Lionheart (1990)
Action • 1h 45m
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Page, Lisa Pelikan, Ashley Johnson, Deborah Rennard, Brian Thompson, Michel Qissi, Vojislav Govedarica, Billy Blanks, Tony Halme, Scott Spiegel, James Brewster Thompson, Paco Christian Prieto, George McDaniel, Eric Karson, Ash Adams, William T. Amos, Dennis Rucker, Roz Bosley, Stefanos Miltsakakis, Lew Hopson, Sebastian Massa, Roger Etienne, Douglas DuVal, Lawrence Bender, Tracy Shakespeare, Leonard Gaines, Lonnie Burr, Christopher M. Brown, Roger La Page, Loren Freeman, Tony Valentino, Clement von Franckenstein, Christopher Nixon, Eduardo Ricard, Julie Rudolph, Micheline Lettich, Galen Yuen, Jeff Speakman, Steven R. Purwin, Freeman King, Mark Williams, Mark De Alessandro, Tony 'Satch' Williams, Jeff Langton, Stuart F. Wilson, Magic Schwarz, Abdel Qissi, Lindsey Carlos, Maurice Lamont, Sifu Williams, Thunderwolf, Carlton Holder, Michael M. Foley, A.D. Muyich, Don Pike, Dean Milor Thomas, Kamel Krifa, Sheldon Lettich, Tim Yasui, Richard Norton
Best video release
MVD 4K Blu-ray see comparison
UHD tiers
About the film
Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.
- Alternative Titles
- A.W.O.L., A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave, Wrong Bet, Lionheart Extended Cut
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray see nic's review and caps
MVD 4K Blu-ray has frame rate skips (encoding error)
Director: Deran Sarafian
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
MVD 4K Blu-ray beautiful remaster but with frame rate skips (encoding error)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
MVD 4K Blu-ray see caps but it has the encoding error with the dropped frames
Director: Robert De Niro
Director: Joseph Kane
Director: Tsui Hark
More Action on Blu-ray
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Director: Buster Keaton
Kino Lorber new Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. Blu-ray?
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027
Lobster Films (Kino Lorber?) > Cohen/Eureka https://slow.pics/c/3KWXoMyR The new Kino Lorber's Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. might be using the same restoration as Lobster Films
Director: George Lucas
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.
Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Michael Anderson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
Paramount 4K Blu-ray Purist choice: Blu-ray
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Paramount 4K Blu-ray new improved master with color grading and slight issues. Blu-ray is old master with original color grading
Blu-ray 5.1
The Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a much better new scan that removes the original extremely dated color grading. This is an improvement on one hand but a definite revisionist change on the other. There is the expected grain management and slight HDR issues in addition to encoding quirks from Paramount. It is a giant improvement over the original Blu-ray but the color change and other issues means that the Blu-ray is one to keep for purists to have the as-is original iteration of the film's presentation. Audio wise the film has been remixed into Atmos but it merely seems like a slightly tweaked and frankly tamed version of the original 5.1. Of the two I prefer the Blu-ray 5.1. The original Blu-ray was Dolby TrueHD and the reissue Blu-ray in the four film Blu-ray collection boxset was DTS-HDMA.
DFIC extensive review: https://youtu.be/evsrJOTIjdA?si=wtdWGxZBfhPYTIeW
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal's 4K release is similar in encode quality, but has significant glitches in multiple frames. See comparisons 9-16 here: https://slow.pics/c/YkSVb3Ey
The pitch of the StudioCanal 4K's English audio is too high
Criterion has more extras than StudioCanal.
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