Ong Bak

Sangre

I seriously suggest that people check this movie out...wow! The physical feats this guy pulls off without the help of cgi or wires is breathtaking.
One of the coolest opening scenes ever.

The moive is based on Thai Boxing which primarily uses knees and elbows so every blow he makes looks like it would hurt, a lot, unlike some other martial arts movies.

Not a perfect movie but its worth checking out for Tony Jaa. This guy should be huge.

Karl Hungus

I concur, it's barely more than a bunch of fight scenes roped together by a thin strand of plot, but damn if it isn't the best bunch of fight scenes I've seen in a long time.

DaBreno

Martial arts films are like pornos : plot is muck but who cares, tis the action we came to see. And this guy is the Jenna of busting heads!
Many great scenes : the bit where he jumps through the barbed wire, the scaffolding and my own favorite, where he escapes the thugs in the blind alley by walking on their shoulders. All scenes in the fight club were a stand out.

What I love most about the film is Tony Jaa does everything, no wires or stuntmen. He's a fantatsic fighter and can be the new Bruce Lee with the right choice of roles.

Check out the latest : http://www.tomyumgoongmovie.com/html/trailer/index_e.asp

Bacchus

Favourite bit was near the end when he snaps yer mans arm. :eek: ewww, that had to hurt. I replayed that bit about 4 times over.
Agree with the thin plot, especially when it came to the fights in the ring. They were very "porn" moments. "Ah sure, before he goes meet this guy, we'll have him being taunted by a guy in the fighting ring and then we'll have this cool fight for no other reason". Not that I'm complaining of course. The action is sweet. The chases, the fights, the opening scene. The chase on the taxis was a bit silly but the rest of the action looks incredible. It's even more incredible when you realise that none of this was done using CGI or wires.
Check it out.

ObeyGiant

This movie really did nothing for me. The action came in short, infrequent bursts (and not all that impressive, to be honest), leaving too much of a burden on the plot, which just couldn't support the weight of the entire movie.

Would have been much better to trim off the 100-odd minutes of fat and leave it as a 5-minute demo reel.

Rcuomo

wow, a bit harsh there obey, if the action in ong bak doesnt impress you what does exactly? id be interested in finding that out...

ObeyGiant

Well, from a novelty point of view, the action was nice. Jumping in between two panes of glass was cute. Jumping through the barbed wire was cute. But the fight scenes were repetitive and well.. dull. Perhaps its from too many Jackie Chan movies, but I couldn't help look at the seams and wonder how many takes a particular move took.

It's kinda like that video of the Super Mario speed run - guy finishing mario in like 3 minutes. Impressive, until you find out that it was done in "bits" - he'd mess up, reload from the last section, and piece all the 'good bits' together.

If the action had actually had a place within the context of the story (like, say, House of Flying Daggers), then this wouldn't be so much of a problem for me, and it would have been just that little bit more impressive. Enough to stop me complaining about it on the internet.

Of course, that's just one theory. The other is that I'm just jealous because I'm a lethargic couch potato.

Rcuomo

i dont know how u can describe those things as cute, what about sliding under cars, jumping from head to head, & some of the acrobatics jaa can do in the fights...obviously it took a long time to rehearse, if you watch the extras on the dvd you'd know this but that doesnt take anything away from it imo.
do you think in house of flying daggers, they didnt train and choreograph for those fights for a long long time?
ong bak is a breath of fresh air compared to hofd, the fights are actually realistic, the people involved can do those amazing stunts and fights themselves, which are sometimes beautiful & sometimes brutal in equal measure...
as for the story i think it is just as cliched and unoriginal as any other martial arts film; its just accomplished with more visual style.

Juggalo

The movie is excellent, no wire-fu crap, just hardcore ass-kicking-fu. Cannot wait for Tom Yum Goong. As for the cgi there is a little but it doesn't interfer with the action. It was mainly put in for a bit of comedy and the international audiences.

If you want a ridiculous plot check out Born to Fight, by the same guys but not staring Tony Jaa. It's a good flick but not as good as Ong-Bak.

Necronomicon

I don't mind a bit of wire-work in films but Ong Bak puts OTT films like Crouching Tiger to shame. What a badass movie.

Sooner or Later

Best martial arts film I have seen in a long time, and I would include both Hero and House of Flying Daggers in that. Slim plot yes, but Enter the Dragon wasn't eactly plot heavy either.

Necronomicon

The movie has been out in Thailand since 2003 (I think) but has really taken Europe by storm it seems. It begs the question, if Tom Yum Goong is as impressive, how long will it be before Hollywood starts knocking on Tony Jaa's door? He was already in the rumour mill as a possible bad-guy in Die Hard 4.1:(

If he does start doing Hollywood movies, I really hope he's able to stick to his roots. Jet Li has some Hong Kong classics, but a lot of his Hollywood films leave a lot to be desired.

Rcuomo

yea i agree, there's no way jaa would be any good in hollywood, for one he and his choreographer's would be given something like 2 days to create/rehearse the action/fight scenes and probably another couple to film them...the other reason and probably most important one is that the insurance companies in the u.s will never cover/ or will put some serious restrictions on a jaa film with the stunts and fights that they are associated with now. Much like jackie chan, comparing his work in hollywood to his old hong knog films, the stunt work, fights etc. are really watered down which is disappointing to say the least...
jaa can still be a huge star if he stays in asia...

as regards jet li, im a big fan but his american films have been a big let down, he's extremely talented and doesnt need to be paired with some rapper or crap like that. his only good english languauge films are kiss of the dragon and unleashed, and then even they arent a match for most of his hong knog films - fist of legend, once upon a time in china1,2, fong sai yuk, twin dragons...
after making a number of hollywood films he goes back and makes hero, his biggest hit in a long time...

ObeyGiant

Rcuomo wrote:

i dont know how u can describe those things as cute, what about sliding under cars, jumping from head to head, & some of the acrobatics jaa can do in the fights

Well, I described them as 'cute' because, like I said, there was a novelty value attached to them, and that's it. There's an amazing bit in the movie "Stunt Man" where, in the middle of an exceptionally out-of-place car chase, the camera whizzes past a bunch of people sitting at the side of the road with a sign saying "Screw the plot, let's blow stuff up". This was, again, cute. And with this, I don't mean to take away from the amount of effort it took to accomplish them - I'm just saying they didn't "wow" me, because they were just too.. well.. cute.

Rcuomo wrote:

do you think in house of flying daggers, they didnt train and choreograph for those fights for a long long time?

Well, of course I don't think that. But the fights and various other sequences within House of Flying Daggers made sense within the context of the film, and never stood out as glaring examples of "Look what we can do!", just for the sake of it.

Rcuomo wrote:

as for the story i think it is just as cliched and unoriginal as any other martial arts film; its just accomplished with more visual style.

Are you talking about Ong Bak or House of Flying Daggers here? If we're talking about House of Flying Daggers here: I've never said that its story was particularly spectactular or original - simply that it could support the action better than Ong Bak.

spooky donkey

The whole story of the film - Some one steals a statue`s head and fights ensue.

And its still a class film as bad as it sounds. Reinds me of Jacie chan in his younger days. The fighting is rough, looks real enough.

Juggalo

The "Born to Fight"(same production team) plot is.....

A bunch of Thai athletes go to a village to help out. Village gets takin over and held ransom until a general is released. The athletes then use there skills to get back the village and kill the bad guys.

Funny enough in the movie synopsis on the back of the dvd, they refer to the bad guys as....."Bad Guys"

You can watch the Born to Fight trailer here. Same deal as Ong-Bak, no wires.

Thai action movies seem like the new Asian horror thing.

I've heard some great things about Tom-Yum-Goong although it's not meant to be as good as Ong-Bak. The plot is pretty much the same. Golden elephant gets stolen Jaa goes to get it back, lots of fighting.

echomadman

I came into this thread to poke fun at sangre for being a year behind the times, i'm staying to argue with obeygiant.
Ong-Bak is as important in martial arts movie terms as The Big Boss was when it came out and revitalised the martial arts genre which was esentially all period drama swordplay and very stylised fighting.
In recent years, particularly since hollywood discovered wirework and started using it everywhere and asian cinema has been big in the west you dont see real visceral action anymore.

Well, from a novelty point of view, the action was nice. Jumping in between two panes of glass was cute. Jumping through the barbed wire was cute. But the fight scenes were repetitive and well.. dull. Perhaps its from too many Jackie Chan movies.

You say its a jackie chan ripoff, sure its derivative, but its much more engaging, if anything jackies stuff would be what i'd term as cute, as he's on a family entertainment tip and actually is on record as saying that ong bak is too violent for his tastes
I dont think the fight scenes were repetitive, each oponent he faced was different and required a different style.

but I couldn't help look at the seams and wonder how many takes a particular move took. It's kinda like that video of the Super Mario speed run - guy finishing mario in like 3 minutes. Impressive, until you find out that it was done in "bits" - he'd mess up, reload from the last section, and piece all the 'good bits' together.

I'm not sure i get your point, every fight sequence in every movie is shot like this.


In summary, Ong Bak is excellent as a martial arts movie, I'd honestly rate it to be in the same league as Bruce Lee's movies, but if you go into one of those looking for depth and plot beyond the genre staples you're in for a dissapoinment.

Anto and Moe

Ong Bak rocked! That guy is amasing, and the no CGI thing really really added to the enjoyment of the movi, imagine, everything that goes on there we have the physical potential to do ourselves.

Spider_Baby!

Saw this a few nights ago. Was dead impressed, really cool fight scenes!! I was real tired, so kinda glad the plot wasnt one which i would have to pay too much attention to!

skywalker

Watched this for the first time at the weekend. I really didnt think it merited the amount of praise its been getting here & elsewhere. The fights were very good but not much differant from the other couple dozen martial arts flicks on the xtravision shelves.