SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Chris Gilbert I have watched this movie when it first came out and by the end of it I was left with a sense of emptiness and confusion, like, what the hell just happened??OK, to be honest I am not a big fan of cheesy dramas with plots were the main character is basically a washed out loser like Mike Terry is portrayed. But, because I am a big fan of martial arts movies and since I practice BJJ, I decided to give it a shot.The movies starts with the typical drama plot but somehow keeps me interested because I am curious about the character development, that is until Mike starts preaching his "no colored belt philosophy", that a black belt is given to the people he thinks deserve it… wow, where do you come up with this? Lol…. And, after only a few classes, not years, classes, Mike gives a black belt to his new protégée!?!Honestly, any person that trains martial arts for a long time can't help but feel mad about the complete disrespectful message this movie sends regarding every black belt in the world that trained long hard years to achieve it. On average it takes 10 years of hard continuous training to get a Jiu Jitsu black belt. About 5 years for Karate. Not a couple of weeks like the movie implies… No wonder that more and more MacDojos are just giving them away like lollies just to get students…Anyways, the movie goes on, blah blah blah, more rubbish dramatic philosophies; "Oh, but why won't you fight??" Asks the wife. " Because it goes against my principles" Says the husband…SPOILER ALERT!! All this builds up for the great finale: The worst fight ever against one of the best BJJ masters, 6th degree black belt John Machado. Mike Terry easily wins the fight, wipes the dust off and is given a Red belt which in REAL LIFE is the highest achievement in Jiu Jitsu and Martial Arts in general. Roll the credits.What a joke!!!

nos5 A fantastic movie! The traditional script of a movie is nothing in comparison to this masterpiece. Whether its a fighting movie that you enjoy or a drama, this movie will take your breath away! I could not have been happier with this movie. A must watch for any true movie buff! The story is fantastic! Tim Allen plays a completely different role from his standard and Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a performance of a lifetime. Even the appearance of Randy Couture make the movie that much more believable. The fights are believable which is a rarity in a martial arts movie... Purchased this movie myself for 2$ and was the best money i have ever spent! I constantly re-watch this movie!

morphears Having read lots of reviews I decided on this film tonight over Bad Teacher, which by IMDb standards has a better rating....OMG, it's a laugh, it's a bit of fun but good god the dialogue if you have the subs on, well you'll realise the whole film has 50% at best, the rest is made up of repeats of the last sentence the character said, i'm not saying it is terrible, as I spent a couple of hours waiting to see what might happen next, but annoyingly I was left dissatified.... if you like old school eastern Jackie Chan or jet Li, you'll hate this, if you think a slightly updated Best of the Best (which I loved but now realise is a bit well....crap) then you'll give it a go and think....we'll it's not bad....but it ain't good peeps!!

lionclaw77 Redbelt is a realistic portrait of martial arts and how how cruel and unfair the world can be. The story follows Mike Terry, a martial arts instructor who teaches his students how to prevail in the real world and come out of any situation. When an elevation of unfortunate events starting with an encounter of a disturbed lawyer and ranging from problems dealing with money, marriage, and morals, Mike finds it harder and harder to live his honorable life and might have to go against his beliefs which means stepping into the ring.Anyone stepping into this movie expecting an action packed mixed martial arts extravaganza like Undisputed 2 will be disappointed. But anyone watching this movie openly will find a well told story of how hard it is to do the right thing in a world so corrupt. This is the only martial arts movie in my collection where I don't care about how well shot and awesome the fight scenes are but with Redbelt I come for the emotional ride and well told and relatable narrative. This is one of those hard to find movies where the action serves the story instead of the other way around like a Tony Jaa movie(Not that I don't love his movies). The small bits of fight scenes in this movie are short but effective like a real fight. A highlight near the end has Terry fighting through gaurds with some impressive and useful take downs. There are many twists in Redbelt which are very effective but might seem a tad unrealistic because you might find yourself asking "how can all this bad stuff happen to this man in so short of a time."Mike Terry is a very likable main character so you feel bad for him when all these troubles fall upon him when he clearly doesn't deserve them. As a martial artist myself, I understand all the dilemmas that he has to face. When the majority does wrong does that make it okay? By the end of the movie you should get a sense of what it means to be a true martial artist. It might even touch your soul. :)