Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)

Plot

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The film picks up several years after the Yuri Boyka's fight with George "The Iceman" Chambers. Boyka, humbled and resigned to his fate inside the prison system, has become the facility janitor and spends time mopping the hallways and sewage system. Due to his nearly crippling knee injury from his fight with Chambers, he has taken solace in religion and tried to ignore fighting—the one thing that he really loves—altogether. His former manager has begun to expand his previous enterprise of prison tournaments to extend the first ever inter-prison competition, gathering the best prison fighters from around the globe to compete for a chance at a cleared record and early release. As Boyka hears the preliminaries taking place within his prison, as well as failing in his parole, he begins training privately to bring his knee back into fighting shape. Just when the prison champion is declared, Boyka challenges him on the spot, which both the warden and his former manager, Gaga, agree to out of mutual respect and a belief that Boyka is attempting suicide and wants to die with dignity. When he easily defeats the current prison champion, they enter him as a longshot in the inter-prison tournament, while Boyka tries to hide his significant knee pain.

Boyka is transferred to Gorgon prison in the republic of Georgia where he is joined by a diverse group of prison fighters from around the globe.The eight inmates are from Russia, USA, Colombia, Brazil, France, Greece, Croatia and North Korea. An American fighter, "Turbo," quickly identifies himself as a brash and insubordinate prisoner, to the chagrin of the prison warden and to Boyka, who is reminded of Chambers through the loud-mouthed American. Though the fighters are allowed one hour each day for training, they are still grouped into general population for "fresh air and general exercise," or hard labor, which Boyka uses to conceal his injury and train his leg by offering it to be chained to a rock. When a fight almost breaks out between Boyka and Turbo, they both notice that one fighter, Dolor, is getting preferential treatment. Later, the Warden privately gives Dolor both illegal drugs (presumably steroids and opiates) and private sparring sessions, showing that he is being groomed as the predetermined champion.

During the first round of fighting, Turbo wins his first match, revealing his superb speed and use of "dirty" boxing; while he has very little grappling skill and no ability to kick, he is able to defeat his opponent using elbow blocks and strikes to break the bones in his opponent's hands. As Boyka starts his first round fight, he appears to be back in top form, and he quickly defeats his opponent with his speed and agility—making him a crowd favorite immediately. Dolor also wins his fight, using a fast and brutal style. The losers are later escorted out of the prison under the guise of being transferred back to their home penitentiaries; however, they are summarily shot by waiting guards, revealing that losing fighters will be treated as loose ends.

As hard labor continues the following day, Boyka is chained to Turbo for the duration, where Turbo successfully provokes a fight. After a quick scuffle in which Boyka finishes dominant in grappling, they are broken up and put into isolation by the guards. Still within earshot, Turbo continues to verbally jab at Boyka's confidence, having saying Boyka's sneak attack was a "Bitch Move" and by stating that Boyka shouldn't be here. However, as the isolation continues, Turbo begins to wear down mentally while Boyka wears down physically; forced to stand, Turbo is psychologically distraught when he realizes that he has to defecate while standing and that he cannot see the rats moving around at his feet, whereas Boyka, who is used to the dirt and darkness, struggles more with the pain in his knee, which he cannot elevate to relieve.

The two are eventually released due to some manipulations by their managers, Gaga and Farnatti, who are old friends and rivals. When the managers find out about how their fighters are being treated, they (now thoroughly enraged) confront the warden. Rezo, the chief mastermind behind the tournament, who is also present explains to the managers that the tournament has always been fixed to ensure the "highest profit at the lowest risk." Though the managers are upset, having believed this to be a straight, sporting tournament (and thinly concealing their own concern for their respective fighters), Rezo recommends with complete honesty that they liquefy their assets and bet on Dolor to walk home rich men. The managers, realizing that their loyalties to their fighters only extend to their payout, agree to this arrangement.

Slowly, Turbo and Boyka begin to trust each other during hard labor, as they are often chained together and forced into cooperate. At first they direct their anger towards fighting again in the ring, but later start to turn their attention toward beating Dolor. The two begin training alongside, each using the other for motivation. As their prowess gets noticed, they are put to more hard labor and deprived of food to ensure the "fix" for the fights. As Turbo starts to wear down, Boyka reveals his strategy for turning the situation around: use the hard labor as part of the training. With Turbo's attitude eroding, he starts showing signs that his ego evolved from a highly disciplined past as a US Marine. In addition to reciting, "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome" as part of his training, he recommends some holistic medicine for Boyka to soothe his knee.

In the semi-finals, Boyka defeats the contender Rodrigo Silva from Brazil with style in a much more difficult match. After winning by submission, for the first time he helps his opponent up from the mat and states, "Good fight." Unfortunately, Rezo and the warden realize that Boyka and Turbo are stronger than predicted. In a preemptive strategy, they isolate Turbo and provoke him into attacking the warden so that the guards have a justification in beating him before his match with Dolor.

When the prisoners are taken for the next round of hard labor, Boyka tries to convince Turbo into escaping rather than face Dolor wounded. Knowing that Turbo used to be in the military, the plan is to escape to the forest where the security is lightest and survive long enough to eventually get in touch with the black market. Turbo initially disagrees, until another prisoner reveals that the losers are executed. Caught trying to break their chain, the two fight off the guards who are armed only with clubs long enough to get a key. Freed, Turbo heads for the forest.

Boyka is returned to the prison where he is confronted by Rezo, the warden, and Gaga. Knowing for certain that he has lost all support, he commits himself to ruining their wagers by defeating Dolor in the newly-improvised final round. Dolor takes an early lead with his exceptionally quick hand blocks and strikes, as well as exacerbating the problems with Boyka's weak knee by using a submission hold on it. Deprived of his kicking ability and agility, Boyka recovers first by relying on his endurance and pain tolerance, persevering past some devastating hits. It looks like the fight is over when he is kicked out of the ring, but when he catches a glimpse of the bucket and mop used for sopping up blood after the bouts, which bears a striking resemblance to his mop and bucket used during his training, he gets back into the ring before the ten-count. Remembering Turbo's mantra, "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome," he takes the pad off the mop and ties it around his knee. Forced to adapt, he begins using a new style mixing in elements of grappling, dirty boxing head-butts and elbows, wrestling, and wu-shu. Dolor, in a final moment of rage, breaks his shin against Boyka's knee block, ending the match.

Desperate and despondent, Farnatti confronts the warden and shoots Rezo over the money that he's lost before being shot by the warden himself. Despite winning the tournament, Boyka is not allowed to go free because the guards have not found Turbo. Because Boyka was responsible for his escape, the arrangement is that Turbo will remain free while Boyka will be transferred back to his original prison, to which Boyka responds that he does not care—he has proven his point. Like the other prisoners, Boyka is instead taken out to be shot, but he is rescued at the last minute by Turbo in a moment of surprising marksmanship. The two retreat to a waiting car where Gaga sits inside with a load of money. He reveals that he always knew Boyka was the best fighter in the world, especially when he was angry, so he bet all of his money on him all along and deceived the other managers—even going so far as to rescue and hide Turbo when he escaped. Boyka decides to part ways, finally revealing his first name, Yuri to Turbo. In turn, Turbo confesses that his real name is "Jericho," not realizing that Boyka has a special appreciation for religious references. In gratitude, he thanks Turbo for "bringing down the walls" and setting him free. Turbo then requests a match with Boyka in future and Boyka accepts. The movie ends with Boyka running and laughing with a sign that says "Bon Voyage".

Directed by

Isaac Florentine

Produced by

Danny Dimbort

Zvia Dimbort

Dana Golomb

Lati Grobman

Kevin Kasha

Avi Lerner

Joan Mao

Written by

David N. White

Starring

Scott Adkins

Mykel Shannon Jenkins

Mark Ivanir

Hristo Shopov

Marko Zaror

Music by

Minos Matsas

Cinematography

Ross W. Clarkson

Editing by

Irit Raz

Release date(s)

April 17, 2010 (ActionFest)

June 1, 2010 (United States)

Running time

96 minutes

Country

United States

Language

English

Verhaal

Uri Boyka is een Oost-Europese gevangenisvechter. Hij is op zoek naar een mogelijkheid om zich de gevangenis uit te vechten, maar om dat te bereiken zal hij de beste kooivechters in de wereld moeten verslaan.