Admirable film.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

On the positive side, JCVD at his peak did not do very many "street fight" films so if you are a fan, this is as good as it gets.Also on the positive side, the film was immortalized in the A-list TV series SENSE8, so whenever in the far future you watch this, you are watching a piece of history.On the downside, 1. Too long.2. Terrible script. Characters do and say things that feel out of context and create a disconnect with the viewer.3. Editing and direction suspect, especially for the 1990s. The film "feels" like a 1970s action flick, erratic and disjointed.Bottom line, if you want to see the best street fight film of all time, the way it SHOULD be done, see HARD TIMES. If you want to see a film about a character who takes to the streets to settle a score, see BLOOD AND BONE.

Let's call this, Wrong Bet, it sounds better. I've just watched this film again, after twenty years, and it ain't half a bad film, with some good performances, that of Lisa Pelikan, and Harrison Page. Wrong Bet's start, does seem familiar to a couple of other Van Damne flick early scenarios, as he again escapes the ugly foreign legion, and retreats to Los Angeles, amid some pit stops, as hearing his brother (involved in drug activities) is badly burnt. To help the widow and little Shirley Temple looking daughter, largely behind in rent, he partakes in underground fights, to earn some moolah. W.B has a pretty grounded story and straight forward plot and situations, where it veers more towards a drama, than the usual heavy action pics from our hunky lead. There is a quite a bit of action, but of course, it's mostly on the fighting ground, where the final fight, long and grueling, really has your attention, one of the best of it's time, where the opponent is a real beefcake of a fighter, those ones you really can't take as a human in these wrestler/kickboxer pics. This isn't a badly made film, where I was appreciative of those two performances, (Pelikan as the down on her luck widow) and Page as the limping ex fighter who partners up with Van Damne (dejavu of some other films of his, right?). But of course, the other standout is that of The Lady, the devious hot female fatale, running the underground fights, with her assistant (Cobra's Thompson- more human here). She takes VD under her wing, literally. This might not be the best one, for JCVD fans, who want to crave real action, amid explosions, and gunfire. But this movie does have heart, and quite a beautiful ending, but again, falls to average. Frequent graphic violence warning is an absolute joke.

I've never been a fan of van Damme (I'm die-hard Bruce Lee). This is one of his 'more human/humane' films. He goes to help family in distress. That's fine. He has compassion and empathy, and is probably a nice guy.However even 20 years ago I didn't like his fight choreography, and I like it less now. You can see the fighters telegraphing their moves. vD is so SLOW... He's like baby elephant. By the time he's completed one round house manoeuvre his opponent t could have ended the fight. His movement sequences are illogical. His opponents made to look stupid.But the final fight scene takes the cake. vD is supposed to have a BROKEN rib; not merely cracked but broken. He is being beaten up by this Attila idiot. Spends half the fight having his broken rib bashed repeatedly. Then he ends up making moves that would tax a fully fit and healthy martial artist. Leg movements intense and rapid. He should have been bleeding out and in agony, not winning the fight. Even for vD fantasy fight choreography this was Alice in Wonderland stuff.This film gets 5 for the human story. The rest even by vD ropey standards was pure bunkum...

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.