This movie should NOT be called Redbelt.
It should be called Garbagebelt.
Why?
It STINKS!!!
I have never seen such a boring movie in my life. It is supposed to be oriented around Brazilian jujitsu, but I saw more talking than fighting.
After an hour, I couldn't take it anymore and walked out!!!
WHAT A WASTE!!!
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maybe you got it mixed up with Forbidden Kingdom. It's all good.
shareI think the subject (Brazilian Juijitsu) of this movie attracted alot of the "low sloping forehead, knuckle-dragging" crowd looking for a movie with just a bunch of fight scenes. They don't realize this movie is actually an intelligent social commentary, and then they obviously short out the few brain circuits they have when they go see it.... oh well ...
share[deleted]
Walking out of the theatre, shaking my head, saying out loud to a friend, "This could have been a good movie, an important movie, a movie that shows the foundation of consicousness that "redbelt" implies. The word garbage entered my head. Any thing worth redemption was lost in the garbage. It stinks.
sharedon't consider it stereotyping. its called redbelt for pete's sake. people are going to think its an action/karate movie, possibly even if they saw the trailer.
share+1
shareAs someone who use to train in BJJ I to found this movie boring as hell and the main character I just couldn't find interesting almost annoying actually. The takings nice and all but all his haiku's and philosophical bull crap got on my nerves quick. If he talked more about said BJJ I might of not got bored.
Also I disliked how he trained his students and how he gave the cop a black belt the dude couldn't even get out of that submission yet you give him a black belt in BJJ that takes YEARS!!! My teacher didn't even have a black belt he was a brown belt.
Yeah maybe I was looking for fights (though more like something in a BJJ tournament)but I was also looking for something informative on the sport of BJJ not a bunch of talking and drama.
The film isn't an MMA movie at all. It's a drama with an MMA backdrop. Obviously, you were mislead by the trailer. But that's not a problem with the film. It's a problem with the marketing. It's just like the people who, without knowing who Charlie Kaufman or Michel Gondry were, walked out of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" severely disappointed because they had assumed it was going to be a mainstream romantic comedy. Trailers can be grossly misleading.
share[deleted]
well i walked in thinking it was going to be cheasy and i was blown away, the story the honor the themes emotional blew me away, i dont often love movies but this one i loved, it just moved me
his name was robert paulson
This was a fabulous film with intelligent dialogue, believable characters, and portrayed how one man's lone idealism translated to honor with those about whom he cared. Anyone who goes to see a David Mamet film for anything other than dialogue, character development, convoluted yet connected plots, and emotion deserves to be disappointed because s/he simply doesn't get it.
Oh, and "Snake Eyes" was horrid. Big Brian de Palma letdown.
http://movies.contentquake.com
From someone that has studied Martial Arts...
I studied Hung Gar for 5 years. I got as far as I could with my day to day life in the style of my choosing. I took up the style for understanding the body and natural movement. Basically I was also studying animation and it was said to either study anatomy or martial arts or some form of physical education such as maybe yoga to get a better understanding of the body. So I learned it for other applications instead of fighting or defending myself. What I took from it was so much more. My posture changed, breathing, confidence, reflexes, and what it meant to me to learn a martial arts in general. I learned I was not a fighter but rather a fighter to survive anything. It helped control my emotions. My temper and stress went down so much to the point that I am more passive than I ever was. I am stating this just so you know why I took the style in the first place and where I am coming from.
To me this movie shows you what true martial artist find when taking the style they choose. The people I trained with were so amazing. Although their devotion to the art and philosophy does not come without its consequences. There was one person that had taken it for 20 years. So smooth and graceful with the double broad sword. His devotion to the art cost him his family. Wife divorced him. Lost his job and eventually started his own business so he could put more time into his studying of the MA. I took that experience of knowing him and saw a huge relation with in this movie. It shows you a real definition of what money and people can do to a art that is pure.
For instance, the style of training. I found out after years of being in Hung Gar is your supposed to learn stances for a year before learning any actual attacks and weapons. The sifu knew this was not going to work because of American Society and ADD. So he modified his training by teaching a set every 3 months. He left it up to the students to perfect each set on their own time. I was drawn to the staff and I took the time to perfect spear and staff sets. Moving on. He had to change it because of money, enrolling more students, and keep a business running. This movie portrayed that. Martial Arts was not developed for profiting and business, but people got to put food on the table. This movie portrays this reality. His path is to live his life by the philosophy from his training. His character believes in honor. This movie shows that even honor can be broken. His was almost there.
People watch movies that amaze them or connect to them on some level. For me this movie I could relate to. I have been dying to go back to training but the world of money and surviving is going to hold me back. I can always strive to do it anyway but unfortunately martial arts is not my priority. Editing and Motion graphics is my passion. The training I got from it was worth all the bruises, cuts and pain. I have become a better, stronger person from it.
I like this movie because of its message of martial arts. Its not all flash, its not all good versus bad the way movies portray it. Its a way of life. Look, I love good martial arts flicks. One of my favorites is Martial Club. The ending was with 2 skillful fighters and they didn't fight to the death. They fought to test each others skills. The opposing fighter to the hero realized he could learn a lot from him and after the fight respected his ability. Knowledge, Honor, philosophy is built into martial arts. Money has turned it into entertainment. War has turned it into a weapon. Don't get me wrong though. Martial Arts was developed for war and defense. I know this.
Now Martial arts is more of a way to develop ones way of life, body, and mind. Its like taking up a religion in some ways. You develop morals, skills, and a reason to believe in something. Thats what I see in this movie. The life you take on when pursuing the purist form of any martial arts.
I'm sorry. I like to rant. Here is my reason for liking this film and I don't care if it is badly written or well made. I enjoyed this movie and that is that. I don't care if you like it or not. Thats your demon to face. Reason I told you all this. Well to force my opinion on you since people here believe they can do the same to me.
If you read all this good for you. IF not then there is nothing to say since you would have not gotten this far.
C-FU
"Eternal Sunshine" was a bad movie!?!? Now you really gone off the deep end!
shareWow, i'm a little surprised that a fellow Mamet fan would have such a sour reaction to this movie. I'd say it's possibly his best yet, maybe better than house of games and the spanish prisoner. I'd strongly recommend a second viewing.
And to anyone who walked out on this movie before the ending, PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch the last 25 minutes, its possibly the most exciting, dramatic, overwhelming, emotional moment i've EVER seen on screen. Such a great movie, I really can't say enough good about it.
Damn!!! I was hoping for some action with MMA growing in popularity and Martial Arts flicks still doing well when marketed properly. Oh well, it will show up on cable eventually.
shareI have to agree this movie was terrible and I'm just not talking out of my ass, I will give the reasons:
1. This is not a MMA/BJJ movie - You could replace the whole MMA part with anything else like Nascar, and the formula would still work.
2. Cliche - There was nothing attractive about the story. A guy good at BJJ doesn't want to compete because of his principles but is then drawn into a trap and forced to compete. How many *beep* times have we seen this *beep*
3. Completely wrong impression of what MMA is - When they had the tournament with that handicap stip and one guy having one arm tied behind his back, that alone set MMA back 15 years or even more. Even in the first UFC you didn't have such a dumb stipulation. No real fighter would want to fight a guy who can only use one hand. There is no credibility in that, having beat a one armed guy. Wow what an achievement.
4. Where the hell is the action? - Maybe I am wrong but being a movie focused on MMA/BJJ I expected a little more action. And the action they had in there, that's as bad as prowrestling. That one armed fight, that was complete garbage. Any 'fighter' fighting against a one armed guy would knock him out in less than a minute.
And then we had that unofficial match at the end. Obviously the match was meant for the casual MMA/action fan. In all the UFC, Pride and other MMA events I have watched, which are a lot, no one has ever reversed a RNC by throwing someone over his back. Not that its not possible, but a basic BJJ student will know that if you put a RNC in standing position you immediately go for the double hooks with your legs. You don't just stand there waiting for him to face out, that only happens in WWE.
5. Cliche again - what was with that grandmaster handing him the redbelt? Cmon make it somewhat realistic after all that crap. Whoever came up with these ideas and storyline is definitely not a MMA/BJJ fan. More likely to be a WWE fan.
Anyway that's my rant, and I had to write it coz I was really expecting a lot from this movie and it fell really really short. Apparently this movie is not meant for MMA fans.
No it wasn't meant for MMA fans (which I am having been a fan since seeing UFC III.)
I went in with an open mind, knowing the kind of movie Mamet makes expecting more of a drama than any martial arts, and I got that. So enjoyed it.
If you didn't :shrugs: Oh well
Wait for the DVD of Never Back Down then (which I will NEVER EVER see.)
"Every man is guilty of the good he didn't do"
--Voltaire
I had no idea who Mamet is, and was expecting some good action or at least some good grappling etc. So yeah I was disappointed that way.
But apart from that, what really made the movie bad was:
1. The contest with the handicap etc - this movie is meant to be set in current time. If anyone organizes a contest with such rules, no athletic commission will let it happen. And even if it still does happen, it will be completely underground and not receive such huge media coverage. That part I found completely unrealistic, and a very immature perspective of MMA. And from what I understand Mamet is a very distinguished director. Well he should've done a little more research and that such a contest would only take place in a Van Damme flick. I actually find it disrespectful to MMA and is the main reason why I didn't like the movie.
2. As I said in my previous post, the cliched ending, with him being held in a choke and then setting his eyes on the master, drawing inspiration and doing that flip. What they should've done is somehow forced him into an MMA match, or at least made it more realistic. I don't know which audience this was directed towards, but its stupid to focus the movie on all the ethics and disciplines of MMA and then end it with such crappy unrealistic fight sequences. I don't need it to be flash with flying kicks and spinning backfists, I just wanted to see something similar to what would happen in a real grappling/BJJ contest. Also the handing over of the belts!? Cmon, think of something new.
So yeah that's pretty much it. I was expecting a movie which exemplified more realism of the MMA world than something like NBD, but it didn't deliver. Hopefully Mamet does some better research and understands the subject more before starting his next movie.
You're still in the mindset that this was an MMA film. It is not. It is a movie that has MMA in it. It is about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, not MMA. That is plainly obvious by the title (does anyone really give a crap about colored belt rankings in MMA unless you're taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?)
Mamet is a long time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner (he's a purple belt, so he doesn't need to do any research) and like his teachers, The Gracies, they don't really like the way MMA has turned out. They of course prefer the original Vale Tudo style. Which of course wouldn't be given the time of day by ANY athletic commission. So expecting something that "exemplifies the realism of MMA" as in the MMA as how it is today, just wasn't going to happen.
The MMA tournament in this movie was just an exaggeration of MMA to give a purpose or backdrop for the corruption the protagonist must face. Now, are you saying that MMA isn't corrupt in some way? Have you never seen or read about the fixed fights in PRIDE? Or their freakshow fights with oversized, underskilled fighters (fighting with a handicap pales in comparison to that spectacle.) How Naoya Ogawa was given the easiest route to the semi-finals in the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix (where his fight with Leko is still discussed as a possible worked fight)? How PRIDE dissolved because of their ties with the Yakuza? Even the UFC had some worked fights in their infancy (Oleg Taktarov vs Anthony Macias at UFC VI and Don Frye vs Mark Hall at Ultimate Ultimate '96 are the most famous examples.)
So Mamet's vision of corruption in MMA isn't all that much of an exaggeration is it?
"The movie is my love letter to the world and philosophy of jiu-jitsu"
--David Mamet
So take that for what it is.
But hey, if you want an MMA movie, Never Submit is in production. Though I'm sure you won't like that one either, since I'm positive that won't be a completely realistic MMA movie (just as many Boxing movies aren't realistic either, no matter how good they are.)
"Every man is guilty of the good he didn't do"
--Voltaire
this post is brilliant. post it in every thread in this board. tired of people flopping around on a mamet film board crying that there wasn't enough action.
shareThe Gracies, by refusing to accept change, are being swept away by the tide they started.
Mamet's instructors are not Gracies. He got his stripes from John Machado, if I'm not mistaken. Vale Tudo, as the Gracies want it, wouldn't be given the time of day by any athletic commission as you say, but neither would this one-armed/blindfolded stuff.
And I'd rather fight against someone bigger than me than have my arm tied behind my back ANY day of the week.
I haven't gone too deep into it but all that you claim are "worked fights" aren't really backed up with anything more than speculation/rumors.
*sigh* about the love letter... I guess if you're going to make a crappy movie, might as well do it under the delusion that it is great, and wholeheartedly commit yourself to such trash, rather than make a half-way bad movie and have to admit your heart wasn't in it.
I haven't gone too deep into it but all that you claim are "worked fights" aren't really backed up with anything more than speculation/rumors
If you watched the fights I mentioned and couldn't see that they were OBVIOUS works, the jokes on you.
"Every man is guilty of the good he didn't do"
--Voltaire
you are such a tool. This was the BEST movie of the year by FAR!! You don't know anything about film.
share[deleted]
EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING.
what a WAAAAASTEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
seriously those who liked the movie should really be ashamed of themselves. AND I MEAN THAT.
SERIOUSSSSLYY
I don't know Manet. I don't know what the MMA / UFC / BJJ is. I just heard of the movie, got it and saw it.
I think it was an awesome movie.
But I can see that people looking for a typical martial arts movie would be disappointed. I wonder though what people who actually practice martial arts thought of the movie. The whole 'martial arts is not so much about the physical fighting but about mental control' was key to movie IMHO. So people who think that is garbage would think the movie is garbage.
To each his own... but bobbyh2 posts like a retard.
I didnt read all quotes but did read enough.
Why do you focus on martial arts, its philosophy, some aciton, or whatsoever?
Do you think that honesty is in just martial arts? What about personal integrity?
A honest man try to solve things in ethical way that have to be.
Have you ever not heard many stories but actually tell same morals? What is wrong with that? David Mamet told us a story based on a moral. A moral tells us a man should protect his integrity, be honest, have self-esteem. Mike Terry has self-esteem. He doesnt break its integrity by doing things agaisnt his personal values. Actually Mike Terry have faults. He should have thought about financial issues better. If you cannot earn your money, you cant live. If you cant live, you cannot do the things you want to make it real. Martial arts philosophy doesnt prevent you to earn your life. And people want to learn ju-jit-su, they have to meet its cost. Or they cannot find someone to learn it. That's the way it is. Thats the most honest thing. Nothing wrong with that.
But Redbelt is a really great movie for whom can understand it.