NEVER BACK DOWN

"It's down to you, it always has been"

After the death of his father, Jake Tyler (Faris) has gone of the rails, getting into fights and pushing his mother as far as she could go. With his younger brother getting a tennis scholarship, the family move for a new start in Orlando, Florida but Jake can't leave his reputation behind. This brings him to the attention of local underground fight champion Ryan McCarthy (Gigandet) who needs to take the new guy down a peg or two before he can any kind of respect and he does just that. Badly beaten and filled with anger, his new found friend Max Cooperman (Peters) takes him to Jean Roqua's (Hounsou) combat gym, were he will learn the techniques and skills he needs to win his own, personal fight.

Hollywood is never one to miss out on cashing in on current trends but can they do something original with mixed martial arts fighting?

The popularity of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) around the world couldn't go unnoticed by the Hollywood bigwigs for long but instead of introducing the sport as something legitimate they thought they could recreate 'Fight Club' for teenagers. The bad boy protagonist, moves to Florida to discover that the rich kids of his new Orlando school love nothing better than watching guys and girls beat each other up using mixed martial arts techniques. Throw in a Yoda/Mr Miyagi character in the shape of Brazilian trainer Jean Roqua to put our anger driven teen on the right track and you have a new millennium take on a very old theme.

These are the types of movies that can push the young stars into the big time or finish their career forever and 'Never Back Down' could be the start of something for stars Sean Faris and Amber Heard. As Jake Tyler, Sean Faris makes a big impression by looking uncannily like a younger, taller Tom Cruise. While the judgement will still be out as to whether he can really can, as he is just called upon to fight and look good in this movie, Sean Faris could have a promising career ahead of him. The same can't be said for Amber Heard. As Baja Miller, she is the typical Hollywood blonde bimbo that are ten-a-penny in the movie world at the moment. Yes she is beautiful but she looks like every other actress in these types of movies and looks like she doesn't have the talent to escape being pigeon holed.

As the Yoda/Mr Miyagi character Jean Roqua, Djimon Hounsou brings a little bit of class to the film but you have to wonder what the superb and powerful actor is doing in a movie like this. Leslie Hope tries to carve out a movie career for herself after making her name on the small screen. Evan Peters provides the comedy as Max Cooperman but he does become a little annoying as the film progresses. Cam Gigandet makes an impact as the villain of the piece Ryan McCarthy, but it is just a refresh of the character he played in 'The OC'.

Even some decent fight and training sequences can't make 'Never Back Down' any different from any other teen fight movie that has gone before. While Sean Faris could be a star in the making, fans will not be looking back on this film as one of his highlights as this leaves you on the canvas from the off, making you not want to get up and fight on with this story.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Audio Commentary by director Jeff Wadlow, actor Sean Harris and writer Chris Hauty
The director, actor and writer come together to provide a chatty, informative and fun commentary for 'Never Back Down'. The trio talk about the plot of the film, the fighting choreography and how the stars got into shape to play their roles. This is a decent track that fans should enjoy.

Deleted Scenes (13.38 mins)
Entitled 'That's alright Mini-Jake', 'Salt in the wound', 'Just wanted to talk to you', 'One of those awful days', 'A little stalker-ish', 'Just us Van Liebig', 'Ask him again', 'Your semi-finalists', 'Extended McCarthy/Villa fight' and 'They don't care who wins', these deleted scenes have introductions by director Jeff Wadlow.

Blow by Blow: Breaking down the fights (1hr 4.49 mins)
Watch the fights entitled 'Gridiron Tyler', 'Backyard Brawl', 'The Main Event', 'Roqua's: Day One', 'Half Speed', 'Road Rage', 'Mega training montage', 'The Beat Down' and 'Battle on the blacktop', director Jeff Wadlow and his fight team talk you through how the fights where constructed, even pausing and rewinding the footage to explain how they were created.

Alternate Angle Fight Mode (15.43 mins)
Watch the fight scenes 'The Main Event', 'Road Rage', 'Checking', 'The Slam, Kick to the Ribs', 'Ryan fouls out' and 'Battle on the blacktop', with all the angles recorded during the shoot.

Theatrical Trailer (1.44 mins)
Watch the trailer that previewed the movie online and at the cinema.

Trailers
Previews of 'Monster Slayer', 'Superhero Movie' and 'Skinwalkers'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'Never Back Down' is one that fans should enjoy. The 'Blow by Blow' breakdown is very good, as is the commentary. This is a decent set of DVD bonus features.

DVD

The Karate Kid

Only the Strong

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2008