This Friday on Rewind-A-Wai #87, we are reviewing the 2011 film “Warrior”.
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he’s trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
Post your feedback, thoughts, and reviews below.
The show will be released this Friday for all members of the POST Wrestling Café.
It was great at the time. I find it overly sappy now. That song by The National at the end is killer.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen this film but I remember it getting quite a bit of buzz at the time and I genuinely loved it. The three leads were cast perfectly with Nick Nolte stealing the show for me. I never expected to get as emotional as I did watching an MMA movie, however the scene where Nolte relapses whilst listening to Moby Dick is heartbreaking and gets me every time.
Yes, you could say it’s pretty predictable and paint by numbers but predictable isn’t always bad. I don’t think Joel Edgerton vs Kurt Angle in the final would have had quite the same emotional weight as seeing the two brothers going at it at the end.
7.5/10
Lol Kurt as the Russian bad guy was awesome. They should have given him at least one line. Would have loved his bad Russian accent.
I saw this back when it originally came out in 2011.
I’ve never been an MMA fan, but I feel like the vibe I got from this was that it definitely presented a much more realistic portrayed of the MMA world vs something like the Never Back Down films, or Here Comes the Boom.
I was excited for this, as I have been a Tom Hardy fan since Bronson, and this fits in his filmography basically as he’s becoming a megastar with roles in Inception and Dark Knight Rises.
Anyways, I recall it being an enjoyable enough film.
Oh, and I have a distinct memory of Kurt Angle powerbombing a guy. That’s my lasting memory.
Warrior treats the MMA culture with respect without feeling campy to further the family drama worked in Warrior’s favor very well. Tom Hardy lights up the screen with a bristling, intense performance as Tommy Conlon that evoked De Niro in Raging Bull at times. Joel Edgerton held up his end with his performance as his brother Brendan that resembles one Rich Franklin. Nick Nolte was heart-wrenching in his Oscar-flirting turn as their father and the fight scenes are intense and I loved catching all the cameos. Kurt Angle did his best Fedor Emelianenko impression, too.
Such a good film.