Undisputed (film)

Undisputed
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Walter Hill
Produced by	Walter Hill Wesley Snipes Brad Krevoy
Written by	Walter Hill David Giler
Starring	Wesley Snipes Ving Rhames Peter Falk Michael Rooker Jon Seda Wes Studi Fisher Stevens
Music by	Stanley Clarke
Cinematography	Lloyd Ahern II
Editing by	Freeman A. Davies Phil Norden
Studio	Millennium Films Motion Picture Corporation of America
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	August 23, 2002 (2002-08-23)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$15,220,548

Undisputed is a 2002 action-thriller-drama movie released through Miramax. It starred and was co-produced by Wesley Snipes, co-starring Ving Rhames.

The film was directed and produced by Walter Hill, and written by David Giler and Hill, who is probably best known as the writer/director of 48 Hrs. and Streets of Fire, but had most recently directed Supernova. He and Giler had previously collaborated on the Alien series and Southern Comfort.

It failed at the box-office and received mixed reviews from critics. However it found success on home video market, then later a direct-to-video sequel without any of the original cast members, Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, was released in 2006. A second sequel, Undisputed III: Redemption, was released in 2010 following Undisputed II's Yuri Boyka as the main character.

Plot

George ‘Iceman’ Chambers, former Undisputed Heavyweight Boxing Champion, is convicted of rape and sentenced to a new prison in the desert called Sweetwater Prison. Chambers is quick to throw around his status as a champion boxer. The prison has a system where every 6 months, a boxing match happens between Sweetwaters' champion Monroe Hutchen (Wesley Snipes) and boxers from other prisons.

Mendy Ripstein (Peter Falk), an elderly prisoner who has a large influence in Sweetwater, sees some potential to get a large sum of money if Hutchen and Chambers fight and arranges it to happen.

Fight Night comes, and the prison waits for Hutchen’s chance to beat down Chambers. Iceman and Monroe start the fight just feeling each other out, both scoring damaging hits; then Iceman knocks Monroe down in the first round. Next round begins in the same fashion with Iceman and Monroe trading blows; again Monroe is knocked down and visibly hurt. Third round begins with Monroe taking more hits from Iceman; Monroe dodges a right hook from the Iceman and counters with a left hook that staggers Iceman to the point of Monroe hitting him without defending himself, and knocks him down for the first time in his fighting career. Iceman becomes furious as the next round begins. Monroe and Iceman continue to trade blows; Iceman throws another right hook with all of his power behind it but Monroe dodges and hits Iceman with a barrage of punches. After a devastating right hook, Monroe wins the fight via knockout.

Three weeks later, Campos gives a monologue to the audience. Ripstein has died from chronic liver cancer, Iceman is given early parole, and Monroe Hutchen is moved to a nicer, larger and generally more accommodating cell. Campos is given $2 million in legitimate money, held in trust until his time is served, no longer giving him an excuse to be a criminal. Finally he tells the viewer that Iceman and his press team have denied that the fight with Monroe ever happened and it dissolved into rumors that Chambers ever lost. When the whole prison watches Iceman regain his 'World Champion' Title on TV they all mock the announcer's claim that George is "Undisputed".

As the prisoners chant his name again, Hutchen completes a matchstick model of the Golden Gate Bridge. A freeze frame occurs and a message appears next to Monroe's head, "Name: Monroe Hutchen Record: 69 wins 0 losses; Undisputed". The film then cuts straight to the end credits.

Cast

• Wesley Snipes as Monroe Hutchen
• Ving Rhames as George "Iceman" Chambers
• Peter Falk as Mendy Ripstein
• Michael Rooker as A.J. Mercker
• Jon Seda as Jesus 'Chuy' Campos
• Wes Studi as Mingo Pace
• Fisher Stevens as Ratbag Dolan
• Master P as Gat Boyz Rapper 1
• Ed Lover as Marvin Bonds
• Dayton Callie as Yank Lewis
• Dennis Arndt as the Warden
• Bruce A. Young

Soundtrack

Main article: Undisputed (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on March 5, 2002 by Universal Records. It peaked at #101 on the Billboard 200 and #41 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

External links

• Official website
• Undisputed at the Internet Movie Database
• Undisputed at AllRovi
• Undisputed at Box Office Mojo