Warrior

[GeneChing]

In the new fad of Redbelt (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=766) and Never Back Down (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=750), here's another MMA film coming...


Gavin O'Connor Developing MMA Film Titled Warriors (http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/09/10/gavin-oconnor-developing-mma-film-titled-warriors/)
September 10, 2008
by Alex Billington

This week I caught up with Greg O'Connor, brother of director Gavin O'Connor and producer of most of his films, and talked with him about Pride and Glory. Before the interview wrapped, Greg talked about Gavin's potential next film - a drama called Warriors set in the world of mixed martial arts (aka MMA). As far as I know, this is the first time I've heard of this, and considering I'm a fan of UFC, I was excited to delve into details. Additionally, since David Mamet's Redbelt, the only other recent MMA film, turned out terrible, I was intrigued to hear that Hollywood hadn't given up entirely on MMA just yet.

"We're working on something that Gavin– seems like something he's going to direct next. It's called Warrior, and it's in the world of mixed martial arts." Back in 2002, Greg and Gavin made a documentary called Smashing Machine about fighter Mark Kerr and the early days of the UFC. "I thought that Gavin would not be the obvious filmmaker to make a movie like that and that's what I thought was really cool about it," O'Connor explains. He adds that "Gavin is actually very influenced by Rocky." But instead of making a movie about boxing, they decided to look into the world of MMA. "I think there's an opportunity to tell a story in this world, and it's a world that has a lot of interest right now."

So what of the story? O'Connor was a bit short on the details, but he gives a good introduction. "I think it has a very visceral feeling like Pride and Glory but it's about two brothers who are fighters, who are estranged, and who have to, through the course of the story, find each other again and reconnect to a relationship with their father, who they've sort of also become estranged with." Of course I had to ask about the UFC and their involvement, since they seem like a tough organization to work with.

"It's interesting, we're not working with the UFC, we made a specific decision not to work with the UFC, only because our understanding is that they actually want more influence over what the content of the material is than we want to give them. We've actually used that to our advantage in the story and we're specifically not doing UFC and creating sort of a tournament that is a new thing but feels very authentic. It does play very authentically in terms of the world and the fighters in the world, like Randy Couture and other people that are sort of embedded in the movie."

The ten people out there who saw Redbelt know that, in theory, that film had the potential to be great, but Mamet forgot to think about how important fighting was in an MMA movie. But Warriors on the other hand actually sounds pretty **** good. It may still be a drama, but O'Connor made it sound like a studio film, not at all independent, that will have fighting and all that great MMA stuff that we want to see. And as for Gavin O'Connor directing and Greg O'Connor producing, the two seem to know how to make great dramas, so that's nothing we should be worried about. It sounds like Randy Couture will be involved, but what other fighters would be great to see? Does an MMA movie sound exciting to you?

[doug maverick]

****** gene. you got me all hyped up thinking it was something about one of the greatest genre films of all time. instead i see some crap about a mma film. redbelt was amazing(anyone say david mamet) but NBD was total crap.

[GeneChing]

I feel ya on Warriors (the original). That film rocked.

"Warriors, come out to play-yay!"

[Zenshiite]

I can't even think of that movie without thinking of the old Blitz song "the Warriors." It's not even related to that, but I can't help it.

[GeneChing]

...perhaps dropping the 's' was to avoid confusion with The Warriors.

Gavin O'Connor Finds a Cast for His MMA Drama Warrior (http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/03/09/gavin-oconnor-finds-a-cast-for-his-mma-drama-warrior/)
March 9, 2009
by Alex Billington

Last year we exclusively revealed early details on a project that director Gavin O'Connor (Miracle, Pride and Glory) had in the works called Warrior, a drama set in the world of mixed martial arts. The story is about a family and two brothers, and O'Connor has finally found his cast. Warrior will be headlined by Nick Nolte, who will play the estranged father. Playing his youngest son is Tom Hardy (who played Charles Bronson in Bronson) and playing the older son is up-and-coming Australian actor Joel Edgerton. Also joining the cast is Jennifer Morrison. Production will begin this April in Pittsburgh for a 2010 release.

Nolte will play an ex-Vietnam vet boxer-turned-steel mill worker whose family was torn apart by his alcoholism; the now-sober and remorseful dad welcomes back his youngest son (Hardy) and trains him to compete in a MMA tournament. He and his older brother (Edgerton), who still remains estranged, end up on a collision course in the ring. The script was written by Gavin O'Connor and newcomer Anthony Tambakis. We should mention that O'Connor does have some past experience with mixed martial arts, as he directed the documentary
Smashing Machine about fighter Mark Kerr and the early days of the UFC.

While I'm not particularly a fan of Nolte, I'm already loving this cast and the story in the film, and I can't wait to actually see it come together. Maybe this will finally be the project where O'Connor proves he's a capable director again, since Pride and Glory was a very dull and boring waste of time.

[GeneChing]

What are you doing this Sunday?

Be in a movie (http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2009/03/31/entertainment/doc49d23823d080e268345122.txt)
By Scott Tady, Times Entertainment Editor
Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 1:18 PM EDT
PITTSBURGH — Nick Nolte needs us.

Otherwise, he can’t complete his movie, “Warrior,” that begins filming late this month in Pittsburgh.

Lionsgate Studios will hold an open call Sunday for people interested in working as extras in the martial arts action film. The open call lasts from noon to 4 p.m. on the second floor of the Sheraton Station Square.

All extra roles are non-speaking, and experience isn’t necessary.

Those trying out at the open call should bring a recent photo and resume, or brief description of their experience in performing arts. Their commitment can last from one day to several weeks, with filming scheduled locally through early July.

[sanjuro_ronin]

****** gene. you got me all hyped up thinking it was something about one of the greatest genre films of all time. instead i see some crap about a mma film. redbelt was amazing(anyone say david mamet) but NBD was total crap.

Have you seen Kuro-obi ( Black Belt) ?

[GeneChing]

Good move coattailing on The Fighter (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59367). An MMA film up for the Oscars? I can dream, can't I? :rolleyes:

'The Fighter' + 'Bloodsport' = 'Warrior' (http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/popwrap/the_fighter_bloodsport_warrior_MXOwygRwIU9d1fsaxYE 2vJ)
March 10, 2011 ι Jarett Wieselman
http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/blogs/popwrap/201103/IMAGES/10/tom.jpg
Early last week Mark Wahlberg floated the idea of a "Fighter" sequel, but it looks like "Inception" star Tom Hardy may have beaten him to the punch with "Warrior" -- a new film about two brothers and their broken family. Only this time the bloody action takes place inside an MMA octagon.

Joining Tom in the Mixed Martial Arts movie, which also looks to share some DNA with Van Damme's "Bloodsport," is Joel Edgerton (amazing in "Animal Kingdom") as his estranged brother who simultaneously returns to the ring, resulting in a brother-on-brother bout for the title.

Tom, who is no stranger to physical transformations (he gained 40 pounds of muscle to play the lead character in 2008's "Bronson") underwent a rigorous regimen to get in fighting shape for "Warrior," the results of which you can see in these behind the scenes photos.
http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/blogs/popwrap/201103/IMAGES/10/warrior.jpg
There are more photos

[GeneChing]

Warrior (2011) - Official Trailer [HD] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwgG6OfW7Yo)

Coming Sep 9, 2011

[GeneChing]

Profile: Gavin O'Connor's 'Warrior' ready for box-office fight (http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/profile-oconnor070611/profile-oconnor070611/)
By BARBARA VANCHERI
First Posted: July 06, 2011 - 8:00 am
Last Updated: July 06, 2011 - 8:00 am

A funny thing happened on the way to "Warrior," a gritty martial arts film due out in September.

Director and co-writer Gavin O'Connor wanted to cast two performers who were largely unrecognizable but had star potential: "I didn't want an audience to have any memories of these actors from other roles."

Lo and behold, Tom Hardy ended up as a master of disguise in "Inception," delivered a tour de force turn as Britain's most famous prisoner in "Bronson" and has been cast in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Co-star Joel Edgerton ("Smokin' Aces," "Star Wars: Episode III" "Kinky Boots") appeared in the crime drama "Animal Kingdom" and as an arsonist in the Aussie thriller "The Square."

By Sept. 9, when "Warrior" arrives in theaters, audiences will be even more familiar with the men who portray estranged brothers. Nick Nolte plays their father, a retired steelworker and former raging, angry alcoholic.

The film originally was scheduled for 2010 release. But Lionsgate executives wanted to avoid a box-office showdown with "The Fighter," starring the better-known Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg.

"It actually worked in our favor to wait, and now these guys are actually starting to emerge, and that's certainly, from the studio's perspective, helpful," O'Connor said. "For me, I wish nobody knew who they were, but it is what it is."

Most of the movie was shot in Pittsburgh, which plays itself and doubles as Philadelphia. The city's history as a steel town and Pennsylvania's reputation as wrestling country drew O'Connor.

"Visually, it had what I would call working-class poetry that I really responded to when I scouted the city. There was a toughness that I needed that symbolized this family unit."

O'Connor, who made the police drama "Pride and Glory," rousing hockey story "Miracle" and indie hit "Tumbleweeds," says reaction at test screenings hasn't pivoted on knowledge of mixed martial arts, or MMA.

"Our highest scores were not only women but women who knew nothing about the sport. ... After our first test screening, I went up to the studio, and they jokingly said, 'You made a chick flick.' We were all shocked."

He intended a face-off between the brothers, who separately enter a winner-take-all MMA competition, to serve as "an intervention in a cage." One brother saves the other by kicking the stuffing out of him.

"That's because they grew up in a home where they communicated with violence. The intention was that these two brothers sort of expiate the last 14 years that they've been estranged and over five rounds, they deal with the past and slowly heal by beating each other up."

The cast includes real Ultimate Fighting Championship champs on or behind the scenes.

O'Connor cast Hardy as Tommy because "I needed someone who had a very tough exterior and yet had a deep vulnerability. ... The character does a lot of bad things, and the audience had to understand that what he was doing was coming from a place of pain."

O'Connor said MMA hasn't been dramatized in this way in a feature. He doesn't count straight-to-DVD releases or Hong Kong karate movies.

"The studio always says if you can make the 21st-century 'Rocky,' that's what would be great, aim for that.

"That's cool, but Rocky's boxing and this is mixed martial arts, which is the fastest-growing sport in the world. It's the new boxing."

Nolte is the director's neighbor and friend. His "Warrior" character of Paddy Conlon is seen listening to "Moby-****" on audiotape.

"It just felt right for his character. We went a lot deeper with Paddy's character in regard to a man who never left Pittsburgh but traveled across the globe through the books he listened to on tape. Now that he's sober, he's replaced his alcoholic addiction with books."

But only so much can make the final cut of a movie, which ended up featuring O'Connor in a small role as the wealthy promoter of Sparta.

Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr., the founder of an apparel company catering to MMA fans, was to play the part, but he died in a car accident in March 2009.

"He was a very dear friend of mine. He opened up all the doors for me in the world of mixed martial arts." After the 45-year-old Lewis was killed, O'Connor stepped in to honor his friend.

The character's name and other details were changed, and the movie is dedicated to him. Does "an intervention in a cage" strike anyone else as funny? Perhaps because I've been involved with an intervention or two, and because I work here, it just strikes me as funny.

[Zenshiite]

Who the hell was Edgerton in Star Wars?

[GeneChing]

We have an 'official' KungFuMagazine.com review forthcoming.

Aug 29, 2011
Director sees 'Warrior' film as 'intervention in a cage' (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/mma/post/2011-08-29/warrior-director-interview/417200/1)
By Sergio Non, USA TODAY 7:31 PM

Don't think of Warrior as a mixed martial arts movie just because its main characters fight in an MMA tournament.

"The MMA part of the film was tertiary to many other things going on in my life," director and co-writer Gavin O'Connor says. "Clearly, it's not about the sport. It's a drama, and then there's even drama within the sport while they're actually fighting."

Make no mistake -- MMA has a central role in the production. Warrior revolves around two brothers, Brendan and Tommy, in a tournament reminiscent of the grand-prix events that were staples of Pride Fighting Championships from 2000 to 2006.

The tourney's cast includes a dominant Russian, Koba, played by Olympic champion and pro wrestler Kurt Angle but based on former Pride titleholder Fedor Emelianenko. One of the fights ends with a moment inspired by one of Pride's most famous knockouts.

But for all the grittiness of the action, it's the acting that has generated most of the positive early reactions from Hollywood trade publications and magazines such as Vanity Fair, which calls Warrior "a riveting and complex character study."

USA TODAY spoke to O'Connor recently about the movie, which is scheduled for a Sept. 9 release. Excerpts from the conversation:

Q: What's the genesis of the film?

O'Connor: The film was born out of many different personal things going on in my life. The MMA part of the film was tertiary to many other things going on in my life; the MMA just came out of my love of the sport.

But the idea of forgiveness and things that happened to me in my childhood growing up -- I think I needed to explore (that) and express myself through my art, which is filmmaking and writing and directing.

And balancing that with being able to get money to make a movie, so it's not so personal that no one's going to finance what I do. The trick to these things, for me anyway, is to make things personal and delve into my own heart, yet also tell stories that hopefully are accessible and people can relate to in their own lives.

For example, we had a screening recently, and a woman came up to me afterward and said, "I haven't spoken to my brother in over 20 years, and I'm going to go call him tonight." I got a chill when she told me that. That, to me, is the gift of what art can do.

As I was watching, it struck me not as an MMA movie, but as a drama that happens to have MMA in it.

Yeah, very much so. It's all driving toward what I call an intervention in a cage.

One brother, Brendan, saves the other brother's life metaphorically by destroying him, by killing him. Tommy needs to die at the hands of his brother to be reborn. That's what I was driving toward.

Clearly, it's not about the sport. It's a drama, and then there's even drama within the sport while they're actually fighting. Those five rounds allow those two brothers to (grapple) with their past.

They were taught to communicate through violence with their dad. That's how they learned to communicate, and that's how they are communicating. Every punch, every kick, every strike is a word.

The Tommy character reminded me in some ways of Mark Kerr, who was the subject of one of your documentaries, The Smashing Machine. How much did your experience from that production inform the sensibility of Warrior?

Smashing Machine was my introduction to the sport and the fighters in the sport. But since that film, I've met so many fighters and have been to so many fights and watched so many fights that that was just part of the DNA of what I was doing. I'm sure there's a page out of a lot of even boxers' lives, and people I know, that have sort of infiltrated the script.

If you're referring to the pills ... now that you mention it, probably unconsciously. The whole intent with Tommy was, he was coming home to see his father -- but he was coming home to see the father that he knew when he left, which was a man who was a drunk.

Tommy's intention gets turned upside down when his father's sober. In essence, he spends the rest of the movie trying to get the guy to drink.

It wasn't just the pills that made think of Kerr, but also the way Tommy dominates. Kerr was destroying guys when he first came up in UFC.

That's a good reference. I can't deny it. To be totally honest, it wasn't a conscious thing, but I'm sure that seeped into it.

In terms of their fighting styles, Tommy simply wrecks opponents with his punching power, while Brendan is a more technical guy and a submission ****. How did you decide on the ways they would fight?

The decision came for several reasons.

I knew that I wanted Brendan's character to endure great hardships in the cage. I wanted his fights to go longer and I wanted his fights to be more brutal in regards to the punishment that he takes.

There are so many things in fighting that you can measure: height; weight; reach. There are certain statistical things you can measure.

But you can't measure a man's heart. That's an immeasurable thing that one cannot see. So the thing that I was always aiming for with Brendan was -- on paper, he was not a guy that looks like he could fight, but you can't measure his heart.

And as you know with MMA, anybody can win and anybody can lose. On a given night, someone makes the wrong move, and if you wait them out -- I learned that a lot from Greg Jackson.

Greg Jackson was my technical advisor and he was with us all the time, and that's the thing he would always preach to me: If you can wait someone out and you wait for someone to make a mistake, if you have the opportunity, you can exploit it and you can win. Especially in these grand prix tournaments, where it's very different than preparing for one fight.

So I knew for Brendan, I wanted the fights to go longer. For Tommy, because he's a freight train, I wanted them to end quickly.

So it just felt like those styles were appropriate for the application of that in the movie.

I can see why you'd want Brendan's character to struggle in his wins. But why is it so important for Tommy to be so dominant?

Because Tommy's living in so much rage and so much anger. He's got so much rage toward himself, he's destroying himself. He's raging at God -- that's the whole point.

He's got so much internal anger and rage. He's like a guy who hit a crack pipe. It's that immediate kind of soulless, godless drug that gives you this high that also destroys you. And for Tommy, it's just unleashing him and then it's over.

Warrior's fights are far less cartooonish than the action of most martial arts movies and even many boxing films. How important was it to keep things relatively realistic, for the most part?

It was crucial. The thing I said to all my mixed martial arts guys when I started hiring my coordinators and choreographers is, "I don't want Hong Kong-style fighting. I want this to be grounded in abject reality."

We had written the fights a certain way, but I said to all my guys, "Throw out what I wrote -- Anthony (Tambakis), my co-writer and I. We know that this has to happen in this fight, but maybe there's a better way to accomplish that."

We went through hundreds of fights. If it didn't really happen, I didn't want it to be in the movie. Every single thing in the movie has really happened. I've seen it, I've found it or they found it and showed it to me. Then it was a matter of, "I want to use that for this fight."

You know, in Pride, (Wanderlei Silva) knocked out "Rampage" (Quinton Jackson) and he went hanging through the ropes. I'm like, "I want to use that. That knockout's going to be for Tommy with Mad Dog."

You have Brendan fight the recognizable UFC fighters, Nate "The Great" Marquardt and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. How come you decided on those matchups for him?

That wasn't intentional. We were in Pittsburgh, I was trying to get guys for each different part. I didn't want really, really famous fighters.

We were just dealing with people's schedules. We had other guys, and then they got a fight and then they couldn't do it.

So that wasn't intentional. It just ended up that way.

Did you try them out at all to see if the Brendan actor, Joel Edgerton, worked better with Nate and Johnson? How did that shake out?

I was just casting each role. We had written the specific characters. Nate was one of several guys that I wanted for that particular fighter, and we got Nate. Greg (Jackson, who helps coach Marquardt) helped with that one, because Greg is a friend and he was my technical advisor.

How'd you wind up with Kurt Angle as Koba?

I was limited to casting out of Pittsburgh, most of these fighters. I honestly wanted to get someone from Russia to come over to Pittsburgh and live with us and have to be there for the amount of time that I needed them, but it was a hard thing to do. It just came down to, in the end, making a decision based on what my options were at the time.

I was concerned about casting Kurt because of his WWE background. I was really bumping up against putting him in the movie because of that. ... and in the end, I was actually really happy with Kurt. I thought he did a great job.

Incidentally, Edgerton bears quite a resemblance to UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen. Were you looking for that?

I wasn't casting him to do Chael Sonnen, that's for sure. Someone had brought that to my attention, actually. ... but that's a coincidence.

[GeneChing]

I would have enjoyed seeing this for free. Of course, I'm not signed up for stubs, so there you have it.

'Warrior' Free Screenings Program Deemed a 'Success' by Lionsgate, AMC Theatres (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warrior-free-screenings-program-deemed-230390)
5:55 PM PDT 9/1/2011 by Kimberly Nordyke

The mixed martial arts drama, starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, was seen by more than 17,000 people in advance of its Sept. 9 release.

Lionsgate and AMC Theatres said Thursday that more than 17,000 people attended free advance screenings for mixed martial arts drama Warrior via the AMC Stubs rewards program.

The screenings, which took place at 90 AMC theatres in 47 markets nationwide Wednesday, marked the first time AMC has offered a free advance screening to AMC Stubs members.

Deeming the partnership a "success," Lionsgate and AMC said tickets were snapped up quickly after they became available to on Aug. 12, with a majority of location filled to capacity.

Lionsgate exec vp exhibitor relations and operations Mike Polydoros said the promotion helped raised awareness of the film since the invitation was extended to more than 1.5 million AMC Stubs members.

Sun Dee Larson, vp film marketing and communications at AMC, added that response from rewards program members on the exhibitor's Facebook page and Twitter feeds was positive.

FILM REVIEW: 'Warrior'

Warrior, which opens Sept. 9, stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as estranged brothers who find themselves on a collision course to face off in a mixed martial arts contest.

Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte also star in the film, directed by Gavin O'Connor.

AMC Stubs members pay $12 a year to receive benefits like a $10 AMC Stubs reward for every $100 spent at AMC and free upgrades on popcorn and fountain drinks.

[GeneChing]

Tom Hardy captures his pain to unleash 'Warrior' (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/04/PKJD1KRC6I.DTL)
Michael Ordoña, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Lionsgate

Tom Hardy trained in mixed martial arts and put on 25 pounds of muscle to play a fighter in "Warrior." "The only thing I had any understanding of was the alcoholism, the addiction side of it," the actor says.

"Warrior" brings the pain. But though it is steeped in the sometimes brutal world of mixed martial arts, its most significant battles are emotional.

"This is not a fight movie," says star Tom Hardy, who asserts that the film is really about "family suffering." He quotes a friend: " 'Harm comes from the weak and hurt people' ... people trying to express themselves in this much pain; really needing to, wanting to express they care, but not having been shown care or love, not understanding what care or love are."

Hardy is nearly unrecognizable in "Warrior," especially to those who know him as the slight, scheming clone of Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: Nemesis" or the roguish chameleon in "Inception." The Londoner who describes himself as not particularly athletic trained diligently in mixed martial arts and put on 25 pounds of muscle to play tattooed, rage-consumed Tommy Riordan.

Tommy is one of the estranged brothers among the fighters in a high-stakes cage-match tournament; the other, Brendan (major Australian star Joel Edgerton), returns to the ring because of his family's dire financial straits. Meanwhile, Tommy is forced to reunite with their abusive, alcoholic father, Paddy (Nick Nolte, in an awards-worthy performance), to train.

"As I soon as I read it, I thought, 'I'm never going to get this part,' " Hardy says. "You need Chuck Norris for this! The whole thing was out of my depth. This was a guy who was American, a Marine, a cage fighter; the only thing I had any understanding of was the alcoholism, the addiction side of it. The family dysfunction, I get that, I'm at home with that subject as an artist. So that was the in. The trouble was I couldn't convince anyone I was American or a cage fighter."

Director and co-writer Gavin O'Connor ("Miracle") says: "What I was looking for that (Hardy) had was a vulnerability. That was very important; a certain amount of pain that I felt Tom had in real life that if he was willing to let translate to the character was going to be very potent. Tommy does dastardly things over the course of the film; he's living a lot of anger, but you need to know that's coming from a place of abject pain."

"He's got no skin," Hardy says of Tommy. "He's running from everything. He can't sit still. Yeah, he fights for country, they say; I'm not completely sold on that. I think he fights for a father figure. He fights to be held. In the noise, within the ring, in the world of combat, there's a silence in his head; that's where he finds his peace of mind. Paradoxically. He's gone through his own father, through the Marines, through America. He's somebody who's close to his mother, brought up by his mother, failed by fathers. It's a struggle to survive. There's a desperation."
Looking for unknown actors

O'Connor wanted unknowns to play the brothers. Hardy and Edgerton had great resumes abroad but weren't yet known stateside - "Nemesis" was a box office failure and "Inception" hadn't been released, and even "Star Wars" fans probably didn't realize the guy playing young Uncle Owen (Edgerton) in the prequels could do more than look like a youthful version of the original actor.

"Joel, as a person, has a lot of integrity," the director says with a big smile. "He's a gentleman. He's a guy you want in your foxhole. But I also needed a guy you could believe, when he was younger and living his lower self, he was a guy who'd rough it up in bars."

It helped that Edgerton holds a black belt in karate, but ironically while the "unathletic" Hardy's Tommy is an unstoppable engine of destruction, Edgerton's Brendan seems hopelessly overmatched in every fight, relying on guts and technique. O'Connor describes Brendan's story as "wish fulfillment," considering his attempt to "literally fight his way out of debt."

"In fighting, you can look at statistics and you see how much they weigh, what their reach is; in MMA it's how big your fist is. But you can't measure a man's heart," O'Connor says.

"My mantra to all my fight choreographers was, 'If it hasn't really happened, it's not going in the movie.' They showed me the fight - it was in Japan, where (MMA star) Rampage got knocked out and ended up with his head through the ropes. I said, 'That's how Tommy knocks out Mad Dog!' So that's what we did for all the fights."

Bringing a different kind of authenticity to the film is Nolte. O'Connor counts the two-time Oscar nominee with well-publicized substance-abuse issues as a friend - the two are neighbors - and had crafted a role for him in his previous film, "Pride and Glory," but knee surgery forced Nolte out.

"When we wrote 'Warrior,' we wrote that part for Nick; it was never for anybody else to play that part," says O'Connor. "Nick just had to be willing to take his heart out and put it on the table and show all the pain and all the regret, all the sadness, and tap into his own truth, his own drinking. If he was willing to do that, just go to a real truthful place, it would break your heart. ... He went there."

Hardy says: "I don't know him well enough to take his inventory, but I know he carries a wealth of knowledge about this subject. I'm an alkie myself. I'm a fully paid-up member of that crew. When you have that in the family, there is chaos and pain.

"I think what's beautiful about what Nick does is he shows the entire range of guilt and shame and amendment and ultimately the authentic journey for one to actually redeem himself. Paddy has a desperate amount of love, and he's made a terrible, terrible mistake. It's a very informed performance, incredibly vulnerable - heartbreaking watching him get kicked in the heart over and over again." {sbox}

Warrior (PG-13) opens Friday at Bay Area theaters.

To see a trailer, go to www.warriorfilm.com.
More to come...

[Dragonzbane76]

going to watch it this friday. Look forward to it.

[GeneChing]

If this manages to get the academy's attention, MMA flicks become a whole new ballgame.

In ‘Warrior,’ Does Lionsgate Know it has a ‘Rocky’? (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/07/idUS35050484720110907)
By Sharon Waxman at TheWrap
Wed Sep 7, 2011 4:31am EDT

A movie with tons of heart, about regular people rising to life’s challenges, facing impossible odds and succeeding. A movie about family. About the trauma of war. About manhood, and raw-knuckled, bare-footed competition between them.

Warrior,’ a movie that upon seeing for the second time tonight I am convinced could be a stealth break-out hit and a contender for the Oscars if enough people see it.

It’s certainly one of the few movies I’ve seen this year to remind me of the power of story–telling on the big screen.

But does Lionsgate know what it has on its hands?

In the hands of Harvey Weinstein, ‘Warrior’ would sail into a Best Picture nomination. When I asked a Lionsgate executive about Oscar plans, I got a response that went something like: ‘Depends how things go at the box office.’

The studio ought to believe.

The story is of two estranged brothers, who through a series of circumstances end up fighting one another in the finals of a mixed martial arts tournament.

It may not sound like the movie for you (and definitely not for me), but you’d be wrong.

One of the things I like best about the film is the actors are barely known: Tom Hardy (now shooting in "The Dark Knight Rises") plays Tommy, an AWOL Marine so filled with rage and pain that he can barely move but to punch and kick at things.

Joel Edgerton (about to play Tom Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby") plays his older brother Brendan, a teacher and family man forced to fall back on back-room martial arts fighting to stave off foreclosure on his home.

Nick Nolte offers a moving portrait of a father and alcoholic, striving to make amends for a lifetime of failing his two sons.

And Jennifer Morrison – best known for Fox's "House" – plays Brendan’s level-headed wife.

The independent studio has held the movie’s release for two years, according to several people I talked to close to the film. In chatting at the after-party, Nolte said the studio was waiting to see if Tom Hardy (“Inception”) would become a break-out star.

A Lionsgate executive said they were just waiting for “the right moment,” though I’m not sure what that means.

The writer and director Gavin O’Connor cried at length in introducing the film at the Arclight Hollywood. While his emotion was certainly unexpected, he did say this:

“Every studio passed. Every studio, every film financier.” Then Lionsgate’s head of production Joe Drake took a meeting and told O’Connor that they would make the film.

O'Connor added: “I’m grateful to be an underdog film at an underdog studio.”

If that’s the case, then this underdog studio needs to believe that it has something special, because it does.

At a time when Americans are hurting, this story of two brothers – one suffering from the war in Iraq, the other struggling to maintain his dignity in providing for his family at home – will surely strike a chord with regular people.

Thirty-five years ago, another film came out of nowhere and told a story of a down-on-his-luck fighter at a time when Americans needed to believe that a little guy could overcome the odds.

“Rocky” went on to win three Oscars and make more than $100 million.

"Warrior" could go the distance. The movie opens September 9.

[GeneChing]

Chicago Trib's review

Brothers, brawls and baggage in 'Warrior' (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-0906-warrior-20110908,0,553042.column)
'Warrior' — 2 1/2 stars
Michael Phillips Movie critic
12:00 a.m. CDT, September 8, 2011

The feverish mixed martial arts infomercial "Warrior" opens up so many cans of emotional whup-ass that after a while you think: Enough! It's whupped! It's whupped! And yet the tears will flow by the gallon.

Every time you start resisting, somehow the film makes the sale, again. Director and co-writer Gavin O'Connor is a full-throated entertainer, meaning he goes for the throat every second.

He's also an escape artist, writing his characters into outlandishly cliched corners and then charging his way out against unbelievable odds.

The acting elevates it, even when the narrative doesn't. After a 14-year separation, Iraq War veteran Tommy Conlon returns to the Pittsburgh home of his father, Paddy, who is nearly three years sober.

Paddy did an awful lot of physical and psychic damage to his family before drying out, however. In dribs and drabs "Warrior" leaks the details regarding how Paddy's ex-wife and Brendan, Tommy's older brother, fled the toxic home, while Paddy and Tommy stayed behind and suffered. Tommy's trust in his abandoning brother turned to ash; Brendan married his high school sweetheart, played by Jennifer Morrison.

Years later, with kids and bills in his life, Brendan teaches high school physics and brawls, MMA-style, for cash on the side. The bank's due to foreclose on the house in 90 days. Solution: Compete in the event called Sparta, "the Super Bowl of mixed martial arts," in Atlantic City.

That would be enough for a lot of films, but "Warrior" is a lot of films in one film. Brendan's estranged brother, Tommy, returns from combat with a major secret provoking all that rage and self-loathing. Though his brother doesn't know it, Tommy, too, is after the $5 million MMA purse, and has his sights set on one of the 16 middleweight slots. Does the final match come down to brother against brother? I wouldn't rule it out.

Over-the-top performances would've destroyed "Warrior" by the second scene. But O'Connor encourages a naturalistic low simmer, even though his story beats are all about kettles boiling over (and over). Tom Hardy, formidable in "Bronson" and soon to menace Batman in "The Dark Knight Rises," plays the combustible veteran Tommy. Hardy, who is English, isn't without his mannered edge, but he's full of heat and unpredictable fire and responds well to the working-class Pittsburgh milieu. Australian-born Joel Edgerton brings a decency and likability to Brendan. The characters never seem like real brothers (they're movie brothers through and through), but the actors commit. And it's gratifying to see Nick Nolte do everything in his grumbly, shambling power to make a fully dimensional character out of Paddy.

O'Connor scored a popular success with the Olympic-hockey rouser "Miracle" and then fared less well with the drunken-father/dueling sons police melodrama "Pride and Glory." "Warrior" lands somewhere in between in terms of quality. Despite (or because of) O'Connor's ham-fisted technique, though, there's no question the story lands its punches. And kicks. And body-slams. The way it's filmed here, mixed martial arts is made to look like a sport roughly on the finesse level of weed-whacking. But it all comes down to a memorably manipulative fight to the finish, and a fight for pride and glory, and a testament to miracles and the oldest heart-tugs in the movie book. Tommy, we hear, once "ripped the door off a tank" to save lives. "Warrior" goes about its escapist mission the same way.

mjphillips@tribune.com

'Warrior' -- 2 1/2 stars

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sequences of intense mixed martial arts fighting, some language and thematic material)

Cast: Tom Hardy (Tommy Conlon); Joel Edgerton (Brendan Conlon); Jennifer Morrison (Tess Conlon); Frank Grillo (Frank Campana); Nick Nolte (Paddy Conlon)

Credits: Directed by Gavin O'Connor; written by O'Connor, Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman; produced by Gavin O'Connor and Greg O'Connor. A Lionsgate release. Running time: 2:19

[GeneChing]

Can't forget the NYT review...Google shows 237 articles at the time of this posting.

Warrior (2011)
Isaac, Esau and Muscles (http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/movies/warrior-directed-by-gavin-oconnor-review.html)
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: September 8, 2011

At one point in “Warrior” we see Brendan Conlon, a high school science teacher, laying down the law — the law of physics that is — for his students. “Force equals mass times acceleration,” he writes on the board. That formula might be of use in thinking this new film from Gavin O’Connor, which grasps the Newtonian principles at the heart of pugilistic melodrama.

“Warrior” takes place in the world of mixed martial arts, and it is appropriately blunt, powerful and relentless, a study of male bodies in sweaty motion and masculine emotions in teary turmoil.

But like the brutal, brawling sport that provides Mr. O’Connor with a backdrop, a storehouse of metaphors and a pretext for staging some viscerally effective fight scenes, “Warrior” possesses surprising poetry and finesse. Which is not to say that it is subtle. The director’s impressive technique — and all the grace and discipline of his excellent, hard-working cast — is mustered with a single, unambiguous goal in mind. This movie wants to knock you out. It will.

Brendan (Josh Edgerton) is a dedicated educator and a devoted family man. His students adore him, and so does his wife, Tess (Jennifer Morrison). But Brendan’s roots and his future are entangled in more violent pursuits. He used to be something of a big deal on the mixed martial arts circuit, and now, to make some extra money — and perhaps also to find an outlet for the rage that simmers behind his kindly eyes and gentle grin — he fights for cash in parking lots. As hard as they work, Brendan and Tess have trouble staying afloat. They are, indeed, under water, carrying debt on their modest house in Philadelphia that is much larger than its post-real-estate-bubble value. And one of their children requires expensive medical care.

Meanwhile Tommy (Tom Hardy), Brendan’s estranged younger brother, returns to the modest house in Pittsburgh where they grew up. Years before, Tommy and their mother (whose maiden name he has adopted) fled the boys’ abusive, alcoholic father, Paddy, a wrestling coach played with growling, broken-down grandeur by Nick Nolte. Tommy, a former Marine who served in Iraq, is not looking for reconciliation. He’s looking for a fight, and without forgiving his sobered-up, apologetic dad, he engages the old man’s professional services as he prepares to go into the ring.

Unbeknownst to each other, both Tommy and Brendan — who is coached by an old friend (Frank Grillo) — are training for Sparta, a $5 million, winner-take-all tournament. Every sports movie needs a Big Game, and in Mr. O’Connor’s hands Sparta becomes a frenzied, fleshy opera: a grand, grunting, assaultive spectacle of redemption and revenge.

Tommy’s style of fighting recalls that of the young, unbeatable Mike Tyson. He attacks with a combination of speed and strength that turns an opponent’s bravado into fear in a matter of seconds. Brendan relies more on technical finesse and a capacity to withstand punishment. Mr. Hardy and Mr. Edgerton — an Englishman and an Australian playing a pair of Irish-American he-men — are physically potent actors, but the key to the movie’s effectiveness lies in their ability to convey fragility. These are tough guys, but you can only care about them if you believe that they can break.

At the basic level of plot, what will happen at Sparta is never really in doubt. Though there are other imposing fighters in the Spartan ranks — including a fearsome Russian who recalls (though he does not physically resemble) Dolph Lundgren in “Rocky IV” — it is obvious that the bad brotherly blood between Tommy and Brendan can be expiated only one way, in a final showdown.

Mr. O’Connor, who wrote the “Warrior” screenplay with Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman, knows perfectly well that surprise is not the essence of sports-movie suspense. A few years back he directed “Miracle,” a rousing reconstruction of one of the most celebrated athletic moments in recent history, the 1980 victory of the underdog United States Olympic ice hockey team over its fearsome Soviet rival. It’s not as if knowing the outcome of the real story diminishes that movie’s impact. On the contrary, the sense of inevitability and improbability makes its triumphant finish all the more cathartic.

The engine of inevitability in “Warrior” is not history but fate. Paddy’s constant companion in his lonely, sober old age is an audio-book version of “Moby-****.” That novel’s theme of monomaniacal, violent obsession and the Shakespearean cadences of its prose underline what is happening on screen in a way that is only occasionally heavy-handed. (And in any case a good fight picture, like a good fighter, can benefit from a heavy hand.) Brendan, Tommy and Paddy uphold traditional family values — the tradition, that is, of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, King Lear and the fallen houses of ancient Greek tragedy.

But if there is something primal and archaic in Mr. O’Connor’s fable of fathers and sons, he nonetheless grounds it in the painful realities of contemporary America. With arresting honesty and enormous compassion — but without making a big topical deal out of it — “Warrior” looks at an American working class reeling from the one-two punch of war and recession. Tommy and Brendan are too proud for self-pity, which makes the evident pain of their circumstances all the more affecting.

They fight because every other way of being a man has been compromised, undermined or taken away. Patriarchal authority, as represented by Paddy, is cruel and unbending until it turns sentimental and pathetic. The roads to an honorable life promised by work and military service are mined and muddied by the greed and mendacity of the institutions — government, schools, banks — that are supposed to uphold integrity.

In such conditions stripping down to your shorts and beating another guy senseless can seem not only logical, but also noble. The mock-gladiatorial theatrics of mixed martial arts may look tawdry and overblown, but the sport, perhaps even more than boxing, expresses a deep and authentic impulse to find meaning through the infliction and acceptance of pain. While the Conlon brothers are both fighting for the money, the real stakes are much deeper. Though their climactic confrontation is terrifyingly violent, it is also tender. And the most disarming thing about “Warrior” is that, for all its mayhem, it is a movie about love.

“Warrior” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). A lot of fighting.

WARRIOR

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Gavin O’Connor; written by Mr. O’Connor, Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman, based on a story by Mr. O’Connor and Mr. Dorfman; director of photography, Masanobu Takayanagi; edited by John Gilroy, Sean Albertson, Matt Chessé and Aaron Marshall; music by Mark Isham; production design by Dan Leigh; costumes by Abigail Murray; produced by Gavin O’Connor and Greg O’Connor; released by Lionsgate. Running time: 2 hours 19 minutes.

WITH: Joel Edgerton (Brendan), Tom Hardy (Tommy), Jennifer Morrison (Tess), Frank Grillo (Frank Campana) and Nick Nolte (Paddy).

[GeneChing]

We'll have our official review up in a few hours.

'Warrior' review: Solid drama packs painful wallop (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/09/DDMU1L1AV2.DTL)
Amy Biancolli, Hearst Movie Writer
Friday, September 9, 2011

POLITE APPLAUSE Sports drama. Directed by Gavin O'Connor. Starring Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy. (PG-13. 140 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

If "Warrior" were a boxing movie, I would have these three things to say about it: Solid drama. Convincingly acted. Conventional.

But it's a mixed martial arts movie, a much rougher beast of a subgenre. So my three observations are: Solid drama. Convincingly acted. Ouch. If you've ever seen any mixed martial arts, or MMA, you'll understand the "ouch." There is no more painful-looking organized sport in the modern era, unless you count the presidential primary season.

"Warrior," directed by Gavin O'Connor ("Miracle"), tells its tale of estranged brothers with abundant grit and sweat, if not much subtlety.

Joel Edgerton plays Brendan, a high school physics teacher and former fighter climbing back into "the cage" to support his family; Tom Hardy is Tommy, his surly, psychically damaged younger brother; and Nick Nolte is their pop, Paddy, an ex-drunk who trains Tommy and aims, while he's at it, to reconcile with both sons. They're having none of it. They're having none of each other, either, the pair of them nursing grudges that date back to a family split and Tommy's destitute life with their late mother.

All three actors do first-rate work looking alternately wounded and bitter. The Australian Edgerton and the English Hardy both put on passable American accents, and Hardy, for his part, has a hunched animalistic thuggishness that explodes from the screen. The movie hits its vicious cadence when the boys arrive in Atlantic City for a high-profile MMA tournament, where thick-muscled competitors beat each other's brains out for a $5 million purse.

Moviegoers know what to expect from boxing, its visual and dramatic tropes; it has a duck-and-weave rhythm all its own. We're much less familiar with the crushing rhythms of MMA, a faster, crueler, more darting and startling form of combat: Fighters punch, kick, grapple, grind, clinch, flip, throw, smash, choke and more or less pound each other into submission. Fans often talk about safeguards (such as bout-ending "tap-outs"), but this is brutish, visceral stuff - a type of raw-meat violence that's undeniably cinematic but seems, to this worried parent, ill-fitted for PG-13.

[GeneChing]

Read WARRIOR: The Way of MMA without MMA (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=989)by Dr. Craig Reid

[Dragonzbane76]

great article. :)

[Dragonzbane76]

So went and watched it and have to say it was a really good movie.

First thing first. People are looking at it in the light of "oh MMA fighting, not my thing, therefore i'm not going to watch this." Really it's not about the fighting in the movie, it's more of the story, which is very good. The fighting and the world of MMA take a back seat really to the storyline here. Powerful performances by both main actors. Well done fight sequences, no over the top "never back down" bullsh!t. Like I said story takes lead not the fighting.

Well developed duel story with interesting characters that battle a background of abuse as children with nolte's character putting in a fine performance.

[GeneChing]

Here are the stats from BoxOfficeMojo.com (http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2011&wknd=36&p=.htm)

1 Contagion WB $23,135,000 - 3,222 - $7,180 $23,135,000 $60 1

2 The Help BV $8,691,000 -40.5% 2,935 +92 $2,961 $137,093,000 $25 5

3 Warrior LGF $5,607,000 - 1,869 - $3,000 $5,607,000 $25 1

[enoajnin]

Cliched but good. It was a very engrossing drama. You rooted for both characters. But it has some completely unbelievable moments. And as a non-fighter, the fights were pretty entertaining.

[mickey]

Greetings,

What I liked about the movie: Nick Nolte.


mickey

[GeneChing]

I still haven't see this. Now I must.

Actor In a Supporting Role / Nick Nolte Warrior (http://oscar.go.com/nominees/actor-in-a-supporting-role/nick-nolte)

Nominated Role

As Paddy Conlon, Nick Nolte plays a recovering alcoholic who agrees to train his resentful son for a mixed martial arts competition.

Academy Awards History

This is the third Academy Award nomination for Nick Nolte. He was previously nominated for:

AFFLICTION (1998)
Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role

THE PRINCE OF TIDES (1991)
Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role

[enoajnin]

Nolte doesn't seem to venture too far from his comfort zone and this role is reminiscent of a lot Nolte roles. There was nothing he portrayed that made me think it was an Oscar worthy role.

As for Hardy, he fully inhabits his character. If someone were to get the nod from this film it should have been him.

[GeneChing]

This should have been called "TapouT informercial." There was a TapouT logo in almost every shot. It was the only thing that felt real about it.

I would say that this is the best MMA flick so far, which isn't really saying much as there hasn't been a really good MMA flick yet. It's totally cliched and preposterous. I don't know why I can accept cliches and preposterousness with Kung Fu films and not MMA films. Maybe it's because I watch MMA as a form of entertainment on its own. Is this more preposterous than a baseball/football/track film? Well, ya, sorta. Maybe it's because I know some MMA fighters and their lives are nothing like this. Then again, the same can be said for Kung Fu films. So I don't really know why I reject cliched preposterous MMA films.

That being said, the performances are good (although cliched, especially the wife SPOILER not wanting to see her lover get the crap beaten out of him and then shows up to the fight anyway END SPOILER) and the action is engaging (although preposterous, especially the finale fight SPOILER having actually seen arms broken in an MMA fight firsthand and live, well, it looks nothing like that END SPOILER). But it's engaging enough to watch. There would be some totally preposterous or cliched scene, and then there would be a bloody fight or some decent acting, and I would be engaged again. Nolte rocked his role. Hardy was good too. I'm glad to see Bane unmasked. There was also a poster for Shamrock vs Gracie (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40708) in the background, which was the first major MMA event that I ever attended, which was nostalgic for me personally.

A high school teacher moonlighting as an MMA champ who brings his school together? It's going to make a great double feature with Here Comes the Boom (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58403)

[GeneChing]

If there's Bollywood dance numbers in this, I'm all in. Plus I'll split this off into it's own independent thread. It will totally deserve that if is has those dance numbers. ;)


Sidharth Malhotra to train in mixed martial arts for 'Warrior' remake (http://www.mid-day.com/articles/sidharth-malhotra-to-train-in-mixed-martial-arts-for-warrior-remake/15375162)
By PTI |Posted 13-Jun-2014

Actor Sidharth Malhotra will be training in mixed martial arts for his next film, a remake of Hollywood movie 'Warrior'.

http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/aug/13-Sidharth-Malhotra.jpg
Sidharth Malhotra

The film will be produced by Karan Johar's and is tentatively named 'Warrior' and is apparently a remake of the 2011 Hollywood boxing drama. The story is about two brothers who face each other in a martial arts tournament.

"The film I am doing next is very exciting. It has an interesting script and it has lot of scope for two characters. It is about mixed martial arts and fighting. I will have to start training for it soon," Sidharth told PTI.

"I should start training (for mixed martial arts) in a month's time. We would be getting a trainer for it," he said. Sidharth is likely to be cast with actor Akshay Kumar in the film. "It is not official yet (about Akshay). But it will be interesting if he does the film," Sidharth said.

The 29-year-old actor will also be seen in another remake of a French film 'Priceless'. It will be also produced by Karan Johar. On the film Sidharth says, "It is on hold as the script is not finalised yet. Director Tarun Manshukhani is working on it."