Nonureva Really Surprised!

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

BunkhouseTito This was an excellent documentary on a typical fighter and the trials and tribulations one must endure to not only compete, but to gain a certain level of success as well. In this case, Mark Kerr was the subject and we are showed quite a few of his ups and downs in his career, both personal and professional.The Smashing Machine also brought the average joe into what is going on behind the scenes, the press conferences, the relationships with the other fighters, etc. We are shown that Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman are good friends, who train together and are also willing to step into the ring, octagon or whatever and fight it out with each other as well. At times, this actually seemed to drift away from Kerr and more onto Coleman, who started to become more interesting than Kerr later on in the movie.We are also given a look at some intense training with Kerr and Bas Rutten. This was probably the best part of the documentary, as I was most entertained by the scenes with Kerr and Rutten.Although I enjoyed The Smashing Machine immensely, I would have chosen someone other than Kerr to feature. Personally, I would like to see how someone like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock or any of the other bigger names in Mixed Martial Arts go about their daily business and training. I'm sure it would be just as enthralling, if not more. 8/10

gtbaddy I rented the DVD of "Smashing Machine" because I remembered Howard Stern talking about how good it was on his radio show a few months back. Just to preface where my opinion is coming from, while I am interested in martial arts and have seen a few of the UFC specials on Pay-Per-View years ago, I am by no means an active fan who is current with these events or the fighters.Before watching, I was a little worried that this movie might of been geared towards the fans, and since I had never even heard of Mark Kerr I thought it might be uninteresting. Glad to report I was wrong... I thought this movie was fantastic. It was partially a profile of Mark Kerr and partially showing the ins and outs of the Pride Fighting events. It was odd to see that these people that go in the ring and beat the life out of each other are just regular guys who go home to a family. I would recommend this movie to anyone that is interested by martial arts or fighting, I thought it was a great watch.

Maffmatix I won't describe this movie, since you've probably figured out what it's about by now, but I will say one thing that REALLY stood out. When you watch thismovie, because it was so brilliantly edited, you will feel like it is a legit hollywood film, and not a documentary. The timing of the cuts, the music, the mood, all make this documentary feel more like an amazing Rocky-type movie. Whatseems most hollywood of all is the story, the rise and fall of a hero... all the helping characters and evil villains he runs into along the way... and it's all REAL. There is one scene where this guy that he is going to fight, who is the size of godzilla, is with all his evil little cronies and they're laughing it up in a huge pool like a bunch of villains would in some movie. The movie had it's own Ivan Drago type (from Rocky 4)... you know the Russian champion who nobodycan beat because he's so tough. It was just really cool. So if you see this, think about what I've said, and you'll notice right off the bat!!

Christopher Kienle Like many people who have commented on this movie, I too was a big fan of the UFC when it first came about. I eventually stopped paying attention to UFC after a few years because they started making so many rules, it went from being a human cockfight to a mundane wrestling match. Why I would want to watch two men beat one another within an inch of their lives is a question better answered by the psychologists. The only viable answer I can give you is the fascination of seeing so many different forms of martial arts square off against one another. (After all, seeing a 450 lb. Sumo wrestler get choked out on the mat by a 165 lb. Jujitsu master is quite a spectacle.)But it's a lot more fun and glamorous to watch -- or at least so I thought. I was lucky enough to go to the opening of The Smashing Machine and did not find myself cheering on the blood and gore as I did when I used to rent UFC on pay-per-view. You see, when you watch the UFC, you don't get to know the people in the ring. You almost forget that these are real people, in many cases, just trying to put food on the table for their family. For as much as we see these people as insane and deserving of their punishment for voluntarily choosing such a career path, these are real people - just like you and I.The Smashing Machine is a brilliant documentary that follows Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman on a multiyear quest from UFC in America to the spectactular Pride competition in Japan. You see the befores, the afters and the inbetweens. You get inside these peoples' heads and hearts and can feel the emotion that courses through them at every moment of their journey. It is not glamorous by any means.This documentary is very powerful in its ability to tell the human story while still satisfying the audience who loves the brutality -- with clip after clip of knees crashing repeatedly into unprotected skulls and eye sockets and blood spilling out as though it were poured onto the mat from a bucket. The narrative is compelling. The sequences are dramatic and hard-hitting.I had the privilege of meeting both Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman at the premiere of this documentary. I cannot say I still wasn't shaking my head and asking "why?" but for them this sort of thing is their badge of pride -- and in many cases, their only paycheck.Check it out.