ONG BAK

Alternate Title: Ong Bak:Muay Thai Warrior
Country: Thailand
Release Year: 2003
Genre: Martial Arts / Action / Adventure
Lanugage: Thai
Running Time: 105 minutes PAL Original UNCUT Thai Rlease


[Cast]
Tony Jaa
Petchtai Wongkamlao
Pumwaree Yodkamol
Suchao Pongwilai
Wannakit Sirioput
Chumphorn Thepphithak
Chatthapong Pantanaunkul
Chatewut Watcharakhun
Rungrawee Barijindakul
Nudhapol Asavabhakhin
Pornpimol Chookanthong
Udom Chouncheun
Boonsri Yindee
Arirat Ratanakaitkosol
Woravit Tanochitsirikul

[Director]
Prachya Pinkaew

"HANDS DOWN THE ULTIMATE MUAY THAI MARTIAL ARTS ACTION FLICK!!!"

Simply put, this movie will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!

Have you ever seen a movie and thought to yourself...wow, can it get any better than this?...the answer is, YES!!!!



Ladies and Gentlemen upon seeing ONG BAK (2003) we the people of the world have just played witness in the exhibition, and demonstration of perhaps the next greatest living legend in the action hero realm. Tony Jaa shows the world the beauty, and the exquisite art of perhaps the most feared martial arts style in the world. Muay Thai, also known as Kick Boxing. Muay Thai sounds a lot better to me, and of course authentic since that is the proper term for it.

Before ONG BAK, I swore I thought I've seen the very best in martial arts flick in Jet Li's FIST OF LEGEND (1994) I never knew that my wishes...actually the wishes of all martial arts action aficionados that another groundbreaking martial arts action film is to arise in our lifetime. After seeing ONG BAK I must say, it is absolutely the rightful heir to the king of martial arts action films.



What is so unique ONG BAK is that, Tony Jaa re-introduces the deadly art to the world. I have to be honest with you the image that is imprinted in my brain whenever I hear kickboxing is mentioned, the first actor who comes to mind is...'Jeane Claude Van Damme!. Yup, it's because of the movie BLOODSPORT (1989) Mind you, I'm not a hater of his, in fact I did enjoy BLOODSPORT and a few of his other flicks. However for some reason, he just didn't fit the right Kickboxing persona.

Tony Jaa on the other hand being a Thai himself, and a real-life Muay Thai practicioner, and former stunt man fits that persona perfectly!!! What better person to show the world how Muay Thai is supposed to be represented to the world? Who better than a natural born Muay Thai martial artist that is Tony Jaa. Watching him in action is an absolute martial arts movie lovers dream come true!



He is a living legend, probably one of Thailand's living national treasure. He's already compared to the great Jackie Chan. All of Tony Jaa's stunts require no wire-works, no stunt doubles, and nothing fake about the action scenes. All of the stuntmen in the movie actually get hurt because there is no safety-net, and no soft cushion when they hit the ground after being pummelled by Tony Jaa's character Ting. His action style is similar to Jackie's as well, most if not all of the action sequences are filmed in just one take! Super-cool!!!

Also, the actual impact of the high flying kicks, and fierce punches that Tony executes are so frickin' real as it hits the actual body parts of the villains in the flick. Watching Tony do his thing is no doubt an absolute wonder, as he lays down the law to the baddies his own Muay Thai way. Like Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa has total control of the environment his fighting on. He can climb walls with ease, walk on people effortlessly, and literally jump over cars like it was jumping over a curb.
Flips, tumbles, somersaults, he does it all in this movie. Without a doubt, a lot of people got injured in the making of this flick. No doubt about it.

The editing of some of the jaw-dropping scenes repeats itself about three times just to show us that, that is really Tony Jaa performing his OWN STUNTS! You gotta see the scene in the marketplace when Ting, along with Humlae played by the hilarious Petchtai Wongkamlao, and the super cute Pumwaree Yodkamol as Muay when they get chased by a group of baddies, that's when you really see what Tony Jaa is capable of.



Come to think of it, ALL of the ACTION SEQUENCES are SIGHT TO BEHOLD...MUAY THAI ACTION BEYOND BELIEF!!!

I mean he does spectacular scenes that up until now, we only get to see whenever we watch Jackie Chan flicks. Why? Well because only Tony Jaa, and Jackie Chan has the balls, will, and natural born skills to perform stunts like leaping from one wall to the other, perform aerial backward somersault double flying kick to the back of the head type of moves making all of the ultra-difficult stunts look easy. This is what sets other martial art movies out there apart from the work of these two icons. The absolute dedication to their craft. Doing their own stunts, nothing more...nothing less.

Seriously, Tony Jaa is the next action superstar, there is no exception!!! He is the NEXT-LEVEL in action martial arts mayhem.



ONG BAK's story is very simple. A bad guy steals the head of a buddha statue. The buddha's name is ONG BAK, the god of agriculture I believe because as soon as the head is stolen the villagers crops begin to wither, and die. They experience dry weather, and drought causing famine in the village. The only way to get back in the swing of things is retrieve ONG BAK's head in order to restore order in the village.

Thus, they send Ting played by Tony Jaa on a mission to retrieve the ONG BAK head, and kick major ass using his Muay Thai skills along the way. Simple enough for you?

"!!!ABSO-FRICKIN-LUTELY!!!"

Seeing this movie once is enough to blow your mind, but seeing it multiple times to watch all of the great out-of-this-world stunts performed by Tony Jaa will absolutely mess with your martial art loving senses!!! I've never seen a martial art movie with incredibly insane stunts like in ONG BAK.



There's scenes where Tony's feet is on fire,'REAL FIRE! and there he goes doing his stunts like nothing while both of his feet is being char-broiled, he does the side-helicopter kick to the badguy's face. I'm sure that the guy he kicked also got burned. Although Tony's feet were engulfed in flames I'm sure he had some sort of protection for it. The guy he kicked however I don't think he's so lucky as it didn't appear that he have anything to protect him from the flames coming from Tony' feet. Nothing to buffer the flames off his face, but the scene looks awesome beyond belief!!! Oh and there's a scene where Tony takes on a few fighters inside an illegal or legal...fighting match. I don't know the exact laws in Bangkok.



He fights this Japanese-looking guy who uses Kung Fu, another who uses brute force, and some dude who uses ANYTHING, and EVERYTHING as a WEAPON!!! Also, in watching this flick just when you thought it's over, another jaw-dropping action scene will happen, undeniably unbelievable!!! There's no question, anyone who watches ONG BAK, will have an absolute blast!!! So get ready for the next level in martial arts movies, and welcome our next action superstar, Tony Jaa. He resurrects a once forgotten martial art, and brings a new-found image and, respect, to the deadly art of Muay Thai.

In ONG BAK, Tony Jaa shows us the exquisite beauty, and grace of Thailand's most precious, deadly art of the Muay Thai Martial Art. At the same time making this film indeed a definitive modern martial arts classic!!!