By | Published March 20, 2009

FIGHT RING (2008)

Coming to Netflix on DVD April 28th is FIGHT RING, an $11,000 “micro-budget” independent martial arts movie from writer, director and star Sean Gallimore, a professional graphic artist/animator, veteran martial artist and indie filmmaker. A trailer and preview can both be found at Youtube.

No matter when or where, if two ring bearers cross paths, they must find a secluded place and fight. Winner takes the loser’s ring and any rings he has won from previous bouts. The fighter with the most rings wins a large cash prize. No refs, no rules, and anywhere can become a battlefield in the small town “zoned” for the contest. Once you’re in, there’s no turning back.

Artist Dan Shanks lost the use of his drawing hand in an act of violence. In debt and down on his luck, he turns to his next best skill, a lifetime of martial arts training. Given a shot at competing in the contest, he unleashes the fighter within.

Shot for $11,000, FIGHT RING is indie movie-making at its purest and most creative. Full of hard-hitting fight scenes and a unique take on the “secret contest” genre, FIGHT RING has no wirework or CG fighting. It is martial artists doing what they do best.

FIGHT RING was produced and edited by Sean Gallimore, with cinematography from Alex Andriulli.

The film also stars Drew Torrez, Debra Jans, J.D. Martell, and Paul Drechsler-Martell who also plays a bodyguard in Micah Moore’s unreleased indie action thriller DOGS OF CHINATOWN (2008).

I’ll say this, I cannot comment on her acting but the buff female fighter in the preview clip actually looks like she could hold her own in a screen fight. We need to see more female screen fighters in film who look like American Gladiators and less of the dainty “Kristin Kreuk” types.

Gallimore looks pretty lean and mean himself with moves to match. Honestly, for $11,000 this movie doesn’t look half bad by B-movie standards. Simple, straight forward plot with lots of fighting generated by at least a couple competent martial artists. That’s all you really need.

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  • Wasabi Steak

    sigh…wish you would give Kreuk a break. Wire work aside I think she did an ok job all things considered and if she was in a project that allowed her to put on some weight she could so some good things. That movie had problems from a directoral and script standpoint. Plus she’s a lovley person lol
    American Gladiator types? No thanks at tranny kung fu flicks lol j/k

  • 107

    Tranny Fu – - – - that is funny!

    I would’nt mind females with tighter, more athletic bodies – you might be thinking of female weight lifters WS – those are different than the female who really did look more capable than the guy she took out.

    Movie idea is good, but with the sound effects and punch pulling, they should have went for an exploitation movie….

  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    I’ve got nothing against Kreuk. Yeah, she did okay but I’m tired of “okay.” It’s not good enough when most of Hollywood serves us mediocre entertainment every week. The point I’m trying to make is that there are women with the physical attributes and skills to credibly play fighters and yet we almost never get to see them cast in these leading roles. There have been capable women cast in the past, such as Yukari Oshima. Once you’ve seen them in action, watching someone like Kreuk is like watching screen fighting take a 40-year devolution to the days when William Shatner was throwing foam rocks at stunt doubles in rubber suits in the original STAR TREK series.

  • blue_skies

    IF Kreuk and any other american actress can put in a display to match Michelle Yeoh, Jeeja from Chocolate or Yukari Oshima etc
    including stunt work then people wouldn’tl rag on her. Ms Kreuk and Co are judged by the standards set by all the great female screen fighters before her. A Godess she maybe a screen fighter she’ll probably never be.

  • Darrin Kemp

    I’ve said it before. You would think that the country where feminism was created could produce a decent female action star. Oh wait I forgot about Cynthia Rothrock and Karen Sheperd, but wait, they aren’t stars in this country.My bad.

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