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Undisputed III: Redemption
There’s a stigma out there that if a film is
“straight to video”, or now in our cases, “straight to DVD”, that it
must be a pile of rubbish. Though there were always gems out there among
the crowd that were worth watching, but alot because they were so bad
they were good, though over the last 5-10 years, that trend has begun to
change with some good, decent films heading straight to DVD.
Undisputed III: Redemption stands out from the crowd without even
breaking a sweat.
The films begins with Uri Boyka (Scott Adkins), a
once great fighter who’s incarcerated in Chornya Chomli, a Russian
maximum security prison, spending his days mopping the floors with his
make-shift broom. After winning a fight in his prison and impressing his
warden, Boyka secures himself a position in an underground tournament
that pits him against other inmates from all over the globe. The losers
return to their prisons, whereas the winner will receive a ticket to his
freedom, while the wardens try to win big by betting on their choice of
fighter.
The plots is pretty standard, but really, that’s not
what we came to see. We really just want to see some badass dudes beat
the absolute crap out of each over and we get that in spades. Scott
Adkins makes a great leading man. He’s very solid as the hardened Boyka
and very likeable as well, even if his Russian accent is just a little
over the top, but that’s one thing that I really enjoyed about it,
because, let’s face it, it’s not Shakespeare that we’re dealing with
here. We’re just here to have a good time. Props also go out to Marko
Zaror, who plays the very charismatic lead villain, Dolor. A huge man
that towers over the well built Boyka and makes you wonder if Boyka even
has a chance of beating the guy.
Now let’s talk fight scenes. Bone-crunching,
hard-hitting, blows that would knock your face into next week; these are
some of the things that describe these very well choreographed fight
scenes as best as they can, but they have to be seen to be believed. All
shot without the use of CGI, wirework and fancy film tricks that plague
a lot of bigger budget films these days. These scenes are the real deal!
Showing us an incredibly talented bunch of guys laying us all out with
some of the most authentic, ball-busting and downright coolest fight
scenes put to film. The makers of the film obviously know how savvy
people are these days when it comes to film making and that people have
pretty much seen it all before. So what we get are some great, long,
uninterrupted camera shots, showing us skill, incredible technique and
that it is actually the main actors out there performing huge portions
of these damn cool fights. Incredibly realistic and authentic, it’s
almost like walking into the arena and watching them live for yourself.
Now, not seeing the first two films, I can’t comment
on how the film sits in the trilogy, but there’s no doubt that this film
would make a great addition to the series. Though after seeing this now,
I’m stoked to go back and see the first two films. It’s also a note to
add that Boyka was actually the main villain in Undisputed II: Last
Man Standing, now playing the lead in this, hence the subtitle;
Redemption.
Unfortunately, with this DVD release, there are no
special features. It would have been great to see some behind the scenes
features regarding the fight scene choreography. Maybe we’ll get some
better releases down the track.
For a straight to DVD movie, Undisputed III:
Redemption is a solid nights viewing that stands head and shoulders
above the more generic, Z grade straight to DVD flicks out there, with a
decent story, some good acting and some very impressive fight scenes.
It’s one film that no martial arts film fan should miss, or anyone who
enjoys a good fight flick.
Undisputed III: Redemption
really deserves to be seen. It’s one hell of a cool
flick that just reeks of awesomeness!
Bring on Undisputed IV! |
