'Warrior' - High-Def Digest Review

[taygan315]

Just watched this tonight, and I agree with just about everything XL83 said about the film itself. I'd end up scoring it a 4.5 out of 5. It's SO CLOSE to being a perfect 5, but the ending left me hanging a bit too much for my tastes. What, are they going to pull a Rocky on us, and give us a sequel?! lol.

That being said, I think the chances of "Warrior" being nominated for Best Picture are better than you might think. "The Fighter" and "The Wrestler" were both nominated and the movies are pretty similar thematically. MMA doesn't seem like something "the academy" would openly embrace, but neither does Wrestling.

Nick Nolte will win best supporting actor easily, but I don't think Tom Hardy or Joel Edergton will get nominated. Both gave great performances in this film, but the way the movie is scripted, their performances kind of just cancel each other out.

I just finished watching this (for the first time) as well. Best movie I have seen all year....Easily! I saw what Luke was talking about with regards to the PQ. Some of the night shots were full of noise and ugly to watch. Daylight shots were not bad,imo. In respect to Luke, I would not give it a 2.5 star for PQ however. More like a 3.5 (just in my opinion that does not really matter because I did not write the review,lol)

[LordoftheRingsEE]

True, you did not write the review; but you did read it though.

[Josh Z]

That being said, I think the chances of "Warrior" being nominated for Best Picture are better than you might think. "The Fighter" and "The Wrestler" were both nominated and the movies are pretty similar thematically. MMA doesn't seem like something "the academy" would openly embrace, but neither does Wrestling.

The difference here is that both The Wrestler and The Fighter were box office successes, and this one was not. Warrior has already been forgotten by most critics, who left it off their year-end Top 10 lists. It's extremely unlikely to be nominated for any Oscars.

I'm not saying that this is right, but the reality of the situation is that worthy movies get ignored all the time. If the movie had been a box office hit, it might have a shot at staying fresh in Academy voters' minds. As it is, it's likely to fall into obscurity pretty quickly.

[cooltobeyou]

The difference here is that both The Wrestler and The Fighter were box office successes, and this one was not. Warrior has already been forgotten by most critics, who left it off their year-end Top 10 lists. It's extremely unlikely to be nominated for any Oscars.

I'm not saying that this is right, but the reality of the situation is that worthy movies get ignored all the time. If the movie had been a box office hit, it might have a shot at staying fresh in Academy voters' minds. As it is, it's likely to fall into obscurity pretty quickly.

You make a good point there. It's a shame this movie didn't do better at the box office, and that so many critics have already forgotten about it.

I watch a great amount of movies every year, and I can't recall very many movies that were better than "Warrior" this year.

[skycracksopen]

Yeah, as much as I liked this movie, it's just not Oscar bait.

[XL83]

Yeah, as much as I liked this movie, it's just not Oscar bait.

I don't see how it's not. It's the only movie that genuinely made me emotional this year without being obvious and manipulative. I liked Moneyball a lot, but it's very static, it was really enjoyable but not really emotionally engaging. Yet I see Moneyball slathered all over everyones Top 10 and Oscar prediction lists, along with stuff like War Horse that wasn't even released. The big studio game is total bullshit a lot of the time.

And if Jonah Hill wins Best Supporting over Nick Nolte I will shit out a cat and set fire to it.

[Josh Z]

You make a good point there. It's a shame this movie didn't do better at the box office, and that so many critics have already forgotten about it.

I blame the trailers, which made it look like a lame Rocky knock-off.

[nickoakdl]

So how would people rank this movie with other fighting movies? I just saw it, and liked it, but didn't like it as much as everyone else seems to. The movie was a little to convenient and formulaic for me. This would be my ranking for respectable "fighting" movies:

1. The Fighter
2. Rocky
3. The Wrestler
4. Redbelt
5. Rocky Balboa
6. Warrior

This is off the top of my head, I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

[XL83]

So how would people rank this movie with other fighting movies? I just saw it, and liked it, but didn't like it as much as everyone else seems to. The movie was a little to convenient and formulaic for me. This would be my ranking for respectable "fighting" movies:

1. The Fighter
2. Rocky
3. The Wrestler
4. Redbelt
5. Rocky Balboa
6. Warrior

This is off the top of my head, I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Rocky Balboa? Heh. Talk about formulaic and convenient.

I'd say:

1. Warrior.
2. The Wrestler.
3. The Fighter.
4. Rocky.
5. Cinderella Man.
6. Ali.
7. Hurricane.
8. The Karate Kid.
9. Gladiator.
10. Kickboxer.
11. All the Rocky sequels.

I dunno if The Wrestler really qualifies as a fighting movie, but that's how I'd rank them as movies. Rocky was awesome for 1976 but I've seen it 100 times and the actual fighting is completely ridiculous. Rocky Balboa was a half-decent attempt but really, better than Warrior? Lol. Not the movie I saw.

[skycracksopen]

I liked Warrior the best out of all fighting movies I've seen, but I just don't see a movie about MMA getting nominated for any Academy Awards.

[XL83]

I liked Warrior the best out of all fighting movies I've seen, but I just don't see a movie about MMA getting nominated for any Academy Awards.

Yeah that's part of it. MMA just doesn't have the legitimacy that boxing does.

I mean the story is "cliche" but that's the case for every single sports movie, it's no more so than most of them. Everything surrounding this story is excellent and it deserves better than it's gonna get.

[Swearengen]

I've seen it four times now on blu and I'm a cry baby every time at the end!

This is the real deal! The drama is top notch crafted and makes the matches much more involving.

Great stuff!!!

[XL83]

I've seen it four times now on blu and I'm a cry baby every time at the end!

This is the real deal! The drama is top notch crafted and makes the matches much more involving.

Great stuff!!!

I legitimately got choked up at like 3 different points in the movie. 2 involved Nolte,

Spoiler:

(the scene where he tries to reconcile with Brendan and kind of breaks down when he can see his grandkids in the doorway, and the scene where he's shitfaced, quoting Moby Dick and Tommy lays down with him)

and one was the end.

[jaminator]

the video looks pretty much the same as it did when i saw it in the theater. I think the grain is intentional.

[nickoakdl]

Rocky Balboa was a half-decent attempt but really, better than Warrior? Lol. Not the movie I saw.

I'm easy on the Rocky movies, especially the 1st and last one. I like Rocky Balboa so much because it kind of rectified the damage the previous sequels did to the great original. The fighting is awful, yes, apparently these guys don't know how to block, but I still have a soft spot for these for some reason.