101 Action Movies allowed me to take another look at this fantastic Thai martial arts film, showcasing the amazing fighting style of Muay Thai. Working with the simplest of stories, it merely serves as a jumping off point for some jaw-dropping fight sequences that use absolutely no computer generated engancements. It’s all real, in fact, you can tell that there are a number of full-contact hits, as the sequences kick into high gear.

Tony Jaa stars as Ting, who lives in a small village, where a Buddha statue, called Ong Bak, resides, and sees over the village. When a group of thugs, remove the statues head, with the plan of selling it an an antiquity to the highest bidder, Ting volunteers to venture into the teeming metropolis of Bangkok to recover it. He has no idea how tough this is going to be, as the city is a big , scary place, and everyone seems to be looking for a fight.

Once there, he meets up with George, who has changed his name from Humlae (Petchtai Wongkamlao), a bit of gambler, who on seeing the money the village has given Ting to help him, promptly steals it, and consequently leads our hero to the very underground he’s looking for.

The locations are simply stunning, as Ting travels from the countryside into the bustle of the modern metropolis. But all of this is backdrop for the amazing fight sequences as Ting takes on a series of  villains who are intent on selling out their own history by selling their country’s antiquities. In my book, that makes them some of the worst baddies, and I found myself eagerly awaiting their comeuppance.

Which leads to a really nice feature in a couple of the fight sequences, when there is a particularly brutal hit, or jaw-dropping stunt, Ting sliding under a moving jeep and out the other side for example, the shot is shown a couple of times from other angles so that you can see that there are no computer enhancements or wire-work.

Tony Jaa is incredibly acrobatic, leaping over cars, and fights incredibly fast, the flurry of blows and kicks just left me gaping at the screen.

This is a film you don’t watch for the story, in fact you can easily wander in and out of the room while it’s on, and still come back and know exactly who the baddies, who’s the comic relief, and who’s the hero. But you do not want to miss the fights at all, they are so amazing to watch. Yes, Muay Thai has spread exponentially since this film first came out, and even Batman seems to be doing it, but this film is worth the viewing experience just for those sequences, they are unparalelled, and you can see the impact of each blow.

Wow.

The film rockets along, and has been such a success that it has spawned a couple of sequels, but nothing will be more stunning than the first time you see Ting square off in the tournament that he almost accidental y walks in on. It’s amazing!

Did you see it?