ONG BAK -- Bring it!!!

[Truth Seeker]

Ong Bak is a bad movie. Don't doubt it. The actors are bad, the story is silly, the music is hokey, ... but the action is incredible. There are moments where you just *know* someone got really, really hurt. These actors and stuntmen go to increible extremes with their fight scenes. I gave it 4 points for the action, and none for the rest, so 4/10. But I'm glad to have seen it.

I guess Danny the Dog/Unleashed, will be in the same catergory as well?

Like any non-American film, I go with a open-mind, I enjoyed it, and my rating...a 8 of 10, the movie crowd I was with, enjoy it.

 

[Arnwyn]

I don't know if Tony Jaa is really the new Jackie Chan, but he's earned his hype.

Loved what my local movie reviewer (who's up with her martial arts movies) had to say:

Hype Machine: "Tony Jaa is the new Jackie Chan and Jet Li!"
Movie Reviewer: "Hold on just a minute, pal."

Me? Ong Bak = not bad/mediocre.

 

[Desdichado]

Just read Roger Ebert's Review. Looks fun. I'll have to see it this weekend if I can swing it.

 

[Ferret]

The action looks great. I might be the plot ignoring type of movie though.

 

[barsoomcore]

Ebert well-summed my thoughts. 107 minutes of "Holy Crap!" I don't really understand comments about the acting. I mean, it didn't make me cry... but it's a FIGHT movie. What are the actors supposed to do? Well, I think they're supposed to convince me they're trying to beat the snot out of each other. They did.

Likewise the story. What do you want? The bad guys are bad, you understand what's at stake in each fight scene, and there's a minimum of crap in between the jaw-dropping fight scenes.

Again, it's not going to make you cry. But it IS going to make you WINCE.

I SO got my money's worth. And I am SO buying the DVD.

 

[Desdichado]

From the Ebert Review: "Ting catches fire, attacks opponents with blazing legs."

Why didn't you say that, barsoomcore? That's all I needed to be won over.

 

[barsoomcore]

It was a moment of pure cinematic delight that I wanted everyone else to have just like I did. Without any expectation.

I mean, suddenly, the motherf***er's on FIRE. And he's kicking people. With the bits of him that are ON MOTHERF***ING FIRE.

Look, I said

There's crap in here I have never seen anyone do -- and I've seen a lot of people do a lot of things.

What more did you want me to tell you? Because I'll tell you, the motherf***er being ON MOTHERF***ING FIRE isn't the only thing that sucked my jaw to the floor.

I'll freely admit that I like a lot of crap movies. No question. But when I tell you to go see a movie, it's because I've seen something big. You want to see Ong Bak in the theatre. Even if Tony Jaa never gets to this level again, you want to have been there to see him do this.

Trust me. See this picture.

He was on fire.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I saw it, and concur with Barsoomcore's freaking-out.

The fight scenes are inhuman. It blows me away that there were no wires, no Special Effects and no trick photography used.

The pacing of the fight scenes is also top-notch. You find yourself watching one of the 20 second slo-mo shots of one of Ting's flying spin kicks and somewhere into his thrid revolution (where the foot you weren't expecting kicks the target in a spot you would have never guessed) You start thnking "My God, it's like a ballet."

Then it immediately cuts to a normal-speed shot of Ting kneeing a dude in the face so hard it shoots him back 10 or 12 feet. Not balletic at all.

Great Chop-Sockey movie.

 

[Tanager]

Gotta agree with BC here. Saw this last night and really, really enjoyed it.

 

[Desdichado]

Trust me. See this picture.

He was on fire.

Literally and figuratively, eh?

Alright, I'm convinced! I was going to try and catch Constantine over my "lunch break" tomorrow, but I've about convinced myself to do this instead.