What Do The Critics Say?

"Don't let the bloody nosed, split lip trimmings fool you. Despite being set within the bone-cracking world of Mixed Martial Arts: a relatively new form of freestyle competition fighting, taking in everything from boxing and wrestling to jiu-jitsu, karate, and whatever else takes your fancy; Warrior is no action flick. This is a gutsy, salty story about a working class American family in crisis." Erin Free FILMINK "As fight films go, Warrior is as gutsy as they get, with not just a big cash prize at stake but a whole family. The screenplay builds on themes of guilt, grief, pain and love to flesh out a story about two sons and a father whose relationship was poured down the sink thanks to the alcohol Paddy (Nick Nolte) consumed in large quantities for many years. Nolte is terrific in the role, a complex blend of dried up pride, self loathing and yearning for forgiveness." Andrew L. Urban URBAN CINEFILE " The story is improbable but the film works because of the searing, emotional performances by all of the actors and the incredibly well-staged fight scenes. Nick Nolte, anchors this movie built around a high-stakes mixed martial arts tournament. Relatively little time is spent on these subplots, but they work pretty well due to some very fine supporting acting performances." Robert Roten LARAMIE MOVIE SCOPE

"Adding bags of dramatic oomph to a path trodden by everyone from Fast Eddie Felson to Rocky Balboa, the exceptional cast and Pride & Glory director Gavin O'Connor combine for a crowd-pleasing knockout. A blistering and well-observed emotional drama that does a terrific job of being much, much more than just a fistfight. Perhaps, dare we say it, an even better job than The Fighter." Francesca Steele SKY MOVIES "Emotions run far deeper than the bruises, cuts and scars from punishing rounds in the ring in this towering, punchy film in which redemption is the key theme. Three stunning performances by Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte characterize the battle for guilt, family and patriotism. The fight scenes are edge-of-seat experiences; heart rates will rise substantially through these sequences." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Combat sports, from boxing to karate to even wrestling, have all scored cinematic victories, yet the increasingly mainstream MMA has never found a movie worthy enough to echo it's blooming popularity. Relax, fight fans, you finally have a contender. Unfairly dumped into the late summer wasteland, Warrior may load up the trophy case come winter on the strength of some knockout performances. Compelling and savage as the fight scenes are, it's the brutal personal dynamics that keep us interested." Corey Hall METRO TIMES

The Inside Story "What Do You Fight For?" That is the central question of director Gavin O’Connor ("Pride and Glory") asks in "Warrior", an intense glimpse into the world of a sport never before shown like this on film. More than that though, it’s an intense journey into a family’s journey from brokenness to reparation, and into the hearts of two brothers: one fighting for his country, the other for his family; both tapping into immense stores of vigor and courage. The film thrives on the juxtaposition of its portrayal of something as contemporary, infectious, and specific as the phenomenon that is mixed martial arts with a story that is thoroughly classic, a story of family. In fact, mano-a-mano chronicles of estranged brothers confronting one another are one of the oldest themes in literature, and telling one in such a fresh setting was O’Connor’s primary inspiration for making the film. While the movie was indeed an opportunity for him to realistically dramatize a not yet mainstream sport with a major mystique, the story is really for and about "people who live warrior lives": everyday heroes fighting everyman fights for better opportunities and better relationships. The start of the film finds Tommy Conlon back in the orbit of a broken family he’d given up on years ago. When he and his mother escaped his abusive father Paddy, his brother Brendan stayed behind to be close to his high school girlfriend Tess, to whom he is now married. Though Paddy and Tommy have made a patchy truce in order to train together once again, communication between the brothers is nonexistent when they both make a surprise ascent up the rungs of the nationally televised Sparta tournament. O’Connor, who directed Kurt Russell in the film "Miracle", explained: "The fights are the backdrop to a story about two brothers on a collision course who have to deal with their past in the present day, in a cage, communicating with their fists to rectify a very painful situation." Although by facing off the brothers are ultimately able to break through many years of pent up hostility and regret, each has more than their fraternal relationship at stake in the tournament. Each really needs to win the giant cash prize, though for very different reasons. Brendan’s family has been hit hard by the economic crisis and he and Tess are deep in debt. Having exhausted all other avenues, Brendan, a longtime high school teacher, reluctantly revisits his distant past and begins moonlighting in small local underground fights, hoping to win enough money to stay in the house for another month while they can figure out a viable solution. A comeback that began in parking lots out of desperation for quick extra cash morphs into a personal crusade: to be taken seriously as a fighter despite his age and long absence from the sport, and to push himself as far as he can possibly go. Tommy, on the other hand, is a lone wolf. He joined the Marine Corps after his mother’s death and has been drifting and falling into trouble since he returned from Iraq. When we first meet him, Tommy’s past is a mystery and his motives are inscrutable. But as the story unfolds, we learn he is driven by a promise he made. Now, he is fighting for the money to fulfill that promise: should he win. Balancing the audience’s sympathies and alliances between the brothers was one of the biggest challenges inherent in the filmmaking. It will divide audiences who must choose who to cheer for. And, it appears, his latest film has a biblical connection. Connor describes it as, "very Old Testament storytelling in the most contemporary way." In many ways, this project was a second-nature stop on the Long Island, New York born, O’Connor’s filmmaking trajectory. Many of his colleagues on the film see ""Warrior" as sitting firmly at the intersection of the sentiments and stories at the heart of "Miracle" (the story of Herb Brooks, the player turned coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad) and "Pride and Glory" (which focusses on a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers). "Gavin brought an energy and a populist quality to ‘Miracle’ that had you standing on your feet cheering at the end of the movie, despite the fact that you knew exactly what was going to happen," says producer Greg O’Connor ("The Slaughter Rule"). "He’s an All-American college linebacker. He understands camaraderie, how sports work. "Pride and Glory" was sort of an evolution of Gavin’s style: a very intense, muscular cop movie, a hard 'R' where "Miracle" was meant for a broad audience." O’Connor pointed out that "Warrior" combines the best of both of these films. "We get the investment in the sport and the on your feet cheering response from "Miracle", but also the drama: the story of a father-son relationship getting torn apart and put back together again; with some of the grit of "Pride and Glory". That makes this the perfect movie for Gavin." Another thing that made this film the perfect fit for O’Connor was his credibility in the fight world, after having produced the acclaimed 2003 HBO documentary "The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Mark Kerr", which took a hard look at the life of Mixed Martial Arts fighter Kerr in and out of the ring, as he battled his own demons and attempted to hold his personal life together while traveling the world as a mixed martial arts professional. The film was noted especially for presenting Kerr as an intelligent man who made a calculated decision to pursue a career in a physically dangerous sport. The honest portrayal is what resonated with so many in the professional fight community, which led to their support of O’Connor’s desire to make a fictional film set in their world. JJ Perry ("Paranormal Activity 2" & "Safe"), the film’s stunt coordinator and fight choreographer notes, "Smashing Machine is my favorite documentary of all time. It really captures what Mixed Martial Arts is, and it came out before the sport was popular. I knew immediately that if "Warrior" was in the same hands, it was with someone who understood and would do justice to what we love as stuntmen, martial artists and fighters. That’s what really got us here." The emotional complexity of the roles demanded experienced actors. Convinced that a traditional actor-director rapport and a common language of film was key and that with enough commitment, actors with natural athleticism could be trained to look like authentic fighters on screen, O’Connor set out to cast the film’s two pivotal roles. Finding an actor with an absolutely unique balance of opposite qualities to play Tommy Conlon, a character who does some unlikeable things and who is often unpleasant but whose core goodness and vulnerability must be ever apparent to the audience, was the key to the film first and foremost. O’Connor had read close to two hundred actors for the part when after an initial phone conversation, he arranged for an in-person meeting with Hardy (Layer Cake"). "It wasn’t a traditional audition" Hardy (who plays Ricki Tarr in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") explained. He was confident in the dramatic essence of the character but had fierce initial doubts about whether he could "close the gap" presented by the accent transformation, physical transformation, and cultural transformations the role required. After sharing his concerns with O’Connor, the two settled on a pow-wow in the United States to do some reading, development and analysis, and hopefully arm Hardy with a fully rounded character. That experience turned out to be more in-depth than O’Connor ever imagined. "Hardy showed up at my house at midnight on a Sunday, unannounced. Just a knock on the door, and there’s Tom Hardy. He was supposed to go to a hotel, but instead stayed at my house for five days. He never left, so I got to know him very well. And the qualities that he had as a human being were just right for the character." The next step was finding the right actor to play Tommy’s brother Brendan. The brothers are almost psychological mirror images: where Tommy is full of surface rage that masks the decent person he really is; Brendan is very mature and thoughtful, but harbors a fierce fighting spirit at his core. With a black belt in karate and famed Australian stunt coordinator Nash for a brother, Joel Edgerton ("Animal Kingdom" & "Smokin' Aces") had the athletic background O’Connor was looking for. He also had the key layers the role of Brendan required. O’Connor needed an actor who the audience could sense straight away had an abundance of integrity, and "integrity reeks off him. You can’t fake that." However, the role also demanded someone that the audience would believe had a past. It’s a balance that O’Connor thinks today’s Australian actors exhibit more readily than their American contemporaries, an Aussie mystique of sorts. Edgerton’s co-star Nick Nolte also makes the connection, pointing out a discernable "pioneering spirit" from Australian actors of Edgerton’s generation. Jennifer Morrison says of her on-screen husband: "Joel has a huge heart. He always wants the best for those around him, and he’s incredibly disciplined. Having all those qualities in Joel obviously infused the character of Brendan. They automatically make you want to stand behind him and root for him. Whether it’s him working out his finances, saving his family, or winning the fight, you want him to win." Casting the role of Paddy didn’t require an international search. In fact, Gavin had to look no further than down his own street. The part of Paddy, a man very much in need of redemption, was actually written for O’Connor’s neighbor and friend, Sant Jordi Award winner Nick Nolte ("Affliction"). "He’s a national treasure," O’Connor stated, "and I wanted to use him how he’s best and hoped the role would remind everyone what he’s capable of." "Acting is a contact sport for Nick," says 2011 BAFTA Rising Star winner Hardy. "You’re going into the room with somebody who’s going to judge you on your give and take. He’s a live wire, an actor with incredible presence." Though the primary relationships explored in the film are father-son and fraternal, in many ways the 'heartbeat of the film' is Tess. "If it’s not for Tess’s female qualities holding these men together, we don’t have a film," says Nolte, who also played a fighter named Tommy: Tommy Jordache in TV'S "Rich Man, Poor Man". "The warmth of Jen becomes the warmth of Tess. The goodness you see on screen is a quality that cannot be manufactured for a role," Edgerton ("The Thing") notes. The film was shot in Pennsylvania. After originally considering a range of gritty, working class locations such as the docks and gyms of Long Beach, California, O’Connor and his team ultimately chose Pittsburgh as both the film’s shooting location and the story’s setting. "Pennsylvania felt right," says the director. "I went to Pittsburgh and fell in love with the ‘working class poetry’ of that city. Its trains, its rivers, its churches. It’s a tough environment and its textures just felt right." What's It All About?

Haunted by a tragic past, Marine Tommy Conlon returns home for the first time in fourteen years to enlist the help of a father he has hated, despised and avoided for years. But now he needs to make a connection of sorts. Tommy wants to take part in Sparta, the biggest winner takes all event in mixed martial arts history and to do so, he's willing to put himself in the hands of the one person who can make it all happen: his father Paddy. A former wrestling prodigy, Tommy blazes a path toward the championship while his brother, Brendan, an ex-fighter turned teacher, returns to the ring in a desperate bid to save his family from financial ruin. When Brendan’s unlikely, underdog rise sets him on a collision course with the unstoppable Tommy, two, estranged brothers, will finally confront, not only each other, but the forces that pulled them apart, facing off in an unforgettable, bloodied, bone-crunching climax.

The Verdict "One thing is for sure, the two lead stars of this gritty, engaging and highly entertaining film are destined for bigger and better things: not that either Tom Hardy or Joel Edgerton haven't experienced success in their own right. Thirty four year old Hardy, who hit the big-time with "Inception", has appeared in films such as, "Bronson" (picking up the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor), "RocknRolla", "Layer Cake" & the soon to be seen down-under, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". Former Sydney Western Suburbs boy, Joel Edgerton, also thrity four years of age, has shown good form in the international releases "The Thing" and "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith" plus a long list of smaller productions including, "Animal Kingdom" (for which he received the AFI Best Supporting Actor Award), "The Square", "Kinky Boots" & "Ned Kelly". He also picked up the 2002 AFI Best Actor Award for TV'S, "The Secret Life of Us". "Warrior" showcases their exceptional talents. Shot in the main in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, "Warrior" is one heck of a film whether you're a fan of Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) or not. In fact, while there are some brutal MMA fight scenes, it's the broken relationship between Tommy, Brendan and their estranged (reformed ex-drunk) father Paddy, that is equally as fascinating. It almost goes without saying that Nolte is at the top of his tree here, giving an Oscar worthy performance. Bone crunching, family fued fueled entertainment that will divide audiences who are forced to take sides whether they want to or not. Not to be overlooked. 4 1/2 STARS." Who Is Playing Who?

Joel Edgerton Tom Hardy Nick Nolte Jennifer Morrison Frank Grillo Kevin Dunn Maximiliano Hernández Bryan Callen Sam Sheridan Dan 'Punkass' Caldwell Timothy 'Skyskrape' Katz Jonathan Matthew Anik Rashad Evans Stephan Bonnar Michelle Dawn Mooney Kurt Angle Erik Apple Anthony Johnson Jack Fisher

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Brendan Conlon Tommy Conlon Paddy Conlon Tess Conlon Frank Campana Principal Zito Colt Boyd Himself Himself Himself Himself Himself Himself Himself Herself Koba Pete 'Mad Dog' Grimes Orlando 'Midnight' Le Platoon Sergeant

The Production Team Directed by Gavin O'Connor Screenplay by Gavin O'Connor/Anthony Tambakis/Cliff Dorfman Story by Gavin O'Connor & Cliff Dorfman Produced by Greg O'Connor Original Music by Mark Isham Cinematography by Masanobu Takayanagi Film Editing by Sean Albertson/Matt Chesse/John Gilroy/Aaron Marshall Casting by Randi Hiller Production Design by Dan Leigh Art Direction by James Donahue Set Decoration by Ron von Blomberg Costume Design by Abigail Murray Run Time 140 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2011 - Warner Bros Films - All Rights Reserved Enduring © - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian & International Copyright, Trademark Laws & Intellectual Property Rights.