ong bak

Started by pete, July 24, 2003, 01:10:06 AM

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modage

i got invited to a screening of this on monday and tony ja was going to be there to do a martial arts demonstration afterwards but i couldnt go.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

matt35mm

The movie is very formulaic and fairly boring.  Just the action sequences are worth watching.  The plot is kinda stupid, the two characters that follow him around are stupid.  But eh, worth the time I guess, if you are in the mood for a few sweet acrobatic scenes.

Myxo

Got a chance to see this tonight and it is astounding. Tony Jaa is the real deal. If you've been missing a gritty, blood soaked, incredibly well choreographed martial arts movie, you'd be hard pressed to think of anything in a very long time that even comes close to Ong Bak. Go and see this on the big screen before it's gone.

As far as the story goes..

Yeah, it's a pretty campy but the entire point of the film is to showcase Tony Jaa and I'm here to say, it does that pretty fucking well. This guy is the next big thing in martial arts cinema. He's around to stay.

Bruce Lee

compared to any Bruce Lee fight scene this film takes the form of the billiard brawl as seen in Mean Streets

Fernando

Went to see this out of pete's recommendation and mainly because of the wireless cgiless thing, it was awesome, that the story isn't strong enough? who gives a shit about the story? The guy kicked everyone's ass and more, there wasn't a single waste moment on the film, even the first time he knocks out one guy with a single kick was amazing, if you go and see a film of this kind you must know what your in for and you'll never be dissapointed.

When it ended I felt when I was a kid when you see some martial arts movie and you just want to go out and fight with your friends or something.

I'll get the dvd as soon as I can.  I still feel :onfire:  :yabbse-grin:

pete, which other films like this one would you recommend?

pete

well, a semi-sequel already came out in Thailand (it was actually shot in Australia) so it should be out everywhere else soon.  

I dunno what exactly it is about Ong Bak that you're looking for.  Do you want good fighting or cool stunts or movies that hit people for real or all three?  Most Hong Kong films feature all three but a lot of them are hard to find and most of them just don't look as good as Ong Bak due to the lack of production values.  I'm trying to break you in with more accessible ones, if you like these then maybe we'll graduate to more sophisticated and obscure and lower budget cheap stuff:

a lot of Jackie Chan stuff were like that, namely:
Drunken Master 2
Police Story 1
Dragons Forever

There are also Sammo Hung films (trying to find the ones that are netflix-able):
Prodigal Son
Eastern Condors
Magnificent Butcher
Warriors Two

old skool stuff that might be harder to find:
mad monkey kungfu, legendary weapons of china, my young auntie

and finally, check out my buddies the stunt people:
www.thestuntpeople.com
I helped a little bit with their latest movie, Contour.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Myxo

Quote from: Fernandopete, which other films like this one would you recommend?
For something a little harder to find, try:

Shao Lin san shi liu fang
Also known as "36th Chamber of Shaolin" or "The Master Killer"

It is an absolute classic of martial arts cinema. Try and find the box which looks like this:


Pubrick

uh yeah, and scarface! don't forget scarface!!
under the paving stones.

Ravi

Comparisons of various DVDs of Ong Bak

Apparently there is no decent version with English subtitles.  The R1 Fox DVD is shortened and, according to HTF, has a mediocre transfer.

pete

I got the R0 taiwan version from Ebay, a "bootleg" I guess but it's great--good English subtitles (though there are still typos amok) with great extras, the extras got no subtitles, but aside from the commentary, most of them didn't need subtitles anyways.  plus I got a Thai friend.  but the back of the box has probably the funniest case of Engrish I've ever read, it's so over the top, babblefish ain't got nothing on this gibberish.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

pete

"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Myxo

From what I've heard, the soundtrack for the Thai version is nothing like what we got here in America. For some reason martial arts & rap are supposed to go together in the US of A.

pete

the thai soundtrack isn't too much better though.  It's the same melody played over and over again techno style, sometimes on like a thai horn and sometimes on a keyboard, with like a techno beat.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

killafilm

Is the Luc Besson re-edit what we saw in theaters here?