Legionnaire (1998) User Reviews

You may not think you'll like it, but you will.

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 2 July 2008]

I know, another Van Damme picture, but don't write it off too quickly. Despite the fact that it went direct to video, it really is a good movie, and probably the best job of acting that Van Damme has done.

It has a great supporting cast, too. Remember Steven Berkoff as Lt. Col. Podovsky in Rambo II? "I don't know who you are yet, but I will!" He has the same accent here. He may just be a sergeant now, but he still has that presence.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr Eko from "Lost", The Mummy Returns, The Bourne Identity) also adds greatly to the story of those seeking a new life in the Foreign legion.

Also great jobs from Nicholas Farrell, and long-time Van Damme film actor, Kamel Krifa.

Sure, it's the same story you have heard many times about the Legion, this time being carpet-bombed by the Berbers, but it still is worth your time.

And, the music was great, too.

Not bad

[mm-39 · 6/10 · 2 March 2002]

I like history movies, so I like this one. Nice change for Van Damm he plays a different role. The film is interesting to follow. We have the reasons why people joined, and the harshness of being one. A solid 6, and I would watch this film when they show it on TBS.

Almost good

[RokurotaMakabe · 5/10 · 16 July 2011]

"Legionnaire" is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's more serious movies. Here, he tried to take a break from his usual action packed movies and appear in a picture that focused on story and character development. The result is a film that doesn't really work that well in the end, but it is definitely not that bad either.

The film relies more on drama than on action scenes and in spite of the fact that this represents a pleasant departure for Van Damme from his usual movies, this is also one of the film's main weaknesses. The movie doesn't know exactly what it wants to be. There were times when the film was a little too slow and some of the actors seemed a little uncomfortable in the scenes that demanded some acting abilities. On the other hand, the film makes good use of its setting (desert) and it has a good atmosphere. I also found the ending to be pretty good and thought that Van Damme did a decent job as an actor, an improvement from his previous roles.

In the end, "Legionnaire" is a nearly good movie, but I had the impression that they could have made it better. Also, if I were to compare it to Van Damme's other effort from 1998, "Knock Off", this is a lot better.

My rating: 5,5/10

Certainly different, and uniquely done!

[tjranma · 26 May 2004]

I bought the DVD off the sales rack at Wal-Mart, thinking I could pawn it off after once viewing it. . . .not expecting much of it, even though I am a fan of Van Damme. BUT, it surprised me as Van Damme expresses his DRAMATIC skills! Not his usuall puncher-kicker film, he tells the story of how it is for a legionnaire watching people he knows being picked off one-by-one in the heated Hell of war! Although it's not a true story, it IS, however, true to the way it is with any heartfull man who joins the Foreign Legion and gets caught up in such Hellish realities of hatred in combat. Leaving behind all he's ever known & felt comfortable with and fighting for a whole different cause, and finding out later the trespasses that happen which can result in hatred. You can feel the loneliness he felt as the Arabs ride away & he's the only one left standing there in the death, rubble, and smoke of what was his fort in Northern Africa. Certainly a welcomed change from Van Damme's usuall martial arts mayhem. It's a keeper!

a forgettable politically correct Foreign Legion movie

[pzanardo · 2/10 · 31 August 2000]

"Legionnaire" is a forgettable politically correct version of the French-Foreign-Legion genre. The plot is linear (this is not a fault). Van Damme is a boxer who swindles a gangster boss in the Marseille of the 1920's, in the meantime causing the death of the boss' brother. To save himself, he joins the Foreign Legion, goes to North Africa, and, after the usual hard training, reaches a fortress in the desert, where his regiment is readily destroyed by the rebels of the Rif.

Political correctness is abundant: Van Damme is a Polish immigrant, roughly treated by French people, needless to say. At the Legion there is a black fellow from the States, who introduces himself uttering a speech against the racism of the Americans (what an original idea!): of course, he will be Van Damme's best friend in the regiment. Well, I guess that in the twenties people were really so racist that the very idea of enlisting a black in a regiment of whites was just unconceivable. In old movies we could see a single legionnaire resisting to hundreds of Arabs. Here, for the sake of political correctness, the exact contrary happens: a whole regiment of legionnaires is swept off in few minutes by the Rif rebels. Most predictably, Van Damme is nobly spared by the chief of the Arabs, who does not miss the chance to deliver an anti-colonialist sermon. However, in "Legionnaire" we also find some stereotypes in the old-Foreign-Legion-movies style: the ruthless sergeant, the inept officer, a number of bad guys who rescue their honor with a heroic death.

To conclude, let me remark a nonsense too preposterous even for a genre not celebrated for likelihood. The French boss recognizes his fiend Van Damme in a photo on a newspaper (a reportage with pictures at the Foreign Legion, in the 1920's?? And a boss so attentive in checking newspapers??). At any rate, he forces a pair of gangsters to join the Legion to take his revenge on Van Damme (??). The subscription lasted 5 years (as stated in the movie)! And how can the thugs be sure to be enlisted exactly in Van Damme's regiment? And why Van Damme does not report the two killers to military authorities, or at least inform his mates of the danger? What about bribing some comrades of Van Damme to shoot him, thus avoiding all this mess?

Worth watching even for non van Damme fans

[liebpferd · 7/10 · 3 March 2004]

Legionnaire is beautifully photographed and contains both an engaging story (loosely based on Beau Geste) and good performances by the actors. Underrated from the start, the picture undeservedly went straight to video. However, it is not a 10 out of 10 as some suggest. The story and characters fall too often into clichés and some of the roles could have been given more depth. Particularly the love story, mostly told in flash backs, is depicted with emotionally appealing pictures and music but remains too superficial to be fully satisfying.

This film had the potential to be great with a bit more emphasis on the drama part and toning down the more usual action flick formula (the action scenes are well done, though). However, here is hope that van Damme will make more serious movies, even if they have martial arts and action themes. I always liked him as an actor. There is an honesty and modesty to van Damme's work that is missing in most Hollywood products.

Confused actioner

[smellthecult-com-1 · 5/10 · 24 December 2009]

Humdrum, end of the line action adventure fodder for the Belgique freak.

Man Slamme plays Alain Lefevre, a professional boxer who is one day approached by gangsters to drop in a fight. The deal? Drop and be richly rewarded, stay up and be dead within days. Alain plays along but, in the heat of battle, has a change of heart so he wins the fight, makes off with the swag and joins the Foreign Legion.

So far, so Long Cord.

The remainder of the movie is spent following the travails of the Legion platoon he joins, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, all very afternoon movie on BBC2. Lacking any real venom once the initial boxing sequences are dispensed with, this is a mixed affair, seeming not to know what it wants to be; epic war movie, fun filled knockabout or sinister gangster action.

Whilst far from the worst Man Slamme movie out there, this one fails to get out of second gear, I'm afraid, and certainly won't live in the memory for too long. Well, maybe the lingering upward scrolling shot of L'homme Belgique might stick around for a while, if nothing else.

Van Damme does drama

[AwesomeWolf · 7/10 · 10 March 2005]

I found 'Legionnaire' for $10 on a rack labelled "Movies that should never have been made!". I had never seen 'Legionnaire', but on the same rack was the Arnie classic 'Conan the Barbarian'. I decided that whoever was running the store obviously didn't know what they were talking about - I'm sure Arnie will forgive them - and so I picked up 'Legionnaire'. If I had known it had a lot more of Jean-Claude Van Damme acting rather than Van Damme beating the **** out of bad guys, I probably would have avoided it. Good thing I gave it a go, as it was actually pretty good.

Van Damme plays Alain Lefevre, a boxer paid to take a dive by a mobster. Alain and his girl-friend have other ideas, and plan to flee France and go to America. After giving his opponent a good butt-kicking, and enraging the mobsters, Alain ends up being chased by police, and finds himself in the French Foreign Legion and deployed to Africa to crush an insurgency in a French colony.

Funnily enough, it is pretty much 'Lionheart' reversed. Other than that, 'Legionnaire' feels more like a war movie than a Van Damme movie. Then again, you can tell Van Damme co-wrote it: He gives himself a lot of acting time, and not much arse-kicking time, but then you have various action clichés popping up and the odd one-liner here and there.

Van Damme's martial-arts skills are not showcased here as much as in his other movies. There are a few boxing scenes, and maybe one kick in the entire movie. The rest of the action is standard war stuff: explosions and gun-play (circa 1924, to be precise).

'Legionnaire' is surprisingly good in the end. Van Damme gets to do something different for a change, and I'll give him credit for it. It is more dramatic than most of his other movies, but that should not stop Van Damme fans - and even non-fans of Van Damme - from seeing it - 7/10

BORING!

[Colto · 1/10 · 24 June 1999]

I don't know about other people but I did not think this movie was any good at all.I thought it was boring at it took too long to get to the point.

I give This 1 out of 10

A pretty good Van Damme picture.

[Peach-2 · 7/10 · 14 February 1999]

This is better than most Van Damme films and it has a great score. The film is cliched, but it's a Van Damme picture. I don't think any Van Damme fan wold have it any other way. Some have said that Van Damme reminds them of Schwarzenegger, but I personally think the comparison runs closer along the lines of Charles Bronson. Jean-Claude Van Damme is the B-movie actor of our generation and to me that is a major compliment. Some might not like his accent or his fancy karate, but his films are usually entertaining and solid action pieces. I remember a long time ago somebody said to me that Steven Segal would outlast Van Damme, well all I have to say is "Has anybody really liked the last 4 or 5 Segal pictures?" People should appreciate Van Damme for the action star he is and not the actor he may or may never become.

Nothing much memorable happens.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 16 October 2013]

Alain Lefevre (Guess Who?) is a boxer in Marseilles, France in the 1920's. When some mobsters ask him to take a dive in the ring, Alain refuses, and the gangsters come after him. In a desperate bid for escape, he joins the French Foreign Legion. Probably because he knows the Legion "doesn't ask questions about a man's past." Thus, it is something of a ragtag bunch of misfits. Even though the Legion marches and fights hard against its enemy in Morocco, to Alain it's surely still preferable to being killed by the gangsters that are after him. Unfortunately, some of said baddies enroll in the Legion to find Alain. But Alain also made some friends while serving his time. Will this brotherhood of men with nothing to lose defy all the obstacles put before them? Find out today (?) Legionnaire is one of the first Van Damme movies to go straight to video (at least here in the U.S.). Sure, it has a professional look and is somewhat glossy, but it's an old-fashioned war movie - almost in the vein of those boredom-inducing Sunday-afternoon programmers so beloved by the elderly. Why the filmmakers would take that approach is somewhat confusing, until you realize Van Damme probably wanted to break out of his cycle of "beat-em-up" movies and appeal to a wider audience. Unfortunately, this leaves die-hard action fans in the cold, as, yes, there are some battle scenes but almost no Martial Arts.

But it does conform to the now-standard Van Damme formula of the time: It was written by Van Damme and frequent collaborator Sheldon Lettich, it's 100 minutes or more, and features at least one scene of Van Damme nudity. It's almost like they have not simply a movie script, but a page of check-boxes that must be ticked before the movie can be released. And since it takes place in the past and/or features Van Damme trying to escape his troubles via ship, it can be easily compared to Lionheart (1990) or The Quest (1996). In fact, in Lionheart, he plays a Legionnaire, so Legionnaire could be almost a prequel of sorts.

It could've gone to the theater, there's certainly nothing junky about it that screams "Direct To Video", but at this point, the action boom of the 80's and early 90's was definitely on the wane. Plus, there are no other real names in the cast to help and support Van Damme. But, plotwise, the enemy the Legionnaires are fighting is unclear, and there's no one strong, central villain to boo and hiss at. In a supposed action movie, that's a major problem. Hence, it becomes sort of a morass of unfocused incidents - nothing sticks with you - it's in one eye and out the other. Nothing much memorable happens.

And while there is some mild Punchfighting at one point, it seems the sole reason Legionnaire was made was to tout the coolness of those awesome hats the Legionnaires wear. Obviously Van Damme wanted to display some national pride (even though he's not from France) - but perhaps "Legionnaire Hat" isn't as snappy a title.

If you ever end up in a scenario where you're going to watch a Van Damme movie with your parents or grandparents, Legionnaire is seemingly made for that purpose.

What? No kicking?

[nerph20 · 8/10 · 2 October 2003]

This has to be one of the oddest, yet best Van Damme films ever. It's not chop-socky martial arts kickboxing crud, and it isn't mindless sci-fi action... it's a war drama. And a surprisingly good one. Van Damme plays Alain, a boxer who is paid to take a dive, but who instead flees and joins the French Foreign Legion, where he learns about friendship, honor, and fighting to the last. Sound like a normal Van Damme movie? Far from it. Sheldon Lettich's script, while somewhat cliche, is very well put together. The acting is surprisingly top notch, with even Jean-Claude Van Damme himself turning in a good performance. What a shame this movie never made it to theaters. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys an exciting, epic war film. I give it 8/10.

One of Van Damme's most atypical efforts: a serious war movie

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 16 August 2016]

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.

One of Van Damme's solid acting performance I have seen!

[ivo-cobra8 · 5/10 · 3 January 2016]

Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take an Van Damme underrated, epic war, drama film, ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.

Legionnaire (1998) in my opinion it is a solid good war drama movie. I like this movie a lot since I was a kid, I rent the VHS tape and I like it, I watch it on TV and I like it. This is different solid performance from Van Damme, who actually went making a different movie, from his action movies by showing that he can act! This movie did worked perfectly for me. Is not one of my Van Damme favorite films, but it is still entertaining solid enjoyable Van Damme movie. The film is about courage, loyalty, love and true friendship. That is what I like about this movie. It is hell a lot of better than stupid The Quest (1996) I hated that movie from Van Damme, that was one of his worst movies ever! Legionnaire is the opposite about that bombed film. Van Damme did a solid acting performance for me.

However this film has a major problems and a flaws that are really not explained at all. The acting in this movie was good but the film is a "whole" pretty slow paced & boring at times, plus the film needed better ending, that explained what happened to his women? I think I do remember hearing that this film was suppose to hit big screen, but since his recent films wasn't making the big money like his early 90's flicks ,it went to VHS. Van Damme was trying his acting out without any of his famous kicks and head butts which feel flat. Still I think this movie is hell out better than Street Fighter (1995) that I also really hated.

This was the second time Van Damme played a Legionnaire, the first time he played a Legionnaire was in Lionheart (1990) my favorite Van Damme film! But this time Van Damme play's a boxer who suppose to lose a fight in the second round and he should went on a dive, but he won the fight instead, on the run from the mobsters, they tried to killed Van Damme, in self defense Van Damme kills one of the mobsters brother and than flees to the Legion. I liked about this movie that it was set in the earliest 20th century, I like it that is was historical event and I like it the acting in this movie, the true friendship and loyalty in the war in the film. I had no idea Steven Berkoff was in this movie, I mostly remember him from my favorite action movie Beverly Hills Cop (1984) which he did an awesome villain, but this time he is a commanding officer of the legionnaires. Peter MacDonald did a great job directing this war movie. He gave us Rambo III (1988), so I don't think this movie is awful bad or terrible, it is pretty good War drama film. I like the theme score which, is a good score for this film, the similar score was used in Lionheart (1990), just it was different score from John Altman. In Lionheart John Scott made the music for the film, in here it was John Altman who made a score for this film.

Legionnaire is a 1998 war film set in the year 1925 and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Alain Lefevre, a French boxer on the run from the Marseilles Mafia for refusing to fix a fight. Lefevre then joins the French Foreign Legion to escape the assassins who are trying to kill him. The decision puts Alain into the middle of the Rif War in French Morocco. The battles shown in the film are based upon real events. Abd-El Krim (Kamel Krifa) was a real life leader of the Rif/Berber rebels who were trying to force the French out of North Africa. Though the film ends with Abd-El Krim victorious, in real life, after early defeats, the French and Spanish ultimately threw a quarter of a million troops at him and his rebels, and Abd-El Krim was defeated and exiled after a bloody 10 month campaign.

I am giving this movie a 7, because the movie deserves it, it is not my favorite Van Damme movie, but it is still a good one. If there where not have been a slow paces and boring scenes sometimes, I would gave this movie a 10. But it is a 7, good movie.

7/10 Grade: B Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell, Nicholas Farrell, Jim Carter, Ana Sofrenović,Daniel Caltagirone, Joseph Long Director: Peter MacDonald Producers: Christian Halsey Solomon, Kamel Krifa, Sheldon Lettich, Peter MacDonald, Roberto Malerba, Richard G. Murphy, Edward R. Pressman, Jean-Claude Van Damme Screenplay: Sheldon Lettich, Rebecca Morrison, Jean-Claude Van Damme Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 39 Mins. Budget: $20.000.000 Box Office: $8,162,450

Great movie for van damme

[rhonda-10 · 6 August 1999]

This film never stops with action! Great plot, acting.

This movie is a potential for a continuation of the story, though Van Damme isn't known for his sequels. It's too bad this film was never given the chance at the box offices in America

boring as paint drying

[talllwoood13 · 1/10 · 18 April 2021]

The movie starts off with some promise a boxer is asked to take a dive, he wins the fight instead and runs out of the ring and tries to get to the train to bring this woman he is in love with to America. However he is almost captured by the corrupt police and mafia but some how joins the army and goes to Morocco. The whole entire time I'm just staring at the bump on JCVD head wondering how he got it and how long it's been there.

From there when they go to the army they have no plot, no motivation or anything besides proving who is in charge about almost 40 minutes in. Is he going back to get revenge on the possibly mafia, is he going to go back to get that woman and go to America? No none of that is established and is hardly mentioned at all even up to an hour in. I'd say they could have cut the film down a bit and it would have given it less of a slow and boring momentum but no it wouldn't have saved it.

Without ruining the ending.. yeah .. not worth watching. Paint drying is more exciting.

A surprisingly entertaining JCVD film

[jonathanruano · 7/10 · 14 December 2012]

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

Van Damme tries to act

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 18 May 2015]

It's 1925 Marseille. Boxer Alain Lefevre (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is forced to take a dive by crime boss Lucien Galgani. His ex-fiancée Katrina happens to be Lucien's girl. They plan to run off to America after he wins the fight. The plan goes wrong and he escapes by joining the Foreign Legion. He is sent to Morocco to battle the locals. Lucien sends assassins to kill Alain.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is in a movie with an actual story. It doesn't make the movie good. The story is full of questionable plot points. The start is not that tense. I kept waiting for him to join the Foreign Legion. After all, that's the point of the movie. There are some relatively good war action. Overall, Van Damme is not good enough of an actor to make it without kick fighting.

Surprisingly good

[nicholls905-280-546911 · 7/10 · 3 January 2020]

Imagine someone like Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis or Kurt Russell in the lead, you wouldn't question the film. Throw Van Damme in the lead, you can't help but doubt his acting abilities. Legionnaire is a good film, not great, just good. The film is quite tame for Van Damme and I was shocked when I viewed it on video all those years ago. The film has a decent plot and a character for Van Damme to digest. The film has a large scope and the film feels like a grand epic in design. It's a shame this was ignored or abandoned by the producers, it's a good film. This wasn't a Van Damme film and that's why everybody either ignores, or dismisses it. I enjoyed the film.

Complete trash

[Ghosty-2 · 1/10 · 7 March 1999]

I'm sorry, but I have to say this is the WORST movie I have EVER seen on the big screen. It has absolutely NO ending at all whatsoever and I suspect that they may have run out of film 2/3 of the way through production.

Interesting adventure from Van Damme

[SkullScreamerReturns · 6/10 · 23 September 2021]

In the 90s Van Damme was huge. Of course everybody liked Arnold and Sly, but JCVD was somehow more cool for the 90s. He could do kickboxing and he even had long hair at some point. He was somehow "bad boy", he was just cool. Everybody talked about him in school, but I never watched that many of his films. But I always saw them in catalogues and in rental stores. So, many of his films (or their covers/posters) seem a bit nostalgic to me even if I never watched the film. Legionnaire is one of those cases.

The movie surprised me with its slow start which is a more drama based adventure. We get to see the guys in the legion and how they fare as they travel through the desert. It seems like no action film at all. But then there's a lot of action towards the end. The contrast is cool - after the slower start things start exploding like crazy and it's very nice.

I guess it's a little bit better movie than I first expected. Nothing super deep but it stays interesting all the way. Check it out.

putrid may be too good a word for this junk

[schles-1 · 1/10 · 19 October 2005]

If there is such a thing as Euro-trash this is it. The acting is horrible, led by Van Dork himself. The story line is pure drivel.And the director must have been drunk or drugged. All in all a total waste of time and surely an embarrassment to anyone involved. Sort of a throw-back to B-movies of the 40's but not nearly as entertaining or interesting. If a black list could be started for "movie people" who insult their audience's intelligence with every outing, Mr. Van Dork truly deserves to be numero uno. Should be rated below 1 but 1 seems to be your lowest score.It might make sense that this "film" was never released theatrically. What is hard to understand is how it was released in any form and who in their right mind would spend money to rent it. If there is an audience out there for this level of mindless junk, it does not bode well for the future of our species.

Van Damme

[winner55 · 9/10 · 16 July 2006]

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.

Turn Your Brain Off And You Might Enjoy It

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 2 June 2003]

Ah yes the French foreign legion , something every schoolboy with a sense of adventure has thought about joining , and something film makers have dedicated a lot of celluloid to .

Jean Claude Van Damme made a previous film set against the background of the legion: AWOL ( Aka LIONHEART ) but this is far superior . In fact AWOL and LEGIONNAIRE are complete opposites since one has Van Damme running away from the regiment to become a prize fighter while the other has Van Damme as a prize fighter who runs off to join the legion ! But like I said LEGIONNAIRE is the better film . It`s enjoyable in a very cliched way , and I mean very very cliched , no cliche is left unturned but at least we don`t see Van Damme strip off his shirt and engage the Arab hordes in fisticuffs

If you liked MARCH OR DIE you`ll like this movie

Wham - bam - van Damme

[stamper · 4/10 · 5 September 1999]

This is a pretty solid van Damme flick, the story is good, the actors are pretty good too, especially the ones that play Luther (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Macentosh (Nicholas Farrell). The friendship that forms between those three is pretty good also. Then the past catches up with Lefevre and he finds at the end a new friend. But beware video renter, this is not a high speed flick with excessive camera shots, effects and colors, it is a story, yes it has somehow a STORY, which is pretty new for van Damme since 1995's Sudden Death I guess. Only bad thing in this movie: The TERMINATOR touch at the end. 7 out of 10