guisreis The main character is a boxer who made a deal but at the very moment refused to dive on the ring and needs to flee (poor "The harder they fall"...). Van Damme, the French boxer, enters the Foreigh Legion in order to escape the mob. The film is a mix of a much worsened version of the mentioned classic movie starred by Humphrey Bogart, a bit of a bastard version of "Full metal jacket" and, off course, a Van Damme movie, with all those silly jokes, an unconvincing romance, bad acting, shots and fights. These are particularly bad not for themselves, but because there was ridiculously no concern to make the main character fight as a boxer when brawling. He defends himself as a karate master instead of parrying as boxers do, and he attacked by wrestling instead of punching! Even though the boxing fight happened only in the beginning of the film, it would be expected that being a boxer would be a trait of the character that would appear in many moments. Well, it would happen in a serious film. Off course there was no serious intention of showing how Foreign Legion worked either. Even as a childish entertainment, "Legionnaire" does not succeed as it is boring.

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

DigitalRevenantX7 The Story: France, 1925. Alain, a French boxer, reneges on a deal to lose a match. Framed for murder, he joins the Foreign Legion. There he is sent to Algeria where, along with an African-American, a British major & a love-struck Frenchman, he is thrust into a platoon fighting a losing battle against Algerian freedom fighters.This is not the first time that Jean-Claude Van Damme has played a Legionnaire, having done so in "Lionheart / Wrong Bet". In that film, he deserted the Legion. Here though, he has decided to stay the course.The film is directed by Peter MacDonald, who is no stranger to hard action films, having done "Rambo III". The script comes written by Sheldon Lettich, a veteran when it comes to making films with Van Damme. Together the two have done "Lionheart", "Double Impact", "The Order" & "The Hard Corps".After what could be called a mediocre lead in, with the usual nonsense about gangsters & fixed boxing matches, the film picks up with some fairly good acting, especially from Van Damme, as well as his friends. Characterisations are better than average, with a wide variety of different characters. There's the veteran British soldier with a shady past, the African-American drifter & the Frenchman who joins the Legion to prove himself to his fiancé. Steven Berkoff, another "Rambo" veteran, commands as the borderline sociopathic Legionnaire commander. The film's biggest problem is the ending, which ends abruptly & fails to finish the story. Also, Van Damme being spared by the Arabs solely because he is brave is a contrived plot point.

winner55 This is the least typical Van Damme film - and his absolute best. really, if you come to this film expecting a typical Van Damme film, please go see Double Impact or Hard Target again.Based on a real incident during the 1925 Morocco campaign (and most of us didn't even know there was such a campaign), and highly suggestive of the many versions of Beau Geste that women have wept over in movie-houses for decades, this is a story about the French Foreign Legion. Viewers should be warned that the slogan of the Legion at this time was "March or die!" The only thing that kept these men from killing each other was that the Berbers were so much better at killing them.The film has an epic structure to it. The cinematography doesn't quite match this, but it is rock-solid. The actors are all very able. Clichés do drift through the film, but the final battle makes up for most of these.And, oh, yes, Van Damme can actually act. Quite well, when he doesn't let it get to his head.