Overrated classical American feelgood movie

Rating: 2/10 (11 August 2012)

First off - great camera-work, hence the 2. Now for the core of the movie - brother vs brother is a fun plot that can be twisted every which way. However as soon as some obviously fake Russian character is introduced with the completely out of place Visotski song playing in the background... the pieces start falling in place. This is a classical American tearjerker feelgood movie. The idea alone of a classic underdog has been made into film 100 times better in Rocky, where not the selfish victory but "all-in" attempt at it is what really counts. A battle that could not be won, yet one does not give up. This is the opposite. What could have been a very dramatic (and believable! and almost heartbreaking!) plot of two brothers pitted against each other is washed down the tubes. For someone who has a moderate interest in MMA it is clear the the ending was completely unrealistic and would have never taken place. This is not 1900's, today people are not beaten to within an inch of their life in the ring. To contrast this to any VanDamme flick - think of this movie being a much better attempt at a fighter movie, minus actual fighters who have no acting skills, but add to it American superiority complex and you have the "warrior". Overrated, and sad to say this "warrior" won in the ring but lost to idealism.