Never Back Down

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Never Back Down

PG-13,

2008,

1h 54m,

Action

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Watchlist

21%

81 Reviews

Tomatometer

34%

250,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

21%

Tomatometer

81 Reviews

34%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Jake (Sean Faris) moves to Orlando, Fla., with his mother (Leslie Hope) and brother (Wyatt Smith). He feels like an outsider in his new school and frequently lets his temper flare out of control. But Jake wants to fit in, and he decides to go to a party with his classmate Baja (Amber Heard). There, Jake is pushed into a fight and humiliated. Another classmate (Evan Peters) sees what happened, and encourages Jake to visit martial arts trainer Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou).

Critics Consensus

Though not without its pleasures, Never Back Down faithfully adheres to every imaginable fight movie cliché.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Oct 18, 2008

1/5

A naive and truly obnoxious movie about the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

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Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

Oct 18, 2008

2.5/5

While the character of Jake isn't an emotionally taxing one, Faris has his moments, especially in a low-key scene in which he attempts to explain why his character is full of rage.

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Tim Grierson

Screen International

Jul 23, 2008

A generic, violent underdog story that pays a lot of lip service to non-violence when its characters aren't busy kicking and punching the tar out of each other.

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James Croot

The Post NZ

Mar 16, 2023

Once again Wadlow does his best to keep a tired-looking format looking fresh with plenty of camera trickery and CSI-style anatomy lessons to liven up the fight scenes. Unfortunately, his good work is undermined by the cast's perfect teeth

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S. Jhoanna Robledo

Common Sense Media

Dec 31, 2010

2/5

Bloody fight film has heart, but it's no champion.

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Tenley Woodman

Boston Herald

Oct 18, 2008

F

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Abraham R

Mar 17, 2019

It may boast some pleasure, but you're not going to find a great movie here. This heavily cliched fighting film brings in unlikable characters and an overall dopey plot to its obvious plagiarism of other fighting and sports film adaptations. I can't help but argue and say that this was a mess and you should be ashamed if you like it.

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Feb 2, 2019

Awesome movie with proper selection of sound tracks

Han S

Jul 20, 2018

Cliched is right. Its almost identical to The Karate Kid with MMA. I will give credit to Djimon Hounsou, who is no Mr. Miyagi but manages to bring forth a decent performance.

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Apr 17, 2018

This is my favorite movie! <3

Kylo S

Apr 12, 2018

The only good thing is Amber

Finn W

Mar 13, 2018

Why is this movie so criticist? I thought it was an awesome story told in a badass way. Yea I know you can gets half of the movie by watching the first 30 minutes, but the story is still cool. Yea just overall a bad-ass movie.

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Jeff Wadlow

Director

Djimon Hounsou

Jean Roqua

Sean Faris

Jake Tyler

Amber Heard

Baja Miller

Cam Gigandet

Ryan McDonald

Leslie Hope

Margot

Never Back Down: Official Clip - Tyler vs. Dak-Ho

1:40

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Training With Roqua

2:17

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Jake's Apology

1:54

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Show Me What You Got

2:14

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Intimidation

1:08

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Road Rage

1:18

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - The Final Fight

2:59

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Learning to Breathe

2:00

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - Party Beatdown

2:28

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Never Back Down: Official Clip - First Lesson

1:41

Now Playing

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Synopsis

Jake (Sean Faris) moves to Orlando, Fla., with his mother (Leslie Hope) and brother (Wyatt Smith). He feels like an outsider in his new school and frequently lets his temper flare out of control. But Jake wants to fit in, and he decides to go to a party with his classmate Baja (Amber Heard). There, Jake is pushed into a fight and humiliated. Another classmate (Evan Peters) sees what happened, and encourages Jake to visit martial arts trainer Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou).

Director: Jeff Wadlow
Producer: Craig Baumgarten, David Zelon
Screenwriter: Chris Hauty
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Production Co: Mandalay Pictures, Summit Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Violence|Intense Sequences of Fighting|All Involving Teens|Some Sexuality|Language|Mature Thematic Material|Partying)
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 14, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 20, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $24.8M
Runtime: 1h 54m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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