Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior – Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Reviews, Film, Reviews



As of right now, there’s a very short list of who just might be the greatest screen martial artist going today. While Jet Li and Jackie Chan are still capable of doing good work, their best days are unfortunately behind them. There are stars that are still up and coming such as Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror, but I think on a large scale they’re still proving their viability as stars. When it comes down to who’s the best screen-fighter in the world right now, you’ve really only got two choices. Hong Kong’s top star: Donnie Yen is at the pinnacle of his game right now, putting out future classics such as Ip Man and Flashpoint, and not letting up for the foreseeable future. Pound for pound though, the man putting out the most exciting Martial Arts films at the moment is Thailand’s Tony Jaa, whose use of Muay Thai and wireless stunts has created a sensation that shames most of the CGI-laden Martial Arts films of the last decade.

If you’re curious about Jaa and wondering what martial arts fans are talking about, the best place to start is still Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior. Like Shaolin Temple did for Jet Li and The Big Boss did for Bruce Lee before him, Ong-Bak is a wonderful introduction to the skill and presence of Tony Jaa and shows why he’s so sought after these days. With a simple story and incredible set-pieces, Tony Jaa is unleashed on fanbase hungry for the next big star, and with its brutality, physical heroics, and a dash of humor, the next Martial Arts icon comes prepackaged for wide consumption. Now those looking for the type of transcendent themes offered in genre masterpieces like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero should look elsewhere. Those looking to watch a hero take down scores of men while his legs are on fire or see the same man jump through hoops of barb-wire has found the right movie.

The film’s plot is gloriously uncomplicated. The title Ong-Bak actually refers to the image of Buddha, which is the most prized possession of the village where Ting (Tony Jaa) was born and grew up while training in the art of Muay Thai. When a wannabe gangster is turned away by the village after offering to buy their family heirlooms, he takes the head of the Buddha out of spite, hoping to sell it to nefarious individuals in Bangkok. Fearing the desecration of the statue will cause the village ruin, Ting travels into the city in search of Ong-Bak’s return and along the way finds a cousin that will help him on his journey. Unfortunately, the cousin also inadvertently gets Ting mixed up in an underground fighting ring, which is the type of thing that happens in a movie like this.

To that end though, this is a film that tirelessly tries to entertain you. Even when Jaa is not in the throes of combat, whether in a makeshift arena or atop a giant tree, the movie fills the time with the comedy of Petchtai Wongkamlao as Humlae, AKA George, the cousin with less than perfect scruples. Wongkamlao makes a terrific foil for Jaa in the movie, as George is constantly getting into trouble with bookies and gangsters, while also bringing a terrific comic flair to the picture’s action. While separately each of the lead actors does his own thing, together the duo manage to pull off the type of comedy/action stylings that we used to expect from classic Jackie Chan pictures like Project A and Police Story.

The best example of this in the movie comes when a large gang tries to rundown the duo while trying to collect a debt from George. Ting takes on half the gang with an incredible display of agility and physicality; running through alleyways and avoiding the villains by flipping and sliding his way to safety. Meanwhile, George’s portions of the sequence have him trying to think his way through trouble while trying to equal Jaa’s character in the fight department. While Ting jumps over street venders and avoids panes of glass with the greatest of ease, George has to make do in hilarious scenes involving an old woman selling knives and another vendor that seems to be selling only hot spices. This dichotomy works very well for the picture, letting Wongkamlao do the heavy lifting acting-wise while the fresh faced Jaa need only worry about showing his stuff in the action arena.

If action is all you’re interested in though, I can’t conceive of a person being disappointed. Tony Jaa’s work here is simply spectacular. Describing what he does in the movie doesn’t really do it justice to watching the man onscreen, which is poetry in motion. While not working with the production values that contemporary Donnie Yen is doing currently, he is making the most out of any moment he’s in front of the camera, kneeing and elbowing his way to greatness. It’s as if the fights don’t even feel that they’re choreographed because his movements are so natural and brutal that it’s as if they just turned the camera on and just let Jaa do his thing, which to some degree is just how the whole thing works.

Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior is a terrific introduction to the films of Tony Jaa, even if it isn’t filled with quite as much surreal insanity as The Protector or the epic storyline of Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning. A wonderful showcase for both of its leads, the movie fills the screen with fights and laughs from start to finish, bursting as the seams with entertainment. In the end, this is the movie that gave the world Tony Jaa, and for that accomplishment alone, action fans everywhere should celebrate.

Now some may be disappointed when they first put in the Blu-ray disc for this picture, especially considering how much Fox seems to hype this print on the box and in features. At first glance, this print may not look very impressive, but one should really take a look at what type of materials the studio had to work with. Going back and seeing some of the original prints for the movie, this is a pretty vast improvement, removing a lot of scratches and obvious problems while giving us a sharper image and more definitive image. The sound is also much better on this disc than any previous very.

My one complaint is perhaps with the subtitles, which seem to lose a bit in the translation. My biggest complaint is that on the original Thai DVD, Ting keeps calling George “Dirty Balls”, which I guess is a direct translation of Humlae, the name they use in this US release. I know it’s a juvenile joke to some degree, but at one point George tries to pretend he doesn’t know Ting, and the way it plays out with the original translation as Jaa keeps calling him “Dirty Balls” in front of people he’s trying to impress is pretty funny.

Live Tony Jaa and Stuntmen Performance – This seems to be at a premiere, where Jaa gets up on stage with his crew and they do their thing. There’s really just no getting over how impressive Jaa’s abilities are.

The Movements of Muay Thai – Want to know what Jaa’s specific moves are called? This tells you.

French Rap Music Video with Tony Jaa – This is a rap video for the group Tragedie, in which Tony Jaa makes a cameo.

Making of Music Video – Olivier Megaton, who directed Transporter 3, takes us behind the scenes of the making of his music video, which featured Tony Jaa and Ong-Bak footage.

Selected B-Roll – My favorite extra, these little snippets show how hard it is to make a movie like this, especially for the stunt men on the picture. Each time I watch some footage of Tony Jaa standing there with his legs on fire while he kicks some poor guy in the face, my respect for this picture goes up just a little bit more.

Promo Video Featuring The RZA – This is a goofy intro to the movie by The RZA.

Trailers

While the movie doesn’t have the amount of extras I’d like, especially compared to the awesome recent release of Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning, there’s enough to love here, especially if you’re getting this disc for this awesome movie. For any martial arts fan out there, this is definitely a must have.


20th Century Fox presents Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior. Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew. Starring: Tony Jaa and Petchtai Wongkamlao. Written by: Prachya Pinkaew, Panna Ritikrai, and Suphachai Sittiaumponpan. Running time: 105 minutes. Rating: R. Released on February 2, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.

Robert Sutton feels the most at home when he's watching some movie scumbag getting blown up, punched in the face, or kung fu'd to death, especially in that order. He's a founding writer for the movies section of Insidepulse.com, featured in his weekly column R0BTRAIN's Badass Cinema as well as a frequent reviewer of DVDs and Blu-rays. Also, he's a proud Sony fanboy, loves everything Star Wars and Superman related and hopes to someday be taken seriously by his friends and family.