Warrior

[Yinster]

Was at a very full Cineworld in Glasgow city centre. Like Ploggit mentioned this was showing in virtually all the cinemas in Scotland. At first I thought it would be empty as there were only about 30 people in a 200 seater screen at 18:20 but then loads of people arrived. In fact they continued to arrived well after it started. Last to appeared about 20 minutes into the film. No faces I recognised so these people don't realise there are no trailers before a preview.

The film was awesome. Even OH liked it and OH does not like fighting films. I personally thought it was better than The Fighter. At 140 minutes I didn't feel it was that long. All the leads were brilliant in their roles and boy did Tom Hardy bulked up. Yes there is a predictable ending but I did feel myself choking up. 9/10

[SocialFlutterBy]

yinster did they check for id for this one ??? couldnt make it tonight sickly kidz

[Yinster]

yinster did they check for id for this one ??? couldnt make it tonight sickly kidz

nope. No checks for RBS cards at Cineworld.

[SocialFlutterBy]

Thanx good to know for the future :-D

[yogi]

I felt pretty bored by the end of this.

Half of it was a poor man's The Fighter desperately trying to ape the gritty blue collar family dynamics that got that film so many awards, Nick Nolte's scene in the hotel at the end may as well have had a little caption saying please show this as the nominations are read out.

And the other half seemed to be an hour long commercial for MMA, I'd be interested to see how much involvement they had as there seemed far too much ringside banter and build up, Espn pundits, etc than the story actually needed.

Nick Nolte was actually ok, as were most of the actors, but the main fight plot line and the tournament itself was so unrealistic it made Rocky look like a documentary.

[spoiler]Of the many things that bugged me, if this tournament was supposed to be the pinnacle of MMA how did a washed up former fighter, now teacher and some guy who had knocked out one guy in a sparring session qualify! Like someone getting a hole in one at their local municipal course then getting an invite to The Open and I know that other guy got injured, but was the teacher the only possible replacement?[/spoiler]

[prettyxcool]

Far from original, occasionally cliched and often contrived, Warrior also happens to be highly entertaining, very well-acted and impressively directed. It may be lacking in surprises (unless you count hellraiser Nolte's excellent performance, especially after his toe-curlingly embarrassing turn in Arthur), but what it does, it does very well indeed.

The fight scenes are excellent and exciting, the variation in styles that goes with MMA actually helping to make it feel a little different from your run of the mill boxing movie. They also got almost unbearably tense in the final stretch (the Brendan/Koba fight in particular was a thrilling edge of the seat success).

The acting is very strong. Tom Hardy gets the tougher role, with his mysterious past and emotional distance, but Hardy pulls it off. Joel Edgerton is also very good, though admittedly he get's the easier role as the nice guy of the piece. Nick Nolte is at his gruff and grizzly best as the recovering alcoholic father. It's a performance that occasionally threatens to tip over into a slightly dodgy one (especially during the Moby Dick/hotel room breakdown scene) but Nolte manages to keep it on the right side and is impressive and very moving. Jennifer Morrison (House) does her best with the cliched wife who initially begs her husband to stay out of the ring/cage so that his daughters can be brought up in a non-violent environment before giving in and supporting him ringside.

Although a rather long 2hrs 20mins, Warrior actually went by fairly quickly. Admittedly there are a few scenes in the first half that could have done with a little editing but it surprisingly never felt too long.

Perhaps coming a little too soon after the The Fighter (it has a similar mix of family troubles and gritty fighting), Warrior is still a highly entertaining and powerful film in it's own right. Plus it has The National on the soundtrack which gives it extra points in my book.

Ditto, kk, you said it, and much better than I would, so I won't repeat it, but just to say after the slow first half for me, I was engrossed! OH liked it too, and even stayed behind to check out the soundtrack, normally he can't wait to leave! 8/10

Was at Whiteleys tonight. Sat too close to the door which banged every time someone came in or went out. We mentioned it to the usher who just propped it open before the film started. But it didn't help once the film started, as people were coming in late and then during the film, going in and out to the toilets, so the banging was really annoying. The cinema was quite full too.

[raj101]

soft, strong, but very very long.

[fetta]

Just like tomfinney7 and dovetail found the film full of clichés which almost irritated me. Couldn’t sympathise with neither of the characters and the ending was extremely cheesy. Overall it seemed to me a waste of good actors. It would’ve been nice to see Nick Nolte nominated since it’s about time he won an Oscar, but I don’t think this film will do it.

[alythonian]

Checked ID and RBS cards at odeon Edinburgh

[karenlg123]

I saw this at the Glasgow Quay via RBS and was surprised that the cinema was only half full.
I cannot watch fighting... I do not watch wrestling, boxing, martial arts or any form of fighting. That said, I really really enjoyed this film and even watched and (kind of) enjoyed some of the fight scenes. For me this was more than just a cage fighting movie. There were a couple of different stories going on behind the fight scenes that kept me interested in the characters until the very end of the movie. Would have liked a bit more of the story behind Nick Nolte's character, but thought the two brothers both created sympathy. Was not sure till the end who would win and was not even sure who I wanted to win. I liked the ending and thought that that scene in particular was played brilliantly by the 2 main characters.