Undisputed (2002)

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers (WGA):

David Giler (written by) &
Walter Hill (written by)

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

At Sweetwater Prison, The World Heavyweight Champion Is About To Meet His Match.

Plot:

When heavyweight champion James 'Iceman' Chambers lands in prison, the resident gangster arranges a boxing match with the reigning prison champ.

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Boxing | Date Rape | Gambling | Heavyweight Champion

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Wesley Snipes	...	Monroe Hutchen
Ving Rhames	...	George 'Iceman' Chambers
Peter Falk	...	Mendy Ripstein
Michael Rooker	...	A.J. Mercker
Jon Seda	...	Jesus 'Chuy' Campos
Wes Studi	...	Mingo Pace
Fisher Stevens	...	James 'Ratbag' Kroycek
Dayton Callie	...	Yank Lewis
Amy Aquino	...	Darlene Early
Johnny Williams	...	Al
Joe D'Angerio	...	Vinnie
Nils Allen Stewart	...	Vern Van Zant
Denis Arndt	...	Warden Lipscom
Jim Lampley	...	Himself
Ed Lover	...	Marvin Bonds

Also Known As:

Undisputed - Sieg ohne Ruhm (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language.

Runtime:

Spain:96 min | USA:94 min | Argentina:96 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Germany:12 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

High Desert State Prison - 22010 Cold Creek Road, Indian Springs, Nevada, USA

Company:

Amen Ra Films

Trivia:

This film was actually filmed at two different Nevada prisons as well as having a major fight scene filmed at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus.

Quotes:

Monroe Hutchens: He's a fighter, I'm a fighter, if I'm better on that day, I win. That's just the way it goes. Someday, every fighter loses. Sooner or later, somebody comes along and they got your ticket. Too old, just wasn't your day, whatever the reason is. In the end, everybody gets beaten. The most you can hope for is that you stay on top a while. Be the best.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Today You Die (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Murder Trial

Two sets of genres are run together (clichés and all) in a film that has little substance but just enough energy and style to make for a distracting piece of entertainment

When heavyweight champion of the world James "Iceman" Chambers is found guilty of rape of a showgirl he is sent to a new prison in the Californian desert where they send all the more unsavoury prisoners to avoid contaminating those "only" convinced of lesser crimes. However there already is an internal boxing contest within the prison and it already has a champ of over 10 years – Monroe Hutchens. Keen to establish who's is bigger, Iceman shows him up in front of the other inmates. To avoid a riot the warden puts Monroe in solitary while Iceman continues to tough it out in prison. As his expensive legal team prepare an appeal and defend all sorts of other actions, elderly mobster Mendy Ripstein starts pulling the strings to put on the only fight anyone wants to see – Monroe v Iceman.

Starting with a solid 15 minutes of style and energy I wondering if the film would be able to keep the pace up but, despite turning it down a little bit, the film does essentially keep moving with energy and style right till the very end. And it is just as well because there isn't really any substance to talk of in this rather noisy affair. The main character is essentially the writer's take on Tyson but the film doesn't really do anything more interesting with it that just hang the suggested similarities out there – Rhames may occasionally try to express something deeper than this but the material isn't there to help him. As it is though, Hill's direction and manner of keeping the screen busy and the camera moving helps inject life into what is really just a cross of clichés from sports movies and prison movies. It had enough to it to engage and entertain me without ever threatening to stick in my mind for much longer than the time it took to watch it.

The cast do a lot to help the impression of substance by providing lots of faces who put in effort. Rhames is a solid lead who does his Tyson impression well without ever lifting the material. Snipes matches him on this level by producing a simple performance but adding an impressive physical presence to the proceedings. The support cast are not all used that well but are essentially an impressive collection of well known faces who do add a sense of quality even if it doesn't deserve it. Falk was a strange but enjoyable find, while Rooker, Seda, Studi, Stevens, Lover and others all fill in around the edges.

Overall this is a fairly vacuous affair that gets by on huff, puff, energy and style and just about does it well enough to provide a distracting film without doing anything great. Two sets of genre clichés are pushed together and delivered with energy by Hill and his impressive cast and, while it isn't anything special it should at least provide brainless filler for 90 minutes.