7. Tommy Riordan Vs. Mad Dog Grimes (Warrior)
I love Warrior, I think it is in my top five favourite films of all time and what made me love it the first time I saw it was (aside from the amazing story) the all-around bad-assery of Tommy Riordan. The first time he meets Mad Dog grimes it is in a sparring session and in quite an even fight (until the end at least) Tommy emerges victorious. The second time they meet, in the Spartan tournament, a lot has changed. Raw from his humiliation in the gym, Mad Dog has sworn vengeance on Tommy and wants to redeem himself for losing to him before. Tommy meanwhile has had the spotlight of fame thrust into his face after being heralded a hero for his actions on the battlefield, he has rebuffed an olive branch from his estranged brother and watched his father relapse into alcoholism after hundreds of days clean partly due to Tommys refusal to forgive him for past transgressions. So to say Mr Riordan is not in the mood to be trifled with is putting it mildly. Mad Dogs beef is pathetic in comparison to whats going on in Tommys head and sadly for the mohawked fighter he is on the receiving end of an unholy outpouring of anger. A double leg take down is followed by a hammering the brevity of which is compensated for by its grimace-inducing brutality. The ref has to literally pull Tommy off his opponent and as the commentator says: You do that to a guy in the street, they lock you up. Tommy Riordan is walking away from a crime scene.
Sam Forrester
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Lover of film, video games, football, fitness and of course writing. Journalist/feature writer by trade. Looking to write about what I love in my spare time (lol!). @samforrester23
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