Ong-Bak

Dir: Prachya Pinkaew
Cast: Tony Jaa/Panom Yeerum, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol
Thailand
Thai/English

Seen: March 2006 on TMNonDemand

Reason to see: I had heard a lot about this film before seeing it. Or at least I thought I had, and then now when I think back to it I realized all I heard was that the main actor Tony Jaa is amazing, does his own stunts, doesn't use wires nor any special effects. So, I guess he is kinda like the Fred Astaire of martial arts.

The plot is a little thin but that did not really surprize me. The fighting was excellent, and you will see a lot of it. A lot of the 'physical' feats or impressive moves are show multiple times from a variety of angles which does give it a bit of a feeling like a promotional video. Surprizingly the thing that has stayed with me the most from this film, other than the skill, precision and grace of Tony Jaa - which really is quite extrodinary, is the sound. It sounded, different... its hard to place words, but even from the music at the begninning which was initially was a little unnerving as it felt continous with no beginning middle or end to all the music throughout. Also the sound of the voice of one of the characters really sticks in my head. It was a fun movie.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I would probably watch it again
I would reccommend it to fans of martial arts films

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© Shannon Ridler, 2006