Blood and Bone

Plot synopsis:
Fresh out of prison, Isaiah Bone moves to Los Angeles, where underground fights are being held. One night, after watching a match involving local champion Hammerman, Bone makes a deal with promoter Pinball to get him into the fight scene for 20% of his earnings; 40% if Pinball puts his own money on the line. On that same night, Bone encounters mob boss James and his girlfriend Angela Soto. Bone enters his first underground fight and quickly defeats his opponent with only two kicks. Pinball explains to Bone that Angela was previously married, but James set up her husband Danny on a triple-homicide, sending him to jail. When James learned that she was pregnant, he had her undergo an abortion. Since then, Angela has fallen into drug addiction.
Over the next few nights, Bone makes a name for himself in the underground fighting scene, defeating every fighter in his path and earning himself and Pinball thousands in cash. At the same time, he bonds with the people who live at his apartment building: Tamara - the landlady who manages his apartment, Roberto - an elderly Latin-American man whom he plays chess with, and Jared - a young boy Tamara adopted after his father was sent to prison. Then, after making the once-undefeated Hammerman fall to the ground, Bone is offered a deal by James. The international underground fighting scene is run by a league of rich, powerful men known as the "Consortium", but mainly by a black market arms dealer named Franklin McVeigh, and James wants Bone to square off against Pretty Boy Price, the reigning champion. After telling James he will consider the offer, Bone reveals to Angela that he was cell mates and close friends with Danny. Then one day, Danny was murdered by an inmate named JC. Angela reveals that shortly after Danny went to prison, she gave birth to a son, but lost custody of him and does not know if he is still alive. Bone promises to bring her to her son, but sends her to a drug rehab clinic until she is ready.
The next morning, James offers McVeigh US$5 million to have him get the Consortium approve and schedule a fight between Bone and Price. That night, Bone discovers that Roberto has been murdered in front of the apartment, mauled to death by James' dogs because he witnessed one of James' street killings. Bone declines the offer to fight for James mainly because he never agreed to it; as a result, James orders his thugs to hunt down Bone and Pinball. James' bodyguard Teddy D and his thugs head to the rehab clinic to pick up Angela, only to have Bone and Pinball dispatch them. Transmitting his location through Teddy D's GPS phone, James has the duo follow him to McVeigh's mansion. There, Bone is ordered by James to fight Price and win back his money, or else he will have Angela, Tamara, Jared and Pinball killed. During the conversation, Bone secretly records James' revelation that he had Danny set up and murdered through the GPS phone, which he transmits to Pinball's cell phone; Pinball then sends the video to the police. Bone faces Price, but at the point where he is close to defeating him, he taps the ground and forfeits the fight. An infuriated James grabs his katana and attacks Bone, but Bone is thrown a jian by McVeigh's bodyguard to even the odds. Bone drops the sword and uses the sheath instead, beating James with it. In the middle of the melee, Bone blocks a sword slash, causing James to cut off his own hand. He runs off before the police arrive at the mansion to arrest James.
The next day, Angela is reunited with Jared. Tamara, who had threatened to kick Bone out due to his association with James, offers him to stay; he declines, saying he will only cause further trouble. Before exiting the apartment, he leaves her an envelope full of cash and asks her to take Angela in once she is rehabilitated. He also parts ways with Pinball, saying he has business to take care of.
During the end credits, James is attacked and sodomized in prison by JC and his gang.

Tags: revenge, violence

Review:
'Blood and Bone' is a pleasant martial arts/drama surprise that handles us a pretty enjoyable ride during it's 90 minutes and a Michael Jai White in top form.Directed by the one who wrote the infamous failure that was 'Dragon Ball Evolution', Ben Ramsey, the movie tells us the story of Isaiah Bone, an ex-con that takes the world of underground fighting by storm, in order to keep a promise to his late friend in prison.With an interesting plot that explores the martial arts world combined with the underground fighting game and a 'surprise effect' sustained until the last twenty minutes of the film, Ramsey achieves to maintain the spectator on his chair until the end of the movie, mixing action and drama.The fighting scenes are awesome, and not only Michael Jai White knows how to act, knows how to fight: he kicks ass (and also Van Damme's and Segal's ass too).This is one of the best low budget action movies you can possibly watch in your life and if you're a martial arts fan then this will serve you well.
Isaiah Bone (Michael Jai White) is released from prison and immediately enters the world of underground fighting.
"Blood and Bone" is one of the best low budget martial arts films I have ever seen.
If you are a fan of martial arts films and like fight scenes where you can see all the moves, check this one out..
I thought Dante Basco (Pinball) over acted quite a bit, and i don't think he was the best actor for the role.Other than that the movie was terrific, and i would recommend it to any martial arts fan..
Now, if you are still with me, you probably suspect that BLOOD AND BONE has one of the best fight structures in film, therefore putting it as a contender for greatness.
Not that I haven't seen better acting performances and scripts before but this movie is just the ideal of BRILLIANT Sunday-movie-entertainment.I think we've all been waiting for a replacement for the old kick-ass- actors like jean-claude van damme and jet li.
We have it now, his name is Michael Jai White and in this movie he is a mean mother-F, an ex-con with a big heart and an attitude.This movie is NOT bad acting like many fighting movies and the script is simple but its working.I HARDLY RECOMMEND this movie because of it's high rate of entertainment.
In Los Angeles , in a world where street gangs collide with the law , an ex-con named Isahia Bone (Michael Jai White of Spawn and Universal soldier 2) takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead convict .
When a movie like "Blood and Bones" comes along, I am able to watch and hopefully enjoy it for what it is."Bone and Blood" stars Michael Jai White.
Otherwise Bone is a bit of a mystery in that his crime, his time, and his history is left completely unexplained for the duration of the film.Once Pinball realizes Bone's talent, he quickly concocts a scheme that will get Bone a shot at the local street fighting champ Hammerman (played with corny endearment by former MMA champ Bob Sapp) arranged through Hammerman's bigger-time promoter James (Eammon Walker – "Oz" jailhouse Muslim leader Kareem Said).This comes at around the halfway point where the film shifts gears from a tournament style martial arts flick to more of a revenge flick.
Storyline is good considering it's a fighting movie and Eamon Walker (Oz) comes out in the film which is cool because I never see him in anything the only other movie I've ever seen him in was Shopping with Jude Law on IFC.
All in all a very good action film, Michael is a bad ass in the movie.
The reason for me acquiring this movie was because of Julian Sands, but it turned out that he was not in the movie all that much, much to my disappointment."Blood and Bone" is about Isaiah Bone (played by Michael Jai White) who comes out of prison with a promise to fulfill to his friend from inside the jail.
But still, it works out well enough, because the storyline (however generic it might be) is spiced up with some really nice fighting scenes.I must admit that I was thoroughly impressed with the fighting skills of Michael Jai White, I never knew he was this good.
Dante Basco (playing Pinball) was a bit out of his element here in this movie, but it was fun to see him in a role such as this one."Blood and Bone" is a great action movie, and well worth watching if you enjoy a good fight or two..
They could have devoted more time to the relationship between Danny and Bone, but they didn't and the reasoning doesn't seem personal.Michael Jai must be cast in some big budget action movie...
Blood and Bone stands out from other STV martial arts/fighting films because it has some nice plot twists and well choreographed fight scenes.
"Well this is it, now we have come to the limit of what is possible" Tony Jaa served us with every fighting style out there in perfection.Now Michael Jai White has broken the limit and stands alone as THE most perfected martial artist i have ever seen.
The fight scenes are superb, they're what makes this movie the great gem of a martial arts movie it is.
Michael Jai White stars as Bone, a fighter just out of prison to compete in street fighting circuits and get revenge on the man who killed his cell-mate and who's girlfriend is now with the mobster (Eamonn Walker) who is responsible for that man's death, many great fight sequences follow in the wake of this brisk blaxploitation/kung fu action gem.
Overall though, martial arts movies are about the fight sequences and whether it has just enough character development to get us involved into the fight, Blood and Bone works in the same vein as Bloodsport and Kickboxer.
10 Year Old Movie - Still "GREAT" - Michael Jai White - Exceptional/Excellent Martial Artist/Actor.
Michael Jai White, who is trained in 7 different styles of martial arts is at his best.
Blood and Bone has a very mediocre plot, the fighting scenes are quite good and the acting is nothing to criticize.
This film is all about showcasing Micheal Jai Whites brutal, high flying martial art skills and excellent stunt work.
For the most part I loved this movie and I recommend it to anyone who likes fighting movies with good action scenes.
"Totally awesome martial arts flick!!!"...I seriously thought that I would hate this movie...I was caught off guard how entertaining it turned out...From start to finish,I was waiting for a letdown,and it never came..Instead,each fight scene got better.Michael Jai White demonstrates such skill at hand to "man" contact that you are easily reminded of how Bruce Lee's best fight scenes made,and still make you feel.The part played by his annoying manager/sidekick "Pinball"had me wishing for Shia LaBeouf in that role instead of Dante Basco, although he did pretty well..Nona Gaye,(Marvin's daughter)did an excellent turn as "Bone's potential love interest..I watched this movie at 2:20am because I thought it would put me to sleep.3hrs later I finally went to sleep...Oh,not because the movie is that long but, because of me rewinding just about every fight scene 2 or 3 times!"This movie is only 93min, and they go by as fast as Bone's hands,and especially his feet, reach a thugs face!!!"If you are a fan of martial arts movies that are well choreographed,with a decent,although not original storyline,and for the most part good acting,then you will totally enjoy this movie...Hollywood should take notice,and give Michael Jai White a couple of big budget action movies to work with Now!!!".
Blood and Bone" is a story an ex-con, Bone, who leaves prison and enters the world of illegal street fighting.If there is any doubt about Michael Jai White being a full-on action star, this seems to be a movie that should shuffle his resume to the top of the action pile.
Watch it for Michael Jai White being cool and a more than adequate fighting action fix..
I was at my friends house and he dug this film out, he had not seen it, we was both blown away..Great martial arts, great acting, great characters..Just plain great..The story is simular to Lionheart (Awol in UK where I live) and Hard times with Charles Bronson from the early 70's..But it does not try to re-invent the wheel with the plot, instead aims to raise the bar with the fight scenes, a martial art film made for martial art fans...
Michael Jai White is excellent and I will be hunting down his other films..One criticism..A film as good as this with an interesting lead character should be a franchise, a man called Bone would be an interesting idea for a set of sequels...Lost classic, I am telling everyone I know about this films, in my top 10 of all time...
And, this movie is a winner, thanks to Jai White's action, decent story and top-class fight choreography.
On the whole Blood and Bone was enjoyable if taken for what it is, a mindless action movie.C. Michael Jai White makes steven seagal look amateur.
and that was it i never took my eyes off it,i'm a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme and his fighting is insane and until now i ain't seen anyone that even comes close to him,now michael j white is Definitely just as good on screen not only an amazing fighter but a good actor,some may argue seagal is good aswel but personally i don't rate him at all and avoid any movie he's in.this movie is full of fighting and comes away from the norm story of good guy beats bad guys until he gets to the main bad guy nearly gets beat and comes back to win!
The main reason I wanted to check this movie out was to see Michael Jai White kicking ass.
A martial artist of supreme skill and deadly grace, White brings not only his imposing physique and skills to the film, but also a moody poise to the role of Isaiah Bone, an ex-convict who infiltrates an underground fight circuit to avenge the murder of a friend.There is absolutely no surprises in store here, narratively speaking, but the action, the choreography and the editing are high grade stuff.
I thought I was going to love this movie, but it wasn't what I expected, besides Jai White charisma and screen presence and some good fight scenes there is nothing really memorable in this movie, still a decent fight movie but nothing to remember...Is obvious that is a low budget film but it was shot in a very amateurish way and some scenes were made with very annoying shaking camera movements, luckily the fight scenes are not shot like that and you can see the action entirely, but the film it looks more like a hip hop videoclip than a martial arts movie...There are appearances of MMA fighters as Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Bob Sapp , also the Kickboxer Maurice Smith appears and martial arts legends Bob Wall and Fumio Demura have a very brief appearance that you can miss if you blink.
The "drama" in between the fighting is alright, it doesn't drag you in quite as much as it should, but not bad.Put Jai White in a bigger budget movie with a really good fight choreographer, and we'll have ourselves a classic!.
Michael Jai White doesn't stretch his acting ability here, but his fighting skills are fantastic, it really is totally believable watching him take down the biggest guys you could ever imagine.
I enjoyed the movie, but wished that either the plot, character development, or acting could have matched the execution of the fight scenes.
This movie is what I expected it to be, a not so deep martial arts film where an inmate gets out of prison and starts fighting in the streets but for a deep cause.
The fighting scenes( the most important part of the film) where good but could be a little more interesting and last longer, the acting was mediocre and Michael stand out from the others.
A ex-convict going under the name of Bone (Michael Jai White) enters an underground fighting ring with the help of event organiser Pinball (Dante Basco).
You may not expect or even want such a movie to deceive as to the outcome of fights, but nonetheless if all fights lack a decent threat level they tend to drag down your overall enjoyment.A good outing nonetheless for Michael Jai White, a competent actor with real action star potential (Arnold Schwarznegger and Jean Claude Damme level status)..
This'll probably be the 5th fight movie I've seen with Micheal Jai WHITE in it.
we've seen it all before over and over, but rarely have i enjoyed a straightforward martial arts film so much as i did when i watched 'Blood and Bone'......Michael Jai White is an amazing martial artist and a very decent actor, up there with such natural talent as that of recent stars like Tony Jaa and the more veteran Donnie Yen - all, still, yet to become big Hollywood stars sadly....
nobody will rent or buy this movie expecting anything more than a run of the mill low budget actioner and if i were to rent it again not knowing, i'd hopefully think the same - only then will you genuinely be surprised at just how good a fight film this is - all the acting is pretty damn good for a film in this genre and the supporting fighters do a great job of keeping the action ticking over nicely throughout.i agree with an earlier comment, its definitely a re-hash of well trodden territory first covered (to my knowledge) in van dammes lionheart/A.W.O.L around twenty years ago...
Michael Jai White hadn't been seen in a lot of martial arts movies after Undisputed II, but when I saw this in the New Release section with his face on it, I jumped at the chance to check this bad boy out.
Man, I was so amazed at the story, the characters, the Eastern philosophy and the fight scenes that had been put together...this film was a work of art and a stroke of genius.The story starts off with Jai White's character Bone, who in the opening credits, shows a bunch of thugs in prison who want to shank him for not being there 'you know what', why he shouldn't be messed with and he gets his point across pretty damn well.
If you like Michael Jai White – watch this, he gets to fight, to act and looks very cool.
So there you go...as a movie overall is pretty bad, but if you like a brainless flick that offer nothing but just good action scenes then watch this movie.
The opening scenes in the prison alone were enough to grab my attention of the under-rated Michael Jai White.His acting was believable and decent performance.Loved the inclusion of Kimbo Slice in the beginning fight.Although i rank him as just being a street fighter and not a U.F.C fighter.His acting was average.Michael's was excellent.He has come along way since Universal Soldier:The Return.Michelle Belegrin and Gina Carano were beautiful and easy on the eye along with the Asian woman at the table.There was also a big black dude who could move fast and his muscular size captured my viewing imagination.I also enjoyed seeing the women fighting instead of just the men.Michael is bad-ass in this movie.There was broken bones to prove it.This is a movie i would never tire of watching again and again.The storyline was simple and realistic.Michael is absolutely BAD TO THE BONE..
Jai-White may be a hulking presence, but his skills are almost balletic, and if he continues to make films like this, and Black Dynamite, he, along with Scott Adkins could be the future of Direct to DVD action movies.The film harks back to the eighties, and is very reminiscent of the Van Danme movie A.W.O.L (or Lionhearted if your outside the UK), and with each opponent, it becomes more and more difficult, until Bones finally reaches the end of game boss.So for action fans, its a step up from martial arts films of recent memory, for the casual film watcher, it won't be anything special for you.And for people who grew up in the eighties, and loved films with the words American, Kickboxer, Eagle, China, and Ninja in their titles, this is a wonderful hybrid of Bloodsport, AWOL, Game of Death, with a hint of Fast and Furious thrown in for good measure.And it has the best reference to Enter The Dragon ever featured in a movie..
So I see an advert for a Michael Jai White movie and I see that the cast is a who's who of the martial arts world.
I gave it an 8 because I love good old martial art fight movies, and this is that.
"good." And the acting - I don't know, I don't really want to say too much about the other things because it will never be the reason why you watch a movie like this.***SPOILERS*** It did have an original spin on all the clichés, though.
But the local top fighting promoter offers Bone a chance of a life time.The greatest assets of this film is the man they call 'Michael Jai White' who is a real martial artist, and a fine one at that.
Whoever the fight choreographer was deserves big points for showcasing Michael Jai White's truly impressive martial arts training and athleticism.
Pro + high production quality + Michael Jai White does know his fighting + Eamonn Walker looks good in a suitCon Where to start?