I dare say the trailer looks better than the movie might turn out to be. Still, will probably be a goog popcorn flick.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmDzyS6LRto
The obvious comparisons will be made with fight club (even the marketing design is similar) but I got more of a Karate Kid vibe from the trailer, which could be a good thing.

I remember seeing Cam Gigandet on "The O.C.", he seems to always play villains you love to hate.

this reminds me of No Retreat, No Surrender... except without anything in No Retreat No Surrender

From the producers who brought us Fast and Furious I assume?

That looks more like an insult to Fight Club.

Hrm. More like "You Got Served" meets "Karate Kid".

Wow!







That looks like shit.

Not THE shit, just shit.

I'm hoping it will sit comfortably between those crappy you got served movies and the well done ... wait ... there are no well done fight tournament movies. Are there?

Looks cheesy but might be a guilty pleasure lol. Might be the perfect mid-afternoon movie to see after leaving work.

At least with NRNS you get the hilarious dialogue and bad acting. This just looks stupid.

Huh. Seems more like Something About Mary meets Ong Bak, except with retards.

And the sequel will be titled Never Back Down 2 The Streets.

What, Djimon Hounsou can't find work?

Jake Tyler? Almost Jack Tyler, but not quite.

Rocky meets Billy Blanks meets The Fast and the Furious meets that episode of South Park where the boys go to Asspen and Stan's gotta learn how to ski to have the teen-youth-center-thing.

Even Rocky had a montage...
<embed width="425" height="355" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-xBSfY01nMk&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed>



I hope I get to see this trailer in the theater...there's nothing better than over-reacting to really bad movies in a crowded theater

OMG, this movie could not look any cooler! Except maybe if they used a picture of a down arrow instead of the actual word "down". Coolness Overload!!!!

They might as well start using text message writing to sell these movies since they're obviously aimed at teenagers.

NVR BCK DWN!!

So I'm guessing we're gonna be seeing a lot of teenagers thinking they can do MMA now. And exactly in what magical realm do we have a school where the cool kids gather to do MMA?

He needed something to do while the Deep Rising prequel was coming together.

Geez, I fucking hope not!

"Never Back Down" tries to be this generation's "The Karate Kid" with a CW-flavored teen drama, but updates the story by using Mixed Martial Arts as its main form of action (instead of karate), though Djimon Hounsou's Jean Roqua is not quite as memorable as Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi.

Sean Faris is Jake Tyler, made famous via youtube footage of his brawling on the high school football field, and his mother moves the family from Iowa to Florida so his little brother, the tennis prodigy, can attend a prestigious tennis academy. He lives with the guilt of letting his drunk father drive the car and his drunk father ran their car into a tree, killing the father, but leaving Jake with many regrets, and a well of angry emotions bottled up for the most part.

At the new school, Jake's former exploits as a brawler circulate via the internet, and iphones, and Ryan McCarthy, the BMOC, sets up Jake and humiliates him at a party in a MMA fight (seems the school is set up for Fight Club lite amongst the students). Seeking an edge, Jake's awkward friendship with Max leads him to Jean Roqua's MMA training gym. Jean is not about fighting for fighting's sake, but as a means to learn discipline and self-defense, but Jake has his own motivations to regain some respect for himself.

Overall, the film is serviceable for its predictable script, but the performances are just above average, and Hounsou lends proper dignity to Jean, and elevates the film just a smidge over its genre roots.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

My apologies, if a mod is reading, please merge with the existing thread:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=523077