Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior [Blu-ray]

One night I was wandering around in the DVD section on Amazon and discovered this movie. Since I had been to Thailand and the reviews were great, I was curious enough to order "Ong-Bak." Now mind you, I am a retired English teacher, female, and not given to violence. However, I give this movie five stars for several reasons. First, of course, is Tony Jaa, an amazing Muay Thai martial artist. Other reviewers compare him with the greats, but I say he is unique, in a class of his own and still young, thus has opportunity to develop his art further. Let me repeat, Tony Jaa is amazing! However, in addition to Tony Jaa's talents, the movie itself is absolutely worth whatever you spend to get it. The action sequences, not including the martial arts fights, are so cleverly put together. The very first action is an rush by young men in a village to climb a huge tree to retrieve a scarf from its top. Because it is a Thai contest, a cultural thing, American audiences had to be agape at this action. I know I was. Ting (Jaa) wins. Here is a progression of other action scenes so entertaining: *Ting and Humlae running through the side streets of Bangkok, trying to escape bullies out to harm them. Hilarious and amazing. *The race of the tut-tuts. Those little three-wheeled carts are like horse and buggies in New Orleans, a tourist thing. To see them in a "car chase" and how they crash and tumble is also hilarious. *The fights: Some of the early fights are so funny. Big Bear (Australian?) with his Howard Stern hair, the quick-legged Japanese(?) fighter, and the incredible fighter(?) who uses accoutrements to attack Ting: picture frames, broken bottles, tables, chairs, a neon sign, an electric cord, a small refrigerator, a knife--and still loses. From this point the fights become progressively more dangerous. It is about mid-point in the movie when the serious stuff begins and all fights intensify. The viewer sees Muay Thai in life-threatening action. This is an incredible film with incredible action, humor, "car chases" unlike any you have ever seen, and a satisfactory ending. Highly recommended for its uniqueness all around!! Be sure to watch the Special Features section. It is worth the price of the video! And watch out for more of Tony Jaa!

The most successful movie in Thai cinematic history is also the best "real world" martial artist film in the past decade. With all the fantastic wire work in Iron Monkey, Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it's nice to swing the pendulum back the other way toward what I grew up with, Bruce Lee style raw and powerful, full contact fight scenes. Tony Jaa is the next Bruce Lee and will surpass his predecessors Jackie Chan and Jet Li. He has Li's Technical skill and speed, Chan's stunt work and acrobatics and Lee's brutal style with no wires. Jaa is the real deal This is his first film (staring role at lease, Jaa was a stuntman before this) and this movie rocks the entire way though. There are only four main fight scenes but they are so well done and with so much intensity it feels like a Bruce lee film or early Jackie Chan (serious Chan, not buster Kenton Chan). Jaa does all his own stunts, no CGI, no wires. Jaa incorporated Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) which is not well know but is jaw dropping and painfully brutal. You can see every bone crushing blow and truly believe it could inflict some real damage. The music is great and really ups the pace in these hard core action scenes. Like any good Jackie Chan movie this one also features Jaa is various, seemingly unbelievable stunts that are truly unique to Jaa. You just have to see it to believe he can do what he can do. The finally to this movie is amazing, the scene in the cave, raw and so brutal and is shot beautifully with just the right amount of diffused lighting that gives the dark yet visible fight scene and lets you get the mood and still see every blow, crisp and clear. Everyone likes to rag on the plots of these films; if you're watching this for the plot then you're an idiot. Sit back and enjoy seeing the beginning of the new king of movie martial arts, Tony Jaa.

good movie

Tony Jaa stars in this action packed martial arts fest that makes the Matrix shake in it's boots! THERE IS NO CGI IN THIS MOVIE BECAUSE IT DOES NOT NEED IT. You will swear you are watching a superhuman being in action when you watch Tony Jaa. IMPOSSIBLE body movement resembling Par Kour meets Muay Thai. I guarantee you you have never seen anything like this! Tony Jaa is a real life superhuman! The story goes that in a small town in the Orient stands a beloved statue of Buddha. Criminals steal the statue leaving the town without their prayer life. A young warrior stands up to the criminals and starts the hunt to get their beloved statue back from the scum who stole it. The young man goes to Bangkok, Thailand to fight the thiefs. Par Kour, Muay Thai, and acrobatics compared to Bruce Li, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan are the parts of this movie that will utterly AMAZE YOU! Tony Jaa is actually faster and more agile than any I just listed which sounds impossible but is actually true. As stated on the DVD case, we feel we must warn you. This is a VERY violent movie and IS NOT for kids! PREMIUM...VIOLENCE...PERSONIFIED. I cannot put into words or writing the level of gymnastics, acrobatics, and martial arts in this film! Mr. Jaa is a real...life...Spider-Man. See it to believe it!

The original and my absolute favourite in the series, even though it has less action in general. OMG, the introduction of Tony Jaa's fighting with a flying knee kick across the room was.... memorable LOLOLOL. Was a good mix of comedy relief and action. The film makes it a point to emphasise the country's (Thailand) heritage with their faith/culture etc. I consider this to be a classic to Muay Thai as synonymous with Bruce Lee to Kung Fu/Jeet Kun Do..

Ong-Bak es la primera película como protagonista de Tony Jaa y es una auténtica joya para los amantes de las artes marciales, Tony Jaa se preparo en el Muay Thai Boran durante 4 años para hacer la película, no usa dobles ni cables ni nada de CGI, todo lo hace él y muy bien (más adelante en sus películas si utilizaría todo lo mencionado antes, pero aquí no) La edición nunca me llegó ya que el repartidor no sé dónde la dejaría y me hicieron un reembolso porque no había más en stock de esta edición, la tuve que buscar en vendedores externos de segunda mano...es una edición muy buena tanto en extras como en metraje ya que trae la versión uncut de la película (aunque creo que es sólo para completistas ya que es poco lo que censuran) no trae subs ni audio en Español, solo subs en Inglés e idioma en Tailandes.

Ancien film mais super histoire. Je ne me souvenais plus de toutes ses scènes. Vraiment hyper doué Tony Jaa. Aurait mérité une carrière plus approfondie. A voir et à revoir

I'm 63, but have loved martial arts since my pre-pubescent years! I got to know about Bruce Lee in 1970 when I was only 13 years old. He was alive then. In 1990 I visited Bruce Lee's grave site at Lake View Cemetary in Seattle Washington, on July 20th, 1990. It was the 17th anniversary since his passing. Since then these movies have rocked my world! Sonny Chiba, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal, Jet Li, Jean-Claude Van Damme , Chuck Norris, Damme, Donnie Yen...but non have come as close as Bruce Lee. The following write-up says it all: "Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced the mainstream North American market! Although I thought that I had seen it all, I was not prepared for Tony Jaa. In Ong-bak, he does things that I never thought possible for a human being! His fights with the best in this movie are quite memorable including the fight with "Big Bear"! You may want to also consider "The Protector" also with Tony Jaa which also has an incredible duel between him and a Brazilian champion! The movie was made by Quentin Tarantino. It's sold on Amazon.ca too. In the middle of this review I really got into it and went on Amazon and bought "Kill Zone 2", "The Protector" both with Tony Jaa, and also "Chocolate" with JeeJa Yanin who I have never heard of but it's also made by by the same director as "Ong bak" and the "Protector" Quentin Tarantino which means it can't be that bad! I'll never get tired of martial arts!!! Anyway, that's something to think about.

Een waardige film om naar te kijken, er zat zelfs een easter egg in de film verstopt. "Hey spielberg, let's do it together" stond er op een stalen gordijn.

Hallo liebe Amazonler, hallo liebe Muay Thai Filmliebhaber! Heute schreibe ich über einen meiner absoluten Lieblingsfilme "Ong-Bak". Dabei ist der Film nach dem benannt, was den Bewohnern von Tings (Tony Jaa) Dorf am heiligsten ist, der Buddhakopf "Ong-Bak" Der Film bietet dabei eine geballte Ladung Action und spannende Fights im Thai Style, dabei setzt Tony Jaa neue Maßstäbe und füllt seine Rolle mehr als 100%ig aus! Dabei unterhält einen die Story die eine Mischung aus Geschichte des Dorfes, Wiederbeschaffung des Buddhakopfes und die "Rückkehr des verlorenen Sohnes" enthält, gespickt mit packenden Kämpfen und gefilmt in Thailand. Zur der Geschichte selber möchte ich nicht viel verraten, einfach nur weil man sich diesen Film unbedingt angucken sollte. Aber ihr habt hier einen Film der einfach nur unterhaltsam ist und zu 100% zu empfehlen ist. Es gibt viele Filme die versuchen Kämpfe mit überspitzten Kampfgeräuschen zu "highlighten", darauf wurde hier gänzlich verzichtet. Passend zu den Kampfszenen wird gute "Kampfmusik" eingespielt bzw. Situativ halt, das fand ich richtig gut. Es ist zwar die "geschnittene" Version aber im wesentlichen fielen der Schere nur folgende Dinge zum Opfer: - Handlungsstrang: Muys Schwester - Alle Referenzen auf Drogen bis auf eine Ausnahme wurden entfernt - Farbfilter wurden neu gesetzt - Musik wurde an einigen Stellen durch hochwertigere ersetzt. Entgegen den Gerüchten gibt es jedoch keine französische Rap-Musik im Film, nur im Abspann. Der größte teil der Musik blieb sowieso gleich! Ich habe beide Filme gesehen und empfehle selbstverständlich die Uncut Version, weil dort eben alles enthalten ist, vor allem der Handlungsstrang mit Muys Schwester ist doch relativ interessant! Qualitativ kann man sich den Film (obwohl DVD) auf jeden Fall angucken, klar sprechen wir hier nicht von einer Blu-Ray Version mit allem drum und dran, aber wir bewegen uns noch in einem anschaubaren Niveau ;) Ich kann euch den Film nur mehr als empfehlen und spreche daher eine klare Kaufempfehlung aus! ### Schlusswort ### Sollte euch meine Rezension gefallen haben, oder bei eurer Kaufentscheidung geholfen haben, so würde ich mich über einen kurzen Klick auf "Ja" freuen. Damit helft ihr mir weiterhin gute und qualitative Rezensionen zu schreiben und zeigt mir gleichzeitig auf wenn etwas nicht so gut war und ich mich dementsprechend verbessern kann. Vielen Dank :-)