Nominated for seven Oscars, including three nods for its supporting cast, The Fighter is an incredible story of triumph against adversity in and out of the boxing ring.

The brutal and physically demanding sport has frequently been a magnet for plaudits. In 1977, Rocky pummelled the opposition at the Oscars and four years later Raging Bull landed Robert De Niro an Academy Award as Best Actor for his riveting portrayal of Jake LaMotta.

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More recently, Denzel Washington entered the ring with his embodiment of wrongly imprisoned boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter and director Clint Eastwood delivered a knockout blow with Million Dollar Baby, earning Hilary Swank her second Oscar.

The Fighter provides all of the usual emotional jabs and cuts as its working class hero defies the odds for one shot at glory.

Tensions between the pugilist and his family threaten to derail his championship bid, culminating in the obligatory final flurry to coax the audience to its feet.

Micky (Mark Wahlberg) is a talented boxer from Massachusetts, but he has languished in the shadow of his half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale), who knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard then lost everything to the ravages of drugs and crime.

Trained by Dicky and managed by his monstrous mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), Micky accepts lacklustre fights for scant rewards until he is persuaded to cut himself loose from his loved ones. New girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) encourages Micky to follow his dreams, incurring the wrath of the rest of the Ward clan, who resent outsiders interfering in family business.

Micky tastes victory and, as his confidence grows, he faces the possibility of a shot at the world light welterweight title.

The Fighter is well crafted by director David O’Russell, juxtaposing Micky's struggle for self-belief and self-respect with his unwavering love for his selfish and self-destructive family.

Wahlberg’s non-performance is virtually mute next to Bale and Leo in full scenery-chewing flow, who compete for honours as the loudest caricature on the Ward family tree. Thankfully, Adams brings nuances to her ballsy barmaid, who will literally slug it out for her man. The script is energised by Pamela Martin's slick editing in the well- choreographed, bruising fight sequences.

The Fighter punches to win with directorial flair but in a brawl with Raging Bull, Rocky or Million Dollar Baby, it would be knocked out in the final round.

In Papua New Guinea’s deadly Esa’ala cave system, expert diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) and his team, including Crazy George (Dan Wyllie) and Jude (Allison Cratchley), search for the path to the sea, in Sanctum 3D.

They are under pressure to deliver results and adrenaline junkie financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) arrives at the dive site with his girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson) to spur Frank on before a storm system forces the divers to the surface.

Sure enough, the cyclone catches everyone off guard, trapping Frank, his headstrong 17-year-old-son Josh (Rhys Wakefield), Carl, Victoria and the rest of the team.

The only possible escape route is uncharted territory in the cave system but Victoria has never dived before.

Sanctum 3D should have gone straight to DVD . . . except for the excellent use of state-of-the-art 3D camera technology developed by executive producer James Cameron.

Viewing the film’s strangely beautiful world through uncomfortable plastic spectacles, we truly feel submerged alongside the actors as they navigate treacherous fissures in the rock, emerging into cavernous spaces teeming with microscopic life.