Underground: Submundo Sangrento

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.

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!

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.

Do not make the same mistake that I did by listening to these do-do heads! I wasn't planning on watching this movie but thanks to these guys who gave this movie such a great review, I basically wasted an hour and a half of my life... first of all, the movie is supposed to be a realistic view of illegal underground fighting but if you've seen any UFC fightings you would know that when your opponent is down on the ground you do not wait for him to get up, right? so why does all the fighters in this movie actually stands around till their opponent gets back on their feet after getting knocked down, doesn't make sense! 2nd... you can't get emotional attachment to any character, which turns the movie into a choreograph fighting w/ no story.. 3rd, why do all the characters talk like they're about to shoot a porn scene and the voice over makes it sounds like lord of the rings, it doenst work at all... 4th, bad acting... some girls will just burst into tears for no reason at all and the guy playing the leader of the underground fighting acts like he's the devil and i'm not talking about a bad person, i mean the real Devil! ... and last but not the least, cliché from start to end! ... I won't recommend this movie even to my worst enemies and do not believe the hype, the fighting is not even that good, maybe not even average!

I watched this movie 2 days back. i searched for this movie in here. there were no comments. so i thought of posting mine here.

This is a UK movie. There are no major character in the movie as u can see. The story is about a competition being held in a junkyard underground somewhere in England where 12 fighters each from different background are chosen to fight until last man standing. A prize money of $500,000 goes to the winner. 6 millionaires staked $200,000 each and choose 2 fighters each on their side. it's up to the millionaires who decide among themselves who have to fight. With each round a fighter is eliminated and so on one is victorious.

The story is just fine but not . There are some amazing fights. All the twelve fighters are shown as having very good martial arts skill. They put up a good show. But this is the only good thing about the movie. The narration is nice too.

The Direction seems quite amateurish. The script is awful. The man who sets up the fight is shown as having maximum importance. I couldn't understand why was he being happy during the fights. The presentation of the fighters is not good. The unnecessary cut scenes make the movie a bit long perhaps.

The high rating by me is only due to some stunning fight performances by the actors. Nothing more in for the movie. If u a fan of martial arts movie then WATCH this one for the amazing fights. Otherwise u can give it a miss.