As for the fight scenes being “real,” contact may be happening, but I really doubt the fighters are trying to hurt each other. Even if the fight scenes are real as they supposedly are in MMA tournaments, I don’t find MMA fighting that exciting to watch. I would rather have the kind of “artistic” fighting seen in movies like “Hero.” (Or as Jay likes to put it, any movie with falling cherry blossoms.)

Ong Bak, yet not showing off millions of dollars worth of production value, is as real as it gets.

If you haven’t seen it in real life; don’t bother replying/arguing; you have no idea what the other side of the world is like. (Reed ; you’ve got this film all wrong)

Now all we need is another ‘presenter’ like Quentin Tarantino to fight for a piece of the pie so we in the States can enjoy it for a week or so on the Big Screen before it goes to DVD.

Unfortunately (like Bruce, Jackie, and Jet) Tony is going to have to do something in a U.S. made film before achieving the recognition, popularity, and respect he deserves.

Sean and hopefully Greg will be watching the movie soon, so we can discuss the movie in an upcoming Film Junk podcast. I think I am a bigger fan of martial arts films than Sean or Greg, so it will be interesting to hear their comments. Jay has only seen one of Bruce Lee’s films. And there are only friggin’ four of them! (I’m not including “Game of Death” for obvious reasons.)

I do wonder if Ong Bak 2 is so great, then why has it not been picked up for theatrical release in North America?

Before that, my MA world was limited to the TV show ‘Kung Fu’, the cartoon ‘Hong Kong Phooey’, Jackie Chan’s bit parts in ‘Cannonball Run 1&2′, and (of course) Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

Since then, I’ve feasted on such fare as ‘The Karate Kid’(all 4 of them), ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’, ‘Best of the Best 1&2′, ‘Rapid Fire’, a bevy of Steven Segal and Jean-Claude Van Damme crunch and kick flicks, as well as the American explosion of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films.

I was still hungry for something close to the awe and wonder I felt when I saw that first Bruce Lee film all those years ago…

Then, on a lark, I went to go see ‘Ong Bak’ with Tony Jaa, and I was amazed!

The coreography was exciting and pulse-pounding in its reality, the fighting style (Muai Thai) was hard, fast, powerful, and functional – it was like nothing I had ever seen before! It was as if they blended Steven Segal’s bone-crunching Aikido style moves with the power and fluidity of Jet Li. And the stunts were so amazingly real, I questioned if it was full contact, and wondered how people didn’t die making this film!
When it came out on DVD, I grabbed it quickly. While watching the extras, I learned that Tony was making an Ong Bak 2 and that he planned to focus even more on the deadly style of Muai Thai, and incorporate swords and other style weapons in order to showcase more of what Muai Thai is as a fighting style.

I have been drooling for the chance to see it since.

In my opinion – and I’m sure it will get trashed – Tony Jaa is one of the most incredible and talented Martial Artists since Bruce Lee. His films may come across a bit cheezy and at times boring, but hey… so were Bruce’s Hong Kong films.
These are written, filmed, and directed by Thai people – not Hollywood. Even the Protector had it’s flaws despite RZA’s (Wu-Tang Clan) soundtrack support and and marqueed presentation by Quentin Tarantino in an attempt to “Americanize” it.

If you want to see a good representation of Tony’s mastery of Muai Thai – and the reason I am enamored with his mad skills – check out the scene toward the end of the Protector when he fights the endless swarm of thugs before entering the elephant skeleton room where he confronts the main bad-girl and her three massive bodyguards.
As each nameless henchman attacks Tony, he uses a different move to take each one down, culminating in a massive expanse of broken bodies and an applied demonstration of the devastating effects of the Muai Thai style.

Ong Bak 2 may not be a Cinematic masterpiece filled with Oscar-worthy characters, emotionally charged dialoge, or ballet-inspired martial Arts coreography… But it will be filled to the brim with concussive fight scenes, amazing stunt work, and ‘Holy Shit! Did you see that!’ moments.

You know… The stuff we all look forward to in a great Martial Arts flick.

So will people lose all respect for Tony Jaa’s movies when they find out that Jaa uses wires/cables? Ha ha.

BTW, I re-watched Return of the Dragon aka Way of the Dragon and after 35 years, I must admit that I’ve underestimated how great Bruce Lee really was.

I will admit I liked Ong-Bak more than Ong-Bak 2, but Ong-Bak 2 was still a good movie. There was much more variation and plenty of great fighting scenes to put a smile on your face. The storyline is probably better, but personally, who cares about the story line, I just want to watch some great fighting– and boy does it deliver.

I agree with Bullet3, that Reed does not know what he is talking about and that you should discard this review.

Wire/cable movies are complete crap. I give Tony Jaa so much more respect for doing these moves without wires. I hate fake/beyond fake movies (ex: Crouching tiger hidden crap).

If you like martial arts and enjoy fighting definitely watch this movie and for sure Ong-Bak….you will not be disappointed. If you don’t fight or enjoy watching fighting, then you probably wont like this movie.

In defense of the “TheAllKnowingGod,” I think he meant it might be easier to choreograph an elbow hit for a film (at least for Tony Jaa) rather than do a wire-fu hit.

The long take scene in The Protector looked like rehersal footage rather than the finished article.

Like in the new Star Trek movie, maybe I’m just getting tired of revenge stories. I like action that, as Bruce Lee would say, has some “emotional content” behind it. I don’t feel anything watching Star Trek or Ong Bak 2.