'Warrior' DVD Review

Warrior follows the story of two brothers fighting in a mixed martial arts tournament for very different but noble reasons. This is a typical underdog story but the family drama surrounding the winner of the tournament is what makes this film work. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play the brothers who enter the tournament for two different families and their performances in and outside of the ring are perfect. Nick Nolte engages in a different battle as the estranged father of the two central characters giving another great performance as a recovering alcoholic trying to make up for his past sins.

I will admit that I have never watched an actual mixed martial arts fight and Warrior is full of this type of brutal pugilism from beginning to end. The scenes are intense, brilliantly filmed with bone crunching sound effects in surround sound and you could find yourself jumping up and down on the couch nervously cheering for the two brothers in this film. You won’t be cheering because you “like” the fighters or because you know they are talented in the sport. You will be cheering because the back-stories of these characters are written and acted out so superbly though I was wondering why this movie didn’t receive more praise from audiences and critics. The reason is simple.

We have seen this formula a million times: An underdog fighter rises in the ranks just like Rocky, Cinderella Man, and The Figher which all have the magic formula. Warrior belongs on this list because it takes the formula that works adds some new spins and it works beautifully. The strength of so many of these films lies not in the actual fights but in the strong family driven storylines and the pure heart to rise against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Warrior is full of inspired drama through the fight scenes but the film finds most of its strength outside of the ring following the characters struggle with forgiveness and stakes that are higher than just winning money.