Review by Leonard Norwitz Studio: Theatrical: Iyara Film Blu-ray: Magnolia Home Entertainment Disc: Region: FREE! The Film: 4 Perhaps you are unacquainted with Ong Bak, the 2003 Thai martial arts film that brought almost instant international fame to its star, Panom Yeerum (now known as Tony Jaa), known for his wire-free, CG-free, stunt double-free work. Tony Jaa's stuntwork was electrifying. It had a certain raw energy, combined with acrobatic skill that announced a kind of Jackie Chan/Bruce Lee. That film was set in both village and city of more or less contemporary Thailand.
A second movie titled Tom yum goong (or, simply, Ong Bak 2, or more oddly, The Protector) also features Tony Jaa in his efforts to retrieve a stolen sacred baby elephant. Lots of Muay Thai. Not so much plot or character. And now we have another Ong Bak 2 (aka Ong Bak 2 – The Beginning) that has nothing to do with either of the previous films since it does not propose to be a prequel to either of those movies or their heroic protagonists, but evidently the first of a series of movies with a new character set in centuries old Thailand. The plot harkens back to more movies I care to count from any number of cultures: Young boy is orphaned after his parents are murdered, he's raised by outlaws, and eventually confronts those who killed his parents. That's about it.
Jul 20, 2013 ONG BAK 1,2,3 ENGLISH DUBBED? Hey I have been wanting to watch this movies for soo longs apparently its one of best fighting movies out there but it's in a Thai Language does anyone no what website I can watch it in English dubbed (please give a. Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (องค์บาก 2) is a 2008 Thai martial arts film co-directed. A bootleg all-region-compatible version with English subtitles of Ong-Bak 2 was internationally released April 2, 2009 on DVD, although this version is.
One difference: there's scarcely any room for romance in this tale of unrequited revenge. There is a girl/boy childhood friendship that doesn't quite sort itself out as adults. The thing reeks of sequel. More than that, the movie is so episodic as to wonder if there isn't another half hour or more somewhere waiting to surface. (The 'Alternate Unrated' cut, being shorter, doesn't address this shortcoming.) Jaa's Tien is raised in comparative luxury until his blueblood parents are killed by traitors. Once he is trained by the outlaws and grows up to take on their leadership (a good third of the movie that also brings in his conquest of elephants), he is ready to confront his past (much of which is told in a long flashback) and his destiny: to seek out and kill the man who killed his parents, who now poised to unite the country in a dictatorship. But things don't come off nearly as planned.
Thus, the sequel. Tony Jaa and his movie make for comparison to the popular Indian actor from the 1940s and 1950s, Sabu, and Zoltan Korda's Jungle Book in particular. Sabu, though as spirited as Jaa, is soulful, romantic, vulnerable. His Mowgli is interested in others, and he's courageous, but he is distracted by vengeance and a fear of those who look like him but aren't. Mowgli possesses not nearly the same means to accomplish his aims as Tien, which makes his adventure that much more accessible to the imagination.
He needs only to level the playing field with a 'tooth' of proper proportion and power. Such subtlety does not lend itself to a story as preoccupied by cruelty and numbers as Ong Bak 2. Tony Jaa is not nearly as pretty as Sabu, and Tien has no sense of humor whatsoever. He does possess much the same degree of determination and is perfectly willing to risk death to carry out his vengeance, and even displays a certain degree of style as he goes about it. The Jungle Book, of course, is meant for a younger and more innocent audience. It is, in part, that very innocence which makes both the Kipling story and its incarnation by Sabu and Korda the stuff of timeless legend.
Ong Bak 2 clearly intends to be epic but is targeted for adults who require their action violent and rageful. There is little room for meditation, though there is a scene when Tien lets his blood mix with water that intends just that, but which doesn't come off. Curiously, the best scene in Ong Bak 2 comes at the end in a moment of revelation, regret and penance – and, best of all, that moment does not belong to Tien. Try as it might, Ong Bak 2 fails to stay with us once the curtain falls.
This was less true of the first Ong Bak, which had a raw energy where this movie has only gruesome intensity. Ong Bak 2 has more than its share of kick-ass action sequences, but few, if any, are as interestingly choreographed or filmed as, for example, any number of duels in Yip Wai-Shun's Flash Point or Wilson Yip's SPL, to say nothing of the first Ong Bak. Disappointing, too, is the sequence that features Thai classical dancing, which isn't nearly as interestingly designed, staged or photographed as Jerome Robbins' 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' from The King and I. Image: 9/9 NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The first number indicates a relative level of excellence compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of DVD and Blu-ray discs. The movie may have little to offer in the way of structure, plot or character, but Magnolia provides a strong image with few, if any transfer issues. I found no defects in the source print, nor edge enhancement or DNR. The image is not razor sharp, but doesn't really suffer as a result. Color is saturated. Blacks are solid with adequate shadow information. Highlights blow out some, but that's most likely a consequence of how the movie was shot, as is the pervasive yellow-green color cast.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION. Audio & Music: 6/5 Dialogue, such as it is, is clear enough and reasonably well located.
There are numerous isolated locational cues during the action sequences, but panning is hit and miss. For example when young Tien is chased on horseback at the beginning of the film, there is opportunity missed for arrows to whistle from back to front, but they don't. The music, for the most part, strikes me as stock action material, easily interchangeable with any number of other low-budget martial arts movies. There are a few moments of relevance or beauty, but by and large, unimaginative.
However my biggest gripe is the lack of distinction of one body blow from another. The effect is that it dulls the sense and the power Jaa and Panna Rittikrai are going for. If every blow sounds the same I get bored quickly. Operations: 6 Let's go right to the subtitles and English translation. One doesn't have to understand Thai to see that the translation was in need of some serious tweaking.
Spelling errors are few, but the sense of much of the dialogue makes everyone seem duller than they must have been. After one particularly grueling scene where Tien puts down half an army of slave traders, a tearful mother, finally reunited with her child, says 'You saved my life. Thank you so much.' This sort of sloshing about from style to style makes this movie seem stupider than it probably is. In fact the movie is more successful when there was little if any dialogue – the first fifteen minutes has no conversation to speak of - the action speaks well enough for itself.
I should mention that there is an English language dub that I didn't check out. Menu operations are readily accessible with extensive bonus features laid out neatly and usefully. E xtras: 6 The Behind the Scenes featurettes are shown without anyone addressing us and therefore it is sensible that subtitles are not included. The segments are divided into three areas of filming: Capturing a Warrior, The Kingdom and The Community. The three Making-of featurettes: Story & Character of an Epic, Revealing the Majesty, and The Art of War take on the usual aspects of production, and are subtitled. (Do you ever get the impression that the titles for these segments are all the work of a single person? I wonder how much he gets paid?) The interviews with cast and crew are also subtitled.
I like that each person introduces him or herself so that we can hear how they say their names. Thai is a fascinating aural experience that has always struck me as a tape recording played backwards. I don't mean this in any pejorative way. Some languages are so remote to my ear that they have a special ring to them.
Thai and Finnish are two that come quickly to mind. The Ong Bak 3 Exclusive Footage is not quite ready for trailer status. All of the extra features are presented in standard definition of varying quality and aspect ratios.
Bottom line: 5 The image is quite good and the audio adequate, even if the body blows aren't properly undistinguished. 'Undistinguished' pretty much sums up the movie in general.
For Tony Jaa and Muay Thai fans only. Leonard Norwitz February 1st, 2010. About the Reviewer: I first noticed that some movies were actually 'films' back around 1960 when I saw Seven Samurai (in the then popular truncated version), and for the first time.
American classics were a later and happy discovery. My earliest teacher in Aesthetics was Alexander Sesonske, who encouraged the comparison of unlike objects. He opened my mind to the study of art in a broader sense, rather than of technique or the gratification of instantaneous events. My take on video, or audio for that matter – about which I feel more competent – is not particularly technical. Rather it is aesthetic, perceptual, psychological and strongly influenced by temporal considerations in much the same way as music. I hope you will find my musings entertaining and informative, fun, interactive and very much a work in progress.
The LensView Home Theatre.
Running time 98 minutes Country Thailand Language Budget $8,000,000 Box office $8,936,663 Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (องค์บาก 2) is a 2008 Thai co-directed by and starring. It is a follow-up to Jaa's 2003 breakout film. Initially claimed to be a to Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, Ong Bak 2 was then announced to be a to its predecessor. Unlike its predecessor however, which had a contemporary and realistic setting, Ong Bak 2 is actually set in 15th century and as such, could be described as a with elements of combined, and has nothing to do with the original Ong-Bak.
Ong Bak 2 also has nothing to do with Jaa's 2005 film, which was sometimes incorrectly labelled Ong Bak 2 in the West, as well as The Protector and The Warrior King. Tom-Yum-Goong had a contemporary setting similar to Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, although it too had different characters and plot. Jaa's films had yet to tie into each other, although Jaa had claimed they would do so with the release of in 2010, which they did.
As well as the different historical setting to Jaa's previous films, Ong Bak 2 has taken a notably grittier and bloodier direction. The plot of Ong Bak 2 revolves around Tien (Jaa), the son of Lord Sihadecho, a murdered nobleman in old. As a spirited and unyielding youth, Tien resists savage slave traders and, moments from death, is rescued by a man known as Chernang. Chernang is a renowned warrior and leader of the Pha Beek Khrut, a group of, and Chernang realizes unsurpassed physical potential in the young Tien and takes Tien under his wing.
The Pha Beek Khrut are a group of expert specialising in combat styles from all over, and Tien is trained to unify these different fighting systems, and grows into the most dangerous man alive. As Tien becomes a young man he goes on a lone mission of vengeance against the vicious slave traders who enslaved him as a youth, and also the treacherous warlord, Lord Rajasena, who murdered his mother, had his father killed, and has an entire army protecting him. Contents. Plot The film begins in 1431.
It is a time of political upheaval, treachery and danger. The opening scene explains how during the reign of of the, the Ayutthaya royal court became more powerful than the and expanded to the east.
The Ayutthaya army besieged the for several months. The king sent his son, Prince Indraracha to rule the kingdom.
At the new kingdom, Lord Sihadecho is a provincial ruler, and a gallant and noble warrior of a formally great. His son, Tien, a spirited and unyielding youth, aspires to be just like his father, but is forced to undergo dance lessons instead much to his disdain. Meanwhile, the treacherous and power-craving Lord Rajasena, a former city administrator of the capital city, plots to seize total control of all Asia and has amassed the greatest army in Asia. Rajasena sends out vicious assassins to murder Lord Sihadecho's family and his loyal soldiers. The only survivor from this massacre is Tien, who manages to escape with deep vengeance in his heart. Tien is captured by a group of savage slave traders, who throw him into a pit with a giant crocodile when he proves uncontrollable. Tien is saved by Chernang , leader of the renowned 'Pha Beek Khrut' (Garuda Wing Cliff) guerilla group, who attack the slave traders.
Chernang throws a knife to Tien, proclaiming 'your life depends on you, young boy,' with which Tien kills the crocodile. Intrigued by his physical prowess and attitude, Chernang takes Tien to a, who says the boy has a great destiny, that 'spirits will fear him' and that he will become the greatest warrior who will ever live, and as such Chernang takes in Tien as his adoptive son and raises him like himself as a guerilla and a bandit. Tien gets his wish to train as a warrior and more besides, growing up to excel in the arts of war, including man-to-man fighting, incantation, and subterfuge. Tien is instructed in a variety of traditional Asian fighting styles, including and, Japanese and, Malay, and various. He also learns the use of weapons such as the,. Now a young man and with all these martial arts heavily instilled, becoming the greatest warrior to ever live, Tien is eager to quench the vengeance in his heart by killing the slave traders, which he does. He then goes on to kill Lord Rajasena by posing as a dancer during a celebration.
Returning to the Pha Beek Khrut, Tien is mystified to find their village deserted. Suddenly, he finds himself confronted by wave after wave of masked assassins, the same ones hired by Lord Rajasena to destroy his original home. As the fight progresses Tien is too enraged to notice that the masked villains are none other than his Pha Beek Khrut comrades though their individual combat styles are glaringly recognizable. As Tien tries to defeat the masked assassins he climbs on an elephant but then Bhuti Sangkha a.k.a. The Crow Ghost ( uncredited) appears and kicks Tien off of the elephant. Bhuti's nature is unknown and he has a small role in the film. Then he takes the elephant away.
At last confronting their leader, Tien finds they have been surrounded by Rajasena's army, which is led by the tyrant, himself. Lord Rajasena reveals he had survived thanks to an armored tunic concealed beneath his state robes. Chernang unmasks and admits to his part in killing Lord Sihadecho, as he was in league with Rajasena. Chernang explains that he must carry out Rajasena's orders, or his family (the Pha Beek Khrut) will be killed. As Tien reluctantly fights Chernang, Chernang pins him to the ground, once again calls Tien his son and asks him to take his life in payment for killing his father.
Chernang then forces Tien's blade to snap and slash across his throat, taking his life. The film ends on a with Tien, after defeating dozens of Rajasena's warriors, being finally overwhelmed by hundreds more. Rajasena orders Tien to be taken away to be slowly tortured to death. It is unclear whether Tien survives, and if he does, how it is so. An extremely ambiguous and vague voice-over explains that Tien 'may find a way to cheat death again', and shows him with a fully-grown beard (which he does not have in the film) standing in front of a scarred golden statue, perhaps indicating. Cast. as Tien.
as Master Bua (as Nirut Sirijanya). as Chernang. as Lord Jom Rajasena. as Nobleman Lord Sihadecho. as Pim. as Young Tien.
as Young Pim. as Lady Plai. as Mhen. as Bhuti Sangkha / Crow Ghost ( uncredited). as Guard in Golden Armour ( uncredited).
as Black Ninja. (as Gaesha Kumpakdee) Production Shooting of the film began in October 2006. It was released in Thailand on December 5, 2008. In July 2008, rumor surfaced that Tony Jaa had disappeared from the production set. Commented to the press that Tony Jaa had disappeared from the set for almost two months, leaving the film unfinished; and that the delay caused more than 250 million baht damage due to the breach of contract with the who had also canceled the contract.
Later in an interview with the press, Tony Jaa stated that the production was on hiatus because could not release the obligated funding for the film. Sources within Ayara Film, the subsidiary of Sahamongkol Film that handled Ong Bak 2 production, stated that no more funding came from Sahamongkol after it took over the budget and management role from Tony Jaa from May 2008 to July 2008. Tony Jaa and the owner of Sahamongkol Film later made a joint press conference stating that the production and funding would continue after several concessions were agreed upon between Tony Jaa and Sahamongkol. Famed Thai action choreographer and Jaa's mentor was brought onto the project in the capacity of director to help complete the film. In addition, Rittikrai added martial artist to the cast.
An international trailer for the movie was released during filming, showing the fictional setting in which Tony Jaa's character is being rescued in the jungle by a group of martial artists of various styles, and trained to unify these different systems. However, production still encountered financial problems as it came to a close. In order to complete the production on time, the filmmakers decided to end Ong Bak 2 with a ending, and then continue the story in a sequel, which was announced to begin production for a 2009 release. Distribution Worldwide distribution and sales rights to Ong Bak 2 were purchased by in March 2006. A little over a year later, visited and renegotiated a deal in which bought back most of the rights to the film, except for, which The Weinstein Company retains. At the market, Sahamongkol sold some rights to -based Splendid Films.
On 10 February 2009, it was announced that the Wagner/Cuban Companies’ acquired the U.S. Distribution rights for Ong-Bak 2 under their Magnet label. The deal was negotiated by Tom Quinn, Senior Vice President of Magnolia, with Gilbert Lim of Sahamongkol Film International.
Reception The film currently holds a 48% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 67 reviews. Despite political turmoil in the film's native Thailand, in its opening weekend (8 December 2008) Ong Bak 2 grossed about 58 million ($2.06 million), according to Variety Asia Online, and was number one at the Thai box office.
Ong Bak 2 did better at the Thai box office than 's previous film,. Home video There have been numerous releases of Ong Bak 2. Various versions with regional and were released throughout Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand in the months shortly after the film's premiere in its native Thailand. The film was released for the European Film Market on 6 February 2009. The United States version was released on February 2, 2010, although it is already available in version.
A bootleg all-region-compatible version with English subtitles of Ong-Bak 2 was internationally released April 2, 2009 on DVD, although this version is not as yet widely available. There are no significant reviews, such as on, yet. Main article: With the box office success of Ong Bak 2, was quick to announce their intention to film its sequel. Filming of new footage for the follow-up was to begin before the end of the year and was to incorporate unused footage from Ong Bak 2., screenwriter of the Thai fantasy film, was signed to write the script. In addition, the expensive set for the Palace was completed and seen by the press.
The studio hoped to have the film in theaters in late 2009. Sia Jieang, an Executive of Sahamongkol, stated the film would feature more fights between Tony Jaa and (the uncredited actor behind the mysterious, enigmatic and deadly 'crow ghost' in Ong Bak 2, the only enemy who really gets the drop on Tien in the film).
Video game Ong Bak Tri is being developed by Studio Hive and will be published worldwide by Immanitas Entertainment for PC, smartphones,. It will be a 2.5D side-scrolling brawler with 'intense fighting action, impressive free-running sequences, and highly cinematic quick-time action events,' according to the press release. The game, like the second and third films, is set in ancient Thailand. No official release date has been announced. References. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
![English English](http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ong-bak-2.jpg)
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