Have Your Redbelt Criticisms Refuted Here

Thank you for point number 5 on your original post. That was a criticism I had of the film and you made me see it in a different light.

Great movie, good thread.

I don't understand people who think the plot was convoluted.

I think you are wrong about #2.

They did want Mike Terry to fight. It wasn't to shut him up it was to make it a better sport, to get more fans.

Consider, Mike was a great fighter, so that couldn't hurt the league in any way. Also, Mike was known for his principles. If they got him to fight, they would exploit his participation and his honor to sell tickets. Mike would elevate their league and add legitimacy to their con. '"You weren't supposed to know" the fight was fixed', in other words they wanted Mike to fight for real and they would fix it for him. Also the announcer mentions to the audience that they knew Mike Terry so there is a history there that the fans know about at the least.

Consider, that his wife "took out a loan". This was probably false. The wife wanted money. She wanted a better life. She sent Mike to the bar to ask for money. She "borrowed" money from the guy who wanted an inside betting tip from Mike. I think this was all part of the setup. She wanted Mike to fight, to join the league with her brother and get in on the gravy train. There was almost no way to get Mike to fight, except to back him into a corner, so his wife makes it appear they are in debt, that his honor is at stake for Joe's suicide and Joe's wife's livelihood. In the end they tell Mike that "it was your wife". She set him up. That list of phone numbers for Chet's wife never existed the producer and the wife faked it. The producer used an association with Chet to set Mike up. Chet was oblivious and had nothing to do with it. The producer though left Mike in the restaurant as soon as he found out he had the hooks in him when Mike told him he pawned the watch. This is an old Con called "The Rainmaker" where you use proximity to or association with an important person to make you think that good things are happening to lures your victim in. After all if Chet Baker was involved, and Chet sent you a watch, it must be on the up and up right? Wrong.

If you think about it, all of the people involved had something to be gained financially from Mike's participation. The producer sends the watch not the actor. The wife tells the producer about the broken window. "Brazilion princess marries a soldier?" Even his second hand man at the gym - who was going to be his opponent on the undercard - tells him "sometimes you gotta do business".

It wasn't just to shut him up. Sure they stole his marble idea, but they already knew about his marble idea! Think about it. He had been teaching it for years. His wife had to know. His brother in law had to know. They could have stolen it without conning him into faxing it to them. But only by getting him to fax it over could they rope him into the con. He shows up to complain and threaten to sue and that is when he "knows he has been had" by seeing the producer and the promoter in the same room. Mike and his attorney think it is an Ah-Ha moment but really they want him to think that because it just ropes him deeper into the scam.

Almost everyone was in on it, as almost everyone was going to get paid from it. They all needed Mike to fight for one reason or another. Everyone except the cop, the lawyer and the actor.

HULK-SMASH are you still watching this thread?

I've got a criticism/question for you to mercilessly pick apart :).

I think I got the whole movie, my only confusion was at the last 5-10 minutes.



1. When Mike went on his rampage at the event, and he was calling out to Randy Couture 'I've got something to say to you' etc. Was he just trying to speak to one of the prominent figures of the fighting competition and confront him about all of its flaws?

2. (My real gripe) After Mike went on his rampage and hammered this bloke in the alley, why did everyone go all quiet and in awe, and start handing him belts and bowing to him?

It just seems like most people would be thinking 'WTF is going on, holy *beep* this dude just bashed someone?' But instead they almost started a Cool-Runnings slow-clap and then the Brazilian master hands him the red-belt? WTF?

Did the Mr Miyagi-style character know the flaws of the sport and reward Mike for fighting against it? And if so, why did he give him the red belt before Mike even spoke to the crowd? And why the hell would he be at the event anyway, if it went against his teachings and morals?

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