Gladiators

for a UFC fighting style movie. for a meager $5 mil. production budget, this movie turned out not bad at all passed the ceiling level of a B movie. but there are still some weird directing weaknesses: 1) the badly scripted then uniform cop then detective after 10 yrs. looked more like thugs and holding grudge for 10 yrs against the man who didn't shoot his partner is such a weak plot. 2) the parole officer is also a very weird role created in this movie. 3) the liquor store never got one customer but both owner and the employee still doing shelving restocking and storage room inventory daily. how this liquor store survived? 4) michael jay white became a syndicate fixer and a thug is a stretch. 5) the time frame of being a young man then spent 10 years in prison, came out still looked the same is another stretch; out of prison at age of ??? ain't he a bit too old? 6) the underground UFC style cage fights arrangement is a bit weak; 7) a billet shot through the cheek, yet not even swollen after the stitching-up is another stretch, and the bullet wound scar just like a dimple? man, this is what? korean plastic surgery?

anyway, this is still a movie with very weak screenplay but performed by a very good tense gradually matured actor with quite believable fighting act.

OK, It's not an epic, and it certainly could have some smoother edits, but as jaded as I can be after roughly 5000 movies I think that this is a very good film.

First remember the genre'. The story is well paced and shot nicely. They have resisted the urge to cut too fast, and this gives actors the chance to embrace a scene, making it believable. This is better than many big budget, big name parades that present themselves as quality but miss the mark. Fun,engaging and well acted,Wes Chatham,Devon Sawa, Sarah Butler,and Adam Mervis do a lot to develop believable and vulnerable characters within the constraints of a compact but well written script. I look forward to following their promising careers. Butler in particular is need that one big opportunity and she'll light up the screen. Sarah Butler deserves kudos for being extremely endearing quickly and adding real weight to the tension within the story. Devon Sawa, a winner.He just is. I've always been Neal McDonough fan and he has the talent and charisma that makes the viewer hope for more screen time.

A very good movie. AND I am a very jaded reviewer.

I think anytime you watch a movie about something in which you are knowledgeable there is an excellent chance you will be disappointed. Movies when people click on a keyboard for 2 minutes and crack the CIA firewall or alien codes! Or when Japanese import cars are red-lined but seem to continue to rev higher and go faster with nitrous. Or football movies where people are diving left and right, but never at the ball carrier.

This film is no different. The fight scenes weren't bad. Not even close to real, but better than other movies I've seen. The acting wasn't bad. The plot wasn't bad. Bearable, entertaining, but nothing exceptional.

The plot has the lead actor fighting THREE fights to pay off a debt of his loser friend. After TWO fights, against virtually unknown local fighters, an MMA organization seeks him out and offers him a contract fight. The representative of the organization says they've been tracking his career. What??? His first fight was with no training after 10 years in prison. The second a few weeks later. Thousands of fighters across the nation, and they take notice of a guy with 2 wins in as many weeks against local nobodies??? Good grief.

His third fight is against a guy twice his weight that moves like an 80-year-old. Look, it isn't the UFC, but there are still weight classes! I won't reveal any more and risk spoiling the end.

Bottom line... worth watching over regular TV... but nothing beyond average.

I recently rented this off ITunes. I wasn't expecting much but to be entertained for 90 minutes and that's exactly what I got. The star Wes chatham as a recently paroled ex- NCAA wrestler played a believable role as someone forced to fight in the cage in order to save his longtime friend played by Devon sawa (almost unregognizable with his new veneer teeth) the fights are pretty well choreographed and are pretty realistic. To sum things up I would recommend this to fight fans or anyone looking to be entertained for 90 minutes. This is the fourth film I've seen in the after dark action films with the exception of stash house.

With the explosion of the MMA world there have been more and more films following it but much like every other genre they don't always work. The latest to tackle the genre is the Philly Kid featuring Wes Chatham, Devon Sawa, Neal McDonough, and Michael Jai White. Can this latest fight drama deliver the one two punch is it striving for or will it get knocked down for the count?

Philly Kid follows a former NCAA wrestler just out of jail who is forced into the underground cage fighting scene to save a friend's life. This film doesn't bring anything all that new to the genre, but it is still well crafted enough to be entertaining. The story here is a pretty straight forward formula that has been used countless times, but works to deliver the overall feel they are going for. The performances were all decent enough, but sadly Michael Jai White is barely here. He has such a commanding presence whether he is fighting of just talking that his bits are great, but isn't given anything to do to bring this movie up a notch. Neal McDonough did a great job, but in reality it would have been nice to see him and White switch places as they are both better fit for the other parts. IT was nice to see Devon Sawa who had a huge surge for a while there, then seemingly dropped out of the spotlight for a bit. Chatham did a decent job carrying the film, but just didn't bring anything all that special to the role. The real spotlight here is really the fighting which is well done, but never really pushes the boundaries to give it the stand out action it needed.

Philly Kid is a decent addition to the MMA genre delivering some decent performances and action. With a little more time spent on stepping up the quality of the action it could have been so much more, but unless you are actually into martial arts, then it probably won't be anything you notice because it is well shot and executed. If you're looking for a decent martial arts rental then give Philly Kid a try.