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Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew Starring: Phanom Yeerum This movie (Thai with English subs) stars Phanom Yeerum as Ting, a young man from a small farming village who sets out to the big city on a mission to retrieve the stolen head of his village's sacred statue. Ting has previously made a promise to never fight for money and struggles to keep that promise during his mission. Ong-bak marks the first big picture exhibition of Thailand's very own Muay Thai fighting style, of which Yeerum is a master, to say the least. The fighting and stunts in this movie are completely insane and are done without cgi or wires, it is a raw, real deal martial arts film. The movie, while paced well and interesting, is not really about the story so much as it is about watching Yeerum perform jaw dropping acts of an unhuman nature. I'm a great fan of Bruce Lee (yes I'm about to go there) and Jackie Chan but I can say with a perfectly straight face that Yeerum knocks them both off the map. His style of fighting is so powerful and the attacks are so devastating that I cringe every time he lands a blow. I don't want to give too much away, but he utilizes lots of knee and elbow attacks, and seems to be able to spin with no limits. The picture is visually exquisite as well. There are many artsy shots, very nice colors are present throughout the film, and the style of editing is very pleasing and suits the material quite nicely. I also quite enjoyed the soundtrack. It has a nice mix of upbeat modern tracks in the action scenes with enjoyable, quality ethnic music as well. This is a must see film for fans of martial arts and action movies, easily one of the best I've ever seen in both categories. 5/5 Owsla fucked around with this message at 07:26 on May 2, 2004 |
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May 2, 2004 07:20
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 10:57 |
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I really enojoyed this film. It might be because I have a hardon for anything Thai since my trip last summer...but thats another story. Acting is passable, which is always a plus for low budget martial arts films, but who really cares about the acting? Muay Thai is great to watch on screen and off, dare I say..."explosive"? Its also a nice break from the cgi wirework that has dominated most current martial arts films. On a side note the lead acctresses voice really got on my nerves whenever she got into any "heated" acting, but I can live with it for all the flying elbows and knees. Its loses a few points as at times, I felt I'd seen this movie before, but luckily those times were fewer than most other recent action films. Would reccomend to any martial arts/action fan looking for something a bit different. 4/5
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May 2, 2004 10:45
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Great thai fighting action, movie delivers. 5/5
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May 2, 2004 23:18
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Gotta say I loved the movie. I wouldn't say he's the best martial artist I've seen or even if this movie had the best scenes but yeah, you love fighting you'll love this. 4/5
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May 5, 2004 05:47
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The overall feel of this movie is basically that of an older Jackie Chan movie, only without Jackie Chan in it. Maybe I just don't have a trained eye for it, but if I didn't know before seeing it that the movie took years to make on account that nearly all the hits (with the exception of hits directly to the face) were done at full force, I wouldn't have been able to tell. Good movie though. Probably not among the best martial arts movies I've ever seen, but definitely worth watching. 4/5.
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May 5, 2004 06:45
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This is a pure on martial art action flick. There is a story... but it's really generic. The muay thai in this movie is really exagerated but it's fun to watch netherless. Aside from the insane stunts what I like about this movie is the power the hits have. I can't watch most martial art flick because you see these characters throwing out weak round house kicks you know can't hurt a fly. But in this movie every move is executed with raw power. Every hit has a omph and every technique is executed very nicely, something a contact martial artist would use. Though I just can't imagine any one doing that chicken wing double smash elbow attack. 4/5
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May 5, 2004 22:19
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I just watched this today. A very entertaining movie, but it didn't WOW me as much as I was expecting. Yes, the fights were realistic and brutal, but they became a bit repetitive. And one thing that bugged me was the way they would show some of the "cool" hits three times in a row in slow motion. I can take that once or twice, but they did it at least three times for every fight. Another weird thing was during the street chase scene, how it seemed every imaginable obstacle would make its way directly into the path of the characters (lines of cars, loops of barbed wire, street trolleys, etc). This made for some pretty kickass feats of agility, but it was a bit silly (though admittedly, pretty fun to watch). Not a great movie, but entertaining enough to recommend. 3.5/5
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May 6, 2004 01:24
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Ong-Bak is a fantastic martial arts film, and will hopefully encourage a trend of realistic martial arts films. While Matrix style special effects are entertaining, there is a grace and artfulness to a well choreographed fight scene performed by skilled stunt people that is much more enjoyable. As Owsla said, each hit Ting lands makes you cringe. One of the best features of Ong-Bak is that it truly showcases two things. First, it does a superb job of highlighting an actual martial art, rather than simply choreograph movements that look cool together. Muay Thai is brutal as well as beautiful, and since Ong-Bak is such a strongly national film (I'll talk about that in a minute) it promotes Muay Thai's strength and killing force while making it also appear (and rightly I say) as an artform. Each fight scene on the film answers a question about the style, like "What happens if somebody just attacks me for no reason?" or "ok, but what if I'm fighting four guys?" or "what if I'm fighting somebody using a different martial art?". Each fight escalates into the next, which makes the martial art seem more and more dangerous. The second thing Ong-Bak does well is to showcase what you can with a highly trained stunt crew. Parts of the film feel more like filmed stunt shows than a movie, but since Onb-Bak is trying to highlight stuntwork, this is fine. It does lead to some cheesy moments, with Ting (Phanom Yeerum) jumping through barbed wire loops and over cars. The stunts are very entertaining though, so if you're primarily an action fan, it's worth it. Ong-Bak is a very Thai film. From it's focus on the national martial art, the culture of the rope fights and the corruption of Bangkok to Ong-Bak's romanticism about rural Thailand and Bhuddism, the dramatic parts might make this film a little rough for hollywood addicts. But, if you have an open mind and really love a good martial arts movie, see Ong-Bak. It's awesome. Rating 4/5 (Great action, awesome stunts, the plot's generic) P.S. Don't be off put by the multiple viewings of the same action, like a particularly mean kick or something. The reason the movie is showing it to you more than once is they filmed it from different angles, and since this is all stunts, what you're seeing is a single take. You gotta let them show off a little.] EDIT: Forgot to add the rating/
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Jun 1, 2004 15:45
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A fantastically good martial arts epic from Thailand, starring Phanom Yeerum, whose stunts and fights are definitely on the same level as anything I've seen from Jackie Chan. And I'm hesitant to make comparisons to Bruce Lee, but yeah, keep an eye on this guy's career, he's good. "Ong-Bak" is the story of a villager, Ting, who must quest into the big city to retrieve the stolen head of the village Buddha statue. There he meets up with Dirty Balls, a shady con-man originally from the same village (who reminds me a bit of a Thai Sammo Hung), and the two become entangled in the quest to retrieve the Ong-Bak head from the gangsters who stole it (who are also pimps, drug dealers, and fight promoters). The movie's plot has its good points and bad. It reminds me a lot of Korean filmmaking in that it is VERY heavy on the melodrama and sentimentality at times, but this suits the mood of the story. And while the story does wander in places, it manages to throw in a couple of surprisingly affecting emotional punches, and an ending that's a lot more thoughtful than one usually expects in this kind of movie. The action scenes are eye-poppingly good thoughout. Some of the camerawork is a little sloppy, and the effect of showing the same stunt from multiple angles gets overused, but the pacing and intensity in the action sequences is superb. After one of the fight scenes partway through the movie (the big bar fight with multiple opponents), I found myself amazed - "wow, there's MORE?" - after the smoke cleared. The fights in Ong-Bak almost HURT to watch they're so authentic, and the technique and precision are incredible. These are nicely balanced by some chase scenes very reminiscent of Project-A era Jackie Chan, both in their skill and their creativity. Overall this isn't a *perfect* movie -- the story could use some tightening up, and frankly there's some places where the directing could be better, but Ong Bak is absolutely worth seeing for any action/martial arts fans. 4.5
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Aug 18, 2004 16:47
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Great movie. The reshowing of action shots 4 or 5 times from different angles starts to wear thin by the middle, but dosen't distract too much 3.5/5 Trake Cig rocks
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Aug 18, 2004 19:16
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I was a little disappointed by this film. I know it's a martial arts film and plot and character isn't important, but the story was so bland, the characters so shallow, that I found my mind starting to wander whenever there wasn't a fight going on. And the constant high pitched screeching of the main female character is almost unbearable. Within the fights themselves, an over reliance on the cliche of showing an action then repeating it in super slow motion from a different angle means the direction quickly becomes stale and predictable. However, as others have said, the choreography itself in the fight scenes is a breath of fresh air in todays wire-fu ridden action cinema, and the athleticism of the main character and his distinctive fighting style alone is worth the price of admission. Think Jackie Chan but with his self-deprecating humour and sense of fun replaced by wooden faux-seriousness. 2.5/5
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Aug 19, 2004 03:25
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Simple review by yours truly: Pro: the action Con: the story Eye candy done perfectly. The chase scene is one of the best I've seen in a long time (while combining comedy and action), the fights get tired after awhile but there's enough there to keep your eyes glued. 3.5/5
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Aug 19, 2004 11:22
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Unbelievable masterpiece of righteous destruction, the greatest onscreen disregard for human life I have ever seen. And it has a sense of humour, featuring some of the coolest gimmicks ever. The story is weak but does what any good martial arts story does - not get in the way, the fighting scenes cut back to back would easily comprise two thirds of the running time anyway. If you've never sat through a porn movie and then complained - "but where was the story?!?" you won't be disappointed, this film delivers what it promises and then knees you in the face whilst on fire because you questioned that it ever would. Best seen on a big screen with massive audience for full effect. 5/5
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Aug 19, 2004 11:56
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Ong Bak finally got a limited US theatrical release yesterday, and, since I have heard so much about it, I had to go see it. It is honestly one of the most bad rear end movies I've ever seen; I really like cool martial arts, and this is chock full of it. Yes, there is a lot of repetition of the same move (IE showing a knee to the skull at three different angles), but it seems that, at least in my case, it was perfectly done, as they were moments that I thought "I need to see that again." One of the coolest martial arts movies I have ever seen, and the bonus of it all being done without wires makes it more amazing. Sure, there are some slight special effects miracles (guy essentially gets stabbed in the hands, but continues to fight as if nothing happened), however they are easily overlooked. This is Tony Jaa's first movie, and it is an explosive one (quite literally at times). I am looking forward to his future works, as I am sure he will be the next great kung fu legend, amongst the ranks of Jet Li and Bruce Lee. Definite 5.5/5
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Feb 12, 2005 23:04
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You don't really need much of a story in a movie like that, but unlike porn, where a very stupid setup leads to sex right away, this movie has the really stupid setup for a pretty long time. There is no acting, the story is the same as most porn movies, and even the good action is stupified by showing the same thing 3 times in slow motion, as if time doesn't exist at all. This is basically a gymnastics event on the big screen with horrible dialog (instead of commercials) between each performance. I also didn't find the one liners funny. The only thing that was remotely funny is the "actors" trying to express something tragic. 1.5 Pinkied_Brain fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Feb 13, 2005 |
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Feb 13, 2005 02:03
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If you close your eyes whenever somebody isn't being punched or kicked, you'll walk away pleased. Otherwise, this movie sucks dongs. 1.5/5
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Feb 20, 2005 06:54
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Tony Jaa won't be "the next Bruce Lee" unless he proves he can actually act*. His martial arts skills are without question however and the movie is worth seeing for those alone. *or his brain explodes 3/5
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Feb 22, 2005 14:01
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A must see for all martial arts fans. This one is certainly going into my DVD library. Not much of a plot...it's actually somewhat funny with a hint of cheese and reminds me of a video game - kick some rear end and move on to a stronger opponent, kick his rear end and fight the boss, etc etc. Very entertaining. 4.5/5
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Feb 23, 2005 01:57
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If you go into this film expecting a good Martial arts asskicking bonanza for 2 hours, you will go out pleased. If you go into this film expecting an OMGSODEEP pretentious fag movie, you will leave disapointed. I wanted a Thai kicking rear end, I got a Thai kicking rear end. It's dosen't have a Stanley Kubrick script. So what? It's a martial arts movie, for god's sake. 4/5
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Feb 23, 2005 03:05
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I loved every single minute of this film, except for that whiny loving bitch girl. Oh my god I wanted to strangle her when she wouldn't stop whining and crying like a retard.
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Feb 23, 2005 05:36
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I think that though there actually was a decent story in the movie, it was overshadowed (and rightly so) by Jaa's incredible martial arts. Now obviously one doesn't go to a martial arts film to see a story, but you may be pleasantly suprised by this one. In terms of martial arts Jaa is tremendous, some viewers who have experienced traditional kung fu movies might be suprised by the brutality of Muai Thai. Very good movie overall. 4.5/5
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Feb 26, 2005 08:02
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I loving hated every second of this movie that someone wasn't fighting. Everything about it except the fighting was worse than terrible. It's awful. The fighting however is excellent, which is why I'm raiting it a 2/5
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Mar 2, 2005 01:17
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I expected weird Asian humour going into this, so the Hollywood polish this lacked wasn't a big deal. This movie also made the word "gently caress" lose all meaning for me. Every time I would say it to myself or one of my friends, something more over the top and violent would happen 10 seconds later. I tried putting spins on it, like "jesus gently caress" and "gently caress out" but I ran out of modifiers in about an hour. I saw this at the Silver City in Metrotown, Vancouver, and was 1 of about 5 white kids in the whole building. The row right in front of us had about 20 Thai people in it, I assume, since they went absolutely mental at the patriotic stuff. This movie is best viewed slightly under the influence and with a large group of friends. 4/5
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Mar 2, 2005 12:39
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 10:57 |
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Whilst the female lead did have an annoying voice, she was without a doubt very hot in my opinion. I went in expecting a martial arts stunt showcase film. My expectations were fulfilled. Hence but I have no choice but to rate it 'Very Good'. 4.
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May 27, 2005 21:52
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