ONG BAK MUAY THAI WARRIOR

ongbak.jpgForget Jackie Chan. Forget Jet Li. Dare I say it? Forget Bruce Lee. Ong Bak Muay Thai Warrior is here, and all martial art film fans shall bend their knee to the best martial arts performer the screen has ever seen. Phanom Yeerum is the real deal folks. Not only does he do the most impressive things I ever seen a human being do, but he does it all without wires or camera tricks. Everything he does in the film is actually him doing it. My jaw still hurts from hanging open so much. I also believe a change of underwear was required… twice.

The story of Ong Bak is rather weak. I’m not recommending this film based on it’s plot or character development. It’s the action. My heavens it’s the action. I just can’t overstate this enough, you will not believe your eyes.

Harry over at Ain’t it Cool News puts it this way:

This man does the things you see him do in this film. He exhibits a dexterity that perhaps only Jackie Chan exhibited at the height of his body’s elasticity and prowess. He exhibits a lethal quickness and freshness and charisma that I have not seen since Bruce Lee. This guy is the real deal. The reviews from last year’s Toronto Film Festival announced it, then when I saw it, I flipped the hell out. Luc Besson has bought the worldwide rights to the film, and this April it hits in France. God and Fox willing, it will hit the United States later this year. These trailers are cool, but only hint at the sheer exhiliration that this film creates in audiences. Going under the title, ONG BAK – this film will own everyone that sees it.

I couldn’t agree more with him. You can see Ong Bak now on DVD (which is how I saw it). But you’ll have to find it in a specialty Chinese dvd store. Want to see a trailer? Go here.

Comment with Facebook

19 thoughts on “ONG BAK MUAY THAI WARRIOR

  1. Keep it simple! Tony is new to all of this his movies are extremly entertainting but in real life or in an ultimate fight contest he wouldnt stand a chance. Bruce was a real figher as well an entertainer. Next you will be saying Hulk Hogan is a top fighter because you have seen him throw grown men about like rag dolls!

  2. Physically, Tony Jaa isn’t really that impressive. Steve Terada owns him, Jujimufu owns him, Manny Brown owns him. He had great presence, though; I was entertained by his creative and brutal fighting. I’m too lazy to put much more thought into this…

  3. yeah i seen the movie already and its good i bootlegged it but dont forget who started this thing the great bruce lee and also if they fought he would give bruce some compettion but u cant say who would truly win

  4. So much controversy over entirely different things. Jet Li is a martial artist, or at least he started out that way. Jet Li started out in Wu Shu which largely incorporates martial arts, dance, and gymnastics. Sounds like a great art for movies huh?
    Bruce Lee was a martial artist and did more than anyone to bring martial arts to the mainstream populations of the world. He approached martial arts with an uncommon method that will be talked about for years. He was really fast and had a great ability to sythesize different things he learned into a system.
    Jackie Chan was trained Chinese Opera which mainly focuses on theatrical martial arts and gymnastics. He was one of the first to bring Hong Kong style stunts to the masses. His choreography is fantastic.
    Phanom Yeerum started out with chinese Kung Fu, that’s right, Kung Fu. I don’t know his entire portfolio but I know he was a stunt man for Mortal Kombat. He only later learned some very old muay thai and how accurate that is isn’t known. He has a great future ahead of him as an action movie star and who knows, with people like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Bruce Lee having already paved the way for this genre of movie he may surpass their accomplishments.
    My point is that each person has different qualities they brought to the movie scene. Bruce Lee while he accomplished great things is hardly the best martial artist that ever lived. There are plenty masters that might have beaten him. Jackie Chan likewise may not have been the best stunt man in the world but he easily has brought his talents to the world at large more than any other. Jet Li, is an accomplished martial artist but once again is a movie star. He is not the best martial artist in the world. Finally Phanom is great at what he does and I hope we get to see even more of him in his new movie Tom Yum Goong(Tom Yum Shrimp).
    All ate great at what they do, but these are just movies. If it were possible to match them all up I’d say Bruce Lee would win a fight. He dedicated his very being into fighting. It’s not though and it doesn’t matter. What matters is the films they make and the entertainment they provide.

  5. finally a movie that shows what the best art is! forget all those kung fool actors. muay thai is the best! anybody wanna try me lets go! kung fu might look pretty but its not deadly against muay thai. we all seen it in ufc. muay thai, boxing, brazilian jiu jitsu and wrestling is the best combination, bar none!

  6. Damnn u guys compare this thay-guy with BRUCE LEE,
    Bruce Lee was the ultra master of martial arts, he invented Jeet Kune Do, his reflex,speed and strength was unhumanic. U cannot compare a good martial artist with a legend like Bruce. Forget about Bruce Lee?? W-t-f?? If we all forget about what Bruce did, our martial arts wouldnt be as modern as it is today.
    Bruce Lee was a martial artist, actor and phylosoph . “He cannot possibly be as good as Bruce Lee? dude where is your head at?”, Tony Jaa is NOT as good as Bruce Lee, all the techniques that Tony Jaa uses(well maybe most of them), are unuseless in a real combat. All these Saltos and monsterjumps would make him a fool in a real fight. Maybe he is a good entertainer, maybe better than Bruce was, but he isnt a better martial artist , and he will probably never be. Thats the truth, learn something about martial arts, before saying stupid stuff, that ur eye tells you. All these monsterjumps are good for the eye but suicide in a real fight.
    “15 years old and I believe his training regiment went something like this….Up at 5 am, training until 22:00 for half his life on earth.”, i think Jet Li startet with 6 years, and u still cannot compare Jet Li with bruce Lee so why should we compare Tony with Bruce? Yes Brian ur right, Tony is young and his potencial is high, and this movie was very entertaining, but we should cross a line between serious martial arts, and martial arts movies.

    sorry for my bad english, i cant speak every language perfectly

  7. One more thing keep in mind it is his first attempt at international martial arts film making, we have not seen nothing yet, keep that in mind. Another thing Jet Li does use props to assist him in the production of movies and also in his video game for playstation 2. Wires assist him to be propelled in the air. Tony Jaa uses no such props. So you cannot compare Tony Jaa to Jet Li or Bruce Lee’s career as currently Tony Jaa is only just starting. Keep that in mind, would also be a good idea if you study up a bit about muay thai and its history and the older forma of muay thai.

  8. He cannot possibly be as good as Bruce Lee? dude where is your head at? Tony Jaa has been speding half is life committed to the art, he has been at it since he was 15 years old and I believe his training regiment went something like this….Up at 5 am, training until 22:00 for half his life on earth. I am certain his career is just starting internationally and as time progresses you might wish to re-visit your comments. keep in mind it is his first attempt at international film and thus is basically his first Major Film the entire world has had the privilige to see. There will be a lot more from Tony Jaa and he will take his place in the history of martial arts film making and do not be surprised when he surpasses his predecessors. They had their time, Tony Jaa is only the start of a new Era in Martial arts film making, he will kick butt!!!!!!

  9. Tony Jaa is a good martial artist, but he can not possibly be as good as Bruce Lee. Maybe a fight like that would be worth watching.There for if he can defeat Jet Li then maybe, if not he is no match for the great Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee has dedicated his life to martial arts so Tony Jaa is not that dedicated.

  10. tony jaa is on his game but to compare his onesided style to bruces, chans, and especially lee. is ridiculus and foolish all these men have forgone extesive training wich is thousands of years old many of these secrets are privy to a select few groups and i guarantee tony jaa was not one of them. have we all forgoten about one punch kill technices the secrets of pressure points and other. that can only be unlocked buy the forms there hidden in! and not one good mui thai fighter the movie puts other movies to shame not all but some still lets not lose are heads and bla bla bla

  11. I havent seen the movie, but I have seen the trailer. I’m not here to comment on the movie but more to find out where I can download the movie offline. ^_^; I know you want people to support the film makers and not buy bootlegs or support them and stuff, but I really want to see it and the only way I can right now is through download. I’ve tried searching for torrents but that doesnt work out good…HELP!

  12. I saw this movie long b4 when it first came out…thats y the subs where messed up. I got it for 4 bucks. What a deal huh. I agree with psyc2, u can’t diss Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee like that. Most of his stunts and moves where based on Jackie Chan’s, just more different. Anyways, I loved this movie. There aren’t many movies like these nowadays.

  13. ong bak is a pretty amazing action flick, but to compare it to bruce lee, and especially jackie chan, is plain wrong. don’t get too carried away with the praise; only give it what it is due. tony jaa is incredibly athletic, no doubt about it, but the acrobatic stunts (as in the chase scene) weren’t half as entertaining as in a chan movie (e.g. police story, dragons forever, project a, drunken master II, etc.). i know the choreographer had a lot to do with it, but even from just watching jaa perform his routine the flow was way too linear. the tree sequence in the beginning was probably the best display of movement in the whole movie, as it was much more flowing and free. as for the fight scenes, they reminded me of sammo hung style choreography (e.g. eastern condors)…just not as fast. ong bak is a great movie, but there are still many others that deserve higher honors.

  14. The European theatrical release is being prepped right now and I believe is due to hit France, at least, within the next month or so. Domestic DVDs are unlikely to show up in Europe for probably a year or so (most likely longer for us here in North America) but the official Hong Kong edition – thus far the only official version to include English subtitles – has just been announced. Cheapest place you’re likely to find it is online at http://www.layoyo.com

  15. Actually, you’re pretty unlikely to find it in a Chinese DVD store as the Chinese DVDs haven’t released yet for the local folk to start bootlegging … that’ll come in a month or so as the film’s selling out theaters in Hong Kong right now … there are however good subtitled boot copies of the Thai DVD floating around on Ebay. This would be the copy that campea has seen because I am a good and generous man. And yes, I’ll buy an official one just as soon as there’s a legit edition with good subs.

Leave a Reply