Warrior

[evilzadi]

Saw this last week, and loved it. Not having seen the fighter or the rocky movies, the storyline felt more original than for others im guessing. Very powerful and would p*y to see it again!

[shmile]

saw this yesterday and absolutely loved it
i saw the trailer and sw it wasboxing and really wasnt interest but its so true that you should never judge a book by its covers. the movie was to powerful and it just blew me away
definitely one of the best of 2011 for me
10/10

[tarantinoed]

It seems a lot of people really liked this and so did my son who saw it with me. Personally, although I thought it was OK, had quite a moving ending and was very funny here and there (plus Tom Hardy was excellent as usual) I kept feeling it was more a film about ultimate cage fighting as a selling point than any human drama. For me it seemed a lot like those films that are made based on Playstation games such as Mortal Kombat etc.

[JordanFRAV]

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.

[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]

On your first point, I agree, but I think it worked. As a fan and practitioner of Mixed Martial Arts, I have found the sport to concentrate on technique and discipline as much as strength and stamina, and I have enjoy partaking in it. However, as a mainstream sport, it still gets bad press from those uneducated in the sport (see the recent furore over the 8yr old grapplers) and those who think they're educated, but just want to see blood and knockouts (i.e. the type of guy who calls it 'cage feighting' to his friends and shouts 'hit him!' when two fighters are engaged in grappling on the floor of the cage.

By showing the small, yet crucial elements (doctors checking fighters before they enter the ring, and referees stopping the fight when fighters aren't adequately defending themselves, this is not Vale Tudo remember!), they're showing MMA in a better light in my opinion, by reiterating to the public that it is a mainstream sport, with television shows on major networks, experts and the mandatory staff there to separate it from its topsy turvy past (i.e. the early bare-knuckle boxing days of Vale Tudo).

Also, I agree with the un-believability of the plot, while they had the MMA and BJJ almost down to a tee (there was a few dubious takedowns and opportunities for sweeps/escapes), having a winner takes all tournament (ala 'UFC 1') that contains nobodies, is well ridiculous. Yet, I suppose you justify that in saying that there has been a lot of last minute injuries recently in the sport and only the most foolhardy can be brought in to take their place. (But I did appreciate the casual nod to Rich Franklin when somebody asks Brendan if he's a "Maths teacher.")

[jennyw888]

Saw this at Whiteleys, Bayswater last Sunday, fully enjoyed the film, would p*y to watch it 10/10

[rawsalsa]

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.

This is an excellent view that totally captures my feelings about the film and written much better than I could have done.
I thought the acting was superb,particularly from Tom Hardy & Nick Nolte. Although it went relatively quickly, I think it should have been 20 minutes shorter. Nevertheless I'd give it 8.5/10.

[raj101]

plot was stupid though, the worst bits of Rocky movie plots. Hwever this is neither Rocky nor an accurate MMA movie. Actually the fights had more akin with Karate Kid.

Thankfully the director made good use of a bad plot, but you willl laughing at the banality of it towards the end.

[Lindseytonge]

Fab film loved it! Must see

[brettie]

champion!

[Celini]

such a wimp (me is!); I don't remember crying so much in a very long time... plain big tears rolling down my cheeks half an hour before the end of the movie

10/10