Tom Hardy’s Brutal Action Thriller Gets a Second Life on a New Streaming Platform
Tom Hardy is among the notable actors who are known to change their physicality and voice to transform into any character. Be it his titular roles in Capone and Bronson, playing the Kray twins in Legend, acting through a mask as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, or doing motion capture and voice in Venom, Hardy always surprises audiences with a new trick. He is also counted among the most reliable action stars in Hollywood, having given us features like Mad Max: Fury Road, Black Hawk Down, and his Netflix thriller Havoc.
Now, one of Hardy’s most underrated roles is about to get a whole slate of new fans when Warrior arrives on a new streamer. Directed by The Accountant helmer Gavin O’Connor, the sports drama gives us an epic cage fight that’s rooted more in the characters’ dilemma than in mixed martial arts moves. The story follows a haunted ex-Marine, Riordan (Hardy), who returns home to have his father train him for a massive winner-takes-all MMA tournament. Unbeknownst to him, his estranged older brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a struggling high school physics teacher in severe debt, enters the same tournament.
Upon its release, the film underperformed commercially, failing to recoup its $25 million budget. But it got a lot of critical acclaim, along with actor Nick Nolte, getting an Oscar nomination for his layered performance of a troubled father. Further, the critics gave the movie a solid 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience bestowed an even better score of 92%. In the last 15 years, Warrior has become a cult classic with great rewatch value.
‘Warrior’ Just Got More Accessible
For fans who’d like to revisit the movie or check it out for the first time, rejoice because it just got easier to stream. Warrior is coming to Plex in May, per a new report. Along with being a compelling sports feature with good fight choreography, the film also makes you choose between the brothers, and by the time they face each other in the final fight, you are emotionally devastated. The power-packed star cast also includes Jennifer Morrison as Tess, Frank Grillo as Frank, and Maximiliano Hernandez as Colt, appearing in supporting roles. It also includes real-life MMA and combat sports figures like Kurt Angle, Nate Marquardt, Anthony Johnson, Roan Carneiro, Yves Edwards, Amir Perets, and Dan Caldwell to bring authenticity to the second half of the movie, which showcases a 16-man global MMA tournament.
Warrior will debut on Plex on May 1. Stay tuned to Collider for more such updates.
- Release Date
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September 9, 2011
- Runtime
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140 Minutes
- Writers
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Cliff Dorfman, Anthony Tambakis