http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/ - An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan (Hardy) returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father (Nick Nolte), a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan (Edgerton), a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father.

But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives.

Warrior is a gritty, no-nonsense drama that sadly flew under the radar during its initial release in September 2011. While most would simply write off a movie about two brothers fighting for a cash prize in an MMA tournament as direct-to-DVD piffle, Warrior pummels any negative expectations by putting on a gut-wrenching thumper of a show.

Tom Hardy, who would later skyrocket into stardom with his mask-clad Bane in last year’s The Dark Knight Rises, grips as the sulking giant Tommy, an AWOL Marine looking to help a fallen friend’s family, while the always reliable Joel Edgerton plays his estranged brother Brendan, a teacher and family man in a financial burden. Tommy resurfaces in his hometown to receive training from his scraggly fireball-of-a-pop Paddy (Nick Nolte), while Brendan seeks the help from an old, gym-owning friend (Frank Grillo).

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