one; including acting, the sets, and cinematography. Certainly not a B-movie. In fact, it was a $6 million project that brought in over $7 million on its first weekend of release.
Between 1979-2022, Jean-Claude Van Damme of martial arts fame, appeared in 76 feature films. In the early 1990s I watched a few of his films on rented VHS tapes. Nothing memorable. Good for an afternoon of nothingness.
Very recently I watched this film because I am interested in learning how the French Foreign Legion (FFL) and natives in the Sahara Desert have been depicted by Hollywood on the big screen.
This film starts off in LA where the brother of our hero, Lyon, is badly injured in a botched up drug deal and is screaming for Lyon from his hospital bed. The movie then shifts to a FFL base in the small Arab country of Djibouti, where Lyon is based. The base commander refuses to allow Lyon a leave, so he makes a spectacular escape and stows away on a ship departing Djibouti. Two other legionnaires in civvies are on his trail with orders to recapture him.
That's all we see of Africa. Only minutes.
After a long voyage our hero makes it to the USA, where most of the film's events play out.
The injured brother perishes before Lyon can get to LA, leaving behind a widow (Deborah Rennard) and a little daughter. The widow is furious that Lyon did not make it to LA before his brother died and wants nothing to do with him although her debts are piling up.
Lyon decides to earn money in no-holds-barred bare-knuckle street fighting and send it to his brother's widow. Lyon starts with small fry opponents and as his wins pile up his fame as a fighter grows. In the meantime he picks up a Black manager (Harrison Page). His opponents get tougher and tougher and his fights harder and harder; climaxing into being pitted against a brute of a man while nursing a bruised rib. Same basic formula used in "Rocky" (1976) and "The Karate Kid" (1984). The ending is a happy ending with Lyon winning the big showdown, reconciling with his brother's widow, and settling in with her and her daughter in LA. The two legionnaires on his trail witness Lyon's heroics and decide that he earned his freedom from the clutches of the FFL.
The movie is action-packed and fast-moving. The fight scenes were well done. In fact, the entire production was a quality one; including acting, the sets, and cinematography. Certainly not a B-movie. In fact, it was a $6 million project that brought in over $7 million on its first weekend of release.