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Warrior
Directed By: Gavin O'Connor
My Favourite Movie Ever
Plot: An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives..
I've done a review on Warrior before in a different thread, it wasn't a great review, it was just a few things I wanted to write about the movie. After completing my top 100 favourites, and placing Warrior as my number 1 favourite movie of all time, I thought it was only right I write a review of why I love this movie so much, and why I placed the movie at number 1 on my list. For me Warrior was the best movie of 2011, it's a very underrated movie and got overlooked because of the buzz, and hype surrounding... Drive. Don't get me wrong Drive is a great movie, you could go as far as to say both Drive and Warrior are the best movies to have came along over the past couple of years. But for me Warrior is the stronger movie, it's more emotional, more powerful, and more meaningful.
The first time I seen the trailer to this movie I got pretty excited, ime a big mma fan, and ime a big Tom Hardy fan, so I was pretty pumped up for this film. After seeing the movie it was not what I expected at all, I left the cinema shocked at how much I enjoyed this film. Solid story, strong cast, great performances, emotional performances, it really was a fantastic movie. If you havnt seen this movie don't let the mma aspect put you off, it's really just the back setting to the story in front of us. Don't get me wrong there are some cool fights scenes, but the the whole point of the movie is how the characters fight as a family, something alot of people can relate to.
One of the strong points of this movie is the cast. Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte are all on fine form. Nolte actually delivers one of the best performances of his career ( well best in a long while). Tom Hardy is sensational, and this movie proves why he is considered one of the best actors around today. I can't really fault any of the cast, they where all fantastic, and all there performances are convincingly real that the movie achieves so much emotion, and so much power. As I said earlier the movie focuses on it's characters rather than the mma theme, it's truly well made, and although it's not original it doesn't matter at all.
Overall Warrior is my number 1 favourite movie ever, sure it's cliched.. It has it's Rocky moments, it's sports movie moments, but it is head and shoulders above the rest. I really hope alot of people check this movie out after my review, and if you do please give me your feedback.
Directed By: Gavin O'Connor
My Favourite Movie Ever
Plot: An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives..
I've done a review on Warrior before in a different thread, it wasn't a great review, it was just a few things I wanted to write about the movie. After completing my top 100 favourites, and placing Warrior as my number 1 favourite movie of all time, I thought it was only right I write a review of why I love this movie so much, and why I placed the movie at number 1 on my list. For me Warrior was the best movie of 2011, it's a very underrated movie and got overlooked because of the buzz, and hype surrounding... Drive. Don't get me wrong Drive is a great movie, you could go as far as to say both Drive and Warrior are the best movies to have came along over the past couple of years. But for me Warrior is the stronger movie, it's more emotional, more powerful, and more meaningful.
Trivia:
The role of Paddy was written for Nick Nolte by Anthony Tambakis and Gavin O'Connor, who is neighbors with the actor in Malibu. The studio was resistant to casting Nolte, but the writers held firm and Nolte's portrayal has won him universal critical praise.
The role of Paddy was written for Nick Nolte by Anthony Tambakis and Gavin O'Connor, who is neighbors with the actor in Malibu. The studio was resistant to casting Nolte, but the writers held firm and Nolte's portrayal has won him universal critical praise.
Trivia:
Joel Edgerton tore his MCL in the cage during production, halting fight scenes for six weeks. Tom Hardy suffered a broken toe, broken ribs, and a broken finger.
Joel Edgerton tore his MCL in the cage during production, halting fight scenes for six weeks. Tom Hardy suffered a broken toe, broken ribs, and a broken finger.
Overall Warrior is my number 1 favourite movie ever, sure it's cliched.. It has it's Rocky moments, it's sports movie moments, but it is head and shoulders above the rest. I really hope alot of people check this movie out after my review, and if you do please give me your feedback.