You never know…this could be Sean’s breakout roll. All we have to go on is the tv trailer. I think I’ll wait to watch it (either in the theatre or on dvd later on) and then give some sort to critique.
There’s a ton of reviews on this film now
If nothing else, the number of reviews are a demonstration of the film’s relevance. I like this LA Times piece because it brings up Flashpoint and Red Belt too. The author is paying more attention than most others.
Mixed martial arts films have a chokehold on action
Get ready for a wave of mixed martial arts films. Even Mamet is in the ring.
By Chris Lee, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 13, 2008
SINCE the '70s, they have arrived in grind-house movie theaters each year with the inexorable certainty of new moons and changing seasons: martial arts films featuring sweaty men engaged in hand-to-hand combat, pledging fealty to codes of honor, duty and dojo respect.
But 2008 is shaping up to be a watershed on the chop-socky film front.
To hear it from Hong Kong movie stars, zeitgeist chasers, action enthusiasts – even a Serious Auteur – Hollywood has set its sights on the next new thing: mixed martial arts.
In MMA (as aficionados call this polymathic blood sport), every physical punishment short of eye-gouging, biting and below-the-belt cheap shots is officially sanctioned. It’s the stuff of those hugely popular Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts: down and dirty, jujitsu-style grappling that utilizes a repertoire of arm bars, leg locks, chokeholds and submission poses in addition to the obligatory karate kicks and punches.
Ergo, the new movies featuring MMA – the teen-skewing coming-of-age story “Never Back Down” and the bloody Hong Kong police procedural “Flash Point” (both of which open Friday); David Mamet’s martial arts Catch-22 “Redbelt” (out in May); and the documentaries “Caged for Life” (which will screen at the Beverly Hills Film Festival next month) and the well-reviewed, mom-and-pop-produced indie feature “Under Pressure: Diary of a Cage Fighter’s Wife” – showcase gritty fisticuffs and wrestling tussles quite unlike the vast majority of filmic fighting popular up until this point.
“Flash Point” star Donnie Yen is one of Asia’s most revered action heroes, a veteran of some 50 thrillers who directed all the stunts in his latest film. In Yen’s view, MMA’s visceral approximation of nasty street brawling already has changed the face of movie action – a revolutionary shift away from the stylized kind of high-wire fight choreography that helped popularize films such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and the “Matrix” trilogy.
“I think MMA is here to stay,” Yen said by phone from Shanghai. “For me as an action director, it’s where action filmmaking is going. Now people will laugh at you if you do all that fancy jumping in the air. It wouldn’t work in a real situation. I think you’re going to have MMA in contemporary action films from now on.”
Teen fighters
It’s enough to make Jean-Claude van Damme cry. Unlike with previous generations of movie tough guys, the victor in MMA films’ climactic battles is never the last man standing. He’s either on the ground with the other guy in a headlock or twisting his limbs into a pretzel.
In “Never Back Down” – the first American-made MMA-focused film to receive a wide theatrical release – hot-headed Iowa football hero Jake Tyler (played by Sean Faris) relocates to Orlando, Fla., only to find himself sucked into a teen version of “Fight Club” after the school bully (Cam Gigandet) publicly humiliates him using MMA. But under the tutelage of a sagely mixed martial arts instructor (Djimon Hounsou in the Mr. Miyagi role), Jake attempts to right his life, channel his rage into positivity and protect those he loves from MMA bullies.
“Never Back Down’s” director, Jeff Wadlow, said he was aware of MMA’s reputation as the fastest-growing sport in America but hardly qualified as an aficionado before signing on to the project. “There are some good reasons it’s exploding in popularity and some not-so-good reasons,” Wadlow said. "People can appreciate the strategic, tactical aspects of close-quarters, ground game fighting. But there are people who perceive MMA as more violent, as legalized street fighting. We wanted to look at it in terms of life as a struggle. As Djimon’s character says, ‘Everyone has their fight.’ "
“Never Back Down’s” writer, Chris Hauty, said he felt fortunate to be an early responder to MMA’s sudden mass appeal. “I couldn’t believe there were so few attempts to set a film in this world,” Hauty said. “In any subject, there’s only a limited number of stories to tell. So when there’s the inevitable movie featuring an MMA master being blasted off to Planet X, you’ll know the ground is too well tilled.”
Tamera and Todd Sturgis, the director and documentary subject of “Under Pressure,” never set out to make an MMA movie. Todd Sturgis, a former state wrestling champion turned long-haul truck driver, was looking to get back into fighting shape via mixed martial arts. And Tamera Sturgis (who also drives a big rig and has appeared in the “Stacked & Packed” calendar series as a bikini model) started filming his training sessions in 2003 to show friends and family the brutal yet fascinating subculture into which her husband had thrown himself.
"I thought, ‘This is insane. I have to get this on tape,’ " she said. "But then I got so much interest from anyone who ever saw me with a camera – everyone I came across was saying, ‘I want to see whatever it is you shot’ – I thought, ‘There’s a lot more to this than showing the family what Todd’s doing at the downtown gym.’ "
The couple self-financed the $50,000 film, a personal saga that depicts not only cringe-inducing cage match action but also the tight-knit MMA community (wives, children, parents and even supportive librarians). Three years after its completion, “Under Pressure” has not been picked up by a distributor despite glowing reviews in the MMA press (for info, check www.mycagefighter.com).
The documentary “Caged for Life” similarly depicts the heartbreak, jubilation and grueling training regimen that come with competing in MMA. The film also spotlights the sport’s growing maturation, following a selection of male and female combatants headed for a title ticket to be broadcast on Showtime – mixed martial arts’ premium cable TV premiere. (Last month, CBS announced plans to begin airing MMA fight cards on Saturday nights beginning next year.)
David Mamet’s ‘Redbelt’
But of the current crop of mixed martial arts movies, none comes with the art-house expectations or concerted, multi-platform marketing push of essayist-playwright-director-screenwriter David Mamet’s “Redbelt.”
The action drama follows Brazilian jujitsu instructor Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who imparts to his students street survival skills in lieu of promoting contest competition. A series of unfortunate events brings Mike into the orbit of an action movie hero (Tim Allen) and his Hollywood minions. But soon, Mike finds himself backed into a corner as a result of an elaborate con job and is forced to violate his personal ethics – he never fights for profit – in order to salvage his business, marriage and sense of pride.
According to “Redbelt” producer Chrisann Verges, Mamet felt compelled to set the movie within MMA because of his personal involvement with jujitsu. The 60-year-old Oscar nominee is an accomplished martial artist.
“David’s a brown belt; he started training six years ago and got captivated by the whole world of fighters – by their dignity and respect for tradition,” Verges said. “He wanted to write an American samurai story and thought the world of jujitsu would be perfect for it.”
The producer denied that MMA’s sudden cultural ubiquity had factored into Mamet’s interest: “There was no commercial impetus. He had no idea MMA was going to take off. He was not trying to cash in on something.”
“Redbelt’s” distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, plans to promote the film to both the art house and the grind house: It’s running commercials and holding giveaway contests in conjunction with the mucho macho cable channel Spike TV. But also, Mamet has been invited to privately screen the movie for members at New York’s Lincoln Center.
“This movie legitimizes the world of MMA,” said Sony Pictures Classics co-founder and co-president Tom Bernard. “Mamet made a fight movie that’s like a '40s fight movie with John Garfield. It’s not exploitative. You don’t have guys going to Thailand, sweating it out. So we have two campaigns: one directed at MMA guys and another at the more upscale theaters. The movie appeals to both sides.”
Adding to that ton of reviews…
… is our review. Make sure you forward it to your friends 
NEVER BACK DOWN - MMA Meets KARATE KID by Dr. Craig Reid
i’m tempted to see this.
Our local review
You’ll have to give us a review when you do, Doug. I think I’m still going to wait for the DVD.
ALERT VIEWER Youth drama. Starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Djimon Hounsou and Cam Gigandet. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (PG-13. 113 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for select theaters, go to sfgate.com/movies.)
“Never Back Down” is a junior version of “Fight Club,” only with no movie stars and different moves. The killer sport practiced by a group of Orlando teens is called mixed martial arts - or MMA, as insiders say. It’s a combination of wrestling, karate, judo, sambo and other exotic disciplines.
The boys compete like Roman gladiators in front of a noisy crowd that eggs them on. There will be blood, and copious amounts of it. Closing your eyes to avoid excess gore - one fighter practically has the skin ripped off his face, for example - only helps so much. The amplified sound of bodies being slammed together or scraped along the floor or of kicks administered full force to limbs creates a picture in your mind even if you’re not looking.
Around these competitions, the filmmakers have fashioned a formulaic story of a troubled teenager, Jake (Sean Faris), who moves from Iowa to Orlando after his father is killed in a car crash for which Jake blames himself. A star football player in Iowa, Jake achieves legendary status by beating up a competitor who calls his dad a drunk. His new classmates have seen the fight on YouTube and are anxious to initiate him in MMA.
YouTube plays a major role in “Never Back Down.” There’s a sense that everything these youngsters do is fodder for videotape. To the extent this is true, private moments hardly exist.
The class bully, Ryan (Cam Gigandet), goads Jake into a fight before he’s ready, using the sexy Baja (Amber Heard) as bait. Jake, who lives with his mother and brother in a small condo, is in awe when he arrives at Ryan’s mansion for a party. It could be the Playboy mansion, with two girls kissing in a bubble bath and a bunch more hanging out at the pool in bikinis. Looking around, Jake realizes the only way he’ll ever best Ryan and get Baja’s attention is in a competition.
Jeff Wadlow, who won a contest paying $1 million to make his first film, “Cry Wolf,” directs “Never Back Down” at a frenzied pace as if building up anticipation for Jake and Ryan’s first rumble. Jake’s flashbacks to his father’s death appear in fast motion.
After losing the first fight, Jake studies mixed martial arts under a master (Djimon Hounsou). You might wonder what a two-time Oscar nominee is doing in a movie for teens. Far from acting like he’s slumming, he brings great dignity to the role, not to mention muscles.
The fights are parceled out at intervals during the last half, all leading to a climactic battle. But it’s hard to build suspense when you know it is coming and you know who will win.
Faris is movie-star handsome but rather stiff in scenes calling for him to be emotional. You don’t buy his attachment to Baja. Heard is more energetic during the romantic parts, but the costume department isn’t doing her any favors by dressing her so scantily. Most of the men in the audience will have their attention diverted from whatever she has to say. Gigandet, the best known of the trio from his starring role on “The OC,” shamelessly overacts, flaring his nostrils to show Ryan’s contempt for Jake.
“Never Back Down” pretty much goes by the book for this kind of movie. But one scene sticks out. In a classic literature course, the teacher asks about the significance of Achilles’ shield. From the students’ interest, you wonder if they’re thinking it could come in handy at the next MMA meet.
– Advisory: Gore, fight scenes and provocative clothing.
- Ruthe Stein
well i said i’m tempted to see it. i didn’t say in the theaters;) but just because i want to see djimon honsou do some martial arts cause i think this guy would make a excellent black panther. plus i know he has a strong back ground in kung fu and boxing.
I may go check this out tonight, not sure. Anyhoo, regardless of how good or bad the movie is, it does mark an evolution - a good one, IMO. Personally, I get sick of the sped up, high flying wire fighting. If I wanted high flying and camera effects, I would watch power rangers. I think they were on the right track with the fight scenes on the ‘Bourne’ series, and I think this may be a logical progression of that. Today, we have mma, we have reality shows, etc. In the mist of the reality craze, why are we still featuring movies with absurdly unreal fight scenes?
If you see it 7star…
…you’ll have to give us your review here. 
Memories
This movies is likened to the Karate Kid but for some reason, the vibe I get from this movie reminds me of Only of the Strong.
only the strong. i don’t know where you get that from. only the strong took place in a poor “ghetto” where as this is about rich white kids with to much time on there hands.
The backdrop is different but the premise still reminds me of Only the Strong. Kids learning martial arts to better themselves from a mentor that pushed them to be better. That is how I make the connection.
BTW, the kids in the barrio also had nothing but time on their hands.
Try to look at things from other points of view in the future and try not to be so quick to put down other people’s opinions.
just left the theater,but I am not typing a review on a phone… I will say it reminded me nothing of only the strong though..,
Okay, yeah, that didn’t remind me of only the strong. It’s more like the O.C. meets karate meets bloodsport.
The hero isn’t a guy who wants to better himself through martial arts - he was actually a football jock and didn’t want to fight. However, through the miracle of the internet, an altercation he was in was caught on tape, put on the internet and watched by millions. That fight gave him a rep as a badass, when in reality he was just an athlete with heart and a hard right. I won’t get into the story details to avoid spoilers, but here is something to consider with the karate kid comparison:
jake = daniel
jean roqua = mr. miyagi
ryan and company = johnny, tommy, bobby and dutch
the beatdown = all valley tournament
it’s not that the kids had nothing better to do - it’s what they wanted to do. It was said that ryan is only happy when he is fighting and that jake is only happy when he is in the gym. They had plenty to do, but chose MA to occupy themselves. If you do want to draw a comparison to Only The Strong though, you can say that :
max = the nerd dj that made the paranue remix
The fight scenes are refreshing - there are NO wire moves at all. The closest thing you see to wire moves are the capoeristas and the two superman punches. Everything else was fairly on point from a realistic fighting perspective. Matches were won with the RNC, a knee bar, triangle choke, arm bars and strikes, even a couple of head kicks. you also see the ankle lock and kimura and a lot of transitioning and movement on the ground. There were also some good throws and takedowns, particularly the double legs and harai goshi. Good stuff.
What I really liked were the training scenes. Good sound stuff - rope climbing, squats, bench pressing, chains, kettlebells, tire flipping, circuit training, sprawl drills and more. The training was as realistic as the fighting.
I think it’s also interesting how they use the power of the internet.
[QUOTE=;848167]Kids learning martial arts to better themselves from a mentor that pushed them to be better. That is how I make the connection.[/quote]
that connection is never revealed in any character other than jake, and that wasn’t his initial motivation. Ryan’s dad had him in martial arts from the time he could walk and jake only wanted to train so that he could get revenge on ryan. It seemed to me that mos of those guys trained because they want to fight, which earned them power and respect.
BTW, the kids in the barrio also had nothing but time on their hands.
Those kids were forced into the program. It was the last step before writing them off and kicking them out of the school entirely. None of them wanted to train until afterward.
I appreciate the input, SevenStar. Thanks for showing some courtesy. It was an initial thought…having not seen NBD yet (probably not for some time or maybe real soon) and with having seen Only the Strong some time ago. The differences between the two movies are more apparent now. It was something that I thought MIGHT have been an interesting connection. I’ll still have to see for myself one of these days.
The Karate Kid link had already been done and I could clearly see that one. O.C. and shows like that I never really got into but I know the basic storyline (if you can call it as such).
As a martial artist, I’m sure a lot of the things in NBD are interesting. Your review, just on the techniques was enough to peak some interest.
**It looks like you did not catch the matinee. Was it worth 10+ dollars in your opinion?
[QUOTE=;848299]I appreciate the input, SevenStar. Thanks for showing some courtesy. It was an initial thought…having not seen NBD yet (probably not for some time or maybe real soon) and with having seen Only the Strong some time ago. The differences between the two movies are more apparent now. It was something that I thought MIGHT have been an interesting connection. I’ll still have to see for myself one of these days.
The Karate Kid link had already been done and I could clearly see that one. O.C. and shows like that I never really got into but I know the basic storyline (if you can call it as such).
As a martial artist, I’m sure a lot of the things in NBD are interesting. Your review, just on the techniques was enough to peak some interest.
**It looks like you did not catch the matinee. Was it worth 10+ dollars in your opinion?[/QUOTE]
I’ve actually never seen an episode of the O.C. I grew out of those shows back in the mid 90’s when I stopped watching melrose place… Heck, I’ve never even seen dawson’s creek. But all of the commercials I saw for the O.C. was like pretty boy wants popular girl, they’re all rich and live around palm trees - kinda like NBD. One of the things I did like about the movie though is that they don’t focus on the money. You see their houses and things, so you know the money is there, but it’s not mentioned much. It makes for comic relief though:
jake: does EVERYONE here have big houses like this?
make: big? this is the guest house…
In my city, it’s only $7 to catch a movie, and I woulda paid that just for the training scenes alone, without regard to the plot. I like to see things like that in fight films. I also like the training in the most recent rocky movie, though the film itself wasn’t that hot.
The rich kids thing was another annoyance to me, just an excuse to show a big party scene with bikinis in hot tubs. Realistically how often does a new kid from a poor family immediately make friends with the upper class at a new school, plus winning over the rich hottie. Of course her boyfriend just has to be a POS low life so you actually want her to go with the “hero”.
Sorry for being such a downer on this film but it’s just way too typical and formula based. I don’t see the training scenes as anything exceptional, just regular gym type training. You must watch too many Shaw Bros. flicks or something.
No wire work but trick heavy bag gags as well as a few “flash” moves in the fight scenes. I think the MMA crowd needs to get off the mistaken idea that hitting a bag while working out or wrestling in a fight is cutting edge and a shocking sight to Martial Artists.
Now I do recommend seeing the film to support low budet films and Martial Arts films. I’m sure there will be quite a few who will like it but it’s just not very creative to me. The Karate Kid had a following, something I don’t understand, and people love that film.
The MMA fanbase, of course, will cream over any type of submission attempt or close-up of a RNC pose. Just like the film I did with the Wing Chun guys that got wood over a series of chain punches in a fight scene. It all depends on your interests.
I like to see more realistic fighting but the bottom line is I go to be entertained and I wasn’t really entertained by this film. It’s a “made for profit, don’t take any chances with creative influence” standard film. Predictable pretty much the whole way through.
Hopefully this will set off a string of fight flicks and something interesting will make it to the big screen.
Flash Point FTW
[QUOTE=Lucas;848423]Flash Point FTW[/QUOTE]
Correctumondo !
[QUOTE=Yao Sing;848419]The rich kids thing was another annoyance to me, just an excuse to show a big party scene with bikinis in hot tubs. Realistically how often does a new kid from a poor family immediately make friends with the upper class at a new school, plus winning over the rich hottie. Of course her boyfriend just has to be a POS low life so you actually want her to go with the “hero”.[/quote]
he wasn’t the typical poor kid. He was popular from jump street because video of him kicking that dude’s ass was all over the internet. I think they did good with that. Now, without that element, then yeah, his rise to popularity would have been way too unrealistic.
Sorry for being such a downer on this film but it’s just way too typical and formula based. I don’t see the training scenes as anything exceptional, just regular gym type training. You must watch too many Shaw Bros. flicks or something.
exactly my point. Real gym training. Not the crap you see in other movies.
No wire work but trick heavy bag gags as well as a few “flash” moves in the fight scenes. I think the MMA crowd needs to get off the mistaken idea that hitting a bag while working out or wrestling in a fight is cutting edge and a shocking sight to Martial Artists.
the bourne series had flash too. Heck, desh was a capoerista. it’s still WAY less flash then any TMA movie you see today and most from yesterday. I actually think that was something the original karate kid movie did well with.
Now I do recommend seeing the film to support low budet films and Martial Arts films. I’m sure there will be quite a few who will like it but it’s just not very creative to me. The Karate Kid had a following, something I don’t understand, and people love that film.
it did okay. It was 3rd at the box office, which and made like 9 million, which isn’t bad for an MA movie, especially one which doesn’t have a really big name as the main character.
The MMA fanbase, of course, will cream over any type of submission attempt or close-up of a RNC pose. Just like the film I did with the Wing Chun guys that got wood over a series of chain punches in a fight scene. It all depends on your interests.
most likely. Heck, the WC guys on this forum creamed about WC apps that they saw in the ANIMATED star wars series on cartoon network…
I like to see more realistic fighting but the bottom line is I go to be entertained and I wasn’t really entertained by this film. It’s a “made for profit, don’t take any chances with creative influence” standard film. Predictable pretty much the whole way through.
can’t really argue with that. Point is though, that the movie can break ground as far as MA fighting in films goes. Maybe it will signal an end to the matrix, crouching tiger crap that has been put in front of us for the past two decades or so.