NEVER BACK DOWN Karate Kid for the MMA crowd

[冠木侍]

The backdrop is different but the premise still reminds me of Only the Strong. Kids learning martial arts to better themselves from a mentor that pushed them to be better. That is how I make the connection.

BTW, the kids in the barrio also had nothing but time on their hands.

Try to look at things from other points of view in the future and try not to be so quick to put down other people's opinions.

[SevenStar]

just left the theater,but I am not typing a review on a phone... I will say it reminded me nothing of only the strong though..,

[SevenStar]

Okay, yeah, that didn't remind me of only the strong. It's more like the O.C. meets karate meets bloodsport.

The hero isn't a guy who wants to better himself through martial arts - he was actually a football jock and didn't want to fight. However, through the miracle of the internet, an altercation he was in was caught on tape, put on the internet and watched by millions. That fight gave him a rep as a badass, when in reality he was just an athlete with heart and a hard right. I won't get into the story details to avoid spoilers, but here is something to consider with the karate kid comparison:

jake = daniel
jean roqua = mr. miyagi
ryan and company = johnny, tommy, bobby and dutch
the beatdown = all valley tournament


it's not that the kids had nothing better to do - it's what they wanted to do. It was said that ryan is only happy when he is fighting and that jake is only happy when he is in the gym. They had plenty to do, but chose MA to occupy themselves. If you do want to draw a comparison to Only The Strong though, you can say that :

max = the nerd dj that made the paranue remix

The fight scenes are refreshing - there are NO wire moves at all. The closest thing you see to wire moves are the capoeristas and the two superman punches. Everything else was fairly on point from a realistic fighting perspective. Matches were won with the RNC, a knee bar, triangle choke, arm bars and strikes, even a couple of head kicks. you also see the ankle lock and kimura and a lot of transitioning and movement on the ground. There were also some good throws and takedowns, particularly the double legs and harai goshi. Good stuff.

What I really liked were the training scenes. Good sound stuff - rope climbing, squats, bench pressing, chains, kettlebells, tire flipping, circuit training, sprawl drills and more. The training was as realistic as the fighting.

I think it's also interesting how they use the power of the internet.

[SevenStar]

Kids learning martial arts to better themselves from a mentor that pushed them to be better. That is how I make the connection.

that connection is never revealed in any character other than jake, and that wasn't his initial motivation. Ryan's dad had him in martial arts from the time he could walk and jake only wanted to train so that he could get revenge on ryan. It seemed to me that mos of those guys trained because they want to fight, which earned them power and respect.

BTW, the kids in the barrio also had nothing but time on their hands.

Those kids were forced into the program. It was the last step before writing them off and kicking them out of the school entirely. None of them wanted to train until afterward.

[冠木侍]

I appreciate the input, SevenStar. Thanks for showing some courtesy. It was an initial thought...having not seen NBD yet (probably not for some time or maybe real soon) and with having seen Only the Strong some time ago. The differences between the two movies are more apparent now. It was something that I thought MIGHT have been an interesting connection. I'll still have to see for myself one of these days.

The Karate Kid link had already been done and I could clearly see that one. O.C. and shows like that I never really got into but I know the basic storyline (if you can call it as such).

As a martial artist, I'm sure a lot of the things in NBD are interesting. Your review, just on the techniques was enough to peak some interest.

**It looks like you did not catch the matinee. Was it worth 10+ dollars in your opinion?

[SevenStar]

I appreciate the input, SevenStar. Thanks for showing some courtesy. It was an initial thought...having not seen NBD yet (probably not for some time or maybe real soon) and with having seen Only the Strong some time ago. The differences between the two movies are more apparent now. It was something that I thought MIGHT have been an interesting connection. I'll still have to see for myself one of these days.

The Karate Kid link had already been done and I could clearly see that one. O.C. and shows like that I never really got into but I know the basic storyline (if you can call it as such).

As a martial artist, I'm sure a lot of the things in NBD are interesting. Your review, just on the techniques was enough to peak some interest.

**It looks like you did not catch the matinee. Was it worth 10+ dollars in your opinion?

I've actually never seen an episode of the O.C. I grew out of those shows back in the mid 90's when I stopped watching melrose place... Heck, I've never even seen dawson's creek. But all of the commercials I saw for the O.C. was like pretty boy wants popular girl, they're all rich and live around palm trees - kinda like NBD. One of the things I did like about the movie though is that they don't focus on the money. You see their houses and things, so you know the money is there, but it's not mentioned much. It makes for comic relief though:

jake: does EVERYONE here have big houses like this?
make: big? this is the guest house...

In my city, it's only $7 to catch a movie, and I woulda paid that just for the training scenes alone, without regard to the plot. I like to see things like that in fight films. I also like the training in the most recent rocky movie, though the film itself wasn't that hot.

[Yao Sing]

The rich kids thing was another annoyance to me, just an excuse to show a big party scene with bikinis in hot tubs. Realistically how often does a new kid from a poor family immediately make friends with the upper class at a new school, plus winning over the rich hottie. Of course her boyfriend just has to be a POS low life so you actually want her to go with the "hero".

Sorry for being such a downer on this film but it's just way too typical and formula based. I don't see the training scenes as anything exceptional, just regular gym type training. You must watch too many Shaw Bros. flicks or something.

No wire work but trick heavy bag gags as well as a few "flash" moves in the fight scenes. I think the MMA crowd needs to get off the mistaken idea that hitting a bag while working out or wrestling in a fight is cutting edge and a shocking sight to Martial Artists.

Now I do recommend seeing the film to support low budet films and Martial Arts films. I'm sure there will be quite a few who will like it but it's just not very creative to me. The Karate Kid had a following, something I don't understand, and people love that film.

The MMA fanbase, of course, will cream over any type of submission attempt or close-up of a RNC pose. Just like the film I did with the Wing Chun guys that got wood over a series of chain punches in a fight scene. It all depends on your interests.

I like to see more realistic fighting but the bottom line is I go to be entertained and I wasn't really entertained by this film. It's a "made for profit, don't take any chances with creative influence" standard film. Predictable pretty much the whole way through.

Hopefully this will set off a string of fight flicks and something interesting will make it to the big screen.

[Lucas]

Flash Point FTW

[sanjuro_ronin]

Flash Point FTW

Correctumondo !

[SevenStar]

The rich kids thing was another annoyance to me, just an excuse to show a big party scene with bikinis in hot tubs. Realistically how often does a new kid from a poor family immediately make friends with the upper class at a new school, plus winning over the rich hottie. Of course her boyfriend just has to be a POS low life so you actually want her to go with the "hero".

he wasn't the typical poor kid. He was popular from jump street because video of him kicking that dude's ass was all over the internet. I think they did good with that. Now, without that element, then yeah, his rise to popularity would have been way too unrealistic.

Sorry for being such a downer on this film but it's just way too typical and formula based. I don't see the training scenes as anything exceptional, just regular gym type training. You must watch too many Shaw Bros. flicks or something.

exactly my point. Real gym training. Not the crap you see in other movies.

No wire work but trick heavy bag gags as well as a few "flash" moves in the fight scenes. I think the MMA crowd needs to get off the mistaken idea that hitting a bag while working out or wrestling in a fight is cutting edge and a shocking sight to Martial Artists.

the bourne series had flash too. Heck, desh was a capoerista. it's still WAY less flash then any TMA movie you see today and most from yesterday. I actually think that was something the original karate kid movie did well with.

Now I do recommend seeing the film to support low budet films and Martial Arts films. I'm sure there will be quite a few who will like it but it's just not very creative to me. The Karate Kid had a following, something I don't understand, and people love that film.

it did okay. It was 3rd at the box office, which and made like 9 million, which isn't bad for an MA movie, especially one which doesn't have a really big name as the main character.

The MMA fanbase, of course, will cream over any type of submission attempt or close-up of a RNC pose. Just like the film I did with the Wing Chun guys that got wood over a series of chain punches in a fight scene. It all depends on your interests.

most likely. Heck, the WC guys on this forum creamed about WC apps that they saw in the ANIMATED star wars series on cartoon network...

I like to see more realistic fighting but the bottom line is I go to be entertained and I wasn't really entertained by this film. It's a "made for profit, don't take any chances with creative influence" standard film. Predictable pretty much the whole way through.

can't really argue with that. Point is though, that the movie can break ground as far as MA fighting in films goes. Maybe it will signal an end to the matrix, crouching tiger crap that has been put in front of us for the past two decades or so.

[doug maverick]

i hate that stupid sliding bag effect. they put the bag on a slider and when its hit, it looks like the guys have all that power when they don't

[Yao Sing]

I just don't think that. film wise, you can go too far from the flash. Film fighting and real fighting are miles apart and using real apps and fighting will narrow your viewer base. Sure MA guys will like it but the general public wants a certain level of flash.

The Bourne series did a real good job balancing realistic moves with a really good visual element. Short fast moves are great in real life but the camera might not pick them up or the audience might miss it altogether, that's why the need for long looping punches and jump spinning back kicks.

It's also a swinging pendulum situation. Right now everyone is burned out with the extravagant Jackie Chan stunts and is moving towards more realism. Given time and more reality type fights and someone will come along with a load of flash MA and it will start to swing back in that direction.

I'd just like to see more real life MA guys doing the fight scenes but then look how well "The Eliminator" did with Bas Rutten. I thought someone mentioned Djimon had some MA training but if he does they didn't let him show it off. I think they just hired him for his muscle.

I was just thinking too, they aren't allowed to get into real fights but I don't recall hearing them training for any competitions. What's up with that?

EDIT: Jen updated her MySpace here
Drop by and tell her you saw her (was it cut? I think I missed it). I remember seeing Rachel in the battle of the ex's. I must be a little biased. :-)

[doug maverick]

well the thing is real fights are not visually aesthetic. everything has to be exagerated for the camera, except for the acting that is.as for djimon honsou he studeied boxing and kung fu for years in france and america.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Quick question to clear somethign up:

Does the "new kid" go into training with no prior MA fighting ability and and a short period of time beat the "bad guy" at his own game?

[SevenStar]

Quick question to clear somethign up:

Does the "new kid" go into training with no prior MA fighting ability and and a short period of time beat the "bad guy" at his own game?

No spoilers in this thread dude. Go see it.