Ong Bak

SETTING:  Modern day Thailand.

RATING: R, action, adventure, crime.

PLOT: When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it. 

QUOTES: None appropriate.

THOUGHTS:  I read a review on a movie that I have reviewed by the name of Chocolate. Chocolate is another Thai martial arts movie by the same company. The review stated that Ong Bak was a much better film than Chocolate. Let me start by saying this... THEY  ARE NOT THE SAME TYPE OF MOVIE!!

  Yes Ong Bak has better martial arts and sequences, but that does not deter from Chocolate. watch them both you will understand. Anyway, back to Ong Bak.

  Tony Jaa plays the lead character Ting. And let me say, this boy makes Jackie Chan look like the Karate Kid before Mr. Miyagi gets a hold of him. The moves that he pulls off are nothing short of impossible. 

SYNOPSIS: When the head of Ong-Bak, the sacred Buddha of a poor village is stolen, the population is plunged into misery. The Buddha was the focal point of an anniversary vigil believed to bring rain to the drought-stricken area. Young Ting is selected by the villagers to travel to Bangkok and rescue the relic in time for their ceremony. Ting has an affinity with the statue as he was left on the temple steps as a baby and raised by monks. The young Ting was taught Muay Thai by the monks, yet they  forbade him to use it in combat. But now he is forced to delve into a seedy underworld and try to avoid temptation of fighting for money.

THEIR RATING: 3 OUT OF 5 "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior," the first Thai film to break through in the martial arts market. Having seen documentaries showing how stunt men are "flown" from wires that are eliminated in post-production, having seen entire action sequences made on computers, I sat through the movie impressed at how real the action sequences seemed. Then I went to the Web site, and discovered that they were real.

MY RATING: 5 OUT OF 5. DAMN!! really real true no strings attached action sequences!! who would not think this film is the shit! own it!! watch it!! share it with others!! The version i watched had patchy subs but I got the idea all too well. Gritty camera footage, and phenominal action packed ass kickery!!