Warrior [Blu-ray]

First off I have to say that I was not a fan of MMA before seeing this film. What drew me to it was the belief that it was more than just a sports film, that at the heart of the film was the relationship between the two brothers Tommy(Tom Hardy) and Brendan(Joel Edgerton). That belief was completely correct, this film manages to tell a wonderfully sad and ultimately redemptive story while at the same time being very respectful to the sport of MMA fighting. The story of course centers around the two brothers, who are very much estranged from each other and their father, Paddy(Nick Nolte). All three characters have issues but the most damaged is war vet, Tommy, who is played beautifully by Tom Hardy. Nick Nolte is also amazing in this as a former alcoholic who is now several years sober and trying to repair his relationship with his two sons. Although I gave lots of praise to Hardy and Nolte, I in no way mean to leave out Edgerton's performance, as I had really little interest in his character, a former UFC fighter turned high school Physics teacher trying and failing to make ends meet for his family, to begin with but I thoroughly enjoyed watching his part of the story unfold as well. I wont go in depth into the story but the basic plot is that both brothers make their way into SPARTA, an MMA fighting event put on to pit the best MMA fighters against each other until only one is left standing to claim the 5 million dollar prize, with the first part of the film focusing on setting up their personal lives and relationships with each other and their training for the SPARTA competition. The second part of the film features the brothers fights with other competitors, which are very cool btw, and leads into the conclusion of the film which I won't give away. In all honesty I was expecting this film to be good but it completely blew me away with how great it turned out to be. It has incredible heart and lots of action and fighting, so for me it was the total package. It is about family first and fighting second but the fighting is handled extremely well and is essential to the story and plot. If you like bonus features as I do this blu ray has a lot of extras to offer including a deleted scene, gag reel, and a couple different short documentary's on the research that director Gavin O' Connor and the rest of the crew put into the film in order to make the fighting realistic and credible. So, in short the story was great, the characters are complex and easy to connect with, and the fighting is exciting and realistic. I loved this movie and I can't recommend it enough to people, even people like myself who are not into "sports" movies,and by sports movies I mean a film that focuses mostly on the sport and the game being played not so much the character development or a bigger, overall plot. And there is nothing wrong with those films, what I am saying is that I believe this can be enjoyed by an even bigger audience. The MMA element while essential to the film should not scare anyone away from watching this great film. This gets a very well deserved 5 stars from me because it was awesome and I can't wait to watch this film over and over again. It's simply that great.

This was more powerful than Rocky ! Human dynamics, drama, sweat, love, hate, rejoice ! Great acting.

Outstanding movie! This was a great surprise. As a "fighting movie", it was refreshing to see true depth to a story outside of the ring in parallel to the one taking place inside. The acting was phenomenal by Edgerton, Hardy, and Nolte, though Hardy stole it for me (this guy is amazing). The music was right on cue and fit the scenes. The fight scenes were good enough get out of my seat and cheer. The drama was masculine, a bit dark, and cauldron deep. I love that there was NOTHING gratuitous or cheap in this movie. In a day where movie makers try too hard to appeal to all demographics and end up cheapening what could have been a great movie (Transformers), this sets a new bar for balance. The fight candy only enhances the drama, and vice versa. I saw little in the way of compromise in either. With a strong story and good actors, you really don't need CGI, sex, F-bombs every other word, etc. To beautifully wrap up a great movie, the two stories fully converge in THE MOMENT. It is in the final fight and is the true climax of the movie. As a man, that moment is unmistakable, unforgettable, and unbelievably powerful, because it was impossible not to be strongly sympathetic to the characters by that time. It was expertly built up and served to make the fight become progressively gut wrenching and sad as we recognize what winning will actually cost the other. Though, unfortunately, losing still did not seem to be an option, given the noble reasons both were supposed to be fighting for in the first place. I also saw the last fight as a culminating metaphor for life. The message relating to how much of our pain and anguish is self inflicted, though many of us still double-down in treading our path alone and on our own terms, notwithstanding our misery. Eventually there comes a point where we may recognize that the true cost of "doubling-down" is actually greater than "tapping-out" (conceding, forgiving, repenting). In such a moment of great fear and vulnerability, we need someone to comfort us, someone to make it ok to let go. Only then can we see that true "victory" (peace, joy - whatever that may mean to us) was never to be found alone. For this reason, the fight was absolutely necessary to complete the story. This is also why I think most viewers, including myself, at least got "a bit choked up" in this scene. It is not every day that you see a profoundly counterintuitive spiritual principle masterfully captured by a "fight movie", or any movie for that matter. I hadn't even heard of this movie until yesterday. Lucky me! Lucky you, if you watch it.

Way fun movie. Kinda over simplified during the fight sequences. But still a good David vs Goliath story.

Not a bad movie at all ... predictable > but a good movie. The one thing this movie reminded me of ... is how Great, Unique and Special > Rocky is as a Movie.

One of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. What I loved about the movie besides the writing, acting, direction, etc. is that there wasn't a single person shot, or blown up in the movie. It's been a week since I have seen this movie and I can't stop thinking about it. This movie isn't really about mixed martial arts it's about a dysfunctional family and what people will do to protect their families or military brother during desperate times. I thought this was just another boxing type of movie like Rocky but it is so much more than that. Yes the fight scenes are exciting, amazing and gruesome but it's the dynamic of the family. The relationship between an absentee alcoholic father and his two sons. Nick Nolte was nominated for every award for his role as Paddy Conlon (the father). Joel Edgarton is also amazing. But british actor Tom Hardy is outstanding. I cannot say enough about Tom Hardy. In my opinion he replaced Marlon Brando, DeNiro, etc. This movie should have been nominated as best picture and Tom Hardy and Joel Edgarton should have also been nominated, not just Nick Nolte. If a movie can make my 21 year old tough son cry and show emotion both times he saw this movie, then this is one of the greatest movies ever. Yes this movie does use some standard hollywood cliches but the outstanding writing, acting and direction of this movie totally melts those hollywood cliches completely away. If you only watch Quentin Tarantino crappy movies then this is not for you. By the way, QT is one of the most overrated directors in Hollywood. Guy Ritchie is a much better director than QT. Snatch was brilliant. I love the way he directs movies. I don't need to see someone's face or head actually being shot off. I can use my imagination. I wish that Guy Ritchie had directed Pulp Fiction or any of QT's movies. They would have been 100 times better. Personally I think QT should just write scripts and leave the directing to actual professionals like Scorsese. Scorsese never glorifies violence. He uses violence to do the opposite. Every violent character in his movies you despise they are never glorified. He makes the mafia look like serial killing A-holes, which is exactly what they are. QT 100% glorifies violence. I have no desire to waste my money on a "joke" movie about slavery directed and written by QT. Truly laughable and a slap in the face to African Americans and what they endured during slavery in this country. Hollywood would never agree to a "joke" movie written about the Holocaust. It disgusts me that Harvey Weinstein produced this movie. They are actually making action figures for Django. Warrior has violence in it but it's NOT gratuitous!!! This movie doesn't insult my intelligence. I highly recommend this movie and so does my 21 year old son. BUY IT!

That was a great movie. They don't make them like this any more1

emotional powerhouse. such truth in their acting

This is honestly THE BEST movie I have seen all year and possibly in my life. This movie will not simply toy with your emotions but it will rule them. Two brothers with a bitter past fighting in a MMA tournament to win 5 million dollars. One fights to keep his family in their home and the other keeps his reasons to himself but once you find them out you won't know who to root for. Caught in the between the two is their three year sober father trying to win their love back after their childhoods of drinking and abuse. Nick Nolte is phenomenal and through out the movie it really feels like it's about the father trying so hard to make things right. His struggle at just trying to get his sons to talk to him will pull at your heart strings. The fights are the most realistic and intense fight scenes I have ever seen in a movie and it's amazing that no one was permanently injured making this movie. The story is amazing and builds itself up perfectly by giving us information about the brothers past one piece at a time. I have just finished watching this movie for the fifth time and my heart was still pounding during the intense fight scenes. Even though I know how the movie ends it still feels like I'm watching it for the first time. I recommend this movie to everyone, you, your brother, your sister, your dad, your best friend, their best friend, everybody.

Le scénario distille les révélations au fil du métrage ponctué de scènes de combats de MMA très bien filmées. Bien entendu, la dernière demi-heure laisse la place à la rage des combats mais l'histoire est intéressante et a véritablement quelque chose à raconter. De surcroît, tous les acteurs sont au top (Tom Hardy fondu dans son personnage) autant hors que sur le ring et malgré des physiques bien carrés, l'émotion est toujours latante. Mais, Bon sang, les trapèzes et les muscles du cou de l'excellent Tom Hardy sont vachement impressionnants pour un garçon qui aurait taillé ce physique pour ce film ! Excellent film vraiment. Transfert blu ray : AU début du film, le grain affiché fait tout de même peur. Ca fourmille beaucoup ce qui amoindrit visiblement la définition. Le grain présent tout au long du film se fait ensuite plus discret et même très retenu sur le tournoi final. La colorimétrie terne des début laisse souvent la place à une belle palette de couleurs plus vives en fonction des séquences et des endroits filmés. Il s'agit comme déjà mentionné du choix artistique mais les adeptes des images lissées et d'une netteté absolue ne seront peut-être pas toujours au anges. Toutefois, la définition se défend pas mal et le transfert propose de très beaux plans bien détaillés. Surtout le tournoi final très aiguisé avec des plans nocturnes de la ville de toute beauté. Il faut également mentionner l'appartion furtive d'un bruit vidéo assez visible lors de certaines coupes de plans surtout au début du film. Cet effet (qu'il est possible d'atténuer en diminuant un peu le curseur de netteté de la TV) est difficilement expliquable par un choix artistique et résulte plus vraisemblement du transfert. Au final, compte tenu des particularités du film, le résultat en terme d'image est très satisfaisant. Niveau son c'est excellent sur toute la ligne tant en VO qu'en VF en DTS HDMA. Les bonus répondent présents avec des modules dont un making of intéressant. Malgré une section vidéo parfois un tantinet bruitée, la qualité du métrage vaut largement les cinq étoiles.

--- Zur Blu-ray (Steelbook) --- Die Blu-ray wird in einem ebenso edlen wie leider auch kratzeranfälligen Steelbook geliefert. Die Bildqualität fällt mit Absicht so durchwachsen aus. Bei den Szenen mit Tommy rauscht es mehr als in jenen, die seinen Bruder Brandan zeigen. Dies ist offensichtlich als filmisches Mittel zu verstehen um die charakterlichen Profile beider Protagonisten zu trennen. Brandan als Familienvater, der finanziellen Nöten ausgesetzt ist, führt die Kämpfe mehr des Preisgeldes wegen aus, weswegen die Bildqualität bei seiner Anwesenheit ziemlich klar wirkt. Tommy auf der anderen Seite macht MMA. um sich abzureagieren und er hat quasi eine dreckige Leidenschaft für die Kampfduelle. Das Bild wirkt bei ihm sehr unruhig und beizeiten schrecklich krisselig. Die Rauscheoptik in diesem Maße zu nutzen um die gegensätzlichen Beweggründe der Brüder aufzuzeigen ist äußerst ungewöhnlich. Im HD-Format macht sich diese saubere Trennung jedenfalls brutal bemerkbar, was sicherlich nicht jedem gefallen wird. Der Ton ist allerdings allen Zweifeln erhaben. Sowohl der englischen als auch der deutschen Tonspur hat man ein 5.1 HD-Master gegönnt, das sich in beiderlei Fällen hören lassen kann. Die hinteren Lautsprecher und der Subwoofer haben nämlich gut zu tun. Untertitel stehen in Deutsch (für Hörgeschädigte) und Englisch zur Verfügung. --- Zur Sonderausstattung --- Die Extras verdienen gesonderter Erwähnung, weil sie die gesamte Präsentation der Blu-ray noch einmal emporheben. Nicht nur, dass sie alle in knackigem HD gehalten sind, sie nehmen eine anspruchsvolle Lauflänge von fast vier Stunden ein! Das schließt den ENHANCED VIEWING MODE in Filmlänge mit ein, welcher einen zusätzlichen Abspielmodus von WARRIOR darstellt. In diesem Modus, der eine Art visuellen Audiokommentar darstellt, läuft das Actiondrama meistens in einem kleinen Fenster unten rechts ab, während Regisseur Gavin O'Connor mit wechselnder Verstärkung (z.B. Nick Nolte) die einzelnen Szenen analysiert. Zudem werden Aufnahmen vom Dreh eingestreut. Dieses Special ist sozusagen ultimativ informativ und lässt eigentlich keine Fragen offen. Die restlichen Extras vermitteln jedenfalls weitere tiefe Einblicke in die Dreharbeiten und deren Vorbereitung. Diese sind teilweise deutsch untertitelt, was jedoch jederzeit ausgeblendet werden kann. Empfehlenswert ist das etwa halbstündige Making-Of und das rund zwanzigminütige Featurette PHILOSOPHY IN COMBAT: MIXED MARTIAL ARTS, in welchem man tief in die Materie der MMA steigt und ihre Ursprünge und Ziele erklärt. Interessant ist zudem BROTHER VS. BROTHER: ANATOMY OF A FIGHT, welches einen Bild-in-Bild-Vergleich zwischen den Vorbereitungen mit Storyboards bzw. Choreografien und der endgültigen Szene liefert. Einen rührenden Abschluss bietet der viertelstündige Clip A TRIBUTE TO CHARLES MASK LEWIS, JR. über den Mitbegründer der Kleidungsmarke Tapout Charles "Mask" Lewis jr., der wesentlichen Einfluss an der Entstehungsgeschichte von WARRIOR genommen hat und zu Drehbeginn plötzlich verstarb. --- Kritik/Fazit --- Charismatische, gut gebaute Männer kämpfen im Mixed-Martial-Arts-Style ums Überleben. Wem die nötige Tiefe in FIGHTING mit Channing Tatum gefehlt hat, der sollte sich unbedingt WARRIOR anschauen. Die unglaublichen Leistungen von Tom Hardy und Joel Edgerton, die so aussehen, als würden sie auch im wirklichen Leben Brüder sein, sorgen schon dafür. In zwei Worten ausgedrückt: erstklassige Besetzung. Tom Hardy, bekannt geworden durch INCEPTION und DAS GIBT ÄRGER, musste sich für seine Rolle sogar zusätzlich Muskelmasse antrainieren um der visuellen Authentizität eines MMA-Kämpfers nachkommen zu können. In einer bedeutenden Nebenrolle ist im Übrigen Nick Nolte zu sehen, dessen Darstellung als Vater der beiden Brüder für den Oscar nominiert wurde. Mehr als zwei Stunden Action und Emotionen pur ohne Längen... WARRIOR ist wirklich ein erstaunliches Sportlerdrama mit doppeltem Boden. Obwohl die Bildqualität nur als eine Frage des Geschmacks bezeichnet werden kann, überzeugen Ton und Ausstattung auf vollster Linie, zumal das Steelbook auch noch sehr ansehnlich ist - Kratzerempfindlichkeit hin oder her. Deshalb gibt es fünf volle Sterne von mir.

まず、言うまでもなく輸入盤なので日本語吹き替えも字幕もありません。 内容についてはスポ根のようなお話ではなく、家族愛みたいなヒューマンドラマの色が強いかと思いました。ロッキーよりも。壊れた兄弟関係、親子関係がどう変化していくのがこの映画の魅力かと思います。 トム・ハーディやニック・ノルティの迫真の演技は気迫がすごく見ている方も息が詰まる用でした。 もちろん試合シーンもリアリティがあります。ある程度、展開が読めますが、それでもいいんです。 全体的に重厚感のある映画なのに、何度も見返したくなる作品だと思います。

Make no mistake, Warrior is what I refer to as The Perfect Friday Night Movie: Get a pizza in (preferably thin crust!)wipe your HDTV screen clean, and stick on the blu-ray. For a ridiculously touched-up poster, Warrior didn't have to convince me to see it; the fact Tom Hardy has been referred to as the British Marlon Brando is the reason. With the exception of Christian Bale, I absolutely detest The Fighter: It's riddled with more Irish-American cliches than Far and Away and is oh-so annoying at the best of times. You can understand my trepidation as I awaited for this drama to unfold. As "Tap 'em Out" Tommy Reardon, Tom Hardy is massive. The guy's traps are enormous (he's gigantic!) and given his turbulent performance, one can only wet themselves at the prospect of seeing him kick Batman's ass in The Dark Knight Rises. He spends much of his time brooding,looking mean and makes a great effort with his US accent (which I am assuming is an amalgam of regional US dialects or do the good people of Pittsburgh talk like that?) He makes taking a swig of whiskey seem like an art form and can understand why his character has no sense of ambition any more, which is revealed through a surprise twist, midway. And Mr Hardy is that rare thing since Gary Oldman: He's scary and unpredictable. Tom's dual role not only required a physical transformation, but to convince us he's an MMA fighter (don't worry, I was convinced within 1 minute!)A credit to director Gavin O'Connor, who said Tommy was the only actor who could play the troubled, younger Conlon sibling. This isn't just a film about slugging it out UFC-style; this is a class in heavyweight acting. Tom's scenes with Nick Nolte as his ex-alcoholic father Paddy, are both funny and very moving. If Nolte doesn't get an Oscar nod (and post Oscar hindsight, he did but was robbed), then there's no justice in this world..the old man's still got it and sure he recalled his drunken past for this role of a lifetime. Joel Edgerton is another Aussie who's graduated from the "Time to Fool Everyone with a Convincing American Accent, School of Acting" - as Tom's elder brother, Brendan Conlon. It takes a long time before they meet (think of DeNiro and Pacino in Heat) and when they do, it's intense and explosive stuff. One of the twists is that they fight each other in the ring; how they get there will become apparent as you watch. In what is billed as a man's film, Jennifer Morrison from House is the calming influence as Brendan's missus. She's not just a pretty blonde, she has heart and she's sassy too. I could believe more in her as Tess; than Amy Adams's Oirish barmaid in The Fighter, who, let's face it, was quite the skank! Warrior's' greatest strength is that it takes its time and doesn't overwhelm you and doesn't try to prove anything either. It's great film making and Gavin O'Connor deserves a pint (or three). In much the same way Rocky(1976) was shot on a very low budget, this has that same Everyman approach. In fact, Warrior owes a debt to Rocky in its pre-title credits and the split-screen training montages. The fights are a feast for any UFC fan and kick serious ass. In parts, it's classic Americana: Downbeat and has a lot of charm; on the other, it makes me want to visit Pittsburgh now and to stick Ode to Joy on my iPod! Special nods to the actors who played the students; the always great Kevin Dunn as Principal Zito (you couldn't make it up) and Bryan "The Hangover" Callen as a very funny UFC commentator. And Kurt Angle as a Russian head case! If I have any gripes about Warrior, is that I would've liked to have seen the regimen of training to become an Ultimate Fighting Champion. And more scenes of Jennifer Morrison in her underwear (maybe they'll happen to find some deleted scenes and stick them on the blu-ray). The blu-ray is gorgeous - do yourself the biggest favour and order it from Amazon: I prefer the cover of a lone Tommy with his back to us; than an overpriced high street record store, who uses a different poster and hikes up the price as well. The film looks amazing and the special features are great (nice to see Hardy looking comfortable in an interview as opposed to being interrogated by a second-rate UK chat show host). Since critics have compared Tom to Brando, in which case I'll leave you with his most memorable role as ex prize-fighter, Terry Malloy from On the Waterfront. Yes, I still get the chills re-watching it and yes, I'm sure Hardy drew some inspiration too. An all-time, classic movie moment. [...]