Plot
At his new high school, a rebellious teen is lured into an underground fight club, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran.
Release Year: 2008
Rating: 6.3/10 (35,412 voted)
Critic's Score: 39/100
Director:
Jeff Wadlow
Stars: Sean Faris, Djimon Hounsou, Amber Heard
Storyline At his new high school, a rebellious teen Jake Tyler is lured into an ultimate underground fighting club in a Backyard Fight, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran. After receiving threats to the safety of his friends and family, Jake seeks the mentoring of a veteran fighter, to train his mind and body for one final no-holds-barred elimination fight with his unrelenting personal nemesis and local martial arts champion Ryan McCarthy.
Cast: Sean Faris
-
Jake Tyler
Amber Heard
-
Baja Miller
Cam Gigandet
-
Ryan McCarthy
Evan Peters
-
Max Cooperman
Leslie Hope
-
Margot Tyler
Djimon Hounsou
-
Jean Roqua
Wyatt Smith
-
Charlie Tyler
Affion Crockett
-
Beatdown DJ
Neil Brown Jr.
-
Aaron
Lauren Leech
-
Jenny
Tilky Jones
-
Eric
Steven Crowley
-
Ben
Tom Nowicki
-
Mr. Lloyd
Chele André
-
Max's Girl
Chris Lindsay
-
Beat Down Referee
Opening Weekend: $8,603,195
(USA)
(16 March 2008)
(2729 Screens)
Gross: $24,850,922
(USA)
(5 June 2008)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Sean Faris gained 15 lbs. of muscle for his role.
Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized:
When Max tells Jake "The Beatdown is tomorrow night," his lips and his words do not match up.
Quotes: Jake Tyler:
I'm gonna stop this guy, win, lose... it makes no difference, it ends tonight. This is my fight. Everyone's got one...
User Review
Much better than advertised
Rating: 7/10
The advertisements for this movie do it serious injustice. I was
standing in the lobby of a movie theater at a free showing, and almost
didn't walk in, because the trailers and ads had me convinced it was a
complete waste of time. The advertisements portray the film as being
merely a vehicle for shirtless boys to beat on each other and hot girls
to wear bikinis. While there is no shortage of either, the movie has a
strong underlying theme and a decent plot.
At the thematic level, the movie is about accepting responsibility for
your actions, controlling your emotions, and making good choices. It's
as much about motivations as macho.
Yes, it is a teen-targeted movie. You've got rich kids running around
in massive mansions driving expensive cars, but that's just the
setting. You've got people beating the crap out of each other, but
that's just a plot device. The heart of the movie is about personal
growth and making choices. It's not an empty action flick or a taped
brawl.
It's not the best film of the year, and it may well wind up as a late
night cable movie in a few months, but it's nowhere near as bad as
people expect. It's definitely worth the price of a rental, and worth
the $10 to see it in theaters, if you've got no other plans. I blame
the negativity largely on the advertising, which tries to sell it as
"just another fight movie".
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