Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

bkoganbing The Philly Kid is a film about the Mixed Martial Arts fight game and if you think it's set in Philadelphia as I did you will be wrong. It is set in New Orleans and curiously enough nobody in that whole cast speaks with anything remotely resembling an accent you would find in New Orleans. You might as well have set the film in Philadelphia.Other than that this is a pretty good film in the tradition of such fine boxing films like Champion, The Set-Up, The Square Jungle and the more recent Split Decisions. Young Wes Chatham and his friends Devon Sawa and Kris Von Damme are just out for an evening and truly and innocently get involved in a cop killing. Von Damme is dead, Sawa is wounded and Chatham does 10 years for something he didn't do.Chatham was at one a promising college wrestler and when he gets out he finds Sawa in heavy to some gamblers. He learns the mixed martial arts game and agrees to some fights to get Sawa out of debt. He also falls for Sawa's sister Sarah Butler. Like those other cited films The Philly Game is very honest and lucid about showing all the crookedness and double dealing that goes on. It's realistic and at times very brutal. Chatham has to navigate between gangsters, crooked promoters, and one bad crooked cop.The fight scenes are as realistic as when I've looked in on real mixed martial arts matches. My favorite scene is when Chatham is drugged during a match and still comes out on top. All due to a fighting heart and an old wrestling maneuver.The Philly Game did not get much notice coming out, but it's an undiscovered diamond in the raw if you look.

Destroyer Wod Very small spoilers about the intro sequence only, the rest is spoiler free. I only mention it to stay clear with IMDb.This movie is the equivalent of the kickboxing movie made in the 90s when that sport was on the rise. These days, UFC and MMA in general are all over the place and many movies with low budget are made in that vein. Some works good, some just not. The Philly Kid(or Born to Fight as its title in Canada on my DVD case) is one that pretty much work very fine.My only problem is about the intro sequence. The way its show is totally unbelievable. That he kill the thug is OK and could happen, but when the cops arrive, that his friend still hold the gun, that the cops are trigger happy and shoot even tough he dosen't aim them at all and more specifically the 10 years old grudge of the cop just because he was present(and yet cooperated in his arrest) when his dying friend Accidentally shot the other cop dosen't make sense at all.Then you see how dirty and rotten that cop is anyway and you can't really understand why he kept that grudge for so long and all. Overall its a pretty bad plot point, but the rest of the movie and the rest of the characters are all fine and nicely done.One important thing tough that really annoyed me on my first view of the movie, i was expecting Michael Jay White to be one of the important characters considering he is on the cover yet he got only a VERY small role, merely an extended cameo and he dosen't fight at all. I am glad i made my review on my second viewing cause it could had alter my review of an otherwise pretty good movie if i had done it on the first view. I know they put him on the cover to make people rent/buy the movie, but its disappointing to expect something and be fooled.But like i said otherwise a pretty nice movie, this is one of the situation where i would like IMDb to include ratings with 0.5. Cause i think this movie is a solid 7.5 rating, so i will go to 8/10 cause it deserve it more than 7.

djo_34 I think anytime you watch a movie about something in which you are knowledgeable there is an excellent chance you will be disappointed. Movies when people click on a keyboard for 2 minutes and crack the CIA firewall or alien codes! Or when Japanese import cars are red-lined but seem to continue to rev higher and go faster with nitrous. Or football movies where people are diving left and right, but never at the ball carrier.This film is no different. The fight scenes weren't bad. Not even close to real, but better than other movies I've seen. The acting wasn't bad. The plot wasn't bad. Bearable, entertaining, but nothing exceptional.The plot has the lead actor fighting THREE fights to pay off a debt of his loser friend. After TWO fights, against virtually unknown local fighters, an MMA organization seeks him out and offers him a contract fight. The representative of the organization says they've been tracking his career. What??? His first fight was with no training after 10 years in prison. The second a few weeks later. Thousands of fighters across the nation, and they take notice of a guy with 2 wins in as many weeks against local nobodies??? Good grief.His third fight is against a guy twice his weight that moves like an 80-year-old. Look, it isn't the UFC, but there are still weight classes! I won't reveal any more and risk spoiling the end.Bottom line... worth watching over regular TV... but nothing beyond average.

canike07 I recently rented this off ITunes. I wasn't expecting much but to be entertained for 90 minutes and that's exactly what I got. The star Wes chatham as a recently paroled ex- NCAA wrestler played a believable role as someone forced to fight in the cage in order to save his longtime friend played by Devon sawa (almost unregognizable with his new veneer teeth) the fights are pretty well choreographed and are pretty realistic. To sum things up I would recommend this to fight fans or anyone looking to be entertained for 90 minutes. This is the fourth film I've seen in the after dark action films with the exception of stash house.