Reviews (28)

Low Budget But Worth Every Penny
Van Damme portrays a streetfighter who gets caught up in the middle of a raw fighting hard hitting circuit.He keeps fighting to raise money for his brothers family who needs the money or they'll become homeless.The storyline is cheap and the flick itself is low budget but the fight scenes are supurb and the acting on Van Dammes part is excellent.In my opinion of course this movie is the greatest low budget action film available on the market today,if you like martial-arts films instead of explosions and basic killing spree action films than lionheart is your ticket to everything you want to see...Enjoy!

Another amazing van damme movie...WHAT A SHOCKER!!!
Let me just say....this is one of VAN DAMME's cheeziest but amazing movies other than kickboxer, bloodsport, and double impact.. But cheezy is good in this case... Van DAmme escapes from a military base in North Africa...and arrives in L.A. To visit his dead brothers wife. Since he is broke when arrived to L.A. he has to fight in order to make a living....!!! WHat a great Plot...so far.... Later on in the movie he becomes close with his brothers wife...and stays in L.A. The Action is pretty cool with good fight scenes....IF ur a true Van damme Fan you would buy this even if u never saw it....I mean just look at the cover for goodness sake!!!

Great fight scenes
This is one of Van Damms best. After hearing of his brothers death in America, Van Damm escapes the legeon in Africa to head for Los Angeles were he becomes a fighter in a no-holds-barred underground fighting circuit to raise money for his sister in law an his neese. There are many fights in different settings, wearhouses, parking garrages, fitness studios etc. I love the fight were Van Damm and another in shape guy have to fight at a pool party with lots of beutifull women standing around wearing nothing but G-string bikinis. The two must fight in an empty inground swimming pool with just a couple of feet of water in the deep end. they fight in speedos and bare feet. After a good fight Van Damm finally knocks the poor guy out cold in the water and draggs his lifeless body out of the water so he wont drown as the crowd of onlooker surounding the pool cheer for him. Personally, I would have rather he left me in the water to drown than to have to wake up and face all of those beutifull bikini clad women that I just got my you know what kicked in front of. In the end Van Damm fights the champion for enough prize money to make his family financially secure for life. Great movie.

One of Van Damme's VERY BEST-The Legionnaire Avenger
Do not be misguided by the fact that this movie was shot back in 1989, and thus be led to assume that this is another one of the low budget, b-movies that Van Damme used to make in the 1980's.

AWOL/Lionheart, is arguably his best film ever.

The story begins in what is a typical modern Legion Etrangere camp somewhere in North Africa. Van Damme plays a ranker soldier, Leon, who is serving in one of the Legion's crack North African detachments. Here, we get the very rare glimpse of what is like to be a modern Legionnaire: Both the scenery and camp are very realistic, rigid discipline prevalent, with emphasis being put on the soldiers' perfect fitness through physical training and manual labour.

Suddenly, Leon receives a letter from his only brother's wife who lives in the USA, informing him that his brother was beaten to death by some villains, and that she needs someone both to avenge his death and take care of her and her little daughter.

Rigid almost inhuman discipline in the Legion is once again underlined, when Private Leon asks to see his Commanding Officer, an impressive blond Frenchman, every inch a soldier. After hearing the reasons why Pvt. Leon asks for a leave, his CO coolly denies on the grounds that he firstly needs him "down here", and secondly that Pvt. Leon's contract with the Legion excludes furloughs.

From here onwards, the movie ceases to be static, and becomes a fast paced action adventure, as we follow Van Damme's risky escape from the camp to some North African muslim seaport, where he seeks to obtain passage on one of the Merchant Ships there, to the USA. In the meantime, his French CO has reported him as AWOL, and he has ordered two of his best NCO's to locate and return the deserter back to his unit.

Van Damme evades his pursuers, and signs on a 1950's Steam Turbine General Freighter as a Wiper, in order to pay for his passage.

When he finally arrives in the USA, we see him wandering the streets of New York, dressed in Navy fatigues looking for a job. He finally makes his way under a bridge, where the odd black bookmaker is staging a no-holds barred street-fighting tournament of sorts. The bookmaker, seeing Van Damme's incredible physique, suggests that he should fight in the next match in return for a fee. Asking his name, Van Damme replies slowly in French, "LE-ON", whereupon, the bookmaker hears "Lion" and proclaims him the "Lion". Thus, a new street-fighter star is born.

Van Damme, keeps fighting for profit, and his successes attract the attention of a gorgeous Nordic-American female manager, who is organizing fights for the entertainment of the Jet-Set NYC citizens. She falls in love with him, and acting as his manager, arranges his participation in high-class private fighting matches for the rich. Van Damme wins fame and glory, but his mind is always with his dead brother, and his widow and daughter.

After doing a lot of digging, he finally manages to locate his brother widow and daugter, whereupon one of the most touching scenes of the movie take place, when Van Damme meets his brother's daughter and widow, amid hugs and celebration.

But, his pursuers from the Legion, follow close behind, looking for a chance to seize him. Finally, they manage to track him down, in some makeshift arena where Van Damme is about to meet the late World Wrestling Federation Champion Andre the Giant, in a match to the death, which would be the culmination of his career as U.S. fighter. As the match progresses, we see the two Legionnaire NCO's, formerly his bitter enemies, having changed into stalwart supporters of his, witnessing first-hand his bravery and fighting skill.

After the match is over, the French NCO's make themselves known, and take Van Damme into their custody, despite his brother's widow protests. Then follows the most touching scene in the film, with Van Damme hugging his brother's daughter, tears flowing in his eyes. The scene is so compelling, that even the tough French Legionnaires, after looking each other, cannot avoid to shed the odd tear.

After putting Van Damme in the car, the French NCO's drive only about half a mile down the road, when the car stops suddenly, and Van Damme is set free, in order to return to his dead brother's family.

A truly great movie, one of Van Damme's few movies, which I enjoyed seeing over and over again. The movie will be loved by, not only from those who admire the French Foreign Legion, but from martial arts fans as well, not to say anything of Van Damme's fans, who will absolutely love it. It is one of these rarest of the rare low budget movies that, having started with meager resources, by luck and hard work are turned into pearls.

The hero's devotion and love to his only brother, deeply touched me, and I think also struck a chord deep within the souls of all who saw it. I do not think that there is a single man, who would let his dead brother's wife and daughter suffer, no matter if one was half the planet away from the other. Sometimes, duty to the dead brother's family comes first from duty to country.

A truly outstanding movie:buy it.

Van Damme doing his thing
His earlier work is what has always appealed most to me and I was not disappointed with this one. It's kinda cheesy, but it's a Van Damme flick, so what were you expecting?
It's a lot like Bloodsport and Kickboxer in regards to the story line. ... Read more

Reviews (55)

"HOLLY COW' AS HARRY CARRY WOULD SAY, VAN DAMN ROCKS!!!!!!!
In the beginning of this movie I thought that I was in for another rock em sock em fight it out to the death karate movie, but wow the fight scenes were almost bloodily accurate. The minute the action starts to lull BANG! POW! ZAM! VAN DAMME! I saw that I wasn't dealing with the usual sort. TONG PO who plays the vile degenerate in a role most suited for vermin, played the deranged oriental crazy man to a T. He really scared me! So as the story goes Van Damme is to avenge the tragic accident that Tong Po inflicts on his brother, and to do this he must find someone to teach him the ancient art of Kickboxing before he surely winds up losing all sorts of control. Before he knows it Ian helps him. He forces Van Damme to do the splits and owe my god Van Damme kicks Tong Po's butt with on swift Kick to the mutton chops. Shiver me Timbers if it ain't climatic. Sure to bring the family many cheers and good times in the future. If your looking for an american underdog movie that the whole family can enjoy, kickboxer has got the goods. HIYA!

*Filmed in THAILAND: The Best Martial Arts Movie EVER! W@W*
Before I watched this movie, I didn't know what Thai-Boxing was, and I thought that "kung-fu Bruce Lee" was the toughest man who ever lived. What a joke that is. Hong Kong's top 5 kung-fu masters once fought Thai-Boxer's in a now legendary event, and were all knocked-out, in less than 6 ½ minutes combined.
Thai Boxing is the national sport of Thailand, is fought in the ring and is the worlds most brutal & spectacular martial art.
In case you're wondering what the differences are between (American) kickboxing and Thai-Boxing (Muay Thai), they are as follows - kickboxing is just feet & fists, whereas Thai-Boxing also includes elbows & knees. Now you start to see why it is so notorious.

This is a movie about an American Kick-Boxing champ who goes to Thailand to fight their Thai-Boxing champ. Not surprisingly, the American gets battered, and paralysed, and through revenge, the victim's brother - Van Damme, learns 'Muay Thai' (Thai-Boxing) and fights the guy who paralysed his brother.

Though this scenario is a bit fictional the movie itself is beautifully realistic and authentic. It is about 99% filmed on location in Thailand and the viewer is treated to priceless scenes of inside the Bangkok Ratchadamneon national Thai-Boxing stadium, real Thai Thai-Boxers training at a camp, and spiritual scenes inside the Buddhist temples of Bangkok, featuring the massive gold-plated Reclining Buddha
(watch the movie and you'll know what I'm talking about).

We see Van Damme being taught Thai-Boxing by a Thai, and we watch him progress from being a sloppy fighter to a razor-sharp one. There are scenes where Van Damme, in training, uses his shins to kicks a palm tree, and where Van Damme and his opponent wrap their fists in cloths with broken glass stuck to the knuckles. You may laugh at this, but a little research will tell you that this is how the 'underground' fights are fought, and if you know how tough these Thais are then kicking trees doesn't seem so unrealistic.

As far as I know, no movie comes close to this one, in terms of authenticity at least. It is both educational and highly entertaining - there are loads of high quality fight scenes, and Van Damme is a good fighter (if only a theatrical one). There is nice cinematography too, and as soon as the movie starts you know it has that 'classic' feel about it.
A movie in a class of its own. Brilliant. Buy it!

The Classic, The Best
This has to be the best Van Damne movie with Bloodsport and Hard Target, get this movie its Van Damne's best, 4.8/5

Best Scene Ever!
This movie is unbelieveable! The reason it is unbelieveable? One scene, and one scene only. The dancing scene in the middle of the movie. It goes like this...Van Damme and his wily master go to a dive bar. His master makes him drink a mystery liquor. Van Damme, being the dork that he is in this movie (he is wearing a body suit/tank top at the bar that has clamps that connect at the shoulder, this keeps the shirt from falling off and makes Van Damme look like a dink), gets hammered. He is then forced to dance... With a shreek "AYYYEE", his master cues the music and movie history is made! Van Damme shakes his hips and does his splits, attracting all the babes...and Tong Po's gang! But who cares about those hooligans, Van Damme is getting his groove back better than Stella ever thought possible! The gang attacks him, and he pummels those lousy goons. "You got Served!" has nothing on Van Damme! He would serve those suckahs like he does Tong Po at the end! Nut-Sue Cow (White Warrior in Thai) to you all! What this movie teaches us is that Van Damme's ballet lessons did not actually teach him to "cut a rug", and that his brother is Latino? Buy this movie for this scene, trust me.

Does it get any better?
"kick the tree"

I rate this as Van Damme's best movie. Out of all the movies he has done, I think only 8 or so are good.

This movie has a decent story, ok acting and a great performance by a young Van Damme.

Cover is nice, no special features though.

Again, Van Damme is terrific in this action flick, on top of his game.

If you like a good action movie, especially a martial arts one, Kickboxer belongs in your collection. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Orignal is better!
this movie is ok but it doesnt top the orignal, jean claude van damme is the best actor and he destroys Sasha Mitchell. Sasha Mitchell doesnt come close to the kind of actor jean claude van damme is. I say get the first one, its so much better.

A movie worth watching!
This movie is the best out of all the kicboxers. The fights look real and Sasha Mitchell looks damn hot! I think it is a bit hard to understand what happened to Kurt and Eric in the start, but by the end of the movie, you know what is happening. Great movie, you gotta see it for yourself!

Good,but not better than the original
This was a good sequel,but not better than the first one.He plays Kurts brother and fights Tong Po.Van Damne is way better though.

Kickboxer Goes On Without Van Damme For The Better
Kickboxer 2 The Road Back Deals With David Sloan. The brother of Kurt & Eric Sloan David is running his brothers kickboxer school tung po killed off van damme's charcter for the first kickboxer I say good sasha mitchell is a lot better tung po can only regain his honor by fighting david since kurt is dead so david vs. tung po with glue and glass is a bloody battle great movie the best in the series.

KICKBOXER 2 ROCKS!!!
This movie is just as good as the first. It picks up where the first one left off. Sasha Mitchell is great as David Sloan.
Great fight scenes and actors. This movie is a "MUST SEE"! ... Read more

Reviews (55)

"HOLLY COW' AS HARRY CARRY WOULD SAY, VAN DAMN ROCKS!!!!!!!
In the beginning of this movie I thought that I was in for another rock em sock em fight it out to the death karate movie, but wow the fight scenes were almost bloodily accurate. The minute the action starts to lull BANG! POW! ZAM! VAN DAMME! I saw that I wasn't dealing with the usual sort. TONG PO who plays the vile degenerate in a role most suited for vermin, played the deranged oriental crazy man to a T. He really scared me! So as the story goes Van Damme is to avenge the tragic accident that Tong Po inflicts on his brother, and to do this he must find someone to teach him the ancient art of Kickboxing before he surely winds up losing all sorts of control. Before he knows it Ian helps him. He forces Van Damme to do the splits and owe my god Van Damme kicks Tong Po's butt with on swift Kick to the mutton chops. Shiver me Timbers if it ain't climatic. Sure to bring the family many cheers and good times in the future. If your looking for an american underdog movie that the whole family can enjoy, kickboxer has got the goods. HIYA!

*Filmed in THAILAND: The Best Martial Arts Movie EVER! W@W*
Before I watched this movie, I didn't know what Thai-Boxing was, and I thought that "kung-fu Bruce Lee" was the toughest man who ever lived. What a joke that is. Hong Kong's top 5 kung-fu masters once fought Thai-Boxer's in a now legendary event, and were all knocked-out, in less than 6 ½ minutes combined.
Thai Boxing is the national sport of Thailand, is fought in the ring and is the worlds most brutal & spectacular martial art.
In case you're wondering what the differences are between (American) kickboxing and Thai-Boxing (Muay Thai), they are as follows - kickboxing is just feet & fists, whereas Thai-Boxing also includes elbows & knees. Now you start to see why it is so notorious.

This is a movie about an American Kick-Boxing champ who goes to Thailand to fight their Thai-Boxing champ. Not surprisingly, the American gets battered, and paralysed, and through revenge, the victim's brother - Van Damme, learns 'Muay Thai' (Thai-Boxing) and fights the guy who paralysed his brother.

Though this scenario is a bit fictional the movie itself is beautifully realistic and authentic. It is about 99% filmed on location in Thailand and the viewer is treated to priceless scenes of inside the Bangkok Ratchadamneon national Thai-Boxing stadium, real Thai Thai-Boxers training at a camp, and spiritual scenes inside the Buddhist temples of Bangkok, featuring the massive gold-plated Reclining Buddha
(watch the movie and you'll know what I'm talking about).

We see Van Damme being taught Thai-Boxing by a Thai, and we watch him progress from being a sloppy fighter to a razor-sharp one. There are scenes where Van Damme, in training, uses his shins to kicks a palm tree, and where Van Damme and his opponent wrap their fists in cloths with broken glass stuck to the knuckles. You may laugh at this, but a little research will tell you that this is how the 'underground' fights are fought, and if you know how tough these Thais are then kicking trees doesn't seem so unrealistic.

As far as I know, no movie comes close to this one, in terms of authenticity at least. It is both educational and highly entertaining - there are loads of high quality fight scenes, and Van Damme is a good fighter (if only a theatrical one). There is nice cinematography too, and as soon as the movie starts you know it has that 'classic' feel about it.
A movie in a class of its own. Brilliant. Buy it!

The Classic, The Best
This has to be the best Van Damne movie with Bloodsport and Hard Target, get this movie its Van Damne's best, 4.8/5

Best Scene Ever!
This movie is unbelieveable! The reason it is unbelieveable? One scene, and one scene only. The dancing scene in the middle of the movie. It goes like this...Van Damme and his wily master go to a dive bar. His master makes him drink a mystery liquor. Van Damme, being the dork that he is in this movie (he is wearing a body suit/tank top at the bar that has clamps that connect at the shoulder, this keeps the shirt from falling off and makes Van Damme look like a dink), gets hammered. He is then forced to dance... With a shreek "AYYYEE", his master cues the music and movie history is made! Van Damme shakes his hips and does his splits, attracting all the babes...and Tong Po's gang! But who cares about those hooligans, Van Damme is getting his groove back better than Stella ever thought possible! The gang attacks him, and he pummels those lousy goons. "You got Served!" has nothing on Van Damme! He would serve those suckahs like he does Tong Po at the end! Nut-Sue Cow (White Warrior in Thai) to you all! What this movie teaches us is that Van Damme's ballet lessons did not actually teach him to "cut a rug", and that his brother is Latino? Buy this movie for this scene, trust me.

Does it get any better?
"kick the tree"

I rate this as Van Damme's best movie. Out of all the movies he has done, I think only 8 or so are good.

This movie has a decent story, ok acting and a great performance by a young Van Damme.

Cover is nice, no special features though.

Again, Van Damme is terrific in this action flick, on top of his game.

If you like a good action movie, especially a martial arts one, Kickboxer belongs in your collection. ... Read more

Reviews (55)

"HOLLY COW' AS HARRY CARRY WOULD SAY, VAN DAMN ROCKS!!!!!!!
In the beginning of this movie I thought that I was in for another rock em sock em fight it out to the death karate movie, but wow the fight scenes were almost bloodily accurate. The minute the action starts to lull BANG! POW! ZAM! VAN DAMME! I saw that I wasn't dealing with the usual sort. TONG PO who plays the vile degenerate in a role most suited for vermin, played the deranged oriental crazy man to a T. He really scared me! So as the story goes Van Damme is to avenge the tragic accident that Tong Po inflicts on his brother, and to do this he must find someone to teach him the ancient art of Kickboxing before he surely winds up losing all sorts of control. Before he knows it Ian helps him. He forces Van Damme to do the splits and owe my god Van Damme kicks Tong Po's butt with on swift Kick to the mutton chops. Shiver me Timbers if it ain't climatic. Sure to bring the family many cheers and good times in the future. If your looking for an american underdog movie that the whole family can enjoy, kickboxer has got the goods. HIYA!

*Filmed in THAILAND: The Best Martial Arts Movie EVER! W@W*
Before I watched this movie, I didn't know what Thai-Boxing was, and I thought that "kung-fu Bruce Lee" was the toughest man who ever lived. What a joke that is. Hong Kong's top 5 kung-fu masters once fought Thai-Boxer's in a now legendary event, and were all knocked-out, in less than 6 ½ minutes combined.
Thai Boxing is the national sport of Thailand, is fought in the ring and is the worlds most brutal & spectacular martial art.
In case you're wondering what the differences are between (American) kickboxing and Thai-Boxing (Muay Thai), they are as follows - kickboxing is just feet & fists, whereas Thai-Boxing also includes elbows & knees. Now you start to see why it is so notorious.

This is a movie about an American Kick-Boxing champ who goes to Thailand to fight their Thai-Boxing champ. Not surprisingly, the American gets battered, and paralysed, and through revenge, the victim's brother - Van Damme, learns 'Muay Thai' (Thai-Boxing) and fights the guy who paralysed his brother.

Though this scenario is a bit fictional the movie itself is beautifully realistic and authentic. It is about 99% filmed on location in Thailand and the viewer is treated to priceless scenes of inside the Bangkok Ratchadamneon national Thai-Boxing stadium, real Thai Thai-Boxers training at a camp, and spiritual scenes inside the Buddhist temples of Bangkok, featuring the massive gold-plated Reclining Buddha
(watch the movie and you'll know what I'm talking about).

We see Van Damme being taught Thai-Boxing by a Thai, and we watch him progress from being a sloppy fighter to a razor-sharp one. There are scenes where Van Damme, in training, uses his shins to kicks a palm tree, and where Van Damme and his opponent wrap their fists in cloths with broken glass stuck to the knuckles. You may laugh at this, but a little research will tell you that this is how the 'underground' fights are fought, and if you know how tough these Thais are then kicking trees doesn't seem so unrealistic.

As far as I know, no movie comes close to this one, in terms of authenticity at least. It is both educational and highly entertaining - there are loads of high quality fight scenes, and Van Damme is a good fighter (if only a theatrical one). There is nice cinematography too, and as soon as the movie starts you know it has that 'classic' feel about it.
A movie in a class of its own. Brilliant. Buy it!

The Classic, The Best
This has to be the best Van Damne movie with Bloodsport and Hard Target, get this movie its Van Damne's best, 4.8/5

Best Scene Ever!
This movie is unbelieveable! The reason it is unbelieveable? One scene, and one scene only. The dancing scene in the middle of the movie. It goes like this...Van Damme and his wily master go to a dive bar. His master makes him drink a mystery liquor. Van Damme, being the dork that he is in this movie (he is wearing a body suit/tank top at the bar that has clamps that connect at the shoulder, this keeps the shirt from falling off and makes Van Damme look like a dink), gets hammered. He is then forced to dance... With a shreek "AYYYEE", his master cues the music and movie history is made! Van Damme shakes his hips and does his splits, attracting all the babes...and Tong Po's gang! But who cares about those hooligans, Van Damme is getting his groove back better than Stella ever thought possible! The gang attacks him, and he pummels those lousy goons. "You got Served!" has nothing on Van Damme! He would serve those suckahs like he does Tong Po at the end! Nut-Sue Cow (White Warrior in Thai) to you all! What this movie teaches us is that Van Damme's ballet lessons did not actually teach him to "cut a rug", and that his brother is Latino? Buy this movie for this scene, trust me.

Does it get any better?
"kick the tree"

I rate this as Van Damme's best movie. Out of all the movies he has done, I think only 8 or so are good.

This movie has a decent story, ok acting and a great performance by a young Van Damme.

Cover is nice, no special features though.

Again, Van Damme is terrific in this action flick, on top of his game.

If you like a good action movie, especially a martial arts one, Kickboxer belongs in your collection. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Tong-Po: Back in Action?
The energetic Hector Echavarria stars in this low-budget martial arts actioner which surprisingly has a lot going for it. He stars as Marcos De Santos, a Robin Hood style thief who wants to escape his life of crime and spend the rest of his days with his girlfriend. Problems arise when his partners talk him into doing one last job - to steal a priceless Mongolian artifact. Now, anyone with less than a minutes attention span will already guess that this a big con, and our hero De Santos is presumably left for dead. Quickly rescued by the owners of the stolen artifact and nursed back to good health, he is sent to get it back. Buddy-style antics are the order of the day as De Santos is partnered by a Mongolian bodyguard, and between the two of them they kick, punch and fight their way through 90 minutes of redneck beating, coconut crushing and major kickboxery mayhem!

The cast are uniformally good, which is quite a shock for a film of this kind. Echavarria is one to watch, and one wonders what he could do with a bigger budget. Youssef Qissi (who portrays the main villain, and De Santos' nemesis) is great - an evil look and an equally good screen fighter to match. Playboy model Nikki Lemke turns up as the manipulative partner of De Santos, and she too is really good in her role (check out the camera, as it seems to be mesmerised by her never-ending legs!). Director and co-star Michel Qissi (Yeah, bad-movies fans rejoice! It's Tong-Po from the KICKBOXER movies) is great as the Mongolian bodyguard. He deadpans his way through all of his lines - and to his credit, he handles this movie very well behind the camera as well. The action scenes are well choreographed and the film has a sharp professional look that elevates it above many of its direct-to-video peers.

Released in the UK (with an awful cover) under the shabby title EXTREME DRAGON (this review actually refers to that Third Millennium release), the movie bears no widescreen option or any extras to speak of. This is a shame as a short 'making-of' would have helped the package further. Not even a trailer? C'mon, this is DVD isn't it? Not VHS. I cannot speak for this US release, whether it will have any extras or anything to speak of, but for the movie alone - it is worth a looksee. If you are a fan of those old Kickboxer-type movies of the late 80s/early 90s or like your action with a little direct-to-video edge to it, then this could very well be for you. ... Read more