The Tony Jaa movie thread

Ricochan38 · Post by **Ricochan38** » 30 Aug 2005, 15:24

tom yum goong review !

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/tom_yum_goong.htm

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 30 Aug 2005, 16:47

Face off has been a rumor for 5 years now

still nothing at all.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 07 Oct 2005, 15:19

Cas has reviewed a comparison review of Ong-Bak.

Thai vs Aus discs:

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0 ... &n=1&burl=

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 07 Oct 2005, 16:20

But the R4 french cut looks far better than them both! so he may as well have added that in the comparison.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 06 Dec 2005, 10:10

Seems like they're gonna do the same thing with Tom Yum Goong as the did with Ong-bak: Change the soundtrack...

http://www.tonyjaa.org/

The french release will be getting a french soundtrack it seems. Not that I felt the TYG original thai soundtrack was very outstanding or anything, but I'm no fan of changing it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 09 Dec 2005, 20:01

Yi-Long wrote:but I'm no fan of changing it.

What really?

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 09 Dec 2005, 21:21

i have this on the way anyone have this dvd? any good?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... RK:MEWN:IT

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 09 Dec 2005, 22:48

Tom Yum Goong is by far the worst film I have seen in my entire life.
But if you liked Ong Bak, you'll probably love this one.

There's no plot, no acting, no music and no cinematography.
Basically it's just a big soulless martial arts demo.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 10 Dec 2005, 01:01

Tom2681 wrote: There's no plot, no acting, no music and no cinematography.
Basically it's just a big soulless martial arts demo.

Reminds me of Twins Effects 2...

Heh just kidding. Did you like the Bodyguard (Thai movie)?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 10 Dec 2005, 01:16

Haven't seen it yet.
Not looking forward to it, TBH.

I've got nothing against Thai movies, mind you. As a matter of fact I quite liked Monrak Transistor, Last Life in the Universe and Tears of the Black Tiger.
But I can't stand their martial arts movies.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 10 Dec 2005, 01:34

Tom2681 wrote:Tom Yum Goong is by far the worst film I have seen in my entire life.

Now that's too harsh, mate! Especially when considering the fact that it is one of the few films I gave 5/5.

There's no plot.

There IS a plot. The two elephants are like brothers to him as he grew up with them. A friend of mine is Thai and she told me that it was generally like that in the villages in Thailand. When you grow up with an animal, you treat it as a sibling. Many people there have monkeys as brothers.
And right before Jaa and his father are about to present the elephants to the king of Thailand, which is like the highest honour you can get in Thailand, they are stolen and shipped to Australia. So the Jaa is not only saving his siblings, but also his face in front of the king.

That's no Hitchcock plot, but way better than the "Ong-Bak" story and better than so many HK old school flicks' stories.

no acting

He he he! Come on... right before the final fight, our poor Jaa can be seen in a sweet crying-scene.

no music

There was music. The thing is that it wasn't outstanding.

...and no cinematography.

I can appreciate all of the above crticism, but that one is going too far. I'd give this film an Oscar, solely for the cinematography in the 4-minutes-fight-without-a-single-cut-scene and the fight sequence against the skaters, which also features one longer take without a cut.

Basically it's just a big soulless martial arts demo.

Exciting and entertaining. Don't tell me you were expecting something in the likes of "OldBoy"...

...or "Mortal Kombat".

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 10 Dec 2005, 01:45

The 4-minute shot looked good, that's for sure.

But, about the plot:
-Guy grows up with elephants.
-Elephants get stolen.
-Guy goes to town to beat the crap out of the bad guys and get the elephants back.

Of course I wasn't expecting a Park Chan-Wookesque storyline, but still...

Know what I mean ?

LD wrote:Exciting and entertaining.

I'm glad you liked it.
But it takes a little bit more than that to entertain me, that's all. 8)

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 10 Dec 2005, 01:53

Tom2681 wrote:
LD wrote:Exciting and entertaining.
I'm glad you liked it.
But it takes a little bit more than that to entertain me, that's all. 8)

Hey!! I like women, too.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 10 Dec 2005, 12:12

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 10 Dec 2005, 17:34

quality of the dvd is shit letterboxed non-anamorphic english subs burnt over chinese ones damn bootleg

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Dec 2005, 22:12

Tom check out:

Nang nak, it's a great little Thai ghost story:

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=7502

The AV quality is acceptable not great but acceptable. It's Thai DD2.0 and non-anamorphic.

Then there is 'Suriyothai' of course:

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=4359

This is the only version worth owning despite being non-anamorphic (it does have DTS though), the 5 hour cut has no English subs. Just avoid any version called "The Legend of Suriyothai" that is the Francis Ford Copolla cut to shreds cut, it does have a director's commentary (on R1) though.

Both were released a few years back, they'd be anamorphic if released today.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Dec 2005, 22:13

* When is Tom Yum Goong getting an English subtitled DVD release?

* Is the HK DVD out yet?

* I take it you guys saw it at the cinema?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 10 Dec 2005, 23:17

bradavon wrote:* I take it you guys saw it at the cinema?

I have the HK VCD.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Dec 2005, 11:25

Brad how long is the Francis Ford Coppola cut of Suriyothai? I thought that was 3 hours too?

I'd like to see this too - how does it compare to Bang Rajan and things like that?

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 11 Dec 2005, 12:36

@Bradavon
Sorry to go off topic, but what ethaicd.com like at shipping out, have you used them before. I want to get Suriyothai..

Kind Regards

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2005, 14:37

Slasher eThaiCD are very good. The DVDs arrive in about a week.

There are other slightly cheaper Thai e-tailors but they're not in English or geared towards international customers. I've only used eThaiCD when I want some Thai DVDs.

Thai DVDs are much better than they used to be (Romero should give them another chance). The Thai Blade 3 (2 Disc) Extended Cut DVD is gorgeous quality and dirt cheap too. It cost me in Thailand about £3.50.

It's a bit hit and miss as some Thai DVDs are still pants but many are not.

These guys are good to get info on Thai DVDs, the site is part Thai and part English but the important parts (search + disc spec.) is in English:

http://www.boomerang.co.th/default.asp

grim_tales wrote:Brad how long is the Francis Ford Coppola cut of Suriyothai? I thought that was 3 hours too?

The Thai Theatrical cut is 185 minutes and the basterdised USA cut is 142 minutes, so over 40 minutes has been cut. TBH this is a film which would work even longer (i.e - the 5 hour cut).

It's a detailed and complicated story with as much focus on drama as the battles. Cutting footage out was really a bad idea.

I'd love to see the 5 hour cut but it's only available in Thailand without English subtitles. Strangely the 142 minute cut has also been released in Thailand (what Thai would want to see it though???) but without the commentary but retaining the Making Of. Just to remind everyone you want 'Suriyothai' NOT 'The Legend of Suriyothai'.

The 185 minute cut (the one I recommend) has no extras bar the trailer I think. This was because it has DTS and is split across 2 discs + they released a huge Making Of. DVD at the same time (which has no English subs).

It's a shame the 185 minute theatrical cut is non-anamorphic and bare-bones but IMO the fact it's uncut is far more important than those two factors.

As for the AV quality of the DVD the 5.1 is great and the PQ is good too. It's not amazing but very good, that's how I'll put it. FYI it's PAL. Thai DVDs tend to be both depending where they sourced the material.

Besides you have little choice if you want to see the film.

grim_tales wrote:I'd like to see this too - how does it compare to Bang Rajan and things like that?

I've not seen that film yet but get the feeling from reading reviews of BR that it's a much simpler battle story (it's much shorter for a start) and Suriyothai is more of an epic.

Taken from that eThaiCD listing:

"Suriyothai" is a historical movie depicting the heroism of a queen from the kingdom of Ayothaya who sacrifices her life in battle. Her name appears in the royal chronicles as "Phra Suriyothai."

Set in 16th century Thailand over the course of 57 years (1491-1548), this is an epic tale and political history of the Kingdom of Ayothaya, culminating in the story of Queen Phra Suriyothai (Bhirombhakdi), who rode into battle against the Burmese invasion to protect her husband at the Battle of Hantawaddy in 1548.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2005, 14:39

thelostdragon wrote:I have the HK VCD.

What's the quality like?

I'm always really wary of Asian VCDs. Does it have dual burnt in subs? Is it Stereo? How much is it?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 11 Dec 2005, 16:05

The quality is OK for a VCD. Of course the subs are burnt-in. However, they are in Chinese only. At YesAsia it costs 9,99 Dollars.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2005, 17:38

Chinese bloody only

- Not Ong Bak all over again!

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 11 Dec 2005, 21:37

bradavon wrote:
Yi-Long wrote:but I'm no fan of changing it.
What really?

I knew that was a shocking revelation for ya