Admirable film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Fight Quest is a show that follows American hosts, Jimmy Smith and Doug Anderson, around the world to explore different martial arts styles. Jimmy is a professional and Doug is an amateur MMA fighter respectively. (I can't believe every other user review got this wrong). Many reviewers have compared it to Human Weapon, which I haven't seen. It's not a valid complaint that it's a me too show. BBC's Way of the Warrior preceded both shows by around 15 years. What is valid is that Fight Quest doesn't present the info any better due to a poor choice of hosts.The hosts split up at each location to train with different masters. I absolutely appreciate the fact that they try to make one location traditional and the other in the city. It gives amazing cultural insight into the history of some of these martial arts. Unfortunately, the cultural opportunity is usually wasted by ethnocentric and arrogant hosts. Doug, for example, when introduced to the various masters rarely bows (or any other cultural attempt to show respect).Both hosts train for 5 days in their respective locations and end with an actual fight with representatives from each martial art. (I know several reviews said its unfair to only train for 5 days, but this is TV. The producers wouldn't be able to make 10 episodes in a season if they stayed to "master" each one)I do give the hosts credit for showing real effort in training and being genuinely excited by the fights. The bruises and blisters they accumulate are proof that they aren't just showing the training for TV. Because of this fact, I don't mind the complaining.IMO the shows downfall is the hosts' commentary. I really wish they wouldn't speak (or better yet, have selected different people). While I don't mind them complaining about injuries, I can't stand it when they complain about training techniques. Both hosts are very closed minded and have called multiple exercises "useless" or "I'd rather be preparing for my fight" or "I'm not learning anything... maybe they're setting me up to fail." There isn't a master who competes that would want a student to fail in a fight. Their reputation is directly linked with the quality of fighters they produce.Host Doug is most guilty of this. He treats most of his training as if it were an American McDojo. By around day 3 or 4, he's always complaining that he isn't learning anything to help him in a fight. It's seems that he just wants to learn some ultimate move from each style. It seems pretty disrespectful to the masters who, in their commentary explain that he's not learning a particular motion (basic fundamental stuff) correctly or that he doesn't have good leg strength. For someone who's an MMA fighter, he should know you can't learn to run before the walk.In short, the show had potential but the hosts really ruined it.

After reading some reviews of people moaning about this series I felt it appropriate to add my views to the mix. First and foremost; this is a great show and I've thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. The hosts of the show (Doug and Jimmy) train in a countries respective martial art for 5 days and then fight against seasoned opponents. After reading people's complaints there's a few things I'd like to clarify. Firstly, it states in the show, that only one of the hosts is a professional Mixed Martial artist (Doug) whilst Jimmy is an amateur fighter!Secondly, yeah they do moan they're sore and injured: but I'm not surprised. Getting hit hurts! Especially if you are already injured and the training they are put through during their short time (5days) in learning the martial art form they will compete in has obviously been intensified by the coach/instructor/master for the benefit of the camera and to prove how tough 'their' martial art is in comparison to the others. Finally, I feel the fights are not staged! Some of the more traditional martial arts lend themselves to more flamboyant moves which are easily nullified (or impractical) when in a full contact fight! Furthermore for most of these instructors teaching their martial art is their life's work and may also provide their only income. So why, as suggested elsewhere, would they allow choreographed fights in which amateurs of their martial art (the hosts) provide some very stiff opposition for their opponents. Enjoy this interesting series, learn about new cultures, martial arts and that sometimes being stubborn, prepared to take a punch and knowing how to throw a punch can really do wonders for you in a fight!

Every review seems to be centered around the difference between Human Weapon and Fight Quest. As an unbiased observer (I have not yet watched Human Weapon) I can say that I absolutely love this show! The chemistry is great, the fights are real (and get as rough as I had hoped!) and it is amazing to see all the different styles.The only problem I had with the show was that in each location, the guys only spent 5 days. While it is cool getting a snippet of different fighting styles and seeing how much they can take in during this short time allocated to them, it would be much more entertaining (and realistic for the final fight) if they would given more time to spend training.Ever since the first episode I watched, I was hooked. I watched this show straight through and will probably watch it again. It is one of the few shows I am a huge fan of and, while I doubt I would be so lucky, I really hope they bring it back. Doug and Jimmy are awesome.

This show had so much potential, but they blew it. The show frequently relies on unrealistic, over-dramatic plot lines (for example: When visiting Indonesia, just because there are Muslims there, Doug has a "deep" flashback of his tour in Iraq, just because there are Muslims in Iraq). Some of the fights are obviously choreographed and Doug and Jimmy are ethnocentric and arrogant in every country they visit. The hosts are difficult to relate with, but Jimmy is especially detestable. He complains through every step of his training regardless of where he is, and frequently makes excuses. For example, in France he gets hit in the liver and in an overly dramatic fashion collapses on the floor and screams his lungs out. For the rest of the episode the only words heard out of Jimmy's mouth are, "Getting hit in the liver sucks," "I hope getting hit in the liver won't effect my fight," and "Wow, that liver-shot was brutal. If I get another shot in the liver I might die."It's way over the top and it's hard to enjoy the fights when you have to listen to what these clowns have to say about their host countries (although I have to admit that Doug is a more sympathetic host). Also, the glaring flaw in this show is that there is no way that a 5-day crash course in a martial art will allow an amateur (note: AMATEUR) MMA fighter to fight and beat a seasoned expert in that martial art. I can't recommend this show unless you want to laugh at how absurd it is. This show could have worked with different hosts, but I really feel that they blew it on this one.