George Clarke Forced To Fight is another one of those underground fight flicks!Another one of those, fighter forced to fight for a family member, flicks!Another typically American MMA action drama!This time, fan favourite Gary Daniels (who has had a few stand out moments in his career) is the lead guy. The fighter with a heart, in probably his best acted role to date.Peter (Robocop) Wellar is the bad guy, and does so convincingly enough, but seems bored in his role.The drama is heavy, the fights are just okay, but Forced To Fight is worth a watch, at least the once.Lets just hope Gary gets back into the Hong Kong style of things before its too late...

Dark_Lord_Mark Maybe I am nuts here, maybe I expected very little, but this movie was better than expected.It was better than good.Dare I say almost great....yes it had some sub-par acting and the camera work was a little hazy during the fights but it was fun, fast paced, light drama, heavy action.Maybe my score was due to my low expectations...but once you know what to expect, then when it surpasses those expectations, what more can be asked? Jeff Daniels did a GREAT performance, and Peter Weller can make any script decent. All in all at least try it and enjoy it for what it is; a solid action drama.10 Stars from me....I am a fight movie fan and enjoyed the plot, nothing new but for a movie like this, it ain't a bad thing.

Comeuppance Reviews Shane Slavin (Daniels) is a former Punchfighter but now shuns violence and works as a humble auto mechanic. When his brother Scotty (Reece) follows in his footsteps and begins underground fighting for ruthless fight promoter Danny G (Weller), he makes a terrible mistake. He begins borrowing against his fight winnings, and soon he owes Mr. G 64,000 dollars. But he can't earn it back because G's goons give him a severe beating. When G approaches Shane about earning the money in lieu of his brother in a "comeback" role, Shane of course says no. Seeing no other way to earn the money, he's then "Forced To Fight". The only problem is, the fight game has become even more brutal since Shane left, and, to compete with younger, stronger fighters, Shane has to train and train to remain in the game. But it begins to negatively affect his personality, and he becomes a jerk to his wife Connie (Weaver) and his son James (Thomas). What with Danny G forcing him to take dives, and even kidnapping his wife and son, the stakes have never been higher for Shane Slavin. But is he truly forced to fight...or does he enjoy it and now he's fighting for his honor and pride? Find out today...It was great to see an older, wiser Gary Daniels. Especially when he can Punchfight with the best of them. But you also care about his character Shane, who goes from a nonviolent mechanic to the guy who gets "in too deep" and his whole demeanor becomes darker. Whether intentional or not, the theme of the film seems to be that the older fighters have more heart. The younger guys might have flashier moves, more bulk, and stupider tattoos, but Shane Slavin refuses to fight dirty and initially is resistant even to MMA-style floor grappling, insisting he's a "stand-up" fighter (in more ways than one). Peter Weller then makes a hilarious remark about how it looks gay anyway.While it is, frankly, amazing that in 2011 Punchfighters of this type are still being made, and we are happy about that, it does kind of make you long for the old days. Probably much like Shane Slavin. Look at a movie like Shootfighter (1992), where fighters had colorful, individual personalities and fighting styles like Boa and Mongoose. Compare that with today where we have a bunch of heartless, soulless, characterless, humorless, merciless thugs as fighters. Screaming fans in the audience no longer hold cash in their hands. Now it's all done on a computer, and rather than clutching their cash, they now clutch their iPhones. Sure, Punchfighters are still being made, but at what cost? The presence of Gary Daniels not only keeps the movie afloat, it highlights and underlines this change of the world to a harsher, less fun reality.If you watch a lot of Punchfighters (and we assume you do if you're reading this site) then plotwise, Forced to Fight is nothing you haven't seen before. It has every single cliché (not meant in a negative way) these movies tend to have. It would be pointless to list them all, because the movie itself is one big cliché. But movies like this are made for fans who want to see them - hence you can actually SEE the fights and there, mercifully, isn't a reliance on quick cuts and nu-metal. That's absolutely to the movie's credit, but you may get "punch fatigue" towards the end if your tolerance for shirtless, hulking men in small shorts wailing on each other isn't super high (i.e. if you are a normal human being).Fortunately, Forced to Fight is, if nothing else, evidence that our beloved Gary Daniels has still got it. That alone makes the movie worth seeing, and the presence of Peter Weller only sweetens the deal. But if some of the things we mentioned earlier turn you off, thanks to the predictability of it all, at least you'll know what to expect going in.

rgblakey Martial arts films just don't come out all that often with the exception of the Asian market. Back in the 80's and 90's there was a new one hitting the video shelf all the time featuring an exclusive group of martial artists that had cornered the market. One of them included Gary Daniels who also recently showed up in the original Expendables film and now has an all-new martial arts film called Forced to fight.Forced to Fight follows an ex-kick boxer, forced into the world of MMA when is brother refuses to throw a fight and left for dead. As if trying to fight to pay off his debt wasn't enough he has to content with the growing obsession of being back in the ring and the toll it takes on his family. This is one of those movies that you pretty much just watch for the fighting. The story is fine, but it is one that has been done a hundred times over, especially back in the 80'/90's action phase. This film fits right into that category and delivers the look and fill with the added addition of the MMA style fighting. The way they bring Daniels up to date with this sort of fighting is added to the story, but still manages to let him keep his style intact. There is plenty of martial arts action here, with most of it well choreographed, with just a few that don't offer all that much excitement. Daniels hasn't lost a step and continues to have a great screen presence. Robocop himself Peter Weller jumps in as the baddie for the film and does a good job cheesing it up a bit while not getting too over the top.This is a film that will most likely only entertain the hardcore martial arts fans and is exactly who it is made for. While he never left, it's always great to see one of the old school guys back on the shelves with a new movie and Daniels delivers. If you love old school martial arts, then give Forced to Fight a try.