Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Ong-Bak Trilogy, The

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Ong-Bak Trilogy, The



    Released by: Magnolia Pictures
    Released on: July 29th, 2014.
    Director: Prachya Pinkaew/Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai
    Cast: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Sarunyu Wongkrachang
    Year: 2003/2008/2010
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movies:

    Magnolia reissues their single disc releases of the three Ong-Bak movies starring Tony Jaa in one handly and slickly packaged boxed set. Here's what you get...

    Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior:

    The film that made Tony Jaa an internationally known action star, Ong Bak takes place in a remote village somewhere in rural Thailand. Here we meet a young man named Ting (Jaa) who was raised by monks and trained in the art of Muay Thai. When a criminal from Bangkok named Don (Wannakit Sirioput) steals the head of their Buddha, Ong Bak, and takes it back to the city with him, the villagers pool together what little money they have and send Ting after him to get it back. When he arrives, he finds his cousin Humlae (Petchtai Wongkamlao), who is going under the name George and trying to hide his small town roots. Humlae is in a bit of a bad place, he's in debt to some gangsters and can't seem to resist wagering whatever cash he comes up with at the local underground fight club.

    Eventually Ting has to stand up for his cousin and when everyone realizes he's a natural born ass kicker, everyone from Humlae to the local crime bosses want him to compete. He's not interested in fighting for money; all he wants is to get Ong Bak's head back so that he can return to his small town home. Eventually, Humlae agrees to help him find Don, well known in Bangkok for his ties to a local crime boss who is running a business specializing in stealing national treasures. However, the loan sharks that Humlae owes money to want their cash and Don and the local gangsters aren't going to let him take the head back without a fight.

    The plot is straight forward and very simply but it does exactly what it needs to and that's to set up each one of a successive series of action set pieces that allow Tony Jaa to strut his stuff. You wanna see him spin around and kick people in the face? Ok. He'll do that. But he's also acrobatic enough and limber enough that in addition to the impressive sparring scenes we get to watch him jump and flip over cars, slip through rolls of wire, fit through narrow panes of glass without breaking them and zip underneath moving vehicles without the aid of CGI or wirework. Jaa might not have the emotional range of better known martial arts superstars like Jackie Chan or Jet Li (both of whom can act) but his distant and stoic turn as Ting works in the context of the character he's playing here. His training dictates that he doesn't use his skills for profit and his reluctance to do so provides Jaa's character with enough inner turmoil that he's more than just a random cardboard action dude.

    Petchtai Wongkamlao is amusing as the primary source of comic relief in the film. Looking ridiculous with his short, bleached blonde hair and sometimes flamboyant dress style, he's the consummate wannabe player. Whether he's scamming motorcycle racers, rigging card games or getting a fight thrown he's believable and entertaining as the 'would be hustler.' His character's evolution in the later part of the film may be predictable but it seems inevitable.

    That said, you're not signing up for a movie like this for the plot or the performances, you're signing up for the action scenes and on that level the film definitely does deliver. It may not start off as a whirlwind of martial arts insanity but it definitely builds to that level very quickly. It's hard to imagine anyone who appreciates action and martial arts films not having a really good time with this one.

    Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning:

    This follow up film is actually a prequel set a few centuries ago. Here we meet a young man named Tiens (Tony Jaa) who was pushed by his father, a powerful leader in the area, to learn dance instead of martial arts. His life changed forever when his village was raided by Lord Rajasena (Sarunyu Wongkrajang) and his men, his parents killed in the skirmish. With nothing left for him at the village, he heads into the jungle on his own where he's promptly captured by slavers.

    His captors soon learn that Tiens can handle himself in a scrap after they use him for entertainment and make him fight some crocodiles. They figure they can capitalize on this and so they teach him the martial arts he wanted to learn prior. As his skill set develops and he becomes increasingly more deadly, he teams up with a group of nomadic pirate types lead by Chernang (Sorapong Chatree) and eventually decides it's time to get his revenge on those who wronged him.

    Light on plot but ripe with serious brawls and fantastic martial arts set pieces, this is a briskly paced sequel that offers fans of the first film more of what they want - bad ass fight scenes. Jaa once again proves himself formidable in this area, moving like a cat and fast as lightning, able to take on all comers and dish out brutal revenge like no other. In this second film the filmmakers have upped the ante in terms of scope as we see Jaa take on crazy colorful characters, including a witch and a guy in what looks to be some sort of crow costume - oh and then there are the elephants.

    Featuring some nice location photography and loads of period costumes, this one doesn't always make sense or really subscribe to any actual logic but it offers some interesting cultural traits but again, it's Jaa's skills in the fight scenes that make this worth seeing. The dude is just amazing to watch and that more than makes up for the tin plot and repetitive nature of the plot.

    Ong-Bak 3: The Final Battle:
    By Mark Tolch

    Continuing the story of Ong Bak 2, in which Tien (Tony Jaa) seeks vengeance for the murder of his father, Ong Bak 3 starts in the court of the Emperor, where Tien has been ordered to suffer 13 punishments, “until he can no longer breathe.” These 13 punishments, however, remain a mystery. Instead, we see Tien beaten with sticks, after which he is pulverized by a number of logs, rocks, and other implements of torture. As he is about to receive a fierce beheading, he is saved by a royal decree ordering that he be released and returned to his village.

    Tien is brought back to the village and wrapped in bamboo, after which he undergoes spiritual and physical rehabilitation to restore his soul, which is in torment from deeds done in a past life. With the help of a spiritual shaman and childhood friend Pim, Tien slowly recovers so that he can defeat the Emperor and the Demon Crow, the shadowy tattooed embodiment of evil from Ong Bak 2. And this is where Ong Bak 3 not only spirals, but plummets into suckdom like a 4000-pound stone elephant. Reading curiously like it was written around a series of “That will look sooo cool!” shots, the film stacks montage after montage after montage on top of each other and then saturates the whole mountain of useless sequences with so many flashbacks, that you'll wonder what in the hell is supposed to be happening. Slow motion and digital effects are used to the point of overkill and beyond. In a 98-minute film, actual fight scenes take up about 15 minutes, and we're not even rewarded with some real Tony Jaa stylings until the end of the film. Everything else seems so pedestrian, I was left wondering if this could be the same martial arts star I'd heard so much about.

    And let's not forget the score. For every montage sequence of Tien's recuperation, we're treated to a triumphant and climactic orchestral passage, the kind that usually only make an appearance once in a film to signal some kind of overcoming of an obstacle. In Ong Bak 3, these passages show up almost every time Tien moves.

    As for the pros of the film, there are a few. The final battle is well-choreographed, despite a glaring error in continuity that renders it completely ridiculous and laughable. If the movie contained a few more fights with that passion, minus continuity errors, it might have been at least passable as an action film. The performance by Dan Chupong as the Demon Crow is also very good. The scenery is beautiful throughout most of the film, yes, even in the montage shots….and that's about it. Jaa said that he wanted the third film in the series to be more philosophical than physical, and he certainly succeeded here; the spiritual aspects of Ong Bak 3 are so heavy handed and in-your-face that they cannot be missed.

    Anyone looking for an action-packed martial arts film will not find it in Ong Bak 3. Anyone searching for an inspiring philosophical journey will leave unfulfilled. Fans of the first two films would more than likely be better off by avoiding this film altogether.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    To be blunt, Ong-Bak looks pretty bad on Blu-ray. The AVC encoded 1.85.1 1080p anamorphic widescreen transfer was taken from the original 35mm negative according to information included on the disc, but detail is murky and colors look flat. The image is grainy and often very noisy looking and detail doesn't look much better than the SD release of the film that came out a few years back. The picture is murky and poorly defined, black levels tend to look dark grey, and skin tones and detail are often lacking in texture. Yuck. Ong Bak 2 & 3 are both presented in 2.35:1 widescreen (VC-1 encoding for both sequels) and look much better than the first film. There's some questionable use of CGI here that takes away from the look of the movie but outside of that, these are colorful and detailed transfers.

    Audio options are supplied for all three films in the movie's original Thai and in an English dub, both in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio with optional subtitles offered up in English and Spanish. While the first film features a very front heavy mix that almost sounds like a pumped up stereo presentation, it doesn't sound bad. There are some good directional effects, the electronica score pumps and bumps with sufficient thump and the levels are reasonably well balanced. The effects don't have as much punch to them as you might want them to and often things sound a little on the flat side but the mix is at least properly balanced and if it's unremarkable, it's at least sufficient. Again, the sequels fare better with more consistent levels and more interesting directional effects and surround sound activity. The lossless tracks here have good depth and range and solid bass response as well.

    The extras are spread across the three discs in the set as follows:

    Ong-Bak:

    The first disc kicks off with a collection of brief featurettes starting with a bit called Live Tony Jaa And Stuntmen Performance (2:34) piece that shows Jaa and some of his cohorts exhibiting their skills in front of an appreciative French audience for two and a half minutes. There's another bit on Jaa's art called The Movement Of Muay Thai (1:43) that explains some of the stances that Jaa's character uses in the film, and a collection of deleted footage included in the B-Roll (2:33).

    Rounding out the extras are a few trailers for the feature (French, Thai, and an odd one with the Wu Tang Clan's RZA in it), a rap video featuring Tony Jaa, a brief look at the making of that video, menus and chapter selection. All of the extra features are presented in standard definition.

    Ong-Bak 2:

    Extras for the second film start off with an alternate cut of the movie put together by Europacorp for European audiences. The running time for the Theatrical Cut is 97:50 and the Alternate Cut is 88:27. There isn't really any obvious extra footage here and it primarily seems to be a more efficient version of the movie that does away with roughly ten minutes of content to quicken the pacing.

    Aside from that, there's the three part The Making of Ong Bak 2 section that runs twenty-one minutes. The first part is The Story And Characters Of An Epic that is a fairly useless look at the characters in the movie. Don't expect much more than shallow observations here. The second part is called Revealing The Majesty and it's more interesting as it shows us how some of the action set pieces, including the infamous elephant scene, were handled. There third part is The Art Of War and it's a look at the fight sequences and the mixed martial arts featured in the movie.

    There's also an eighteen minute three part Behind The Scenes section that is made up of random bits and pieces shot on set during the production, presented 'as is' without any real context. Capturing A Warrior shows the fight scenes being shot, The Kingdom is a random assortment of behind the scenes shots and The Community gives us a look at the camaraderie that existed between the cast and crew on set. We also get just over twenty-five minutes of Interviews With The Cast And Crew. Here we get on camera chats with Jaa, director Prachya Pinkaew, producer Panna Rittikrai, producer Sorapong Chatree and cast members Santisuk Phromsiri, Sarunyu Wongkrajang, Niruth Sirijunya and Primrata Det-Udom.

    Rounding out the extras on disc two are an HDNet Look At Ong-Bak 2 (basically a three minute trailer), an international trailer for the feature, a U.S. trailer for the feature, a minute and a half's worth of footage from Ong-Bak 3 and previews for a few other Magnolia properties.

    Ong-Bag 3:

    First up for Ong-Bak 3's supplements is The Making Of A Legend, a fifteen minute piece featuring Tony Jaa, Dan Chupong, and others involved in the film. Primarily, Jaa talks about the evolution of Tien's character through the three films in the franchise and why he thinks that it's more important to present the philosophy and a traditional Thai dance in the third installment.

    Next up is Behind The Scenes: Uncovering the Action, which consists of 6 minutes of various action sequences shot on set. The Interviews With The Cast and Crew featurette is just that, approximately 30 minutes of interviews with Tony Jaa and others. There is a good chunk of overlap with the Making Of A Legend supplement, although there are some other interviews as well. Behind The Scenes Footage is a little different than the action featurette, but consists of 15 minutes of footage shot on set.

    HDNet: A Look At Ong Bak 3 is a short promotional piece that runs about 3 minutes, and features World Karate Champion Guy Mezger discussing martial arts in film. A Trailer for Ong Bak 3 and a Trailer Reel from Magnolia round out the supplements. All three discs feature menus and chapter selection.

    The Final Word:

    While neither parts 2 or 3 are as good as the first movie, the Ong-Bak Trilogy should, despite some wonky storytelling and bad CGI work, appeal to fans of martial arts films and intense action sequences. The storylines meander and are more than a little inconsistent, but whenever Jee appears on screen kicking ass, the films are pretty impressive. If you've already got the standalone releases, there's no reason to get this set but if you want all three films in one slick looking box, go for it. There's plenty of hard hitting fun to be had here.

    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!

    Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior











    Ong-Bak 2:











    Ong-Bak 3: The Final Battle:











    • sukebanboy
      #1
      sukebanboy
      Senior Member
      sukebanboy commented
      Editing a comment
      Good review Ian....I agree with the vast majority of what you said.....First one is STILL an awesome action movie!!! Part two is good too...and part 3 had SO MUCH POTENTIAL that I was surprised it nosedived so much and went to montage / slo-mo city!!!!Would still be interested in a 4th entry if they go back to the first movie as a template!
    Posting comments is disabled.

Latest Articles

Collapse

  • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Severin Films
    Released on: April 30th, 2024.
    Director: Lee Frost
    Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
    Year: 1969
    Purchase From Amazon

    Hot Spur – Movie Review:

    Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
  • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Mondo Macabro
    Released on: April 9th, 2024.
    Director: Max Pecas
    Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
    Year: 1985
    Purchase From Amazon

    Death Squad – Movie Review:

    Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
  • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Quality X
    Released on: February 28th, 2024.
    Director: Chuck Vincent
    Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
    Year: 1982
    Purchase From Amazon

    Roommates – Movie Review:

    Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
  • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Blue Underground
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Jess Franco
    Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
    Year: 1970
    Purchase From Amazon

    Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

    Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
  • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Saul Bass
    Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
    Year: 1974
    Purchase From Amazon

    Phase IV – Movie Review:

    Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
  • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Radiance Films
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
    Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
    Year: 1969-1972
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

    Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
    ...
    03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
Working...
X