Customer Reviews

Fighter

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I watched this movie on demand without expectations; just intrigue because of my partial Danish background since this movie is a Danish film with English subtitles. An impressive film. The plot is reminiscent of a "Karate Kid" save that the conflicting battle is more internal rather than external. Aicha (Semra Turan) is a strong-willed girl who does not simply conform to her conservative Muslim culture which creates indifference between her, her family, and others of her culture.

Her parents are Turkish immigrants with conservative family and cultural values. Her father expects his children to be raised in a prosperous nation, such as Danmark, intent on becoming successful doctors. Aicha, however, doesn't comply with such demands and instead fights, literally, to earn a different kind of respect. She is fascinated by the martial arts and with persistence, convinces the master (Sifu) of a respected academy to allow her admittance to train. Aicha trains in secret against the demands of not only her family, but her culture as well, where man is the dominate figure (What is not clear is how she finances her training).

That aside, her brother, a doctor at a local hospital, is engaged to a young woman whose Muslim family is also disassociated with the host Danish culture. Omar, a friend of the bride-to-be's brother, is a martial artist in the same academy as Aicha and believes it disgraceful of her to be a part of something not meant for a Muslim woman. He refuses to train with her, and also finds it a shameful that she takes a liking to a fellow Danish peer in the academy. This developing relationship, and the control it gives Omar, become the catalysts for an internal culture clash that may produce fatal results.

Concerning Aicha's family, she and her father constantly butt heads; while she is trying to acclimate to the Danish society, her father expects her to maintain her cultural identity. Neither parent considers what Aicha wants, rather they expect to direct her life. They may want the best for Aicha, but what is it that she wants? *Sigh* Life just sometimes isn't fair... =)

As a movie, it delivers dramatically and thematically. It is reflective of how many immigrants continue to repopulate the European continent, and do so without assimilating into the host country. It shows how different cultures live separately among others, particularly those of the east.

**Possible Spoiler below**

Romantically, I was disappointed in the end even though the reality of it is more practical than a western fairy-tale ending.

I put this film on last night, intending to watch a few minutes before I went to bed. Well, that didn't work out. Once it started, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. This is a wonderful movie with an intelligent storyline and great martial arts action. Highly recommended!

I cant say enough about this film. I saw it on On Demand, it looked interesting, so I gave it a try. Lucky for me I did. I was hooked from the beginning and the film was a great ride from start to finish. This has some really entertaining fight scenes, but the story and the struggle between culture and tradition really created a fascinating and enjoyable tapestry. Watch this film if you enjoy martial arts, and watch it even if you DONT like martial arts. Just watch it if you love good movies.

I am so happy I came across this movie serendipitously. I can't say enough about how much I LOVED it!! It is now one of the 12 movies I actually bought for my personal collection as I rarely feel the need to watch/access a movie more than once. Though I do really enjoy the occasional subtitled movie (mostly in Danish), I typically have to be in the mood to watch them and I was blown away at how easy it was to follow this amazing story at 2 am. I have seen the movie 7 times now and it has gotten better each time.

Upon coming across the film and reading the very brief synopsis, I thought I was in for a kick-ass chick movie (which are my favorites). It's not quite that but it is an excellent film. There are some fighting scenes but if you are looking for your typical Kung Fu or martial arts movie, this is not it. It is very much a story first with a great plot and with Kung Fu as one of its several themes. The real Kung Fu scenes, though slightly limited, are excellently choreographed and executed.

I thought everything about this film (soundtrack, casting, acting, plot, cinematography, choreography, etc.) was pretty much perfect. The most powerful of which was the performance of Semra Turan which had me captivated through every millisecond of the movie. I was so enthralled with her performance. She sells her character as well as any actress has ever. I really wish she would do more/other stuff.

I strongly recommend this movie to anyone who can appreciate subtitled films.

I really enjoyed this movie.
I found it to be a 'Bend It Like Beckham' figher movie.
The ending was good too.

This is one of the best believable martial arts movies I have seen in a long time.
The story is very good, girl from a traditional Muslim family is a martial art student.
The family wants the best for her, stay in school and become a doctor. But she meets a white Christian martial arts student. She fights back her feeling for him and is also betrayed by a Muslim guy martial arts student who thinks she should not be there.
Not to over the top scenes,very good movie.

I bout this move because I am a bid marshall arts fan. The reason I bout this move is because it had no wire tricks. What you saw was pure Marshall Arts skill. The real thing. Excellent move.

I happened to be passing the cable and caught Fighter on the Sundance channel. I enjoy a few Karate movies so began watching for just a couple minutes which turned into watching the whole thing and thankfully caught it again to watch from beginning to end.

Spoilerish:

In my view why Fighter was so enjoyable was the aspect of Aicha and Omar. I enjoyed and found more interesting the development between the two. Someone so ingrained in his beliefs to changing his attitude in regards to Aicha and giving her that respect in the end was really great to watch it all come together. I was less interested in Emil and Aicha as it felt like your typical we are different cross destined lovers hollywood type of attaction.

The kitchen fight with Omar and Aicha was fun and the families clashing and getting mixed up about Omar considering he was the one getting wrong conclusions with Aicha training with Emil was a good twist.

Anyway good movie and finally a bit different then your normal we are all happy now ending. I recommend giving this one a shot.

Not much to add that hasn't been said already; overall it does have a "Bend It..."-type theme but was better imo. This movie had great cinematics, was more thoughtful and went much deeper into the characters. It's sort of a rare gem you typically find buried in Hulu that could/should have done better at the box office but didn't, possibly due to its lame-ish ending (more/spoiler below). Still, definitely watchable more than once - the meat of the movie is well worth it. Also loved that they dabbled in Turkish, English and Danish(?). Nice mix and kudos to the actors for pulling it off so well.

*******SPOILER*******
*******SPOILER*******

Two things about the ending. I sort of didn't like the way they dealt with her love interest in the competition itself, but having her come in 2nd was a really good move. Winning the whole thing, of course, would have gone against the realistic grain of the film and applied too much of a "fairy tale" cap on things.

With that said, the romantic part of the ending was pretty lame. The two fighters spend the entire movie being frustrated that they like each other but can't do anything about it, and the "resolution" is that they are going to keep being frustrated that they like each other and can't do anything about it. It's a shame since the rest of the movie was so well done.

This movie was entertaining, the main character played by Semra Turan who has an internal battle with herself. Her character Aicha must reluctantly complete her medical education because of her father's wishes. At the same time she enjoys the thrill of becoming an accomplished Kung-Fu martial artist and struggling with her feelings towards her training and sparring partner Cyron Melville. She has negative issues from her fellow student and nemesis Behruz Benissi. In the end the character Aicha has to come to terms with herself. The fight scenes were good and the story line was good too. I liked the musical score as well. I guess the music in the movie was Turkish Hip Hop and Rap, it had a good beat to it too. The character Aicha definitely had a lot going on for her. To me it seems that in one aspect the movie depicts that although we're not all made to be high profile professionals, we must strive to be the best at what we do in mind and spirit as long as there is a positive end result.