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The Martial Club is back with a resounding bang and with that, they are delivering their most ambitious project to date with the brutal, bruising new underground fight flick Gladiator Underground. Starring the talents of D.Y. Sao, Brian Le and Andy Le, the film is the next generation of gravity defying, jaw dropping martial arts entertainment that will certainly check all the boxes for rabid fans looking for their next action fix. Back in the 90’s when the DTV martial arts boom hit, the underground fighting film was a staple with video stores being flooded with over-the-top bruisers that fans couldn’t get enough of. With Gladiator Underground, The Martial Club looks to pay homage to the glory days while putting a next gen vibe on it that is all their own. It’s win or die so scroll below for the insane new footage from the martial arts action stunt team that brought you “EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE!”
SYNOPSIS:
Max and Wu, brothers & long-time rivals, are
competing in the world’s most dangerous
underground fighting tournament, where
powerful crime lords gamble on every detail
— from the opponents, to the terrain, to the
weapons used. In this high-stakes bloodsport
where one wrong move means certain death,
they must decide whether to play by the rules
or set their honor aside and team up against
the dark syndicate controlling the
tournament — and bring the entire system
down.
Directed by: Chaya Supannarat Starring: D.Y. Sao, Andy Le, Brian Le, Craig Ng, Apasiri Kulthanan, Selina Wiesmann, Geoffrey Giuliano, Bear Williams, Elliott Allison, Ron Smoorenburg with Sahajak Boonthanakit and Byron Bishop
The film debuted last month during the 3rd annual Big Bad Film Fest, and I was honored to be one of the first to see it. During a festival that included some of the best action films of the year including Scott Adkins’ Prisoner of War, Marko Zaror’s Affinity and the off the charts Japanese Yakuza actioner Isolated, Gladiator Underground definitely made its presence felt and the future is bright for the talent involved here. I served up a rapid-fire reaction to the film as full reviews are still under embargo so read what I had to say below!
“The underground tournament fight flick Gladiator Underground starring the boys from The Martial Club made its debut at this weekend’s Big Bad Film Fest and it is a hyper-fierce, bone crunching, gravity defying martial war of fluid action design and immersive fight choreography that throws the viewer into the ring. Stars D.Y. Sao, Andy Le and Brian Le deliver a ferocious homage to the old school fight films of the past in a dizzying and non-stop barrage of hardcore martial arts entertainment that rips from the opening salvo to the climatic and epic final assault. A must see when it officially releases!“-Action-Flix.Com
Gladiator Underground is helmed by Chaya Supannarat who is also responsible for directing Sao and Brian Le in last year’s equally satisfying slugfest Bangkok Dog. The Martial Club’s mission statement is to bring genre fans nothing but the best in ambitious, indie martial arts insanity that we are all longing for. With this talent involved, expect nothing but great things in the future and it looks like Gladiator Underground will be another epic notch on their filmography arsenal!
Speed, precision and flawless execution is the name of the game with The Martial Club and the film features some of the finest action design ever captured on film. Seriously though, this is the closest thing to live action Anime we will get and the abundance of ridiculous beatdowns makes this movie an instant classic. Be sure to check out Action Flix’s full review during the official week of release!
I have to give a proper shoutout to the film’s official Instagram page as they kindly quoted my reaction and posted it for all to see. Thanks guys and check it out below!!!!
In the meantime, watch the trailer as many times as you want. It only gets better with each and every viewing!
GLADIATOR UNDERGROUND is on digital October 17!
