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Gladiators

Original title: The Philly Kid
  • 2012
  • R
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
Gladiators (2012)
A former NCAA champion wrestler is paroled after 10 years in prison. Now, to save a friend's life, in a series of cage fights he must agree to do the impossible - lose.
Play trailer1:54
1 Video
18 Photos
ActionDramaSport

A former NCAA champion wrestler, paroled after ten years in prison, agrees to a series of cage fights to save a friend's life and is asked to do the impossible - lose.A former NCAA champion wrestler, paroled after ten years in prison, agrees to a series of cage fights to save a friend's life and is asked to do the impossible - lose.A former NCAA champion wrestler, paroled after ten years in prison, agrees to a series of cage fights to save a friend's life and is asked to do the impossible - lose.

  • Director
    • Jason Connery
  • Writers
    • Adam Mervis
    • Adam Ratcliffe
    • Javier Rodriguez
  • Stars
    • Wes Chatham
    • Devon Sawa
    • Sarah Butler
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.6/10
    2.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jason Connery
    • Writers
      • Adam Mervis
      • Adam Ratcliffe
      • Javier Rodriguez
    • Stars
      • Wes Chatham
      • Devon Sawa
      • Sarah Butler
    • 18User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Videos1

    U.S. Version
    Trailer 1:54
    U.S. Version

    Photos18

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    + 12
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    Top cast68

    Edit
    Wes Chatham
    Wes Chatham
    • Dillon
    Devon Sawa
    Devon Sawa
    • Jake
    Sarah Butler
    Sarah Butler
    • Amy
    Neal McDonough
    Neal McDonough
    • LA Jim
    Lucky Johnson
    • Ace
    Chris Browning
    Chris Browning
    • Marks
    Adam Mervis
    Adam Mervis
    • Ryan Maygold
    Bernard Hocke
    Bernard Hocke
    • Lenny
    Ava Bogle
    Ava Bogle
    • Allison Kaufman
    Eric Scott Woods
    Eric Scott Woods
    • Spencer
    Michael Jai White
    Michael Jai White
    • Arthur Letts
    Andrew Sensenig
    Andrew Sensenig
    • Larry
    Rich Clementi
    Rich Clementi
    • Sanchez
    Kasey Emas
    • Tina
    Kris Van Damme
    Kris Van Damme
    • Chase
    • (as Kristopher Van Varenberg)
    Marco St. John
    Marco St. John
    • Doctor
    JD Evermore
    JD Evermore
    • Parole Officer
    • (as J.D. Evermore)
    Billy Slaughter
    Billy Slaughter
    • TV Announcer #1
    • Director
      • Jason Connery
    • Writers
      • Adam Mervis
      • Adam Ratcliffe
      • Javier Rodriguez
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    5.62.3K
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    Featured reviews

    8roadstar06

    A great little film that proves that they can still be made...

    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.
    7dee.reid

    My first review of the new year goes to "The Philly Kid" - Nice punching sounds...

    "The Philly Kid" has some nice punching sounds. I mean that, really. Of all the low-budget martial arts action movies in recent years, there's finally a fight movie with some impressive punching sound effects. Of course movies in recent years are going for more realism than in times past, but sometimes I really yearn for the old-school days of outrageous sound effects sometimes.

    But despite the obviously low budget, "The Philly Kid" has a typical-sounding plot that serves merely as a thread for impressively choreographed fight sequences. But the by-the-numbers plot is carried by an enthusiastic lead performance by Wes Chatham, who is able to make his character all of likable and sympathetic - like the best characters that Jean-Claude Van Damme played early in his career in movies like "Bloodsport" (1988), "Kickboxer" (1989) and "Lionheart" (1990), the latter film which this movie (and most others like it) owes the biggest debt of legacy to.

    And despite his impressive good-boy looks, he is not a lunk-head, but is actually bright and intelligent and believes in doing the right thing. And it certainly makes his progression through the film's flimsy plot not a chore but something close to an actual journey as he undergoes some form of a positive transformation into a better person, however marginalized by society at large.

    Things begin with a simple quest for booze for a night of harmless underage drinking with Dillon Maguire (Chatham), his friend Jake (Devon Sawa), and a third friend. When they're accosted by a trio of thugs, Dillon, the top collegiate wrestling prospect in the world, accidentally kills one of them in self-defense. To make matters worse, one of his friends was carrying a gun and accidentally shot and killed one of the police officers responding to the disturbance.

    As a result, both Dillon and Jake are sent to prison for 10 years. When Dillon is finally released, Jake (who had been paroled four years earlier) manages to track him down and get him a job with his uncle in a liquor store. Because Jake has suddenly become indebted to some ruthless local gangsters, Dillon agrees to settle his debts for him by jumping into the world of underground mixed martial arts fighting. In doing so, he seeks out the training of a former champ, LA Jim (Neal McDonough), so he can compete and settle his friend's pricey debts.

    "The Philly Kid" is a lot like most underground fight competition movies in the four decades since the explosion of martial arts movies in the 1970s in the wake of Bruce Lee. But what gets it by is the lead performance by Wes Chatham. As I stated before, his character has been through some pretty rough patches for such a young man, and his journey into the world of underground cage fighting can be seen as his way of seeking redemption and becoming a better person so he can enjoy a better life for himself - and his new love Amy (Sarah Butler).

    The fight sequences are pretty brutal and look realistic, with Dillon Maguire dishing out punishment to his opponents while also taking some punishment of his own. "The Philly Kid" was directed by Jason Connery and written by Adam Mervis, and it's an impressive low-budget feature with some good performances. The action scenes are also stand-out, as I previously mentioned.

    It's well worth at least one viewing.

    7/10
    rightwingisevil

    this is actually not bad

    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.
    7gradyharp

    His Only Way Out is Getting Back In

    Ever since the popularity of HUNGER GAMES the concept of watching young people in cages fight each other with no holds barred even to the death, have proliferated. Says something about the audience desires, or fads, or the gladiator mentality in all mankind since the Roman arenas. THE PHILLY KID is a low budget little pertinent drama that for the genre is better than the usual. Written by Adam Mervis (who also acts the role of the main character's understanding parole officer) and directed with fine pacing by Jason Connery, the movie somehow catches fire - likely due to a cast of up and coming young actors.

    Dillon (Wes Chatham, a hunk newbie the camera loves) is a former NCAA champion wrestler has just been released form 10 years in prison for braking the neck of a thug during a holdup in front of a liquor store where he (at around age 16) was buying alcohol with a fake ID for his friend Jake (Devon Sawa, impressive in a difficult role). Dillon now lives in a filthy halfway house and is without money until his old friend Jake finds him a job in a liquor store owned by a kindly man Lenny (Bernard Hocke). Jake's sister Amy (Sarah Butler) is on the scene and eventually becomes the love interest for Dillon. It seems Jake is heavily in debt to conman Ace (Lucky Johnson) and Jake, knowing Dillon's ability as a wrestler, pleads with Dillon to fight for money in the underground cage fighting scene to save a Jake's life. Another evil force is the police officer Marks (Chris Browning) who arrested Dillon and who hates him and threatens his life if he doesn't fix a fight. Dillon trains, wins some fights, (he is supposed to fight only three fights for Ace to release Jake's debt), and is observed and ultimately trained by LA Jim (Neal McDonough). From there on it is a succession of bloody fights and gore until the end finds a resolution.

    The cat is strong and is supported by some solid work by Eric Scott Woods and Michael Jai White. It is always satisfying to see new faces take on tough roles and this cadre of actors pulls it off very well. Not a great film, but a well crafted one for the genre.

    Grady Harp
    cosmo_tiger

    Another "Warrior" type movie that is actually pretty good. Fight scenes were realistic but acting was lacking. I say B+

    "I took these fights to pay off your debt, do you understand that? I fight one more time and that's where it ends." Dillon (Chatham) is among, if the the best NCAA wrestlers in the country. One night when him and his friends are at a convenience store something goes wrong and he ends up in jail. Ten years later he is finally out and ready to start his life again. After his friend is taken and beaten because he owes money Dillon agrees to do cage fights in order to pay back the debt. After he goes on a winning streak the wrong kind of people begin to find him. In the 80's it seemed like any type of fighting movie was based in the boxing world. Little by little that has changed and UFC-style is now the go to sport. After movies like "Warrior" more and more are being made about that life. To start with I will say that this is actually a very good movie with the most realistic fighting scenes I have seen in a movie in a long time. The acting is decent and passable for a movie like this, but most people don't watch this for the acting. Very entertaining and exciting but a little predictable. That doesn't really hurt the movie at all though. I recommend this. Overall, if you liked "Warrior" then you will really like this one too. I did. I give it a B+.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film is called "Brawler" on the UK Netflix.
    • Goofs
      Among his many injuries, Jake gets shot in the mouth, putting a hole through his cheek. Though sutured up and leaving only a small scratch (remarkable in itself), the blast alone would have burned his mouth, yet the injury fails to impede Jake's diction in any degree.
    • Quotes

      Marks: You just killed my partner. You're dead.

    • Connections
      References Sur écoute (2002)
    • Soundtracks
      Your Love Is Convenient
      Written by Ian Honeyman and Mark Bates

      Performed by Daniel Rojas

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 18, 2012 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Philly Kid
    • Filming locations
      • New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
    • Production companies
      • After Dark Films
      • Autonomous Films
      • Fourth Floor Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $5,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 30m(90 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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