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MMA
fighting and UFC has
grown into a huge
sport over the past
decade. It's been a
lot of hard work by
a number of people
but it's a sport
that's, yes
extremely violent,
but it's also got a
tremendous amount of
heart to it. While a
completely different
sport, it has some
similarities to
boxing, it's just a
newer thing and the
fighters are in more
danger because
they're at risk of a
number of injuries.
MMA Fighting had yet
to get its movie,
and although you'd
think that it could
be some kind of
comedy to get that
ball rolling,
Lionsgate and
director Gavin
O’Conner have made
Warrior.
This an amazing
triumph as a sports
film and a film
period thanks to
amazing performances
by newcomers Joel
Edgarton and Tom
Hardy and an
outstanding
performance from
Nick Nolte.
Warrior
is about a
dysfunctional
Philadelphia Irish
family- The Conlons.
Tommy Reardon and
Brendan Conlon are
brothers on two
different paths that
are bound to
intersect. They were
both brought up in
an extremely violent
household with their
father Paddy. When
things got so
terrible while Tommy
and Brendan were
teenagers, Tommy
took off with his
mother and took her
maiden name. Brendan
stayed for a little
while but eventually
he eloped with his
wife and they
started a life
together away from
Paddy and his
alcoholic abuse and
violence. We never
see this on screen-
we just grow to kind
of understand what
happened eventually
as the film
progresses. Tommy
was a Marine he's
back home in the
U.S. and he visits
Paddy so Paddy will
train him in an
upcoming fight. Joel
is a family man
who's been hit by
the economic crunch
and is about to lose
his home. In order
to avoid that, he
starts fighting on
the side again, he
gets suspended from
his teaching job and
he's forced to do it
full time.
Eventually the two
brothers find
themselves in this
huge MMA tournament
and they wind up
fighting each other.
But along the way we
learn about family,
scars, forgiveness,
and love.
Warrior
is terrific because
of the story that
Gavin O'Conner and
writer Cliff Dorfman
came up with at the
beginning. There are
themes in the story
and it's extremely
relatable by almost
every adult. Some
people will relate
to the sibling
feuds, some people
the tragic past,
some people the
economic crunch.
Regardless of what
you relate to when
you watch this movie
you can relate to
something and
sometimes a number
of things on
numerous levels.
That's thanks to
O'Conner's passion
for the telling of
this story and the
script in the first
place.
The other reason why
this movie is so
wonderful is because
it's not a
cheapening of the
sport- the fight
scenes are
incredible and
wonderfully
choreographed and
cinematographed.
They're attention
grabbing and tension
filled and they're
outstanding. Every
fight scene is
better than the one
before it.
Combine O'Conner's
storytelling,
Dorfman's story, the
excellent fighting
scenes, and an
outstanding cast and
Warrior
ends up being a
tremendous watch.
There's a large
amount of special
features on the Blu-ray
release including a
deleted scene, some
making-of stuff, an
MMA fighting
featurette, and a
short gag reel.
There could have
been a few more
special features,
but nonetheless
what’s here is
serviceable to the
point of above
average.
Warrior
is an outstanding
film. Gavin
O'Conner's passion
for the story he was
telling really
showed up on stage
and Tom Hardy, Joel
Edgerton, and Nick
Nolte were terrific
in the lead roles.
The story shouldn't
have worked because
to a point it had
been done before,
just not in the MMA
environment,
regardless of that
it did work though
and
Warrior
ends up being one of
the best films of
2011.
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