Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

rdoyle29 When criminals steal the head of their Buddha statue, a young warrior from a Thai village travels to Bangkok to get it back. This film has a fairly perfunctory plot and is really a showcase for Tony Jaa's Muay Thai skills and for the outrageous stunt skills on display here. On those terms, it's really impressive with one small flaw ... it climaxes way too early. There's a fight sequence in the middle of the film with Jaa fighting an escalating series of enemies in a bar that is so good that it completely overshadows the second half of the film. The film's actual climax is a let down by comparison.

zardoz-13 "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" wasn't the first film in which Tony Jaa appeared, but it was the first one to make international audiences sit up and pay attention to him. This action-packed martial arts thriller about Muay Thai kickboxing is a high-octane, fast-paced, stunt-laden epic with Jaa performing all his own fighting, running, jumping, and hitting. Director Prachya Pinkaew has helmed one exciting movie, and you cannot say you've seen every good martial arts actioneer if you've somehow missed or skipped "Ong-Bak," which cost a little over a million dollars but grossed over twenty million worldwide. The screenplay by "Born to Fight" scenarist Panna Rittikrai and co-scribe Prachya Pinkaew of "The Protector" bristles with stock characters and formulaic shenanigans, but the dazzling action scene choreographed by Tony Jaa provide some memorable moments during this 105-minute opus.Tony Jaa portrays the superbly fit hero who is often referred to a 'country boy' by people in the city. As Ting, Tony Jaa has been taught Muay Thai, but the priest who instructed him hopes that he will refrain from deploying this deadly skill set. The tiny village that Ting grew up in is poised to celebrate their village deity Ong-Bak with a festival that occurs once every twenty-four years. A village elder has summoned a notorious drug dealer from Bangkok, Don (Wannakit Sirioput), to appraise a family amulet, but the individual refuses to part from it at any price. Later, Don and his henchmen remove the head of Ong-Bak from the Buddhist statue and flee with it. Uncle Mao (Chumphorn Thepphithak) interrupts the thieves and one of them clobbers him with a plank and they leave him unconscious as they flee. The Pradu villages are frightened by this turn of events with the impending festival long in the works. They want somebody to find the statue's head and bring it back before seven days is up when the festival begins. Ting (Tony Jaa) volunteers for the assignment and the village shells out some money for him to survive on during his journey. Literally, the country boy heads to Bangkok in a ramshackle bus. Once he arrives in Bangkok, he goes looking for Humlae (Petchtai Wongkamlao) who has told his father that he is waiting to be ordained as a monk. Humlae is a con artist who works with a girl, Muay Lek (Pumwaree Yodkamol), to scrap together money. Typically, Humlae owes money to somebody. When he meets Ting, he spots our hero's money and immediately appropriates it for his own use. Usually, Humlae) loses when he bets on anything or anybody. He owes a thug named Peng (Cheathavuth Watcharakhun) a pile of dough. Anyway, Humlae lets Ting crash at his pad and promises to provide him with information on the whereabouts of Don. Later, we learn what a ruthless character Don is when he wastes cocaine on a prostitute, Ngek (Rungrawee Barijindakul), simply to kill her. Don is a first-rate bastard. Indeed, all the villains in "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior." This turns out to be particularly true of the chief villain, Komtuan (Suchao Pongwilai of "Deathwave"), who is not only confined to a wheelchair but also relies on an electrolarynx in order to talk. He operates a night club where bets are placed on any kind of fighting. Eventually, Humlae takes Ting to this den of crime, and Ting impresses everybody with his close-quarters combat skills and his use of Muay Thai to whip four formidable opponents who never give our hero a break."Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" is a good movie with lots of first-class stunt work and fight scenes. The death of Komtuan is especially fitting since he is the mastermind behind Don.

Giallo Fanatic But great action. To be honest I have a lot of respect for this movie, it reminds me of those old Jackie Chan movies and Bruce Lee movies where the reliance of action was more on the skill and athleticism of the actors and not some fancy wire work. Tony Jaa has skills and moves that is a mix of both Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, pow! Knockout! Then he is doing stunts a la Jackie Chan. Which is a pretty damn sweet combination when you've grown up with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Tony Jaa may not have the same acting skills as Lee or the charisma of Chan but he makes up for it with his kind of boyish vulnerability. Except he is a proficient fighter in Muay Boran, the ancestor of Muay Thai. A fascinating martial art.The movie has acceptable acting. Which means it does not ruin the movie. It isn't great but it is sufficient. The director has skills to make the movie shift smoothly between humor and action. Oh, another great thing about Tony Jaa is he does not try hard to be funny, like Jackie Chan did. I respect Jackie Chan but sometimes he tries too hard to be funny. The characters were also pretty interesting, it made the movie kind of sweet to watch. The dynamic between the leads was pretty good. The fight scenes were staggering and awe inspiring. Although they had a tendency to drag, but that is only a good thing since I think martial art movies have to make you feel as if you've been in a fight and you're tired.Good action movie.

Movie_Muse_Reviews Rest assured if 8-year-olds were old enough to see "Ong-Bak" there would by a Muay Thai studio in every American town. Yes, Mommy, I want to vault over cars; yes, I want to jump feet-first through hoops; yes I want to beat people up—err, defend myself—with what amounts to the strength of my elbows."Ong-Bak" is a martial arts showcase in this regard; any of the action scenes could be used as a recruitment video for the sport/art form. And then there's Tony Jaa, who aside from instantly elevating himself to modern equivalents such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan, plays a character in Ting who could teach every action hero that ever was a thing or two about humility. In fact, we could all learn a thing or two from the Buddhists.Ting lives in rural Thai village centered around a Buddhist monastery. When the head of the town's precious Buddha statue, Ong-Bak, is ripped off and stolen, Ting is tasked with heading to Bangkok to retrieve it lest the village see bad luck forever. Men have kicked ass over less.Filmmaker Prachya Prinkaew surrounds Ting with a vibrant ensemble. Ting's first order of business is to seek out his cousin, Humlae (Petchai Wongkamlao), a deceitful and shallow money-grubber of the worst kind and his little sister Muay (Pumwaree Yodkamol) with whom he runs cons. When Humlae realizes Ting could be a top prize fighter, he agrees to help Ting get the Ong-Bak back. It's currently in the possession of Komtuan, a wheelchair-bound crime lord with a tracheotomy. Although the dynamics between them could be described as cliché, this is a rather unique core cast of characters.With someone of Jaa's ability, it's not difficult to conceive of some creative action sequences and grin-inducing stunts. The smartest decision, however, is easily Prinkaew's choice to reveal Jaa's skills to us slowly, to tease his ass-kicking potential. The chase scene through Bangkok that shows off Jaa's acrobatic side gives us our first taste and leaves us hungry for what this guy can do when someone needs to be put in their place (a.k.a the floor).The fights don't disappoint either. Although they can get repetitive toward the end, Jaa provides a spectacle and the fight choreography is legit. And despite the "R" rating, "Ong- Bak" avoids getting brutally violent, instead more interested in the artistry of the fighting. The only poor technique choice is the use of the "let's see that again!" shot after Jaa does anything the film wants you to see as miraculous. This is a film, not a live sporting event, but that's not to take anything away from the cool moves they highlight. If they happened in live sports, I'd want to see them again too.The most enjoyable part of "Ong-Bak" aside from the martial arts is that the creativity is not limited to the fight choreography. Scenes like the street chase or the Thai taxi bikes chase make the film something that can be enjoyed by more than just martial arts connoisseurs.And everyone who watches "Ong-Bak" will walk away from the screen completely in awe of Tony Jaa. He's the kind of talent playing the kind of character that's impossible not to love.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit moviemusereviews.com