12 Movies In The IMDB Top 250 You've Probably Never Seen
7. Warrior
It feels like absolutely nobody has seen Warrior. Nobody ever really talks about it, and whenever the best sports movies of recent times are brought up - Creed, The Fighter - it's rarely in the conversation.
But it just might be the best of the lot.
Warrior follows Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as brothers - one with a wife, kids and stable day job, and the other riding solo - whose mutual MMA ability slowly brings them on a collision course, raising many buried issues between them and their alcoholic father (Nick Nolte) in the process.
It's a predictable formula that's given added depth by focusing heavily on the complicated dynamics between Edgerton, Hardy and Nolte - those outside-the-ring subplots only increase your concern for the two leads when they're inside the ring - and the final confrontation, though entirely expected, is impactful, tear-jerking and engrossing.
Nolte was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance, and the acting is that good across the board. Even if you don't like fighting movies, give Warrior a chance - it's the characters that shine here, not the sport.