THE PLOT THUS FAR
An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan’s unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Warrior” follows two fighters and their families as they enter the big bucks mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, Sparta. It has the usual balance of down on his luck good guy doing it for the family (Joel Edgerton) and a seemingly brutal fighter who is looking for a payday (the suddenly ubiquitous Tom Hardy). Throw in Nick Nolte as a sad, reformed drunk of a father and we have the basic elements of another run of the mill sporting movie. Or at least that’s how it starts. It doesn’t particularly throw any curve balls to be honest but it does unfold interestingly and we are not given the whole story on a plate which was refreshing. It examines family relationships and regret and faces the terrible truths when some wounds just cannot be healed by forgiveness once it is too late.
It’s not all family drama though and unsurprisingly it does have a hellova lot of fighting in so even though I think it is enjoyable for most if you can’t stomach the violence then don’t bother with it. However the fighting is well balanced within the narrative, excellently shot and excitingly edited so we do not get the cliché slow-mo or the epic hour long battle even for the big finale. Some of the fights are brutally quick and even those that go the distance are edited down very well indeed while maintaining that punishing feeling – they certainly had the audience ooomph’ing and wincing along with every slam and punch. There will be blood along with some horrible curdling crunches too.
The DVD comes with featurettes, gag reel and commentary. The best special feature has to be Nolte’s first take from his performance in the film. It was a real battle to get Nolte into the flick and seeing the cast’s appreciation for the man’s sheer talent is amazing. The A/V Quality is strong enough for standard definition. However, I found that the DD 5.1 track overpowered the dialogue at times. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.
RELEASE DATE: 12/20/11
