Since mixed martial arts exploded into the public eye nearly a decade ago with the reality series “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV, it took a surprisingly long time for Hollywood to get on board. Usually the movie industry does not waste any time in jumping into pop culture fads and crazes if it will make a profit, but this time they waited. Perhaps they were trying to be a little more conservative with money, but most likely they were waiting to ensure the craze wasn’t going anywhere.
It wasn’t. With UFC signing a multiyear, multishow contract with Fox to air free fights over the next several years and with The Ultimate Fighter churning out winning fighters annually, MMA isn’t going anywhere for a while. Hollywood has taken notice and started to grudgingly produce a few MMA movies. Some are good but some are utterly awful. Here are three that might catch your attention.
The Good:
Warrior (2011)
Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte
This was easily the most underrated movie of 2011. From the director of Miracle and featuring three talented actors, this is one of the few films I’ve seen lately that had little wrong with it. Two estranged brothers, one a soldier the other a teacher, enter an MMA tournament for the $5 million prize. Predictably, they end up facing each other. The fight scenes are nothing short of great, and the acting is superb. Edgerton and Hardy don’t get the credit they deserve as actors, and Nolte plays a great drunk. Get the tissues ready, however. Not only are there several scenes which will make you tear up, but some might make you outright cry.
The Bad:
Beatdown (2010)
Rudy Youngblood, Danny Trejo, Michael Bisping
To say that this movie is bad might take away from the quality just a bit. There are enough good fight scenes and dramatic story lines to make it seem passable. To be honest, if the filmmakers were intentionally trying to make a cheesy movie, they succeeded admirably. If that’s what you’re looking for, go no further. The fight scenes are brutal only because it’s about an underground fighter, not an octagon kind of guy. Most of the fights take place in barns and construction sites. The worst part? UFC veteran Michael Bisping is a main character, and he is a much better fighter than actor.
The Ugly:
Never Back Down (2008)
Sean Faris, Djimon Hounsou, Amber Heard
There are bad movies, and then there are bad movies. This is of the latter variety. Even the normally great Hounsou isn’t enough to rescue this bomb. The fight scenes are subpar at best, mostly because the story follows a high school fighter trying to make it among a group of wealthy students running an MMA club. All the cliches are here: a hero with problems at home, rich kid bad guy, a fight in a parking lot with hundreds of other students watching, and the requisite lessons learned by all involved. Simply awful. Unless you’re a fan of terrible movies and wasting an hour and a half of your life you can’t get back, stay far away from this.
Is it a coincidence the quality of MMA films improved over the past several years? Probably not as the sports has exploded in popularity during the same period. Warrior is available at RedBox now. It is well worth the time, and is a great way to see Tom Hardy before he plays the villain Bane in the forthcoming Batman sequel this summer.