IMDb user comments for
Ong-bak (2003) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 35:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

349 comments in total

---

315 out of 379 people found the following comment useful :-
Wow, someone totally missed the point, 8 December 2004
Author: mastercko from Palo Alto, California, USA

Saying that Ong Bak was a bad movie because of the weak story is like saying that the Simpsons is a bad series because of the lack of continuity from show to show.

YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT! The story is only there to loosely tie together the fact that this guy is being a badass. Which he is. There were only a FEW fight scenes? What are you talking about? There were so many fight scenes and chase scenes and the like. Every time you thought you saw the coolest thing ever, he breaks out another move that STILL totally blows you away. The only reason that this movie exists is simply to showcase Phanom Yeerum's skills as a martial artist and an acrobat, which frankly, is enough for me.

*sigh* If you care so much about story, steer clear. If you have any interest whatsoever is the GENRE of martial arts movies (where the quality of the story is usually not the primary concern), watch this movie. You won't be sorry.

---

121 out of 140 people found the following comment useful :-
Brutally Beautiful, 18 November 2003

Author: kam-wing pang (kamwingpang@hotmail.com) from Hong Kong

The storyline is predictable, but the visual and the fights makes up for it. I understand why people compare the lead actor with Jet Li. They both have that presence on screen, the amazing flexibility and fighting sequences. Outstanding acrobatic movements when running from the bad guys in the street and it was good to see the shots from different angles.

It reminds me of some Jet Li's better fighting sequences before he took to the wires. This is the kind of martial arts film that makes me smile and cheer.

If you like martial arts films, then you'll sure to like this.

---

151 out of 217 people found the following comment useful :-
...What can I say?!!?!?, 29 January 2005

Author: sahsool from United Kingdom

Firstly, Please, please ignore any negative comments about this film.... I watched this film on it's release in Thailand a couple of years ago and I have a subtitled copy.

If you are of sound mind, this film will leave you gob-smacked at the way that Muay Thai has been portrayed on film -promoting its effectiveness in streetfighting situations and the acrobatics performed by this guy are just incredible.

Secondly... the person who wrote that the 18 year old white dudes were out of place ...do you know anything about Thailand and bars on Khaosan Road?????? the place is full of them.

If you want to see something more incredible watch the 'making of Ong Bak'

---

85 out of 101 people found the following comment useful :-
One Of, If Not The, Best Martial Arts Movie Ever Made, 19 February 2005

Author: Cian-Faal from Canada

I've seen some of the negative comments people have made, and they are really off base, and quite frankly, stupid.

This movie is filled with incredible fight scenes, from the multitude of fights in the fighting circle, to that final fight in the cave. Most of the movie, in fact, was fight scenes, so I find it hard to believe that people think that there aren't any fight scenes in it. Those people who think that there aren't any action scenes in it are blind, obviously.

As another user has said, the whole point of Ong Bak was to display Tony Jaa's skill at martial arts, which is utterly incredible. Tony Jaa is the best martial artist I have had the pleasure of watching on the big screen.

While the plot wasn't the most original, why on earth did you go into Ong Bak expecting some sort of Oscar winning drama, such as Titanic? This movie was merely introducing Tony Jaa's skill to the North American audience.

People really need to lighten up. Just because a movie doesn't have an incredibly detailed and complex plot, that doesn't mean it's a bad movie! There is nothing wrong with a so-called "mindless" action movie, such as Ong-Bak! Just because it isn't some sort of drama, or another plot-saturated film, that doesn't mean it is garbage! While it may not have the best plot around, in terms of pure martial arts, this is the king. There is not a single martial arts movie out there that I have seen, that is more enjoyable than this movie, and I've seen a lot of martial arts movies.

If you are not stuck up, and you are able to enjoy a good martial arts movie, than Ong Bak is definitely for you! This movie is the best marital arts movie I have ever seen, and I gladly give it a 10/10.

---

100 out of 137 people found the following comment useful :-
I can't wait to watch it on the big screen., 4 December 2004

Author: Robert Gomez (RobertMGomez@yahoo.com) from Phoenix, Arizona

My girlfriend bought this movie for me as a gift and it turned out to be one of the greatest gifts I was ever given. I saw clips of it on the internet that just blew my mind, but the actual movie is amazing. Tony Jaa is going to be greater than Jackie Chan and Jet Li. I hope some American studio gets him in a high budget movie that allows him to show a larger audience how amazing he is. So many martial artists or action stars resort to camera tricks, wires or stuntmen for their films. Tony is the stunt man. He spent so many years doing stunts for other stars and it shows when he does his. It reminds me of the way Bruce Lee movies were made. I have seen Jackie Chan movies and even though he does many of his stunts, he still resorts to wires. In Bruce Lee films it was just pure badassness. No wires, just a show of talent and that is what Tony Jaa brings...no wires, no tricks, just whoopass.... I know this comment just went on and on, but there is a minimum so I just kept typing.

---

89 out of 117 people found the following comment useful :-
Most awesome, violent, raw martial arts film ever made, 24 February 2004

Author: rcropperUK from Leeds

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

---

69 out of 85 people found the following comment useful :-
Entertaining, 29 October 2004
Author: Mattias Petersson from Stockholm, Sweden

I saw Ong-Bak for the first time on the Stockholm Film Festival in November of 2003, and now recently saw it again on DVD. I usually see at least 4-5 Asian films on the festival every year and each one is a gamble. At worst Asian action films can be unbearably slow and dull with uninteresting action scenes and horrible acting. At their best they can be like a wonderful ballet with astonishing moves and moods. Ong-Bak falls somewhere inbetween these two.

The story and set-up in Ong-Bak is nothing very original. The head of the village Buddha-statue (named Ong-Bak) is stolen which spells bad luck for the village. So they send their best man to the city to find the son who moved away, and they can search for the head together. Of course the villager is completely lost in the city and soon gets himself into trouble.

So the story is nothing new, neither is the setup which is more or less van Damme standard fare movies like "Lionheart" except in Thailand. We see some street-fighting and some tournament-style fighting in seedy bars. So, what makes Ong-Bak stand out? Well, the fighting! I have seldom seen such well-made fighting scenes. Both well choreographed and plentiful! The thai-boxing done here might be very stylized to look good, but it really does the trick. The fights are simply put amazing! The lead actor really knows his moves and his acrobatics, and many times you can really feel the crushing hits as kicks and elbows hit home. Also the pace is very high with almost constant fighting in the last half of the movie. And it all looks very very nice.

So, Ong-Bak is definitely for those of you who are suckers for martial-arts and fighting. Don't expect an original story or terribly solid acting. But expect a fun ride, lots and lots of violence. And for me that's enough. Ong-Bak receives a 7/10.

---

71 out of 95 people found the following comment useful :-
Marvelous Movie of All Times, 3 November 2004
Author: Venkat Raman from India

This movie is just great. There are no words to explain how classicly the actions has been choreographed. Tony Ja is simply great and beyond comparison. Bruce, Jet and Jackie took a couple of movies to reach the top in my favorite list..But Tony Ja is at the top in one shot. Sure I would add this movie as No.1 in my top 5 list of action movies ever. The first chase in the streets is one spectacular proof of Tony's efforts. The thai free style kickboxing is simply superb.

Sure a BIG feast for any action lovers.

Regards, Venkat.

---

53 out of 64 people found the following comment useful :-
Awesome, 5 November 2004

Author: AwesomeWolf from Australia

Version: Edko's Hong Kong VCD release

In only their first movie, director Prachya Pinkaew and lead actor Tony Jaa have created a very impressive, awesome action movie in "Ong Bak". Jaa plays Ting, a muay thai fighter from a small village in Thailand. The villagers revere Ong Bak, a statue of Buddha kept in the village's temple, and believe it guarantees the safety of the village. Don, a former villager turned criminal, removes the head from the statue and takes it to Bangkok, to curry favour from the crime lord Khom Tuan. Ting follows Don to Bangkok and fights for the return of Ong Bak.

Story wise, its a pretty standard action movie - it touches briefly on serious social issues in Thailand, but only very briefly. Action wise, its a pretty awesome action movie. Tony Jaa is pretty good showing off his muay thai skills on screen as he fights a range opponents. Most of the one-on-one fights are well choreographed and quite intense. As for stunts: some of them would make even old-school Jackie Chan green with envy. Jaa and Pinkaew have hit the nail right on the head when it comes to action movies, and in only their first go!

9/10 - Hopefully I can catch it on the big screen some time.

---

57 out of 81 people found the following comment useful :-
No Wire, No Sling, No Special Effects....totally awesome, 27 June 2004

Author: scorpion_king1_2 from Derby

This movie is incredible. When head of Ong Bak is stolen, Ting (Tony Ja) swear to bring it back from the thugs. When he enters the city he is forced to use Thai Fist, he learned from old priest to combat Thailand's underworld in arena of illegal underground fighting. The fighting is great, a combination of Muay Thai and Taekwondo kicks this flick is a must for martial art fans. Anyone who is a big fan of Hwang Jang Lee...will be surprised to watch Tony Ja ( Hwang Jang Lee of the 21'st century). WATCH IT and believe me your gonna love it.

Scorpion King

---

---

Page 1 of 35:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Awards
External reviews	Parents Guide	Official site
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history