» News
Is ANYONE Planning On Seeing “Fighting”?
This weekend marks the release of the new Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard movie “Fighting” that seeks to capitalize on the growing popularity of my second favorite sport… MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Yup… just days away from the release… and I’m not hearing ANYONE… no I mean ANYONE talking about it at all. Not in the blogsphere, not in the theaters when the trailer plays, none of my friends… NO ONE. I’m not hearing anything. Nothing good… nothing bad. Just nothing, despite the fact that it has a pretty aggressive marketing campaign (I’ve seeing the trailers everywhere).
The funny thing is that I’m a combat sport fanatic. I love it. I’ve even trailed for a while at Randy Couture’s (former UFC Champion) gym for a while when I was in Hollywood. But even I have absolutely no interest in seeing this movie. I can’t even really tell you why. I’m not sure. I like Terrence Howard (even though it seems like he’s fallen off the train a bit in the last while), I love combat sports… so you’d think I’d be really pumped for this one. But I’m not. Not even a little.
So I throw the question out to you my international friends: Are you planning on seeing “Fighting”? If not… why not? Is so, why? And do you hear people talking about it, either positively or negatively?
I haven’t even heard of it. Hope for the studio’s sake they didn’t put too much money into it.
I will be watching Lionheart instead….YAAAAAH!
after that what would be next bloodsport or kick boxer?
You know, I watched Never Back Down expecting it to be horrible, like The Marine horrible, but it ended up not being all that bad. Fighting has a better cast, so who knows, maybe it will be entertaining. Cannot really expect a movie like this to be amazing, but it still has some potential for enjoyment. Maybe?
I’m with you John, I have absolutely no interest in this flick and I like fighting movies, I watch MMA so this would typically be a movie I’d feel interested in watching, at least on DVD. I’ve seen the trailer a number of times and I just feel bored. Heck, last year when Never Back Down was making its way to the theaters I was interested and even had fun with the movie. Maybe it’s a bad trailer, but this movie looks bland.
I loved A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Montel’s debut. I’ll def be seeing this, no matter how bad it looks.
nope dont plan on seeing it, it seems like its another ripoff of “Fight Club”
Hahaha, nothing looks like Fight Club. Fighting looks like a typical fighting movie, Fight Club was most definitely not a fighting movie.
i think you mean lionheart?
okay i admit, teribble comparison
The Ad’s are ALL over TV, I probably see like 5 ad’s a day for it, I’m not to interested in it, probably will fail miserably, it just doesn’t really looks good, or bad, Idk,
I have seen a ton of ads on TV as well.
Am I interested? Will I see the film this coming weekend?
I am now flipping a coin in the air. Before it lands, let me say this.
Lionheart was a retelling of Bloodsport.
Never Back Down is actually I loose remake of The Karate Kid.
What we really need are the remakes of Any Which Way But Loose and/or Any Which Way You Can.
Underground fight movies have been done to death, you can find them in any B list film. This film might be interesting to see what Channing Tatum can do- but won’t we see him in two, more “high profile” pix this summer? Sure will.
I look down at my coin.
Heads? Tails?
No matter. I will simply scoop it back up and keep it in my pocket for another week when I put it towards Wolverine.
I’ve heard of it. I’m planning on seeing it, actually. That is, if the reviews are as good as I’m hoping the movie will be.
Never heard of it over here in Europe, first time i hear mention on it is on this website!
Yeah it’s not being promoted at all over here in the UK, never even heard of it before this.
this isn’t MMA, this is street fighting, exactly the image i thought mma was trying to get away from, but there were promos on UFC98 all night. but no i am not looking forward to thsi movie at all, i love mma, but this movie looks like crap.
HELL NO.
No, I was already tricked by my friend into seeing Never Back Down.
I’m going to the mignight showing so back off!!
Is this a remake of Gladiator? (no, not Russel Crowe’s Gladiator but one from the 80’s)
Gladiator with Cuba Gooding Jr! That is still one of my favorite boxing movies of all time. The head is the hardest bone in the body!
Nope. no plans to see this. Looks like a steaming pile of crap.
Nah….looks good but…idk…I am sure I already know how it will go down. Karate Kid anyone?
I’m going to see a free screening tomorrow. I can’t say I am really looking forward to it, but I have never been disappointed with any movie I saw at a screening. That’s probably cause free movies are always better. Still just the fact that they are screening makes me believe that it won’t be terrible.
The title is borderline amazing… I mean “Fighting”, I’d like to meet the person who came up with that and slap them
Because titles like “The Professional”, “The Wrestler” and “The Fighter” are so much better, right? At least those titles are designated toward an individual rather than an action, huh? If it was called “The Fighting” would it better since they at least put “The” at the start, like “The Reaping”? Could you imagine if that movie had been called “Reaping”, it would have been tragic! Just playin! :D
Gotta love a movie where you can answer the questions “what’s it called?” and “what’s the entire plot about?” all at the same time, with one word.
One of these days, there will be a film called
Knuckles
Just sayin’.
Nope, not me. Not interested.
The only Fight movie I enjoyed was FIGHT CLUB. Why? Cause its story was acually good. This movie just appears to be good looking guys fighting and fucking their good looking gfs.
Funny, when I think of fight movies I think of movies like Bloodsport, Karate Kid, Never Back Down, Kick Boxer, and probably Fighting. Fight Club would definitely not fall in that category.
Oh, almost forgot a good one, No Retreat No Surrender!
I cant see why you think that, there is fighting in the movie. They talk about fighting and its in the title. I would call that a fight movie.
Well Grave… It seems like you diddnt understand Fight Club.
Yep Grave, and there was some funny stuff in it to, so it must be a comedy as well. Oh, and a sex scene, so it must be a porno. Oh, and then there was the love interest, so it’s a romance? Maybe a psycho-thriller? Just because there is fighting in a movie and talk about fighting does not mean it is a fighting movie. In fact, the whole fight club idea was merely a catalyst for the movie, and not what the movie was. Saying Fight Club was merely a fight movie is like saying Blade Runner was merely a cop drama or any Pixar movie merely a kids cartoon; it completely misses the point.
Well wasnt there a love interest,drama, and some funny scenes in Karate Kid, Kickboxer, Bloodsport? So I guess given that interpretation of definition those movies are not fight films either?
I did fully understand Fight Club but the fighting was part of the bigger more twisted and awsome plot. Without the fighting the title could have been called something else. Why have a movie called Fight Club without fighting ?
As I already mentioned, it was the catalyst for the story.
As far as trying to twist my words around on me for those movies I listed as fighting movies: those sub-plots are all part of story that leads up to the big fight/confrontation. Everything in Karate Kid leads up to the big fight against the bully. Everything in Blood Sport leads up to the final fight to win the tournament. Kick Boxer the same sorta thing as Blood Sport with a bit of vengeance against the main fighter at the end. Best of the Best everything leads up to the big tournament against the Koreans. Never Back Down lead up again to a fight with the big bully, and from the looks of it Fighting will be a similar type story.
Fight Club, on the other hand, is not about everything building up for that big fight. Everything in Fight Club leads up to understand whats going on with Edward Norton while touching on a lot of real life ideals and philosophies. The fighting was merely the match that lit the fuse for the big bang in the end, metaphorically speaking and pun intended.
No one twisted your words my friend. In Karate Kid was there a need for him to have a gf? Nope. If you left the romance and comedy out the film would have ended the same way. Just like Kickboxer and other you metioned.
The fighting in Fight Club was not a catalyst for the story as you put it. If anything the catalyst was Nortans own life style. The fighting was happening that led up to a bigger plot. There was a fight at the end of the film with himself physically and mentally that while not thrilling it was twisted, fun and fulling. I guess to put it plunt Fight Club was more than just about fighting. However, it step away from convention of typical fight movies to give a more intellegent and philosophical ideal that was only expressed after they were fighting. Still thou the movies called Fight Club and theirs fighting in it. 2/3 of the movie is about fighting. So its a fight movie.
So not the same thing. With your logic then Predator is a fighting movie, Star Wars was a fighting movie, the Star Trek movies were fighting movies, Silence of the Lambs was a fighting movie… And I would have to say you are just wrong on thinking the fighting was no the catalyst to the plot. The whole reason they started fight club was to help in the journey of hitting rock bottom and as it expanded it was used as a tool to recruit more people into a cause. This cause was then used to continue on into Project Mayhem and a nihilistic philosophy. If Norton and Pitt hadn’t started fighting in the bar parking lot then nobody would have seen it and wanted to join fight club, which would of meant fight club would have not spread, which means they would not have been able to recruit, which means no Project Mayhem, which means the majority of the movie not have taken place. That pretty much makes the fighting a catalyst.
Webster’s Definition of Catalyst: “an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action”.
You are right, they could have left out the love interest in Karate Kid and it may have still played out the same way; however, if that love interest had not been there then he may have never had the the problem with the bully as it was the kids interaction with the love interest that resulted in the bully focusing in on him.
In Fight Club the love interest played a fairly critical role in the movie. It she was not there he may have never found his way back to reality.
OK did i ever imply that any movie with fighting in it should be labeled as a Fight movie? NO, you keep skipping the all imporant issue which is the title of the film. “FIGHT CLUB”, was their fighting in Fight Club? Yes, and was their disscussion between characters about fighting? Yes, did the fights have an impact on the plot? Yes. Its called Fight Club, they had a club where they fight and even had rules to follow during a fight in and outside of the club. It was no diffrent then Lion Heart or Kickboxer or Karate Kid in its basic structure of a fight movie. The difference is that is doesnt follow the same premises as the rest. Their is no reason to suggest that its not a fight movie in your definition. Lastly I know what catlyst its just we differ on what the catlyst was.
The UFC and Spike TV are promoting the crap out of this movie. I’m sure some people are going to see it out of pure curiosity. However, I don’t know anyone what wants to see it because it looked interested to them. It certainly looks cheesy as hell. I might just go see it because Cung Le’s in it.
Fighting looks more like a DVD rental to me.
Speaking of MMA movies, did you see Never Surrender?? Looks pretty brutal !
I WILL NOT SEE FIGHTING!!! Everybody I know thinks it looks stupid. I think it looks like rocky with none of the heart. We have all scene this sort of movie like a million times and enough is enough. I do think it looks better than Never Back Down, last years attempt to make a decent MMA movie. I just can’t buy into it. Even the name is weird. with a title like Fighting, you had better make sure you make a badass movie. All I see from the trailers is bad and some stink from an ass. So yeah, it might be badass but not the right knid of badass.
Yep i ll be seeing it. seems like its gonna be a good movie.
Watch the trailer. He never gets fucked up. No one in the movie gets fucked up. A decent fight movie needs the pretty boys to get fucked, fucked up.
Channing’s nose gets fucked up. Makes it look like Liam Neeson’s.
This movie has been made so many times, so many different ways, that I can recite this movie by heart without seeing it.
(Insert name) is a good person from the wrong side of the tracks. After the (Insert tearjerker tragedy that jerks no tears), they feel as though all is lost, but find their way through (Insert activity that audience doesn’t really care about). (Insert name) must struggle through (Insert convenient adversity) and against (Insert underdeveloped villain) in order to make it to the top! (Insert name)’s future all hangs on the big (Insert some sort of championship for aforementioned lame activity). Will (Insert name) win? Will (Insert name) ever hook up with (Insert cookie-cutter love interest that is only there for titillation and nothing more, probably don’t even learn a last name)? Have you ever seen a movie before? Then you know the answers to these questions!
Ever heard of “The Heros Journey”? It’s not just fighting movies like this that use it, and it is why so many movie share a similar story. It is a tried and true formula that will continue to be used forever.
I know, but this one has no interesting hook. It’s a bland, dull-looking retread of this theme. That’s what I meant. I know other movies use this formula, but this movie employs it in a highly dull fashion.
There’s so many strikes against this movie that it’s not even funny:
1) The title sucks. Anyone who goes to see this will be FIGHTING to get out of the theatre.
2) Channing Tatum has zero star power. The best thing he ever did was “She’s The Man” with Amanda Bynes.
3) Terrance Howard adds nothing. It could be Denzel, Morgan Freeman, or Sydney Portier in his place and it would add nothing to this seemingly souless movie.
4) The trailers set up something like a love story that is just going to be annoying when neither CT or the hot chick can act and all we want to see is bad ass fighting.
5) It’s up against almost nothing this week, but theres still a lot more fun leftovers you could be watching (Crank 2, State of Play, and for teenies 17 again and the Hannah Montana movie)
This movie will be lucky to break 10 million the first week. I’m guessing 15 million total in the U.S.
friend of mine saw a pre-screening of it last night. she said it was just your typical underdog story with a final showdown at the end. The fighting scenes are supposed to be pretty dope though.
Im not watching this cause it looks like a love story like d1rge said. But watch how this movie hits nimber one at the boxoffice becuse people will see fighting but wont see a movie that looks like a good oscars bound movie like The Soloist.
I actually liked Never Fight Back. The problem I have with this film is it appears that they are promoting street fighting. Thats not really a great thing to push on the teen audience this is being marketed to.
chuck
And kids probably should not watch Goonies. It sends them a message that it is OK to go explorer deep dark caves in hopes of finding treasure to save their parents from an economic crisis while being chased by criminals the entire time! That may have been a run on sentence, but damn it’s fun to take things to the extreme! :D
Last years Never Back Down was such a “success” that hardly anyone can remember the actual title of the film. I wonder, in another year, will anyone remember *this* film title?
We’ll call it…Fisting?
I didn’t even know this movie was going to be released until a friend of mine asked me if I’d seen the trailer. Trailer wasn’t too bad though, wouldn’t mind seeing it. :)
Like said before…never heard of this before. Will see it on dvd most likely but not in theatres.
Hey Jeremy K- Think what you want, its a free country but I grew up in Brooklyn NY. Ive seen people I knew stabbed and shot. A few even killed. That’s not the Goonies! Street fighting isn’t a cool thing.
At least not to me.
chuck
That’s all and good, but not what this movie is. but what you have seen does not seem like what the movie is about. The movie is looks like its about some underground illegal fighting matches of sort, what your describing sounds more like gang violence. Not quite the same thing.
I do like, however, how you speak to me like I have never seen anything compared to what you have. Not bad, not bad indeed.
Damn non-editing comments! Strike through the “but not what this movie is.” part, that was not supposed to be in there! :D
didnt read the article.just answering the question.
No.
MMA is oficially the lamest most boring sport ever invented.
You’d have to pay me $40 to sit through a movie about it.
The movie looks generic to me. I don’t know if it’s the generic title (seriously, “Fighting” was the best thing they could come up with?!), the lead that looks bored and sounds like a robot, or that the “fighting” in the commercials looks boring..But it just does.
I might barrow this movie once it is out on DVD but I won’t waste my money seeing in theaters. The trailer had no character to it and didn’t seem like it had any originality. Also, because nobody is talking about it might have something to do with it.
uh… no.
I foresee a home video rental in my future.
I personally thought it looked pretty cool (the fight scenes) and this is coming from someone with NO interest in fight movies (only reason I watched Fight Club was because everyone told me to watch it over and over and over again and I loved it). And that’s not even really a fight movie (to me).
Do I have any interest in seeing it even though I thought it looked cool? No.
I’ll see it… eventually… on DVD.
Not really. I stopped caring about these types of movies some time ago. They’re all pretty much the same.
Some dude that doesn’t have much to live for, cuz he’s poor and lives in a crappy part of town, filled with mean people who don’t respect or care much about him. But hes got a hot girl friend who he loves and is good at street fighting. So he starts to compete to make it to the top, get rich and make his girl happy, all while trying to prove to himself he can be something more then nothing. The End…
I think you just spoiled the whole movie for us LOL.
This seems like sutch a rip-off from Lionheart that i wont see it. Even the director of Lioneart think so.
If CHanning Tatum is going to be a star he needs to be showcased (maybe in a TV movie or miniseries?)
Because no one seems to know who he is, outside of hard core movie ppl.
Also, if your going to make an MMA movie, put in some MMA ppl, and then they become a drawing card too…Randy Couture or Chuck Liddell even in cameos or bit parts, inserted into the marketing would do wonders…
By the way MMA is my second fav sport to hockey, and James “The Sandman” Irvin (aka I got the knocked the F bomb out by Anderson Silva), is still my favorite fighter…
I agree.
How bout the Cali Kid Uriah Faber?
No.Dunno.Don’t care.Whatever.
I thought Never Back Down was a great comedy. I don’t know what everyone else was expecting.
As for Fighting it just looks like a knockoff of the 1992 boxing movie Gladiator directed by Rowdy “RoadHouse” Herrington. I’d see it over 17 Again but not over much else.
I will be seeing it. My Girlfriend is the one who keeps asking me when we’ll see it because of Channing Tatum, while I want to see it because one of my fav MMA fighters, Cung Le is in it. So win win for everybody. I will support MMA whenever I can.
I was intrigued when I first heard about this. The trailer made me lose interest quickly and I’m not into Dito Montiel as a director at all. Guide to recognizing your saints was too choppy. I’ll rent this when it arrives on netflix. I’m definitely not interested in this though.
This is the perfect example of a movie that should be down loaded insted of paid for.
See, I loved A Guide To Reckognizing Your Saints, and I am way more interested in this film than say Obsessed. If it weren’t for the Soloist, this would be the film I see on opening night.
The thing about trying to sell a film, is that it’s all about the star instead of the film maker. Even films like Funny People are being selled as films “From the people who brought you” or the “director of” instead of giving a name. With Fighting, you don’t even have that. The only thing that this film has going for it in a mainstream sense is Channing Tatum, and he hasn’t proven he can really sell a film, at all. Look at Stop-Loss. I just think this film has nothing going for it, outside of fans of Dito Montiel or Saints. That is just me though.