posted
There's a new movie coming to American theaters this Friday starring Tony Jaa, a martial artist from Thailand. I have been a big fan of his since I saw Ong-Bak, so I imported a DVD of this movie from Thailand nearly a year ago. Having watched it until the disc wore out, I just wanted to give a quick heads up about it.
This movie may not be for everyone. It's hardly a Merchant Ivory production, and it will not make you laugh, cry, or learn to love again. But if you've ever in your life seen a movie with Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee or Jet Li, and not found it to be a complete waste of your time, see this movie. I cannot stress this enough. The plot is as campy, and the acting as bad, as your average action flick. But bring a change of underwear, because there are several fight scenes in this movie that will cause you to lose control of your gastrointesinal tract.
I won't try to describe what happens in this film, since I'm not skilled enough to put it into words. But if this genre is anything like you've ever been interested in, take the day off work Friday and see this movie.
posted
There's a scene in this movie that is one continuous fight between Tony and several bad guys that goes, in a single camera take, from the front door of a building up four or five stories to the penthouse. It took so long that one perfect take was ruined when the camera ran out of film a few seconds before it finished. It was so intense that the original cameraman couldn't keep up with Tony and had to be replaced. And there isn't a single cut, wire, or special effect the whole time.
And that isn't even the good part. This movie is the shiz-nit.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Baron Samedi: There's a scene in this movie that is one continuous fight between Tony and several bad guys that goes, in a single camera take, from the front door of a building up four or five stories to the penthouse. It took so long that one perfect take was ruined when the camera ran out of film a few seconds before it finished. It was so intense that the original cameraman couldn't keep up with Tony and had to be replaced. And there isn't a single cut, wire, or special effect the whole time.
And that isn't even the good part. This movie is the shiz-nit.
What gets me about the scene is that he's several stories up, and he's stil throwing guys OFF THE FLOOR into the center. Since it's one continuous cut - that means that the crew had to set up the air bags (if there were any) for the falling stuntmen immediately after the floor went out of view.
Awesome. Just awesome stuntwork.
Posts: 317 | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
It took me a while to figure out that The Protector was the same as Tom yum goong. We've seen it - and yes, the martial arts are really good - but it's nowhere near as good a movie as Ong-Bak.
Ong-Bak has the same martial arts - no strings, no wires, no stunt doubles - that are fascinating to watch. That guy can jump over things that I can barely see over. Plus it has a fantastic trishaw chase scene that's hilarious, especially if you've ever been in a trishaw. The trishaw is that funny looking three wheeled vehicle, one wheel in the front for steering, two in the back, highly maneuverable, and usually have either two or four stroke engines. They are NOT fast vehicles, so the thought of a high-speed trishaw chase...
We rave about Ong-Bak to anyone who'll listen. The Protector just doesn't measure up to Ong-Bak, in our opinion. Plus waving a baby elephant around? Uh, yeah... Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I beg to differ. I loved Ong Bak, but I think this movie is every bit its equal. If only for the temple fight and the climax against the bodyguards, this would be the action movie of the year. When you add everything else that goes on here, I think it can hold its own against pretty much any kung fu flick ever made.
Just my opinion. Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Chris and I have been looking forward to this one ever since we saw the preview a few weeks ago. Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
When that battle against the huge group of body guards began, it was just another fight.
Then it kept going.
And going.
My audience started to laugh with delight.
He broke more bones, the bad guys kept coming.
There was some clapping and more laughing.
When the fight was finally over, there was 20 seconds of applause.
Right, Kill Bill without swords; but this was clearly the better scene.
That's only the third time I've heard cheering during a movie. Once was Yoda's first fight; the second time was Legolas jumping onto the horse in Two Towers.
And when the credits rolled, there was more applause.
Rarely does a movie fulfill its promises as well as this one. Awesome work.
Posts: 1515 | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
