Never Back Down (2008)

A frustrated and conflicted teenager arrives at a new high school to discover an underground fight club and meet a classmate who begins to coerce him into fighting.

Director:

Jeff Wadlow

Writer:

Chris Hauty

Stars:

Sean Faris, Djimon Hounsou, Amber Heard

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Faris	...	Jake Tyler
Amber Heard	...	Baja Miller
Cam Gigandet	...	Ryan McCarthy
Evan Peters	...	Max Cooperman
Leslie Hope	...	Margot Tyler
Djimon Hounsou	...	Jean Roqua
Wyatt Smith	...	Charlie Tyler
Affion Crockett	...	Beatdown DJ
Neil Brown Jr.	...	Aaron
Lauren Leech	...	Jenny
Tilky Jones	...	Eric
Steven Crowley	...	Ben
Tom Nowicki	...	Mr. Lloyd
Chele André	...	Max's Girl
Chris Lindsay	...	Beat Down Referee

Storyline

At his new high school, a rebellious teen Jake Tyler is lured into an ultimate underground fighting club in a Backyard Fight, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran. After receiving threats to the safety of his friends and family, Jake seeks the mentoring of a veteran fighter, to train his mind and body for one final no-holds-barred elimination fight with his unrelenting personal nemesis and local martial arts champion Ryan McCarthy.

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Plot Keywords:

bad temper | fight | fighting | club | mixed martial arts | 

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Taglines:

Win or Lose... Everyone Has Their Fight

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving intense sequences of fighting/violence, some sexuality, partying and language - all involving teens

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 March 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Get Some

Filming Locations:

Clermont, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,603,195, 16 March 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$24,850,922, 5 June 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Summit Entertainment,Mandalay Independent Pictures,Baumgarten Management and Productions (BMP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gillian Jacobs auditioned for the role of Baja. Jacobs said that director Jeff Wadlow remarked that her audition reminded him of Christopher Walken. She did not get the part.

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Goofs

When Jake goes to the gym after sticking up for Baja in the parking lot, he throws a kick to Roqua's head while he trains him, in which Roqua has to duck. Later in the movie, when he's training, it shows that he cannot kick that high.

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Quotes

Ryan McCarthy: Look, we all saw the footage, dude - and you can bang.

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Alternate Versions

PG-13 version is 110 Minutes while the unrated version is 113 Minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in Disaster Movie (2008)

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Soundtracks

Someday
Written by Steve Knight, Jinho 'Piper' Ferreira and Dave Lopez
Performed by Flipsyde
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Surprisingly good

This movie is quite predictable. The story of a boy that gets into trouble in school and starts fighting because of that isn't original, but between all the predictable movies with this theme, certainly this is the best.

Your attention is caught in every single scene. I think the best merit of Never Back Down is that it mixes a lot of types of movie. At the beginning, it's like one of that silly teenager's movie, showing the school, party and girls. Then the atmosphere gets darker and the world of fighting is showed, as well as family's problems, turning everything into a drama. And then... I won't tell the whole story, but I assure that you won't get bored.

The acting was very well done too, especially Cam Gigandet. He definitely knew how to be the typical bad guy; not like those annoying bad actors in teenagers movie, but a darker, more "serious" one.

Even with all these qualities that makes Never Back Down stands out, I don't think that older people will enjoy watching it... although the movie brings out a moral that fits in everyone.