Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)

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.

Director:

Prachya Pinkaew

Writers:

Panna Rittikrai (story), Prachya Pinkaew (story)

Stars:

Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Jaa	...	Ting
Petchtai Wongkamlao	...	Humlae / George (as Mum Jokemok)
Pumwaree Yodkamol	...	Muay Lek
Suchao Pongwilai	...	Komtuan (as Suchoa Pongvilai)
Chatthapong Pantanaunkul	...	Saming
Wannakit Sirioput	...	Don (as Wannakit Siriput)
Cheathavuth Watcharakhun	...	Peng (as Chetwut Wacharakun)
Rungrawee Barijindakul	...	Ngek (as Rungrawee Borrijindakul)
Pornpimol Chookanthong	...	Mae Waan
Chumphorn Thepphithak	...	Uncle Mao (as Chumporn Teppitak)
Sukanya Kongkawong	...	Waitress
Boonsri Yindee	...	Yai Hom (as Bunsri Yindee)
Woranard Tantipidok	...	Pra Cru
Sawang Rodnuch	...	Noi
Sutin Rodnuch	...	Jamnean

Storyline

Booting lives in a small and peaceful village. One day a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong Bak is stolen from the village by an immoral businessman. It soon becomes the task of a voluntary young man, Boonting (Phanom Yeeram), to track down the thief in Bangkok and reclaim the religious treasure. Along the way, Boonting uses his astonishing athleticism and traditional Muay Thai skills to combat his adversaries.

---

Plot Keywords:

combat | head | muay thai | martial artist | thief | 

---

Taglines:

To fight for the honor of his village, he must unleash the ancient art of Muay Thai: 9 Body Weapons

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of strong violence, language, some drug use and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Europa Corp. [France] Official site [Australia]

Country:

Thailand

Language:

Thai English

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Daredevil

Filming Locations:

Rat Burana, Bangkok, Thailand

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,334,869, 13 February 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,560,061, 24 April 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baa-Ram-Ewe, Sahamongkolfilm Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 104 min (director's cut) 100 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ajarn Yodthong (a great master of Muay Thai) makes an uncredited guest spot role in this movie. He is the man selling cigarettes. This can be seen when Ting fights in "The Pub" for the second time.

---

Goofs

During the tuk-tuk chase scene, Humlae's tuk-tuk reaches the end of the incomplete highway and the chasing vehicles fall over the edge. There are several shots as they fall and Humlae's tuk-tuk alternates between having one wheel off (low shot) and being fully on the highway (high shot). It is only after the initial chasing tuk-tuks have fallen off that his vehicle actually gets pushed halfway off.

---

Quotes

Humlae: At least let me help you start your motorcycle.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Ax (2005)

---

Soundtracks

Chinese 2
Performed by Aymeric Beguin and Eric Melville

User Reviews

Most awesome, violent, raw martial arts film ever made

Tony Ja is the new Jet Li and Jackie Chan with a thai boxing background. This guy moves as quick as Jackie, has the strength of Jet Li, put packs a more violent, deadly assault - he uses his knees and elbows for pure annihilation. Why does he use his elbow and knees so much? Because they are the hardest parts of the human body. And god damn in Ong Bak he proper messes up everyone he comes across. Thai boxing is proper hardcore, they don't mess about.In Ong Bak, the story is pretty non existent, basically some gangstas from the city come to our heros poor village and steal the Buddha's head statue, and so Tony Ja commits to bringing it back and restoring peace. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about the fighting as this is where the film excels. WOW, this IS the most realistic fighting you will ever see. The only thing I can compare it to is Ultimate Fighting, but ten times worse. Tony Ja will become a legend this is fact. His flexibility in fighting is so extreme, and this film is basically just crammed up with the biggest, most violent stunts you will ever see. For instance, in a scene where Tony and his newly met friends run away from a group of hoodlums, he gets away in style. This is done by jumping through the tiny gaps, either backwards sliding underneath cars, jumping feet and hands outstretched through a hope, running across people's heads, flippin, kicking, somersaulting absolutely everywhere. Remember when you first saw the matrix and you were like `woah', well this is so much better. For starts, the stunts in this film are REAL. Everybody gets injured. There are no wires, pulleys, fake punches, fake blood. This is how it should be. Hollywood take note. The best scenes come where there is a kinda of street fighter style arena, where the deadliest fighters compete to be champion. Tony gets accidently caught up in this, and doesn't mess around by defeating the champion with a single powerful knee thrust into the opponents chest as Tony bends forwards and twists to avoid the ensuing punch from the opponent then unleashes the killer blow. Everyone in the arena is stunned and Tony gets booed for bad sportsmanship.. But don't worry about that has the biggest fights of his life coming up.You need this film in your life. I haven't seen anything as violent and hardcore as this ever before. But even though its hardcore and low budget, the direction is slick. Double takes are often used for the incredible action so you can really appreciate, for example, taking out three men with a triple, twisting back flip and smashing their heads in with your knees and elbows at the same time with pure accuracy. I have watched this four times now and cannot get enough. Overall, the story line is weak and there are some hilarious cheesy moments, but this all works perfectly well as instead of going `god damn thats sick!' at the beginning, you will end up saying `ha ha! Did you see his elbow get torn backwards then snapped! Ha ha! This is genius!'. It's like CKY2 with all the accidents, but here it is intentional for someone to do themselves in. This is a film you will watch over and over again, and show your mates everytime they come round. 10/10