Undisputed III: Redemption

Last updated
Undisputed III: Redemption
Undisputed III Redemption.jpg
Official DVD cover
Directed by Isaac Florentine
Written byDavid N. White
Produced byIsrael Ringel
Starring
Cinematography Ross W. Clarkson
Edited byIrit Raz
Music byMinos Matsas
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Home Video [1]
Release dates
  • April 17, 2010 (2010-04-17)(ActionFest)
  • June 1, 2010 (2010-06-01)(United States)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$285,709

Undisputed III: Redemption is a 2010 American action film directed by Isaac Florentine and starring Scott Adkins, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Mark Ivanir and Hristo Shopov. The third installment in the franchise started by the 2002 action film Undisputed , it takes place several years after the events of Undisputed II: Last Man Standing .

Contents

Plot

Years after his defeat by George "Iceman" Chambers, Yuri Boyka, now a prison janitor, hears about the Prison Spetz Competition (PSC), an inter-prison fighting tournament offering a chance at early release. Boyka trains privately to recover from his knee injury and challenges the current PSC champion, Vladimir Sykov, defeating him and becoming the Russian representative.

At Gorgon prison in Georgia, Boyka joins a group of international fighters. They face harsh conditions while Colombian fighter Raul "Dolor" Quiñones receives special treatment and drugs. Boyka clashes with American fighter Jericho "Turbo" Jones, but they eventually develop trust and train together. Boyka learns that the tournament is fixed for-profit and confronts the organizers with the help of mob bosses Gaga and Gio Farnatti. Boyka and Turbo advance in the tournament along with Dolor and Brazilian fighter Rodrigo Silva.

Turbo and Boyka are thrown into solitary confinement after a fight but are released due to their managers' influence. Boyka realizes the managers only care about their profit and plans to defeat Dolor. During the semi-finals, Boyka wins against Silva and offers him respect. The organizers arrange for Turbo to be beaten by guards, pushing Boyka to plan an escape. They fight the guards, escape, and Boyka returns to face Dolor alone.

Dolor takes the lead, exploiting Boyka's weak knee. However, Boyka adapts by using a blood-soaked pad as a brace and employs a new fighting style. He defeats Dolor, ruining the managers' bets. Farnatti kills Rezo but is shot by the warden. Boyka is not freed due to Turbo's escape, but Turbo rescues him from execution. They meet Gaga, who reveals he bet on Boyka all along. Boyka and Turbo part ways, vowing to have a future match. Boyka walks towards freedom with the money, while Turbo reveals his real name as Jericho. They part on good terms, and Boyka laughs joyfully.

Cast

Release

Theatrical

It was released in the United States on June 1, 2010.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $282,548 in Lebanon and United Arab Emirates. [2]

Critical response

James Marsh of Screen Anarchy praised Florentine's direction for capturing the "flow and [the] combinations" of the "innovative, exciting and technically groundbreaking battles" and his cast of charismatic action stars, singling out Zaror for having "a natural eye-catching screen quality that's hard to ignore", concluding that: "[A]s someone who normally demands genuine drama from real characters along with his martial arts, I was overpowered, overwhelmed and left battered and bleeding at the total mercy of this movie. Resistance is futile. Undisputed 3: Redemption rules." [3] Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave note of the film being "simplified cinema set up to achieve certain stock goals", concluding that: "Undisputed III promises nothing more than a series of well filmed beatdowns, and delivers on every account. It might not be rocket science, but it's not Rocky either. Instead of finesse, all we get here is fighting - and that's perfectly fine." [4]

Accolades

Undisputed III won Best Director Award and Best Fight Choreographer in the 2010 edition of ActionFest. [5]

Sequel

According to Movie Cricket, Adkins confirmed that there will be a fourth installment to the Undisputed series. On May 29, 2014, When asked whether there would be an Undisputed 4, Adkins replied, "Yes, it is definitely something we are pursuing. We are working on the script at the moment trying to get all the departments happy with what we are trying to do. It’s taking longer than I want to be honest but you know it is difficult financing these films. In this day and age those type of straight to DVD films don’t make the sort of money they used to make in the 90s/early 2000s. So it is a bit of a precarious business at the moment and that is why it is taking so long but we are definitely all trying to get it going because we appreciate what following that character of Boyka has and you know, I love playing that character and I can’t wait to return to him and we’ve got some good ideas on where to take the character." [6]

Production had begun on Boyka: Undisputed in June 2015 with Scott Adkins returning as Boyka. The plot involves the fighter, who is now free, attempting to go as a professional fighter when he accidentally kills someone in the ring. However, to make amends for what he has done, he must engage in a series of fights to save the wife of the man he killed. Shooting was completed in early August 2015 for a 2017 release date.

Related Research Articles

Akuma (<i>Street Fighter</i>) Street Fighter character

Akuma, known in Japan as Gouki, is a fictional character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games created by Capcom. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and an alternative boss to the villain M. Bison. In the storyline of the Street Fighter video games, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu's and Ken's master. After defeating his brother, Akuma gains interest in several fighters, most notably Ryu as he senses that the protagonist has a similar power to him known as the Satsui no Hadou. In some games, he also has an alternate version named Shin Akuma or Shin Gouki in Japanese and Oni Akuma in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cung Le</span> American martial artist and actor

Cung Le is an American actor, retired mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer. He competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), holding a record of 2–2 with the organization. In kickboxing and sanshou, he is a former International Kickboxing Federation Light Heavyweight World Champion, having a professional kickboxing record of 17–0 before moving to mixed martial arts. He defeated Frank Shamrock to become the second Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before vacating the title to further pursue his acting career. Le is perhaps best known in mixed martial arts for competing in Strikeforce, holding a record of 7–1 with the organization before its demise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheng Long</span> Video game character hoax

Sheng Long is a character hoax related to the Street Fighter series, created by Electronic Gaming Monthly as an April Fools' prank in 1992. Conceived by editor Ken Williams due to a mistranslation suggesting the existence of a character named Sheng Long in the Capcom fighting game Street Fighter II, the publication released an article describing a method to fight the character in the game. Despite intending it to be an obvious joke, many players took it seriously, and other publications reprinted the details as fact without verifying its legitimacy causing the Sheng Long hoax spread worldwide. As a result, the magazine later acknowledged it was indeed a hoax, though revisited the concept for a similar joke in 1997. Claiming Sheng Long would appear in Street Fighter III, they provided a backstory for the character and an appearance designed by editor Mike Vallas. Despite the article trailing off and incomplete, it resulted in confusion between the North American and Japanese branches of Capcom, with the former calling the latter to ask why they had not been informed about the character.

Mykel Shannon Jenkins is an American actor and filmmaker whose professional career started when he became winner of the first season of the SOAPnet series I Wanna Be a Soap Star. Jenkin's career spans across numerous film and television productions, from soaps to network television to independent and studio films.

Pit Fighter is a 2005 action film directed by Jesse V. Johnson and starring Dominique Vandenberg, Steven Bauer and Stephen Graham and Scott Adkins.

<i>Undisputed</i> (film) 2002 film by Walter Hill

Undisputed is a 2002 American sports drama film written, produced and directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Wes Studi, Fisher Stevens, and Master P.

<i>Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite</i> 1996 film

Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite is a 1996 martial arts sports directed and produced by Alan Mehrez, from a script written by Jeff Schechter. It is the standalone sequel to Bloodsport (1988), and the second installment in the titular film series. The movie stars Daniel Bernhardt, a new character in the series; and was released through limited theatrical distribution, before debuting on home video in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Moran</span> American boxer and actor (1887–1967)

Francis Charles Moran was an American boxer and film actor who fought twice for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, and appeared in over 135 movies in a 25-year film career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lateef Crowder dos Santos</span> Brazilian American martial artist, actor, and stunt performer

Lateef Crowder dos Santos is a Brazilian American actor, martial artist, and stuntman. As a member of the ZeroGravity stunt team since 2000, he has been featured in multiple internet short videos and demo reels, such as Inmate 451. An experienced capoeira practitioner, he started training in martial arts when he was 6 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Adkins</span> British actor

Scott Edward Adkins is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017). He has since made films in a variety of genres, such as crime dramas, martial arts movies, war films, action thrillers, sci-fi actioners and action comedies, mostly as the lead.

<i>Undisputed II: Last Man Standing</i> 2006 film by Isaac Florentine

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing is a 2006 American direct-to-video martial arts film directed by Isaac Florentine and starring Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Eli Danker and Ben Cross. It is the sequel to the 2002 boxing film Undisputed. White portrays ex-boxer George "Iceman" Chambers, a role originally played by Ving Rhames in the first film. It was followed by two sequels: Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017), which continue the story of Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka, played by Adkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Alexander (actor)</span> American character actor (1902–1989)

Richard Alexander was an American film character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marko Zaror</span> Chilean martial artist and actor

Marko Zaror Aguad is a Chilean martial artist and actor.

Kinnikuman (キン肉マン), also known as Kinnikuman: Stolen Championship Belt, is the first theatrical film of the anime series Kinnikuman. It was released in Japan on July 14, 1984 along with Choudenshi Bioman, Uchuu Keiji Shaider, and The Kabocha Wine. It is set after the 21st Choujin Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Florentine</span> Israeli film director

Isaac Florentine is an Israeli film director. He is best known for his martial arts and action genre films, namely Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), Ninja (2009), Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013) and Close Range (2015) and for launching the career of British actor Scott Adkins. Florentine completed his degree in Film & Television from Tel Aviv University.

<i>Street Fighter: The Movie</i> (arcade game) 1995 arcade fighting game

Street Fighter: The Movie is a 1995 fighting game released as an arcade game. The game is based on the 1994 live-action Street Fighter film, itself based on the Street Fighter series of fighting games, and uses digitized images of the film's cast. The game was developed by Chicago-based Incredible Technologies and distributed to the arcades by Capcom.

<i>Machete Kills</i> 2013 film by Robert Rodriguez

Machete Kills is a 2013 American action exploitation film directed by Robert Rodriguez, with a screenplay by Kyle Ward, from a story by Robert and Marcel Rodriguez. Starring Danny Trejo, who returns in his role as the eponymous character, it is a sequel to Machete (2010), and is the third film based on a fake trailer in Grindhouse (2007). Michelle Rodriguez, Tom Savini, Electra and Elise Avellan, Felix Sabates, and Jessica Alba reprise their roles from the first film, and are joined by series newcomers Mel Gibson, Demián Bichir, Amber Heard, Sofía Vergara, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Hudgens, Alexa Vega, William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and Charlie Sheen. The film follows the titular ex-federal (Trejo) as he is recruited by the U.S. President (Sheen) to stop an arms dealer (Gibson) and a revolutionary (Bichir).

<i>Redeemer</i> (2014 film) 2014 Chilean film

Redeemer is a 2014 Chilean martial arts vigilante film directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza and co-written with Guillermo Prieto, Sanz Andrea and Gina Aguad. The film stars Marko Zaror and Noah Segan. Zaror plays a former hit man who seeks redemption through killing the drug gangs he once served. It premiered in September 2014 at Fantastic Fest.

<i>Boyka: Undisputed</i> 2017 film by Isaac Florentine

Boyka: Undisputed, is a 2017 American-Bulgarian martial arts film directed by Todor Chapkanov, and written by David White and Tony Mosher from a story by Boaz Davidson. It is the sequel to the 2010 film Undisputed III: Redemption. Scott Adkins reprises his role as Yuri Boyka.

References

  1. "Undisputed III: Redemption - Financial Information". The Numbers . Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  2. "Undisputed III: Redemption". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  3. Marsh, James (May 25, 2010). "Undisputed 3: Redemption Review". Screen Anarchy . Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  4. Gibron, Bill (August 17, 2010). "Undisputed III: Redemption". DVD Talk . Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  5. Renninger, Bryce J. (April 22, 2010). "Chuck Norris Passes on Lifetime Achievement Award at ActionFest". IndieWire . Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  6. Fletcher, Billy (May 29, 2014). "Exclusive! Scott Adkins Confirms 'Boyka: Undisputed 4'". Movie Cricket. Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.