Well, we’ve got another Fight Night under our belts and what a great one it was! Pictures coming soon and many thanks to all of the hard -working volunteers, fighters and fans. While we recover from the craziness, this post from Caged Insider got me thinking about martial arts movies – the good and the bad. I think anyone who saw Never Back Down (or most accurately, saw the beginning of Never Back Down) can agree that it probably won’t be going down in history as the one of the better martial arts flicks ever made. The sequel is being hyped here with the hope that this time it “may be something an MMA hardcore fan won’t scoff at,” largely due to the presence of actual fighters in the film. What do you think? Another poor attempt to capitalize on the popularity of MMA or deserves to be given a chance?
Perhaps more interestingly – what ARE the best marital arts movies out there? Classics like Ong Bak? Blockbusters like The Karate Kid? (Did anyone see the “next generation” one that came out last year?) What should a martial arts fan be sure to watch?
My recommendation comes in the form of a gem that I watched a while back with some fellow Kwest ladies called Chocolate. Don’t let the name fool you – this one is a must see and really has nothing to do with chocolate. Make sure you check out the special features which talk about the intense training the lead actress took on – I believe it was four years of MuayThai training to prepare for this role. They also show you the fight scenes without all the movie magic so that you can better see the moves executed, as well as the cuts that didn’t go as planned and resulted in injury. This one’s the real deal and I highly recommend grabbing some friends and a bowl of popcorn – or maybe some chocolate? – and having a little viewing party.
Share your favourites and feel free to post links! Check out the trailer for Chocolate below.