The Protector (2005)
"Tom yum goong" (original title)

A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.

Director:

Prachya Pinkaew

Writers:

Napalee, Piyaros Thongdee,

Stars:

Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai

Cast

Credited cast:
Tony Jaa	...	Kham
Petchtai Wongkamlao	...	Mark
Bongkoj Khongmalai	...	Pla (as Bongkod Khongmalai)
Xing Jing	...	Madame Rose (as Jin Xing)
Nathan Jones	...	T.K. (as Nathan B. Jones)
Johnny Nguyen	...	Johnny (as Johnny Tri Nguyen)
Lateef Crowder	...	Capoeira Fighter
Jon Foo	...	Wushu Fighter (as Jonathan Patrick Foo)
Damian de Montemas	...	Vincent
David Asavanond	...	Officer Rick (as David Chatchavan Asavanod)
Sotorn Rungruaeng	...	Kham's Father
Amonphan Gongtragan	...	Goong
Nutdanai Kong	...	Kham (9 years old)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dean Alexandrou	...	Vincent's Henchmen
Gianni Belfiore	...	Vincent's Henchmen

Storyline

In Bangkok, the young Kham was raised by his father in the jungle with elephants as members of their family. When his old elephant and the baby Kern are stolen by criminals, Kham finds that the animals were sent to Sidney. He travels to Australia, where he locates the baby elephant in a restaurant owned by the evil Madame Rose, the leader of an international Thai mafia. With the support of the efficient Thai sergeant Mark, who was involved in a conspiracy, Kham fights to rescue the animal from the mobsters.

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Plot Keywords:

elephant | police | sydney australia | neck breaking | warrior | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong violence and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [de] Official site [uk]

Country:

Thailand

Language:

Thai English Mandarin Vietnamese

Release Date:

8 September 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Protector

Filming Locations:

Australia

Box Office

Budget:

THB 200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,034,180 (USA) (8 September 2006)

Gross:

$11,905,519 (USA) (20 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sahamongkolfilm Co., TF1 International, Baa-Ram-Ewe

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Tom yum goong" is the name of a very popular dish in Thailand. It's a hot-sour soup (prepared with lemon grass) with shrimp.

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Goofs

The scene where the huge bell falls revealing Jaa with the drum sticks, the next scene when the wushu fighter approaches Jaa, the bell is gone.

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Quotes

Inspector Mark: [while chasing after Kham who's in a taxi, Mark looks at Officer Rick, who's driving, in a funny way] Stop here!
[Both get out of the car and switch places as Mark yells at Rick]
Inspector Mark: My grandmother drives faster than you! And she's dead!

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Connections

References Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Baby"
Written by Michael Baiardi and Maurice
Published by Soundfile Publishing
Performed by Maurice
Courtesy of Soundfile Productions, Inc.

User Reviews

Another Great Action Flick from the same director Ong Bak

The definition of Tom Yam Goong refers to the authentic Thai food which can be found anywhere in a Thai restaurant. But bear in mind that this movie has nothing to do with that.

I got a chance to watch this movie in Hong Kong. I was mesmerized by the great action scenes done by Yaanom Phenom (Tony Ja). Tony Ja plays a role of Kham, a character who pursed a gang that has kidnapped his elephants.

He fought with so many great fighters, which includes the BMX and the roller skate gang, Johnny, the Brazilian guy with cool kicks, the sword-man and those huge guys and of course the leader.

One of the few scenes i consider great are: the continuous fighting shot from the basement up to the higher level of the building (which was taken at one shot without editing and somewhat reminds me of Bruce Lee End of Game) and the bone crackling scenes with all the gangs! I honestly think if you are into martial art flicks, this is one of the best movie ever come out!