Blood and Bone

"Meet the last man standing."

2009 1h 33m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 939

ActionCrimeThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Los Angeles, an ex-con takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.

“Meet the last man standing.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Michael Jai White
Isaiah Bone
Julian Sands
Franklin McVeigh
Dante Basco
Pinball
Eamonn Walker
James
Nona Gaye
Tamara
Michelle Belegrin
Angela
Bob Sapp
Hammerman
Dick Anthony Williams
Roberto

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ben Ramsey
Writers: Michael Andrews
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 0% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ben Ramsey, shot by Roy H. Wagner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nicholas Pike. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dean Goodhill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Jai White and Julian Sands and Dante Basco carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Meet the last man standing.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ben Ramsey directs. Roy H. Wagner behind the camera. Nicholas Pike scores. Dean Goodhill cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 0% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 17 years ago.
4Directed by Ben Ramsey, shot by Roy H. Wagner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Nicholas Pike. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Dean Goodhill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Jai White and Julian Sands and Dante Basco carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Meet the last man standing.".
9IMDB entry: tt0346631 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "martial arts", "fight", "tournament", "kick".

The technical file

Cinematography: Roy H. Wagner
Original score: Nicholas Pike
Editing: Dean Goodhill
Production design: Paul Luther Jackson
Costume design: Hazel Alonzo
Stunt coordinator: J.J. Perry
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,700,000
Box office: $3,492
Return: 0% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Blood and Bone (2009)

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Ben Ramsey

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-02-07
★ 7/10
Profanity is a brutal vice. He who uses it, is not a gentleman. Michael Jai White is one of the baddest men on the planet, so it was inevitable that he would follow in the footsteps of Van Damme, Seagal, Norris etc etc into movies. A martial artist of supreme skill and deadly grace, White brings not only his imposing physique and skills to the film, but also a moody poise to the role of Isaiah Bone, an ex-convict who infiltrates an underground fight circuit to avenge the murder of a friend. There is absolutely no surprises in store here, narratively speaking, but the action, the choreography and the editing are high grade stuff. So strap yourself in and roll with it, let the kinetic fury grab you, and rejoice as another martial arts expert enters the fray late in the day. A terrific action film, hoo-hah! 7/10
tmdb280390232022-09-12
★ 1/10
Blood and Bone reminds me of a character in The Boondocks who had an irrational fear of going to jail and being anally raped. Here's an action movie where the difference between success and failure, victory and defeat, ultimately lies in the ability, or lack thereof, to avoid being sodomized. From the very start, writer Michael Andrews and director Ben Ramsey put the hero, Isaiah Bone (Michael Jai White), in a situation that could potentially get quite tight. In the prison lavatories, Bone is ambushed by a group of inmates with less than honorable intentions. Bone is of course a euphemism for the male organ (Isaiah is the name of an Israelite prophet from the 8th century BC, but I don't think there's much symbolism there), so we know that the hero is all man, and as such, he's not about to let anyone make him their bitch. Bone takes care of the would-be cornholers in typical MJW fashion, and I have to assume this happened immediately before his parole hearing, because by the time the opening credits have rolled, Bone is a free man. Basically, the whole point of this scene is to establish the main character's uber-heterosexuality. Bone goes to Los Angeles, where underground fights are taking place. One of the participants is gay, and in fact wins his fight, but don’t expect this to be some kind of 'empowerment'; the character, called Mommie Dearest (Ernest 'The Cat' Miller), is billed as "the homicidal homosexual, the crazy savage, the fear-inspiring queer [and] the battle-butt bandit," and fights in a wig with curlers. Fortunately, we never see him again. Bone makes a deal with street promoter Pinball (Dante Basco) to get him into the fight scene. That same night, Bone meets mob boss James (Eamonn Walker). Over the next few nights, Bone makes a name for himself on the underground fight circuit, defeating every fighter in his path and winning thousands of dollars in cash for himself and Pinball — though one guy refuses to pay, stuffing the money down his crotch presumably under the impression (and I don't blame him for trying) that this is where Bone draws the proverbial line in the sand; sadly for the dude, greed trumps homophobia. To make a dumb story short, James wants Bone to fight for him, Bone refuses, James coerces him by threatening someone else, Bone agrees while conceiving a plan to betray James, yada yada yada. There’s other stuff, but the climax is the highlight of the movie because it features the diabolical Julian Sands, as well as a Final Battle between Bone and a Badass in a Nice Suit (the outcome of the fight itself is also rather clever, as it turns out). When the smoke clears and the dust settles, James is arrested and thrown in the same prison from the opening where, during the closing credits, he is attacked in the showers and sodomized with a makeshift dagger — a fate that James, whom Bone has figuratively emasculated (even amputating his hand with a sword, very unsubtly emphasizing the idea of castration), lacks the physical or moral fortitude to avoid. Perphaps they should have called this Don’t Drop the Soap: The Movie.