Jean-Claude Van Damme is truly one of the greatest action stars who has ever lived and a genuine martial artist who has brought his incredible fighting skills to numerous action-packed movies. While Van Damme got his big break in the cult favorite Bloodsport, this was just the tip of the iceberg as he showcased his Dan black belt skills in karate and champion kickboxing talents across his vast filmography. Although Van Damme has excelled in villainous roles and had plenty of great cameos over the years, he’s also never been against repeating himself.

Following the success of Bloodsport, there was a healthy appeтιтe for more of the same from the man dubbed The Muscles from Brussels, and Van Damme certainly gave viewers what they wanted. Later roles in beloved favorites like Universal Soldier and Timecop indeed helped solidify his action star status, but before gaining those parts, he first repeated the appeal of Bloodsport with another martial arts movie that essentially retread many of the same beats.

How Lionheart Compares To Bloodsport

Van Damme was carving out his cinematic persona with these movies

While Van Damme gained major notoriety for playing the real-life fighter Frank Dux in the highly fictionalized story of Bloodsport, Lionheart tapped into the same kind of topics through the story of the French Foreign Legionnaire stationed in Africa, Lyon “Lionheart” Gaultier. Having deserted the United States, Lyon found himself entering an underground fighting circuit to raise money for his murdered brother’s family. With the same kind of illegal fighting rings as those seen in Bloodsport, it was impossible not to immediately make the connections between the two films.

It was in both Lionheart and Bloodsport that Van Damme carved out his heroic underdog persona and demonstrated to the world that he possessed the skills necessary to become an action star as iconic as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Much in the same way Frank Dux fights for honor and glory, Lyon was concerned with providing for his brother’s family and showcased a willingness to put his life on the line to achieve this. Featuring Van Damme’s signature splits and high kicks, it’s clear he was carving out his own cinematic style with these movies.

Bloodsport May Be More Iconic, But Lionheart Has The Better Story

Lionheart expresses important themes of family, loyalty, and perseverance

As Van Damme’s breakout role, it will always be difficult to top the iconic nature of Bloodsport, although the truth was that Lionheart had a far more interesting story. While Bloodsport was intriguing upon release, as it was marketed as the true story of Frank Dux, the later revelations that he had fabricated much of his fight record somewhat tarnish the film’s impact. Lionheart did not have any of these issues, and its themes of honor and perseverance in the face of incredible challenges were truly compelling.

While everyone will have a different answer for which movie was better, there’s no denying that Bloodsport and Lionheart were cut from the same cloth and stand as some of the best movies from JCDV’s early career. As an over-the-top exaggeration of post-1980s action movies, Lionheart stands alongside the likes of Face/Off and Speed as an example of the self-aware and tongue-in-cheek direction the genre was heading toward. With Jean-Claude Van Damme as one of the era’s most impressive martial movie stars, I’m glad to live in a world where both Bloodsport and Lionheart exist alongside one another.