You have some nice fighters , you have a OK story.. and what did the directory do ? Ruining the movie with so many unnecessary "effects" from 30 different camera angels in the space of 5 minutes and filling the screen with ongoing blurs, zoom ins/outs and the famous shaky effect that would make anybody with a slight case of Epilepsy seizure up after only watching 10 minutes of it. So final review.. The movie contains a story ,has some fights in it but isn't great. If you want a action movie to fill bored Sunday night with absolutely nothing on TV then you could watch it but be sure to find out if you have epilepsy first.
12 Reviews
Bad, but not the worst
krachtm3 August 2012
I've seen some truly awful action movies in the past few months. The good news is that this is better than Amsterdam Heavy. The bad news is that it's not much better. The plot is serviceable, though not really what I would call "good". It's got lots of extraneous, unnecessary details in it, like dead brothers, dead mothers, bad childhoods, abusive fathers, etc. It's just one big heap of melodramatic back story for every character. Now, while I'm grateful for the effort, I have to wonder why they thought all that was necessary. The directing was manic and overly stylized, with constant use of slow motion and close-ups of violence. The soundtrack was absolutely horrible, consisting of what sounds like the most derivative and bland music imaginable. On the positive side, there were some attractive people in the movie, and sometimes they managed to act passably well. The fight choreography was generally pretty good, but the fight scenes were filmed rather poorly. If you like exploitative, MMA-style violence, you may enjoy this movie. Traditional martial arts fans may find the nihilistic, fetishistic violence to be distasteful and a bit too white trash.
If you're desperate for Michael Bay-inspired MMA fights, then I suppose this might be the movie for you.
If you're desperate for Michael Bay-inspired MMA fights, then I suppose this might be the movie for you.
the movie that could have been so much better
Kelchubordnor11 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Before I start my review, please don't watch this if you have epilepsy or any reaction at all to flashing lights. I have very bad eyesight and believe me this movie hurts to watch. Simply put the details are guy is a fighter has to pay off brothers mob debt and fights underground to do it, throw in a beautiful actress and some very decent mma guys including Michael Bisping who is one of the best. That is the story in a nutshell and yes it has been done before a few times. What ruins the whole thing is the atrocious editing. there is so much camera movement, flashing in and out and I could go on but this movie literally made my eyes ache. And I don't just mean the fight scenes which have been obliterated by the atrocious editing. The camera seems to be constantly fighting with the camera man and the director and the editor and nobody wins. This movie would have worked if the camera had stayed focused and just stayed still. I wont get technical about the quality of mma etc as it is too hard to see anything with this movie. I love my action flicks and to be honest I think mortal kombat had better editing than this . Such a shame. I bought this DVD because I saw Michael Bisping on the cover. Wish I hadn't.
Avoid!
zlove-114 November 2010
This is one of the most painful film experiences I have ever endured. The acting is terrible. The editing is extremely irritating. The story has all the dramatic depth of a six year old's school creative writing assignment. The thinly hidden marketing saturating the movie is distracting. Fight scenes, awful, and in total, around 10 minutes max of the film's 90 (agonizing) minute runtime. You wanna see real fight scenes, watch Asian cinema. Writing, terrible. Characters, wooden and with stupid 'backstories' lifted in a hurry from a billion other (better) films. This whole thing reeks of self-indulgence and money, but offer no shred of entertainment. None. Even like Sunday hangover brainless action fun. It is that bad. Do not ever watch this film, even for free.
i can't believe how bad this movie was! don't see it!
topsecretappleface23 October 2010
how did this movie get all these really good actors in it? the story is really predictable. it shows basically the same fight scene over and over. the main character basically just goes around beating everyone up and then taking to his hot girlfriend, and then beating more people up, but it's not bad enough to actually be funny. the camera man liked to zoom in on everybody's face really stiffly to show how pretty/famous they were. but even though Rudy Youngblood does have a beautiful face, it just doesn't do the trick for 2 hours. There were jokes that could have been funny but the timing was all wrong. Everybody was wearing a cowboy hat, and i liked how every time they went on a farm there was a different generic animal noise in the background, first chickens then cows etc. The editing looked like was done by a 5 year old who just discovered i movie for the first time. the special effects completely distracted from the story, but that was OK since there wasn't much of one in the first place. there were so many parts in slow motion for no reason, that once there was actually something dramatic you would be completely zoned out and miss it! and finally the soundtrack was terrible.
Avoid at ALL COSTS
brandonrobert955 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is the weakest movie ever. The camera angles give it an unrealistic feel, and the acting is atrocious. Rudy Youngblood does not deserve a main role, because he definitely cannot act. Danny Trejo should be embarrassed to be in this movie. The plot is weak, and I found myself wishing it was over. I found one of the weakest points of the movie to be the unnecessary relationship between Rudy Youngblood and Danny Trejo's characters. It seemed like a relationship where EVERYTHING was the worst. His brother is dead, his mother is dead, and the father was abusive and is now in a wheelchair. It feels so sappy and so over-dramatic. Not to say Rudy Youngblood is just painful to watch. Not because it was sad, but because it is the worst cry I've ever seen.
Avoid at all costs.
Avoid at all costs.
Beatdown is not really a success.
tarbosh220003 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Brandon (Youngblood) is a tough street brawler whose brother Frankie is killed by gangsters. Now the gangsters are after Brandon for the 40,000 dollars his brother owed. Brandon then flees to a small Southern town where he develops a romance and also lives with his paraplegic father (Trejo). It's not long before Brandon enters the underground Punchfighting circuit where the reigning champion is Victor Dean (Balfour). It turns out the burgeoning romance is with Dean's sister Erin (Abromeit), and Victor's not happy. Brandon moves up the ranks and eventually faces off against Victor. Who will win? The biggest problem with this movie is the editing. There are weird, unnecessary cuts, as well as puzzling camera zooms and spins. The fights are pretty brutal when you can see them, as there are plenty of blood-soaked fences (yes, fences!) to show the extreme nature of the fighting. Also quite extreme is the now-prerequisite playing of the song "Wildfire in the Streets" by Tommy Fields. Surely the makers of all these modern-day Punchfighters must have known that fans don't watch just one of these things. If you like one, you probably will like them all, and fans would notice the constant reappearance of Tommy Fields.
The plot is also haphazard, as there is a quick setup with the gangster Gino Ganz which kind of falls by the wayside until much later. All the clichés you know and love are present and accounted for - the training sequence and the silly love story, with its insipid dialogue. There's plenty of "Barnfighting", as Southern "redneck" stereotypes are beaten by Youngblood. There's, inexplicably, a TapouT octagon in the middle of a state fair in the deep south. Their tentacles reach from there to prisons everywhere, as Locked Down (2010) proves.
Youngblood is relatively likable, but as you might expect, Danny Trejo is the best actor in the movie. He seems like he doesn't care, but it could be his character.
If only the directing and editing were competent, this would be a not-bad modern-day Punchfighter. As it stands, Beatdown is not really a success.
for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
The plot is also haphazard, as there is a quick setup with the gangster Gino Ganz which kind of falls by the wayside until much later. All the clichés you know and love are present and accounted for - the training sequence and the silly love story, with its insipid dialogue. There's plenty of "Barnfighting", as Southern "redneck" stereotypes are beaten by Youngblood. There's, inexplicably, a TapouT octagon in the middle of a state fair in the deep south. Their tentacles reach from there to prisons everywhere, as Locked Down (2010) proves.
Youngblood is relatively likable, but as you might expect, Danny Trejo is the best actor in the movie. He seems like he doesn't care, but it could be his character.
If only the directing and editing were competent, this would be a not-bad modern-day Punchfighter. As it stands, Beatdown is not really a success.
for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
Hurt Buisness
ThunderKing618 August 2021
The movie wasn't horrible. It was okay. Just okay. The story was generic. It was about a guy street fighting and then a big Don shows up, and he must keep fighting. The choregraphy was alright, nothing that says "Super Cool". It features a couple of known MMA/WWE fighters they are really just a cameo at best.
It's a good movie if you are bored and there is nothing else to watch.
It's a good movie if you are bored and there is nothing else to watch.
Not worth the mental beating involved with watching it...
fibo8730 September 2012
I watched this last night on TV. I have to say it was one of the worst films I have seen in awhile. The acting was tolerable and the story followed a basic lineal pattern. A movie to watch if you don't want to have to dig for the films meaning, this film lacks that entirely. I think when they decided to edit this movie that let a little kid go nuts with the visual effects. It in no way added any artistic quality to the film. There are moments where characters interact for short periods of time and then it fades to black. This is a common fade away method but it was used to death in this film. The fights were brutal but usually ended in the same unsurprising manner. The fights were accompanied by rock/metal music that at times fit but not always. Anywho I would steer clear of this Gem.
BEATDOWN can smack down DAMAGE any day
charlytully26 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
While the similar MMA-themed flick DAMAGE throws everything but the kitchen sink into its plot--including organ transplant shortages, canine abuse, naked woman suicide attempts, gambling debts, a mysterious holy roller Bible verse spouter, implausible coincidences, fight cages plunging through floors, shipping containers-top battles against fearsome "truckers" (Jimmy Hoffa still would be enjoying retirement if Teamsters fought like this in real life), and about 12 guys who appear beaten to death or into comas--BEATDOWN is down-to-earth plausible when compared to DAMAGE. While it shares many of the off-putting MMA conventions in depicting bare-knuckle violence (where do these guys get their indestructible hands from?), BEATDOWN has a linear plot that you can follow without needing to throw your remote at the TV in disgust. In other words, BEATDOWN can be seen as the RAGING BULL to DAMAGE's over-the-top ROCKY 5. While BEATDOWN's training sequence montage looks like Peewee Herman trying to do homage to Sylvester Stallone beating on raw meat in the walk-in freezer (where were the health inspectors?), the handlers of all the opponents Brandon (Rudy Youngblood) vanquishes humanely throw in their towels at the first opportunity, and most of the fights are finished in 20 seconds or less. I can say from personal experience that this in closer to how the fight game works in real life (which is why it's so important to throw the first punch!).
Unconventially wonderful and definitely not a chick flick!!!!
oolatech224 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I don't know where to begin. I really enjoyed this movie for a number of reasons. First, the romance between Erin and Brandon did not involve a gratuitous sex scene and the nudity in the film had nothing to do with the main characters. Their relationship was extremely wholesome and they spent the majority of their time on screen talking about their feelings.
Second, It was full of action packed fights with a lot of blood in a realistic manner. Third, while the ending was somewhat predictable, I felt there was enough of a twist to keep it fresh. This is not a Rocky type movie! I find most movies make the hero a goat first and this one was full of excitement from beginning to end.
I thought Michael Bisbing who is one of my favorite fighters was good as Drake, he was playing a former fighter that took fights from time to time to pay the bills. His line delivery was as a matter of fact instead of with feeling but Michael brought his consummate cool which made him a likable supporting character.
Props to Susie Abromeit (Erin)for playing the drop dead gorgeous girlfriend without the winy you'll get yourself killed crap. Rudy Youngblood (Brandon)and Eric Balfour (Victor) carried the film as actors and I thought they were the two standout performances in the film.
You may remember Brandon's dad from "From Dusk till Dawn" (as the bartender) his character was a paraplegic ex-abusive parent and widower that had found religion to avoid talking about the past and dealing with his emotions regarding his son.
If you are a fan of MMA and enjoy a good fight, then this is a movie you could watch again and again. Unless your girlfriend/wife/significant other is in to extreme realistic violence, you may want to watch this without them.
Second, It was full of action packed fights with a lot of blood in a realistic manner. Third, while the ending was somewhat predictable, I felt there was enough of a twist to keep it fresh. This is not a Rocky type movie! I find most movies make the hero a goat first and this one was full of excitement from beginning to end.
I thought Michael Bisbing who is one of my favorite fighters was good as Drake, he was playing a former fighter that took fights from time to time to pay the bills. His line delivery was as a matter of fact instead of with feeling but Michael brought his consummate cool which made him a likable supporting character.
Props to Susie Abromeit (Erin)for playing the drop dead gorgeous girlfriend without the winy you'll get yourself killed crap. Rudy Youngblood (Brandon)and Eric Balfour (Victor) carried the film as actors and I thought they were the two standout performances in the film.
You may remember Brandon's dad from "From Dusk till Dawn" (as the bartender) his character was a paraplegic ex-abusive parent and widower that had found religion to avoid talking about the past and dealing with his emotions regarding his son.
If you are a fan of MMA and enjoy a good fight, then this is a movie you could watch again and again. Unless your girlfriend/wife/significant other is in to extreme realistic violence, you may want to watch this without them.
I'd rather have a root canal than watch this movie again.
nlaskowski23 July 2011
The only reason I saw this movie is because my sister-in-law was an extra and she had a ton of fun while filming. She said that twelve hours of work for three seconds of screen time is not worth sitting and watching this piece of wasted film. If you want to brave this movie, you're going to need a case or two of beer or some really hard liquor. I had more fun trying to figure out what parts of Austin, TX they filmed in. My sister-in-law said she had a ton of fun on a very cold November night (yes, the wet T-shirt girls near the beginning of the film endured freezing temperatures!!!) and we caught a glimpse of her in the film and in the special features--that was worth the time and the three cases of beer. The script was awful, my dead-grandmother could have written better dialogue. I had more fun watching Borat, and I really hated that movie too (and I was wasted during Borat as well). Cheers mates!
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