Legionnaire
Legionnaire
R | 03 December 1998 (USA)
Legionnaire Trailers

Alain Lefevre is a boxer paid by a Marseille mobster to take a dive. When he wins the fight he attempts to flee to America with the mobster's girlfriend Katrina. This plan fails and he seeks escape by joining the foreign legion. As part of the legion he tangles with abusive lieutenant Steinkampf and bonds with legionnaires Luther, Mackintosh and Rosetti.

Reviews
SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Leofwine_draca This Van Damme outing isn't a success because it has "all the right ingredients"; rather, it's a success because it's just so different to the rest of his output. Gone are the brutal martial arts tournaments and battles with hired killers; instead, what we have here is a well-paced tale of heroism, warfare, and man's loyalty to his fellow man. Strong acting from the supporting cast - not to mention Van Damme, who can be all right when given the right type of character - and some excellent desert locations, filmed in Morocco, give LEGIONNAIRE an edge over most of its ilk, and it's a crying shame that this went straight-to-video when bigger-budgeted but poorer movies manage to make it to the cinema screens.This is Van Damme's most adult film to date, a film which realistically deals with friendship in times of danger. Not only is it a film which is pleasing to watch - the beautifully arid desert locations are complemented by a fine score and good cinematography, whilst the action sequences which depict huge battles full of explosions and the like are well-choreographed and visually excellent - but it's also a good-natured movie which stays with you after the close and leaves you with a good feeling inside, even despite a downbeat ending.The supporting cast, which includes an excellent Nicholas Farrell and Steven Berkoff, is also uniformly excellent, marred only by the occasional stereotype (the maniac mobster, played over-the-top by Jim Carter, or the strict platoon leader), and the film is awash with good performances. A slower-paced yarn, this takes time to build up the characters and make you care about them before shocking us with high body counts in the war sequences and unflinching deaths for the heroes. Although the story is familiar from all the films that have come before it, LEGIONNAIRE stands true as a good genre film and just goes to show that serious, intelligent action flicks can still be made in this day and age. Someone finally realised it isn't all just about special effects and stunts.
Dom Nickson Oh my god from the beginning boxing scene to the very end battle this movie is the worst god-awful thing on the planet! I only liked a handful of the characters, it's very boring, and the end everybody dies but Jean Claude. It sucks because you're rooting for everybody but him. The ending is very depressing and just very poorly written seeing as how once everybody you care about dies it's just pointless. I hate the whole concept of having Van Damme be a soldier again. I've seen enough of the new Jean Claude bring the old Van Damme back because I'd rather see his older movies than newer movies. Yet I don't really care for van damme's movies at all at least with those films you get satisfied to see the villain get whooped brutally. This film you'd rather just ignore it's existence. I'll give it a one seeing as how it had decent character build up.
jonathanruano Legionnaire is an entertaining film about a French boxer Alain Lefevre (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who tries to escape from his troubles with some Mafiosos by joining the French Legion and fighting for French colonialists in Morocco. Van Damme has never been good with challenging roles, which is why it was a good idea to saddle him with the relatively safe and likable character of Alain with little margin for error. The filmmakers also did something else that was smart: they surrounded Van Damme with interesting characters (played by rather good actors), which automatically raises the interest-level for this film. Steven Berkoff is clearly having a lot of fun with the villainous character Sergeant Steinkampf and we have just as much fun watching him. An under-appreciated talent, Adewale Akinnuoye-Aghbaie, does a really decent job playing Luther who decides to join the French Legion to escape the racism of the South along with a bogus murder charge. Then there is Nicholas Farrell who delivers a wonderfully well conceived performance as the British recruit Mackintosh, a man with a compulsive gambling habit, who is renowned for his witticisms, and even capable of speaking a few Arabic phrases (which are most useful in a brothel). The Arabic phrases are completely unnecessary, but much appreciated all the same. Finally Ana Sofrenovic makes for a beautiful love interest, Katrina, who we would like to see reunited with Alain and broken free of the clutches of the evil mob boss. As a result of all these factors in addition to some great cinematography and some pretty good action and survival in the desert scenes, Legionnaire hums along quite entertainingly right until the end.7/10
callanvass Legionnaire is quite the little gem, there's not a whole lot of action, but that's OK cause it concentrates on story and plot, and does a very good job on that, plus Van Damme gives a rock solid performance, and benefits from a great relatively unknown supporting cast!. All the characters are quite likable actually,and the finale is quite gripping, plus the ending to me was great and makes you think in my opinion. There are some good twists and turns, as well, and it's very well made and written, plus some of the gun battles are very exciting!. It actually has quite a few heartbreaking scenes as well, and I loved the setting too, plus this is one of VD's best DTV films as well!. I loved the opening where Van Damme has that boxing match, and then has to run to meet Katrina, and the film is also very old fashioned as well, plus I would have loved to see what happened between Van Damme and Katrina at the end. Overall this is a must see for all Van Damme fans just prepare for a different type of film!. **** out of 5 TheActing is great!. Jean Claude Van Damme is excellent here, he does quite well in the acting scenes, and gives one of his finest performances, i generally cared about his character he is especially cool in the finale I loved his performance here!. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is very good here as Luther, he is very likable and proved he had a lot of talent as it's heartbreaking with what happens to him. Steven Berkoff is good as the tough Sgt. Nicholas Farrell is terrific here as Mackintosh he is likable, but yet does things that are hard to forgive him for, but still he makes up for it at the end!. Rest of the cast do fine.