I’ve been following Natasha Arthy’s Fighter ever since the initial trailers hit, and my anticipation for the film continues to grow as it slowly travels West-ward. The Danish film is about a teenage Turkish girl who finds herself outcast from both her family and society due to conflicting pressures. Ultimately, she finds solace in martial arts. On paper it sounds like a more dramatic Karate Kid, but the trailers also hint at some great Crouching Tiger-esque choreography. By many accounts, the film is phenomenal.

Now Twitch brings us the new UK trailer for the film, and while it starts off rather deceptively (you could easily imagine a dramatic Don LaFontaine reading of that opening text), it eventually rewards us with some great looking fight scenes. While it seems a bit wire-heavy at times, it’s done so well that I could easily imagine star Semra Turan could actually fly wuxia-style. This is not much of a surprise since the choreography comes courtesy of Xian Gao, who worked on both Crouching Tiger and Fong Sai Yuk.

While this trailer fails to show any of dramatic elements, it will at least convince people to see Fighter. From what I hear, the dramatic parts of the film work just as well as the action. I’m eager to see how the film handles the conflict between her conservative Muslim family and that of the more liberal Danish society.

Fighter screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin this past September, but there’s no word on a US release yet. It’s hitting DVD in the UK in February.

  • Eric R.
    I think I just fell in love with the lead actress....
  • Danish Martial Arts just doesn't sound right.
  • cleantoe
    I have never posted on this site before, but I wanted to point something out.

    How has this film trailer got praise while the Dragonball trailer was bashed? Are we watching the same trailers here? It seems like the genius who runs this website just makes accounts and spams his own blog with comments that support his retarded opinions. Do you all just read what the guy says about the trailer and then just automatically nod your heads and agree like dumb lemmings?

    The Dragonball trailer looked WAY better than this one. This one actually looks like CRAP.
  • Wow, that trailer doesn't tell you anything about the movie.

    I saw it at the Intl Filmfest this year and absolutely loved it. Sure, cool fight scenes and all, but most importantly: the drama was excellent.

    I should write a review, I guess...
  • it looks good but there was no dialogue in the trailer
  • That's usually true whenever studios try to market foreign films in English-speaking areas. Hopefully they'll release some better trailers down the line.
  • Dee
    Wow.
    "Cleantoe"? More like "Cameltoe" because you've got your panties in a serious twist.

    Let me ask you this: Are *we* watching the same trailers here? Because the Dragonball Z trailer looked like an ADHD tween's wet dream. Emphasis on the term "tween." (In case we're unclear, I'm calling you an idiot.)

    Other people disagreeing with your grossly misappropriated assessment on "Fighter" do not make them what you call "lemmings." It just means that they have a difference of opinion; a subject matter you seem to be lacking knowledge of.

    My coldolences, Cleantoe, on the death of your soul.
  • Norma Desmond
    Is available on IFC FestivalDirect on-demand for those who have comcast
  • God, there was enough slow-motion in that trailer to consume the whole of the Matrix Trilogy. For fuck's sake.
  • "It's like parkour meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" !!
  • Not quite sure how I feel about this. It's just strange to see the chinese kung-fu movie choreography in a non-chinese movie.
  • yeah, i was thinking the same thing too except that i'm pretty sure that i dig it. huh, who knows. i AM a sucker for stylized martial arts (ala crouching tiger and HOFD etc) so maybe i am slightly biased. nonetheless, i think this looks pretty cool.
  • Just noticed mentioned Fong Sai Yuk in the article. Those were great movies. I have the VHS tapes buried in my closet somewhere.
  • Dagniminous
    The tag line should have been "survival of the fightest".
  • Has a "Bloodsport" feel to it. Will watch, yeah.
  • I'm actually from Denmark, and I have the DvD right here. Haven't watched it yet though. I was also on set for a lot of the fighting scenes, basically the big kung-fu event that takes place in the movie.



    SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS:



    The scenes in the trailer where she's fighting a ninja and it's very wire-fu is from a dream sequence.
    The rest of the fighting while still cinematic and unrealistic isn't very crouching tiger, but it's still some cool choreography.
    But still, if you know anything about martial arts, the tournament scenes will seem very, very unrealistic.


    SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
  • g-bear
    Being from Denmark I must say, the martial arts is great, but the trailer shows little about the film, which is as much about color of your skin and love as it is about fighting.. the danish trailer shows a more realistic picture of the movie.. men anyways, it's a good movie, you should check it out
  • Christopher M
    thanks for the recommendation just finished watching it..amazing and it was misleading trailer it's more like Karate Kid meets Million Dollar Baby...than what that trailer is trying make it out to be...thanks again, it was a great movie!!!
  • marz
    ima have to keep a look out for this.i looove the martial arts genre and fong sai yuk and crouching tiger were great movies.its funny tho how generic the title is...fighter.lol
  • The cinematography looks much better in this movie. The Dragonball trailer had a lot of stupid dialogue and dumb characters. The story is very unoriginal and looks like it could fit in some b-level computergame, is what you get from the trailer at least.
    This trailer is much better edited, and for a lot of people it seems much more unique. A Danish martial arts movie?

    But way to go on your first post man, insulting both the owner of the site and it's users.
  • Same formula different actors. Last "new" movie was The Matrix

    Rick
blog comments powered by Disqus