Scorpion

Washed-up ex-fighter is approached by shady manager and convinced to enter the illegal / no-rules fighting circuit, but what he's really looking for is redemption. Though better made than the similar films Jean Claude Van Damme was making in the early 90's ("Lionheart", for example), "Scorpion" will probably not satisfy most martial arts fans. The fights are brutal but suffer from flashy over-editing which makes them hard to follow. And the severely unpleasant subplot about a barwoman who is also forced to work as a prostitute for a violent criminal is both a downer and a distraction. The acting is convincing across the board, but there is only so much you can do with this story. (**)

This is not a bad movie. The acting is very good and the direction is solid. I get the impression from the DVD extras that the budget was cut during the making of this and it does show.

The fight scenes lack any real passion, and lack any real empathy with the main protagonists. I feel some of the main characters needed to be fleshed out somewhat more. As a viewer I felt that the director had a very strong feel for each character in his head but couldn't fully portray it in the final movie.

This sounds negative and I don't want to leave that impression. I would recommend this as a good film that has a interesting story and strong characterisation. I look forward to seeing what the people behind this produce in the future. I think the best is ahead.

In my eyes this film was great. Trailer was a beast and was worried that the film might not live up to my expectations... But it did! good story, good fighting, hot women... hey what more can a guy ask for! It's a simple story easy to understand and easy to watch The fighting is good although more could have been shown but what was shown was very enjoyable. Big Angelo is a champ no matter who he is up against he will accept the challenge! scorpion is awesome! Reviews i have read have been harsh as far as i'm concerned for a lower budget film it really is superb! I would recommend this as A Must watch if you enjoy fighting films.

Another IMDb member tipped me that this was worth seeing so I ordered the DVD.

Started great, and then wound down. Which is really really ironic since the whole point of MMA and martial arts is pacing. So what good is a film that exhausts itself off the top? To put the review in perspective, as weak as it is, it is still a much more entertaining product that the DTV stuff that is now coming out of the US MMA circuit, where the "big names" in the sport think it is really cool if they bypass the middle man (ie, Hollywood) and make the films themselves, starring themselves, written and directed by themselves. Yuck.

And it does not even come close to the quality of Warrior or Forbidden Kingdom, the two martial arts films I have seen in my lifetime.

Go easy people its real hard being a pioneer(joke).....but this film is an attempt to at least try to use 'real' fighting in a fictional story.It is notoriously hard to make most effective techniques used in MMA to look good on the big screen,so i think its a darn nice try!Obviously you must be open minded when were brought up on a steady diet of such spectacular footage that we all are nowadays-there is no comparison.However i do advise giving this one a try as i sort of enjoyed it(in the dark with loud surround sound guys).....maybe i am a little biased seeing as though my favourite K1 fighter is in it(Jerome Le Banner) but hey what u gonna do?