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Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (English dubbed) |  | Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Actors: Petchtai Wongkamlao, Tony Jaa, Pumwaree Yodkamol, Suchao Pongwilai, Chumphorn Thepphithak
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Category: Movie
Buy New: $2.99
as of 3/21/2010 07:12 EDT details
Seller: Amazon Video On Demand
Rating:  152 reviews
Sales Rank: 1164
Genre: Action
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 106 Minutes
ASIN: B002ONOAAC
Theatrical Release Date: January 1, 2003
Release Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Synopsis:
Booting lives in a small and peaceful village. One day a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong Bak is stolen from the village by a immoral businessman who sells it for exorbitant profits. It soon becomes the task of a young man, Boonting (Phanom Yeeram), to track the thief down to Bangkok voluntarily and reclaim the religious treasure. Along the way, Boonting uses his astonishing athleticism and traditional Muay Thai skills to combat his adversaries. |
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 152
 Fun Action Flick, Terrible Blu-Ray transfer March 11, 2010
James Barbosa (Mansfield, Ma)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This has honestly got to be one of the worst bluray transfers on the market. I currently own over 100 blu ray movies, and have sat and watched every single one of them. I can safely say this is as bad as it gets. little to no upgrade from the DVD. infact, many upscaled DVD's produce greater video quality. A fine action outing, though rather amature especially in scenes like the the go-kart chase. It shows tremendous potential from now action star Tony Jaa, which we have seen fulfilled in more superior films such as Tom Yum Goong (The Protector) and this films sequel Ong Bak 2. Although we have yet to see his real acting chops, no one is watching these films for that. Still, If you own the DVD there is absolutely no reason to upgrade to BD. If you dont own the DVD and cant find it anywhere for a cheaper price then you might want to hold off on a purchase. I suggest sticking with Ong Bak 2 which has an infinitely better transfer though still not perfect.
 Tony Jaa is my hero February 19, 2010
Monkdude (Hampton, Virginia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was in karate for 9 years and a 3rd degree black belt before my dojo closed down, so it might come as no surprise that everytime I watch this film I can't help but throw a kick or two in front of the mirror. Ong Bak is without a doubt one of the best martial arts films period. Like most in this genre, the story and dialogue are not the best (it's not terrible either), but boy do the fight scenes make up for it. I guarantee you have never seen stuff like this.
As much as I love Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Tony Jaa makes them look much less impressive. Okay, I'll give Bruce Lee a pass since he did his thing in the 70's and made martial arts films a household name. We all know Jackie Chan does all his own stunts (at least when he was younger), but so does Jaa, and without the help of any wires or CGI.
If you are like me and sick of seeing people flying around through the treetops and fighting, you will get nothing less than amazingly realistic and brutal fight scenes, complete with more knee and elbow strikes than you can count. Not only can this man kick some booty, he easily glides over cars, runs on top of people's shoulders, jumps through a tight gap made of barbed wire, flips, rolls and jumps in every possible direction.
I own his other two movies, The Protector and Ong Bak 2, and both have some great action as well, but Ong Bak is his best film overall. Whether you are a fan of martial arts or action movies, this is a must buy.
The DVD quality could be better, but from what I read, the Blu-ray isn't a huge improvement.
 Great movie... not so great US release February 14, 2010
Marcus Sensei (Japan)
This is one of my favorite movies of all time because of the action.
I was fortunate to be able to obtain an unedited Thai version a few years ago. The stunts and fighting are really up there.
Unfortunately, the US release is not. The picture quality on the US DVD version isn't great (the colors are washed out) and the music is TERRIBLE. Had I known that there was going to be this horrible over-dubbing of crappy music, I'd have skipped it (though it was a steal at $5).
I realize that the traditional Thai music at times doesn't mix will with Western tastes of music, but the fact that they LITERALLY just put the new music over the original track instead of remixing it is painful. There are times I can hear the original music CLEARLY behind it all. And then there are times that you can't really hear the sound effects because of the crappy dance music.
I can't remember for sure, but it feels like some of the fight scenes have been edited. It's been a few years since I watched the Thai version in full, but I feel like some shots were cut out.
 Awesome movie! Not so awesome blu-ray! February 3, 2010
MiRSD
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you're looking at this item, you probably already know all about Ong Bak. Awesome fight sequences that are about as real as you can get - no stunt doubles, wires or CG, just pure action. Seeing some of the moves in the film is really amazing, and it introduced many to the incredible Tony Jaa. I've been a big fan of it for years and was really excited to hear about a Blu-Ray release was coming.
Unfortunately, this one just doesn't make the cut.
First the specs on the disc - BD-25 (single layer), 1.85:1 widescreen, English and Thai 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks (up from Dolby Surround English and Dolby 5.1 Thai on the DVD). English/Spanish subtitles and 18MBPS bitrate AVC.
I had a feeling there were bad things to come when the Blu-Ray was announced 12 days before it's release (to coincide with Ong Bak 2 on Blu-Ray). My feeling were correct and it seemed like a last-minute effort to port it to Blu-Ray for some extra sales.
Popping in the Blu-Ray, you see some nice, clear visuals/menus.. until the movie starts. At that point everything turns to heavy grain, some rainbowing can be seen, and overall you get a pretty unclear/un-sharp image that suffers from some crushed blacks (when darks get to a point that they lose all detail). A very ugly picture, and something that seems more of a DVD-quality release (and in fact, many DVD's seem to be even sharper/more detailed than this). It's almost as if the camera was out of focus throughout the film. I'd rank it near the bottom tier of Blu-Ray picture quality, and this movie is only from 2003! Fox has had a history of releasing some sub-par quality blu-ray's, and this is no exception.
Now I'm sure you're asking - that's horrible! Why did you give it 5 stars??
Well, after seeing how badly it looked I decided to pop in my Ong Bak DVD - at that point I realized just how much of an improvement there was. The DVD had terrible edge-enhancement, artifacting and other obvious problems. It really made the Blu-Ray seem like a vast improvement, despite how badly it looked. It's hard to say where the issue lies - is it with the filmmakers (poor quality film/handling?) or Fox (for poor mastering?) Either way, it's unlikely we'll see anything better in the future, and for that reason (and the noticeable improvement over the very-poor DVD), I'd recommend it. (tip: Fox titles tend to drop in price - keep an eye out for sales to pick this one up)
It's also worth noting that this is still the "international" cut of the film (with soundtrack changes, storyline changes). A nice extra would have been to have the original cut included (but maybe the rights just aren't owned by Fox), similarly to how Ong Bak 2 has 2 different cuts of the film on the Blu-Ray.
The extras from the DVD appear to have been carried over to the Blu-Ray.
I hate to recommend the product when it's 3-4x the cost of the DVD, but as bad as it looks there is a noticeable improvement over the DVD. Just don't expect to see "Blu-Ray Quality"
Blood Pumping December 6, 2009
FrankV (Pacific NW, USA)
Wooaaa, where was I in the past six years?!? Tony Jaa, wow! If you have any trepidation on the movie being dubbed (bleh, but it works) and confused about co-star Petchtai Wongkamlao or AKA Mum Jokmok AKA a well-known local Thai comedian, you have merits, BUT! overal this movie is just originally awesome. Wire fu in use, not noticable very movingly enjoyable and the action and moves are unseen anywhere else. One more movie to enjoy like a Schwarzenegger flick. Simple plot, awesome action! If you have been moved by Kickboxer the original movie, you for sure will enjoy this one and marvel at moves never seen before. Cinematography at the onset of the movie gets you grounded back in Asia if you have been there before. Last, not least, this is the kind of movie that unknowingly warns you against picking a fight with an unknown, .....beware of the consequences.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 152
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