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Never Back Down (2008) More at IMDb Pro »

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107 comments in total

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98 out of 136 people found the following comment useful :-
Every film cliché ever jammed into 100 minutes, 12 aprile 2008

Author: cabdriver_casual (warrick_capper@hotmail.com) da Tokyo, Japan

I liked this film better when it was called the Karate Kid. Sure, there is nothing new under the sun and every film borrows something from other films that have come before it, but this is bordering on copyright infringement.

If I had to write a Karate Kid summary in 3 sentences, this is what I would write: Kid moves to a new town. Kid gets the living crap beaten out of him by the town bad boy. Kid starts some heavy duty Karate training so he can get revenge by kicking the bad boys ass while simultaneously winning the heart of the hottest girl in town.

Now, if I had to write a summary for this film in 3 sentences it would be as follows: Kid moves to a new town. Kid gets the living crap beaten out of him by the town bad boy. Kid starts some heavy duty Mixed Martial Arts training so he can get revenge by kicking the bad boys ass while simultaneously winning the heart of the hottest girl in town.

The plot is literally exactly the same. The only difference is that when it came to the soundtrack they replaced Peter Cetera with nu metal in the vein of Linkin Park and the most pivotal characters in this film were cell phones.

People have commented that the fight scenes were pretty good. I tend to disagree. They were pretty weak. Instead of watching this film just watch the Karate Kid and have a computer handy. When the fight scenes are on in the Karate Kid, just turn away and watch some UFC fights on youtube. You'll have practically the same film as Never Back Down, just much much better.

I was surprised at the lack of tits in this film. Usually a film with a script of this caliber has a heap of tits. This was obviously an oversight from the producers and I'm sure that will be fixed if they make a sequel.

I do respect the fact that they were able to jam every 80's film cliché ever into the little over 90 minutes. When writing a film review on this site you have the option of checking the "contains spoilers" box. This feature could easily be disabled for Never Back Down. It is impossible to spoil the content of this film as everybody has already seen it, at least 1000 times, just with a different title.

Will the good kid defeat the bad kid in a no holes barred fight? Who knows? Well actually everybody.

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63 out of 95 people found the following comment useful :-
Much better than advertised, 14 marzo 2008

Author: Zachary Pruckowski (zachary.pruckowski@gmail.com) da Virginia, United States

The advertisements for this movie do it serious injustice. I was standing in the lobby of a movie theater at a free showing, and almost didn't walk in, because the trailers and ads had me convinced it was a complete waste of time. The advertisements portray the film as being merely a vehicle for shirtless boys to beat on each other and hot girls to wear bikinis. While there is no shortage of either, the movie has a strong underlying theme and a decent plot.

At the thematic level, the movie is about accepting responsibility for your actions, controlling your emotions, and making good choices. It's as much about motivations as macho.

Yes, it is a teen-targeted movie. You've got rich kids running around in massive mansions driving expensive cars, but that's just the setting. You've got people beating the crap out of each other, but that's just a plot device. The heart of the movie is about personal growth and making choices. It's not an empty action flick or a taped brawl.

It's not the best film of the year, and it may well wind up as a late night cable movie in a few months, but it's nowhere near as bad as people expect. It's definitely worth the price of a rental, and worth the $10 to see it in theaters, if you've got no other plans. I blame the negativity largely on the advertising, which tries to sell it as "just another fight movie".

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89 out of 156 people found the following comment useful :-
Save the Last Fight, 15 gennaio 2008

Author: Conrad da New York

I'd sum this movie up as Save the Last Dance meets Fight Club, without any of the redeeming values of Fight Club.

I saw it at a free screening and if you have a chance to do the same or catch it on cable one day, it's probably at least worth watching. I'd be pretty upset if I actually spent $11-12 on a ticket, though.

As a mixed martial arts fan, I think this film (if it's successful at the box office) could probably help set the UFC and other organizations back a couple of years in their emerging mainstream acceptance. It basically makes MMA look like a bunch of rich kids having underground, unsanctioned fights at parties. The fights are filled with illegal strikes to the back of the head and soccer kicks and stomps that are legal in Japan, but not in the US and come off as particularly brutal and bloody in the film. When there are rules at the underground tournament finale, they're virtually the same as UFC 1 (no biting, no eye gouging, no groin strikes).

Think Kimbo Slice Youtube videos, but with a couple of dudes who look like younger versions of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. And drive Hummers.

In a way, the whole fighting/revenge plot that thrusts the main character unwillingly into the final showdown could probably be seen as just, almost like Better Off Dead with a fighting showdown instead of skiing. But the film tries repeatedly to market itself as MMA when it's really street brawling with a few arm bars and triangles (and 4 oz gloves... sometimes).

I won't get into the story because it's fairly cliché teen movie fare, so there isn't much to get into there anyway. Like I said, if it's free, it's not too long and there is some decent action so might as well. Otherwise, you'll probably want some money back.

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27 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
Serious Case of Deja View, 14 marzo 2008

Author: dukevega da United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If you weren't old enough to see movies and understand them back in 1984, this may seem like a pretty good movie. If, on the other hand, you were old enough, then you will see this movie for what it is: an updated version of "Karate Kid", a much better film. Before seeing this, I looked up the movie and read the plot, and that was the first thought that ran through my head; seeing it only proved it. By the time the movie was over, I counted over 15 similarities between the two films, and yet nowhere did I see any credit given to the original writers. Shouldn't they be suing for plagiarism?

1 Poor kid is star

2 Moves out to a coastal city

3 Meets pretty girl

4 Pretty girl has jerk boyfriend

5 Jerk boyfriend is local fighting champ (2 years running no less)

6 Poor kid knows a little about fighting

7 Gets into fight with jerk boyfriend and gets beat

8 Meets up with a teacher in the same style as jerk boyfriend

9 Teacher is foreign born

10 Teacher has experienced great personal loss

11 Poor kid and girl have tiff

12 They get back together after he apologizes for being a jerk

13 While jerk boyfriend is good fighter, has bad focus

14 Poor kid and jerk boyfriend face off in tournament he is champion of

15 In the tournament, poor kid suffers a serious injury

16 Poor kid wins anyway and earns jerk boyfriend's respect

There are some other plot holes which stretch the credibility of this movie even further. The main villain is in good shape, as he walks around half the movie with no shirt on, revealing some well-defined abs. I find it awfully hard to believe that a high school kid could achieve something like that.

The other plot hole which also made me scratch my head was the death of the lead character's father. He got drunk at a bar, got behind the wheel and wrapped his car around the tree. The lead was with him and I was wondering, "What is a high school kid doing at a bar? Do they check IDs any more?"

And another thing: what are high school kids doing participating in full-contact fighting tournaments? Isn't there some kind of law against that?

The one good thing I did like about the movie was the villain. He had a whole smug attitude which came off as highly believable. But still, that isn't nearly enough to make up for this rip-off. I'm just glad this was a sneak preview so I didn't have to pay to see this.

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37 out of 59 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Karate Kid" plus MMA (mixed martial arts); by-the-numbers all the way, 14 marzo 2008

Author: dee.reid da United States

Don't tap-out yet!

From reading the title "Never Back Down," you get the impression that what you're about to watch will be something pretty macho and also pretty lame - a bad combination. The claims of this being a remake of "The Karate Kid" plus "Fight Club" and mixed martial arts is not undeserved or inappropriate. What it does aim to be, is a "Karate Kid" for the MTV generation and a generation of kids who may think that MMA is the future of the martial arts.

As a casual fan of mixed martial arts, the gladiator-style spectacle of this sport goes all the way back to the Greeks, with their sport Pankration (which pretty much resembles today's MMA). The idea of cross-training and mixing techniques of different fighting styles gained popularity in the 20th century with Bruce Lee and his theories on Jeet Kune Do (which when translated from Cantonese, means "the way of the intercepting fist"). However, mixed martial arts, as we know it today in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), PRIDE and other MMA organizations, gained widespread recognition when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler Royce Gracie won UFC 1 in 1993. Since then, a revolution has been sparked in the world of full-contact fighting. (On a side, UFC president Dana White considers Bruce Lee the "father of modern mixed martial arts.")

In "Never Back Down," which seeks to promote MMA for the mainstream, Jake Tyler (Sean Faris, who looks remarkably like a young Tom Cruise) is a promising football player who is relocated with his widowed mother and younger brother from their home in Iowa to the posh surroundings of upper-class Orlando, Florida; they opt for a cramped apartment in suburbia away from the surf and bikini-clad babes. Right away, it's established that Jake's a born brawler and has a chip on his shoulder, so right away the filmmakers are attempting to remove themselves from the "Karate Kid" legacy.

Right away, he locks eyes on the pretty blonde Baja Miller (Amber Heard, uh-huh), and she invites new-kid Jake to a party later that night. At this same party, he locks heads with rich-boy Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet), a champion MMA fighter who gets the upper hand on Jake and beats him to a pulp in a no-holds-barred brawl.

All hope is not lost. On his first day of school, Jake had witnessed a fight happening under the bleachers, where an outcast kid named Max (Evan Cooper) was getting his butt kicked by Ryan and his goons. It just so happens that Max is being trained by the legendary MMA champ Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) and takes him under his wing. So cue the MTV soundtrack and training montage.

In terms of being a simple martial arts movie, "Never Back Down" is nothing new. Plenty of martial arts movies have been made about the bullied good guy who gets his butt kicked, learns to fight from a master, and tests out his newfound skills by getting revenge on his tormentors in the ring. The by-the-numbers script by Chris Hauty pays attention to a few of the details of modern mixed martial arts training, but doesn't really go into any real depth about it, even if some of the harsher stuff is only glossed over for the sake of trying to mainstream it. But I also guess that this Jeff Wadlow-directed vehicle has seen way too many better movies, and it's inherently self-referential toward them.

"Never Back Down," I guess, is a fun way to spend $7.75 (what I spent); at the very least, even if the plot is formulaic, it's still entertaining. The acting, writing and plot are decent, but still, the performances, acting and writing, like everything else, are by-the-numbers. Although we don't really wade grimly through worthless dialogue scenes, we do perk up for the fighting and training sequences. The best thing about these scenes is that they're authentic: what the actors are doing is so "real" you "believe" it. As brutal as they are (even for a "PG-13"-rated movie), they're fairly exciting and there isn't a whole bunch of flashy camera cutting that takes away from the intensity of the full-contact punching and kicking. The camera stays put for the most part and isn't moving all over the place. It looks like the actors are really going at it, and it looks like it hurts. So you "believe" it in a way you don't really do for a lot of martial arts movies made in America these days.

And that's what no-holds-barred is all about, right?

6/10

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30 out of 50 people found the following comment useful :-
Give It A Try, 23 aprile 2008

Author: titolee06 da United States

Now in the 21st century, the old school brawlin' movies are over with. Their fad has worn out. Now, we are shoveled crap like Meet The Spartans and other seriously stupid parody movies, and then movies where senseless violence reigns dominant and there is no point to the movie anymore. But the beat-em-up genre has returned with Never Back Down.

Most of you know the cheesy story line, which is the only reason that I have to give it a 9 instead of 10, a rebellious teen who gets caught up in some trouble which leads to the whole development of the movie. If you can set that aside and see what is being shown to you, it is easy to see why NBD is such a good movie. There is just enough action to keep the fans excited, enough drama to keep them drawn in, good plot development to keep you interested, a good mix of hot girls and for the ladies there are buff dudes, and the sense of morality and character.

Being a martial artist for 10 years myself, I was pleased with the fight scenes (although they cannot compare to The Protector) but since this movie wasn't starring people like Jet Li who dedicate every performance to fighting, the actors did very well and proved themselves.

The cheesy storyline and mediocre character development are the only things keeping me from giving this movie a 10 star rating. The critics gave this movie too harsh of a rating because they just didn't understand that this movie wasn't meant to win an Oscar or be hailed as the movie of the year, it was meant to give us a break from most of the crap movies now and do what movies are supposed to do, entertain us. Really worth a watch, check it out.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Models, Models everywhere., 29 luglio 2008

Author: EXodus25X da United States

Wow, there is not one ugly person in all of Orlando, at least that's what this film wants you to believe. Do any high schools or high school students look like this, come on. What I love best is the quote on the back of the box " A little Karate Kid, a little Fight Club and a whole lot of The OC", WHAT? Is that suppose to make me buy it, please find me someone who loves all three of those, ya, no one. OK, so the film is not all bad, Djimon Hounsou is good as always, the look of the film is unique and the fight scenes are pretty darn good. Unfortunately the plot is predictable the characters are one dimensional, there is a girl cause there has to be, right and it attempts to send a message and fails horribly. I think the directors theory is fill the film with fight scenes and loud music montages and then you don't have to have character development or to much of their crappy dialogue. So I guess that helps the film instead of hurting it.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Entertaining, as long as you don't think too hard., 8 agosto 2008

Author: FourNineFoxtrot da United States

Yes, it's just a revamped Karate Kid.

But with MMA, not just Karate, although I did have the occasional urge to shout "Cobra Kai!" when the bad guy came on screen.

Some cool action, basically just MMA (like in the UFC) that's been "hollywoodized" to be showy, "underground", and performed by supposed teenagers.

Djimon Hounsou is wasted on this film, but does fairly well at being the token real actor, giving it some tenuous legitimacy. On the upside, probably a more believable martial arts instructor than Pat Morita... physically, at least.

It's a great movie to just turn off your brain to, and watch lots of girls in bikinis and guys beating each other up. Pleasant, mindless T&A/Action.

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16 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
A new "Karate Kid", 19 aprile 2008

Author: jhobdell da Southampton, UK

Perhaps my descriptive summary is unkind to this film. I enjoyed it so much because it depicts a young man learning to deal with his emotions, rather than being ruled by his fear of them. It is quite remarkable, the strength of character he ultimately develops, and his interactions with his instructor are gratifyingly free of the childish morality one dreads in such a film, or the typical oriental platitudes that often hallmark them because of the origins of martial arts. At the root of this, I think, is the film's willingness to observe and comment on the 'problem' emotion of anger. Rather than leave it festering, or simply transform it 'as if by magic', the audience can almost see the transformation in the main character, through his physical exertion, which eventually leaves him free of its destructive role in his life. For most, if not all, these reasons, I enjoyed the film because it resonated with me quite closely, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

If nothing else, I for one will be researching the possibilities of training in mixed martial arts!

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27 out of 49 people found the following comment useful :-
Good movie, 21 marzo 2008

Author: Hans Grüber (borat_co@hotmail.com) da Sweden

I saw this movie a couple of days ago and i was really impressed! At first i thought that this would just be another brain-dead movie but it was so much more. Solid acting, good story and nice fighting scenes.

The thing i don't understand are the bad review about this movie. Sure, it isn't something new, it's basically a "Karate Kid" clone but made in the 21th century. It gives you a nice story and is a solid flick, not a prizewinner or something but considering that it gives you what it promises then it's a great movie. Don't expect Fightclub or anything like that, this is something more "simple".

The story is about Jake Tyler, a kid who just has moved to Florida. He start school but before he knows it he gets beaten silly by another kid in school who is a really skilled MMA fighter. Now Jake takes up training to fight back but realizes that revenge isn't everything and also makes new friends and a girlfriend. It's a classical story, nothing new but it still works. The plot is engaging and you really want to see Jake succeed with his training and his emotional travel. The acting is good, sometimes it can get a bit over the line but otherwise it's good. The fight in this movie are well executed. One thing that is really bad in this movie is when they show Jakes younger brother, a tennis star. He is so annoying with his "sweetness" and the fact that all the kid does is act smart by mumbling up numbers and facts about tennis.

I recommend you to see this move, it will be much better then you think!

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