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Never Back Down is a 2008 American action film starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet, and Djimon Hounsou. It was theatrically released on March 14, 2008. The film's respective tagline/slogan is "Never give in, never give up, never back down." This film was also nominated for several Teen Choice Awards, including Best Actor and Best Fight Scene (only fight scene nominated in which the actors fighting were shirtless). Never Back Down is rated PG-13 for graphic violence, crude language, drug references, and teen partying.

Plot

Jake Tyler has recently moved to Orlando, Florida with his family to support his younger brother's shot at a professional tennis career. Jake was a star athlete on the football team at home, but in this new city he is an outsider with a reputation for being a quick tempered brawler after a video of him on the internet starting a fight in a football game circulates around his new school. Making an attempt to fit in, at the invitation of a flirtatious classmate, Baha, Jake goes to a party where he is unwittingly pulled into a fight with the fighting champion at the school named Ryan McCarthy. Originally Jake does not wish to fight until Ryan taunts him about his father who died while driving drunk with Jake in the car. Jake is easily defeated and humiliated in the fight but a classmate,Max, who later becomes one of his best friends introduces himself to Jake and tells him about the sport known as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). He sees a star in Jake and asks that he meet with his mentor, Jean Roqua. It is immediately apparent to Jake that MMA is not street fighting, but rather an art form he wants to master. Roqua agrees to take Jake as a pupil, but under the condition of Jake being unable to fight outside of the gym. Baha attempts to apologize to Jake however Jake does not sympathize with her and refuses to forgive her. Baha then confronts Ryan about the fight with Jake and then proceeds to end their relationship. Ryan begins to create a scene before the entire school but Jake steps in to defend Baha. After Ryan insults him and leaves Jake attends training with Roqua while still angry about the incident. After he and Max leave the gym they get into a brawl with a group of guys in a Hummer whom Jake easily disposes of while Max films. This video again circulates around the school raising Jake's social status but in the process only annoying Ryan. Ryan then proceeds to challenge Jake to compete in the Beatdown, an underground fighting tournament which Ryan is the reigning champion of. After having been banished from the gym by Roqua after his fight is discovered Jake begs for forgiveness saying his anger is quelled when he is training with Roqua. After Roqua agrees to allow him to train again Jake then prepares to compete in the Beatdown. Jake then apololgizes to Baha for not listening when she first apologized and the two proceed to begin a relationship. While training with Roqua Jake enquires why he lives in the gym. Jake discovers that Roqua is from Brazil and he is in exile because he believes he is the reason his brother, the favorite son, was killed. After being informed that Jake has decided not to compete in the Beatdown, Ryan invites Max to hang out at his house. There he begins to spar with Max before brutally assaulting him and leaving him at Jake's door. Jake decides to fight and when Baha begs him not to he states that doing nothing has consequences. Before he goes to tournament he has a conversation with Roqua where he is told to "control the outcome" of the fight. Jake arrives at the location of the tournament where it is about to begin. After a mix-up where Jake and Ryan almost fight in the first round, they both proceed to make their way through each leg. Jake makes it to the semifinals but was injured in the previous match after taking a kick to the ribs. After learning that Ryan was disqualified in his semifinal match Jake forfeits seeing no reason to continue. While he and Baha attempt to leave, Ryan confronts him and the two finally fight. Jake is still limited by his ribs and Ryan capitalizes and almost forces Jake to pass out while applying a choke. However Jake escapes and with the entire crowd watching, knocks out Ryan using one of the first combinations Roqua taught him. Apparently, Ryan and Jake are on amicable terms now and the movie ends with Roqua closing the gym with a ticket to Brazil, signaling he intends to reconcile with his father.

Cast

Production

Filming took place entirely in downtown Orlando and Sanford, Florida and Clermont, Florida. All school scenes were shot at Cypress Creek High School except the football scene in the beginning of the movie, it was shot at East Ridge High School. They even make a reference to the school's team name in the opening scene when the announcer says, "The Knights need a big stop here." The apartment complex in which Jake and his family lived was actually Wellesley Apartments just behind Highway 408. The original title to the movie was " Get Some ", but that title had sexual connotations that the producers didn't like so it was decided to change the movie title to " Never Back Down ".

Critical reception

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. As of March 14, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 24% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 79 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 39 out of 100, based on 22 reviews. Richard Roeper, host of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper , gave the film a marginal "thumbs up" saying "I laughed so much at the litany of clichés that I finally had to admit I was entertained from start to finish by this cheesy knock-off."

Public Reception

Despite several negative reviews from critics, the general public had mostly positive reviews of this film. Online customer reviews called it "...modern day Karate Kid..." and "...teen-appropriate Fight Club...". The most popularity of Never Back Down existed among teenagers ages 13-18.

Box office

Never Back Down debuted in 2,729 theaters at #3 with $8,603,195 in the opening weekend. After 2 weeks in cinemas, it garnered $18,890,093; and after one month the movie earned $37,676,991 worldwide.

The movie closed on June 5, 2008 after 84 days at the box office with $41.62m internationally against a budget of $20m.

DVD Sales

The DVD was released on July 29, 2008 and has so far sold 910,218 units, bringing in $17,121,181 in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray sales.

Soundtrack

1 "Above and Below" by The Bravery
2 "Anthem for the Underdog" by 12 Stones
3 "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance
4 "Someday" by Flipsyde
5 "Wolf Like Me" by TV on the Radio
6 "Under The Knife" by Rise Against
7 "Full Circle" by Drowning Pool
8 "Rock Star" by Chamillionaire & Lil Wayne
9 "Be Safe" by The Cribs
10 "My Generation" by Limp Bizkit
11 "False Pretense" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
12 "Orange Marmalade" by Mellowdrone
13 "You Are Mine" by MUTEMATH
14 "Stronger" by Kanye West
15 "Crank That (Travis Barker Rock Remix)" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
16* "The Slam" by TobyMac
17* "Pain Redefined" by Disturbed
18 "Time Won't Let Me Go" by The Bravery
19 "…To Be Loved" by Papa Roach (Featured during Theatrical Trailer)
20 "Headstrong" by Trapt
21 "All Around Me" by Flyleaf
22 "Waiting" by Beyoncé
23 "Back up" by Beyoncé

The trance track played, when Ryan and his dad argue, is called Estuera - Tales From The South (Jonas Steur's Flow Revision), it did not feature on the soundtrack. It's from the album In Search of Sunrise 5: Los Angeles - Tiesto

References

  1. ^ "Never Back Down Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/never_back_down/ . Retrieved 2008-03-14 .  
  2. ^ "Never Back Down (2008): Reviews". Metacritic . http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/neverbackdown . Retrieved 2008-03-14 .  
  3. ^ Never Back Down (2008)
  4. ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2008/NBDWN-DVD.php