DVD reviews: Warrior | Real Steel

By ALISTAIR HARKNESS
Published on 20/02/2012 00:00

The Scotsman’s film critic Alistair Harkness casts his eye over the latest DVD releases

Warrior

Lionsgate, £19.99

MIXED martial arts (MMA) drama Warrior is one of those films that may have a lot more endurance than its paltry showing at the box office ever suggested. I know men who admit to crying at its emotionally wrought final smackdown, and even though the film was held back for a year – to put some distance between it and the similarly themed The Fighter – that didn’t stop Nick Nolte from bagging an out-of-nowhere best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his rambling, shambling turn as the alcoholic father of the film’s sibling protagonists. It’s the bruising central performances by Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as these estranged brothers, however, that prevents the flabbier-than-it-should-be film from tapping out. They’re kept apart on screen for much of the film, and their motivations are given equal weight: mysterious ex-Marine Tommy (Hardy) turns up on his father’s doorstep looking for a trainer for an upcoming winner-takes-all MMA competition; and ex-fighter turned debt-ridden family man Brendan (Edgerton) attempts to get back in the cage to win enough cash to save his house. Will the dark horse triumph over the underdog? As ridiculous as it sounds, Hardy and Edgerton attack the storyline with enough grace and credibility to ensure the emotional blows feel as authentic as the physical ones look. Think of it as “Fists of Steel Magnolias”: a four-hanky weepy for fight fans.

Real Steel

Disney, £17.99

It’s certainly better than Real Steel, which is a four-hanky weepy for preteen Transformers fans. It stars Hugh Jackman as a debt-ridden former boxer living in a near-future world in which the sport he loved has been replaced by robot boxing. Having fallen on hard times, he makes a meagre living pitching his giant remote-controlled robot against other giant remote-controlled robots on the fringes of the robot-boxing league. The film allegedly kicks into gear when he’s forced to care for his estranged son for the summer. They bond after finding an underdog robo challenger that just might go the distance. A manipulative blend of Rocky and Sylvester Stallone’s largely forgotten arm-wrestling movie Over The Top, Real Steel does deliver some effectively coordinated fight sequences thanks to director Shawn Levy hiring Sugar Ray Leonard as an advisor. Alas, the corny father-son stuff is so wet it short-circuits its mechanical heart.