The first time I saw the Warrior trailer about 6 months ago I was not impressed. Not another movie studio attempting to take advantage and profit from the MMA movement. I was worried they were going to make another cheesy, teenybopper, winner takes the girl, flashy back flipping, back alley betting, unstoppable killing machiney, unbelievable story, under character developed type movie that we have been forced to suffer through because we wanted to see our sport in action on the silver screen.
Um, OK… That didn’t suck… Actually, that was pretty good. I got curious.
I had the chance to catch the sneak preview of the movie. To be honest with you, the theater was less than 10% full, but you could tell that the people who were there were mostly hard core MMA fans, and their significant others that they probably needed to convince to come spend Labor Day eve watching a romantic movie about fighting. By the end of the movie, you could tell that the whole crowd went through an emotional roller coaster following the story of the two brothers willing their way to their dream of MMA gold. We were all satisfied with what we just saw. You could tell that this wasn’t just a great MMA movie, it was simply a great movie. Here are 5 reasons to watch Warrior The Movie.
1. It’s a great Story.
Warrior is a great story of the two brothers driven by necessity to winning a 5 million dollar purse in a 16-man single elimination tournament called ‘The Sparta’. One brother, played by Joel Edgarton, a high school physics teacher on the verge of losing the house that he, his wife and 2 daughters live in. The other brother, played by Tom Hardy, a marine trying to rectify the losses he endured at war. The brothers were separated at the middle of their teenaged years due to a broken home plagued with alcoholism and physical abuse from their father, who’s played by actor Nick Nolte.
2. The Characters were well developed.
The director did a great job in understanding, then capturing the physical and mental obstacles that a fighter may encounter from training to fighting in the cage. With understanding each lead rolls motivations to fight, the director of the film created our emotional investment into our heroes, gave us a reason to cheer for our favorite fighters as the tournament went underway. We were also subjected to the internal struggle in a fighter’s mind the few minutes before he makes his walk from the locker room to the cage.
3. Nick Nolte.
Nick Nolte played a once abusive drunkard father of the two main characters, who has found sobriety through the Bible. He is attempting to find forgiveness from his sons that have disowned him from his past sins. Nolte stole the spotlight of the movie with this roll by showing vulnerability reminiscent of Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler.” He was the epicenter of all the grief and suffering that was created in the story, and his attempts to reconnect with his family will make you feel sympathetic with his character.
4. The action was believable, and there was lots of it!
The director and choreographers did well in understanding that the techniques were needed to be performed cleanly so the camera could pick up the intricacies of fighting, especially the grappling portions, but still maintain an authentic feel to the fights. There were tons of sweeps, reversals, submissions and exciting striking. Fight cinematography made you feel like you were watching a live fight. At times I caught myself cheering out loud at the fights we were witnessing. It was even to the point that a few people in the theater was screaming, “TAP! TAP!” at the movie screen when a character was caught in a submission.
5. The fighter Cameos!
The fighters in the movie lent their talents and notoriety in producing an authentic feel to the film. In the movie clip at the top we see Strikeforce veteran Erik Apple show some technique, then get his clock cleaned by one of the main characters. Olympic Gold Medalist and Pro-Wrestling star Kurt Angle plays a juggernaut that carried the same mystic Fedor once had. Also appearing are Nate Marquardt, Anthony Johnson and Yves Edwards. Even Josh Rosenthal gets a chance to do a bit of acting when he puts on a blue collard shirt and a bowtie like a boxing referee to oversee the fights at the tournament.
