Warrior - DVD

Film: The former Marine Tommy (Tom Hardy) returns from Iraq to his old hometown, haunted by war trauma. Completely emotionally closed off, Tommy has only one goal: to compete in the big mixed martial arts tournament Sparta. And knowing there's only one man who could get him in shape for the tough road ahead, he asks his father Paddy (Nick Nolte), a former professional boxer and dry alcoholic, to train him. Tommy fights doggedly to win, hoping to clear his conscience a little with the prize money. What he doesn't know is that at the same time his brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton), who quit fighting years ago and broke with his brother and father, has also re-entered the ring. That's because Brendan just can't make ends meet as a teacher, and the bank is threatening to repossess the family man's home. He also desperately needs the prize money. And so the tournament heads towards an inevitable duel between two estranged brothers.

Warrior, like the recent acclaimed The Fighter, is more drama than martial arts film. Director Gavin O'Connor (The Law of Honor) takes his time, especially in the first half of the film, to tell the stories of both brothers in parallel before they finally flow together at the tournament. Even though the first hour of the film is rather quiet and dialogue-heavy, there is never a minute of boredom. Both the visuals and the acting performances are strong enough to carry the already powerful story in a gripping way.

Sure, Warrior doesn't get by entirely without the usual clichés. But O'Connor wraps them up in such an elegant, engaging and suspenseful way that they never really carry any negative weight. Especially the finale, which could have easily degenerated into very bad kitsch, is enormously rousing and despite all predictability, the audience is more than once pressed into the chair with excitement during the fight brother against brother. All the elements play together perfectly here: Cinematography, editing, direction and of course the actors who are ultimately the heart of the drama.

For without the strong performances of the actors, the viewer would not be as riveted to the fate of the characters. The motivations of the two disparate brothers are completely different, and even though Tommy is less emotionally accessible than Brendan, as a viewer you never know which of the brothers you should be rooting for to win. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton have given their all for these roles, not just physically but just character-wise, and that's what makes Warrior so extremely powerful.

Not to be left out, of course, is Nick Nolte, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a father completely estranged from his sons and battling alcohol addiction. High level acting, a haunting production and a moving story, all make Warrior so much more than just a good martial arts movie - but even as such it definitely plays in the premier league!

Image + Sound: The technical realization of the DVD is on a very good level. The picture is clean, the coloring looks extremely authentic and the image sharpness can convince even in the darker moments. The sound is still very restrained in the first half of the film, but as soon as the fighters step into the cage, the fists fly acoustically around the ears of the viewer. Very good!

Extras: In addition to the main film, the DVD offers viewers an accompanying audio commentary by director O'Connor, co-writer Anthony Tambakis, editor John Gilroy, and performer Joel Edgerton. Unfortunately, the commentary is difficult to understand as it is repeatedly mixed quite quietly and Edgerton in particular also mumbles extremely. And since there are no subtitles to the commentary, it is less informative and rather exhausting to follow.

But fortunately the DVD has just under 90 minutes of other extras on offer. It starts with a worth seeing Making of (approx. 30 min.), which offers a very good insight into the shooting and stands out pleasantly from the usual promo making ofs. In addition, there is a 3 minute long cut scene, a few outtakes (approx. 4 min.), as well as a very interesting documentary about Mixed Martial Arts (approx. 20 min.). The final fight between the brothers is also presented in various phases of production, from storyboards to rehearsals and the shooting (approx. 11 min.) and the late Charles Mask Lewis, Jr., who died shortly before the shooting and who had supported the makers with his expertise during the preparations and was also supposed to take on a small role in the film, is then also dedicated to a short documentary worth seeing (approx. 13 min.). This really rich and worth seeing bonus offer is rounded off by the trailer to the film. Very good!

Conclusion: Warrior is a gripping drama that is rightly hailed as a worthy successor to Rocky. An engaging story, great actors and authentic-looking fight sequences make this first-class brotherly quarrel a direct hit of a very special kind. The DVD is not only technically convincing, but also has a lot of extras worth seeing. If you like challenging martial arts movies like The Fighter or Rocky, you should not miss this great drama. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp