Underground

There's no plot and only a tiny amount of character development in this movie, but it sure is enjoyable to watch. It's like a season's worth of fight scenes from "The Ultimate Fighter" TV show collapsed into one sitting, except of course that the fighting in Underground isn't real.

Indeed, there were several times when I was annoyed with the silly decisions made by some of these supposedly top-notch martial artists, as well as the unrealistic effects of some of the strikes employed. They seemed out of place in a film that was trying so hard to be base and gritty.

Nevertheless, if you like watching high-flying, flip-around-in-the-air, make-believe martial arts, then this movie is for you. The filmmakers clearly just wanted to make a bunch of fighting scenes, and they knew that stitching everything together with a contrived, incomprehensible plot would just ruin it (think: Mortal Kombat sequels). So instead they opted for no plot at all, and put their time and money into the choreography.

Don't like fights? Don't watch. Like fights? It's worth a viewing!

To everyone else who's posted about this film, imagine it was named street fighter and released in the 90's.

If they'd used this formula with the film street fighter in the 90's instead of the whole UN army vs terrorists thing it would have suited it down to the ground.

If you like martial arts go watch it, if you feel you need x amounts of twists and turns in a movie to enjoy it then don't.

The plots simple, explain the structure of the tournament. 5 minutes on each fighter's background and motivation. 2 minutes deciding who's up for the next fight, then on with the fight.

Wow, this film doesn't just "break" the British film industry mould - it shatters it!

I've read comments on here which drone on about the script, acting and direction all being bad, but those comments were clearly remarked by morons. The screen-play is totally apt for the film's concept, the actors all perform their own fights and stunts and frankly, are each a spectacle to behold, and the direction - from angles, edits, to fight choreography - is excellent.

I had a slight problem with the "shaky cam" used in a certain (brief) hospital scene, but considering how most modern high profile TV programmes nowadays look like they've been shot on a boat at high sea in the middle of a tsunami, it's most forgivable.

The film follows a simple premise: twelve fighters, one winner - now just watch them go at it!

From the above sentence you can now decide if you'd like to see this film or not... it's all a matter of personal taste.

Personally, I take each film as its own and rate them by the entertainment value it gave me whilst watching - it is for this reason that I've given Underground an 8.

My only glitch with this flick was that I found the contest organiser to be really annoying (with his constant cheesy grinning) and was hoping from the first two minutes in for one (or more) or the fighters to give him a well deserved slap. Then again, perhaps this was the intentional portrayal of an immoral villain one would just WANT to see meet a gruesome end...

The inclusion of sharp weapons was a bit much, but overall, an indie pic' well worth checking out.

Even better than Geochilmaru.

A film that sounds like a rehash of Kickboxer or Dead or alive and it is but with more of the hash. That is the messy kind of hash rather than the weed kind of hash.

The film places 12 fighters against each other in a series of elimination bouts which take place in various 'street' arenas, with the aim of finding the ultimate winner. Much like a computer game, say, Tekken. The film feels like a computer game too and having as much depth as a paddling pool this point is further endorsed. The character development also follows suit.

We are thrown straight into the first fight within minutes of the film starting and with very little background on each fighter given at this point. This leads too the viewer not really caring for the fighters. Win or lose. This feeling is further struck home by the fact that the fighters in the film don't speak, only the suits running the show do. Furthermore the fighters are only known as the pigeonhole of the life they lead e.g The Homeless, The teacher, The Model etc.

The fights scenes are quite convincing and shot well with very little confusion and good fluidity. This is where the film gets 3 of the stars I have given it. The rest of the filmed is...awful.

When i picked this movie, it looked like a very good tournament martial arts movie... and on this department, it kinda is. Let me put it straight. The martial arts in this movie are well choreographed, the fight are interesting and the action is brutal unlike many movies where they take many punches and don't show a scratch. Its kinda like these guys wanted to make a brutal somewhat realistic tournament movie still including nice martial arts choreographies. And for that they succeeded.

But the main problem of this movie is the script, or i should say the lac of script. Part of me always wanted a martial arts tournament where they would cut the useless stuff and show us fights, and this movie did, but at the same time, i realized if you don't put an interesting stories, there is NO POINT to the movie. You barely know these guys that are fighting, and honestly you end up not giving a crap about any of them cause you just don't know much. I mean most of them are presented with a valid reason to be there, and some partial little way of rooting for them, but none really get out of the bunch where you really want him to win. Its kinda like watching a mix martial art tournament with unknown fighters, yet all match are fun to watch. In the end your like "cool" but it miss to catch your eyes. I saw bad movies in my life, especially since i own one of the biggest martial art collection of the northern east coast, and some of them had decent classic revenge plot but terrible martial arts, and they where BAD.

This movie at least succeed on the part of the fights. Every fight is interesting, brutal and none of them are a "squash" to showcase the hero or the villain, but at the same time really the lack of some guys to root for just plainly destroy any interest in the movie. I know this has been shot with very limited budget and i respect that, they did a very good job on the fights, but they should had gave the movie a hero, cause there is none. Like i said every fighter in the movie has a valid reason to be there, there is no villain really and your just watching it like you would watch a martial art tournament in real life, only with better choreography's.

So in the end what can i say... plus one for the effort... they tried, and the fights are good, but next time bring a story... cause i wouldn't say the story is bad, no, its just inexistent... there is none... plain and simple and that remove a lot of interest in the movie. If you like low budget fighting movies, try Among Dead Men... really low budget, decent fighting, and still they manage to get an interesting stories going on with a clear villain and hero.

So in the end i would say coming out of nowhere this movie was OK, but it should had be the movie for a game like street fighter, where you cared and rooted for a certain character... not a bunch of no names cliché stereotypes like this....