Pit Fighter

The movie's first scene will give you more of an idea of what I'm talking about. The film opens up to images of a South American underground fight club. The crowd is warmed up to the violence by chained dogs snarling and lashing out, held just out of range by their collars. A feeling of routine is pervasive in something we might find abhorrent. Money exchanges hands. The kind of music you'd expect from a Rodriguez film begins, but the tone instead is slightly mournful. All the while, fleeting scenes of the fighters parading towards the ring, heads covered and bowed, become the primary focus. It's fight night, and the crowd wants blood. The battle is part Ultimate Fighting Championship, part Bloodsport riff, but it's well put together, and well shot. Brutal, violent, and quick. A pile of money goes to victor's trainer, and they walk out as they came in. All in a night's work for a pit fighter.

The director didn't have to do that, he could have made a decent fight flick and left it at that. But the quality filming and the unusual little editions is what will keep me watching the people behind this film. I'll be looking up their earlier work as well. I'm afraid the film isn't great, though, just better than average, a garnet in the rough, so to speak. Look it up when you're in the mood for a little hard hitting action but aren't into the Hong Kong style.