Tom Hardy’s Masterpiece MMA Action Movie ‘Warrior’ Streams on Paramount+ in March

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I’m so excited that one of my all-time favorite Tom Hardy movies is hitting a streaming service soon! Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out. It’s not just one of his best performances – it’s a truly great sports movie, and I think it really kicked off his run of awesome action roles, like we’ve seen in things like Havoc. Gavin O’Connor, who directed The Accountant, did an amazing job, and the cast – Joel Edgerton, Frank Grillo, and Nick Nolte alongside Hardy – is fantastic. It’s a real gem and deserves way more attention, so I’m thrilled more people will finally get a chance to see it!

Paramount+ is now the streaming home for the movie Warrior. Released early in the rise of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), before fighters like Conor McGregor became household names, Warrior didn’t find a large audience in theaters. The timing meant not enough people were interested in MMA at the time to make it a box office success. If released today, however, Warrior would likely be a huge hit.

The film Warrior tells the story of two brothers, Tommy and Brendan Conlon, played by Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. Both are skilled in mixed martial arts and enter a high-stakes tournament to win a large cash prize. Tommy enlists their long-separated father as his trainer, and when the brothers unexpectedly face each other in the competition, deep-seated family conflicts resurface and intensify.

‘Warrior’ Is Still the Best Martial Arts Movie of All Time

It’s really difficult to portray martial arts, particularly modern combat sports, convincingly in movies. Filmmakers often have to choose between realistic fights, which can lack excitement, or visually impressive but unbelievable action. The show Warrior manages to strike a perfect balance between these two, and it’s one of the reasons it’s so good. However, the show’s greatest asset is actually its compelling story.

Many martial arts movies, like Never Back Down, prioritize the fighting over a good story, often resulting in predictable and awkward plots. But Warrior is different. It focuses on a deeply troubled and complicated family, and the actors – especially Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte – deliver outstanding performances. In fact, Nick Nolte received an Oscar nomination for his work in the film.

‘Warrior’ Was Ahead of Its Time in 2011


Lionsgate

In the early 2010s, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) was still becoming well-known. While the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was gaining fans, it hadn’t yet reached the global prominence it enjoys today. This impacted the box office performance of the movie Warrior, which earned a little over $23 million worldwide, despite costing around $25 million to make.

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Looking back at why Warrior didn’t immediately blow up, I think it really came down to timing. It feels odd to say now, given how famous they are, but back in 2011, Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton hadn’t quite reached superstar status yet. Hardy had a bit of a following after Inception, but it was The Dark Knight Rises the following year that really put him on the map. Luckily, as Hardy’s career soared, more and more people discovered Warrior. And it’s fantastic to see that even 15 years later, audiences still love it – Rotten Tomatoes users still give it a 92% rating and call it a “masterpiece”!

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2026-02-26 22:20