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Never Back Down

2008 · 113 min

A glossy, aggressive teen fight drama that mixes anger and training montages with slick, watchable energy.

Directed by
Jeff Wadlow
Genres
Drama, Action
Tagline
Win or lose... Everyone has their fight.
Overview
Jake, full of anger after his father's death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school - until Ryan, head of an underground MMA fight club, picks Jake out as a prime opponent. After being trounced by Ryan in front of the entire school, Jake begins training under the firm, moral guidance of a MMA master, where he learns how to fight... and how to avoid a fight. But it becomes obvious that a rematch will be inevitable if Jake wants to stop Ryan and his bullying, once and for all.

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Directed by
Jeff Wadlow
Genres
Drama, Action
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • grief
  • revenge
  • coming-of-age
  • violence
  • redemption
Places
  • school
  • suburbs
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
teen
Form
None
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language strong
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action7
Horror1
Humour3
Realism6
Romance4
Tension6
Darkness5
Complexity3
Emotional weight6

In this series

Never Back Down Collection

  1. Never Back DownMovie · 2008 This title
  2. Never Back Down 2: The BeatdownMovie · 2011
  3. Never Back Down: No SurrenderMovie · 2016
  4. Never Back Down: RevoltMovie · 2021

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Cast

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