The Protector (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Protector (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: For Me, It Was Refreshing!
Summary: 5 Stars
With the exception of Jet Li, Jackie Chan and (maybe) Chuck Norris, I haven't seen any really good martial artists on film that could hold my attention like the late Bruce Lee....that is until this film.
By no means am I saying that Tony Jaa is better than Bruce but he comes damn near close! The plot of this film isn't that complex but I have to say the action is great! Now, I want to see this other film that he did prior to this one called On-Bak: The Thai Warrior that many say was better than this film.
The extras that come with this set is as good as the film itself if not better. My personal recommendation is to watch the original/international version of this film before watching the U.S./theatrical version. Both are good but the original shows how the film was meant to be seen. I think both versions come with this set.
Overall, its an enjoyable ride!
Movie Review: From Thailand to Australia
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an entirely exciting movie with Tony Jaa's impressive martial arts skills at its backbone, not to mention a complete movie realization by director Prachya Pinkaew. That is to say, the movie just flows, peaks, gets us on the edge of our seats and pleases us completely. To get into why this movie is so much fun is to note the nature of Muay Thai as a very powerful, forceful and explosive force, very much mirroring the nature of a good action movie. Whether it is Jaa's martial arts that are really so impressive, I do not know, I don't know the slightest thing about what it takes to do such stunts. However, I can say that Jaa's easy-going persona certainly plays a large part of his appeal. Yes, the scene climbing the stairs, knocking down 50 or so enemies is fantastic, as is his fight, reminiscing Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with scary Australian wrestler, because of his uncanny size and criminal record, Nathan Jones. There is also a scene with Eddy Gordo from Tekken 3...well a capoiera man with dreadlocks. Thai and Australian English are spoken, for those language buffs.Movie Review: only needs a plot and more Capoeira
Summary: 4 Stars
Some great fights and camerawork don't necessarily make for a great movie-going experience. They certainly don't hurt either. The incredible Tony Jaa is back and impressive as ever in "Tom Yum Goong", aka "The Protector". The U.S. version of the film is a jumbled mess, going from one scene to another with little, if any, cohesion. I have not watched the original Thai version, which is included in Dragon Dynasty's U.S. release. I'm sure the plot isn't any less dumb, but perhaps it flows a little better. Honestly, I doubt you'll care. This is a movie made for action, not plot.
Tony plays an elephant herder in Thailand whose father is murdered and elephant is stolen by a Thai-born-Australian-she-male-gangster who owns a restaurant that specializes in rare and illegal delicasies. He follows the clues to Australia and faces an ENDLESS amount of hired goons.
There is an incredible scene in this movie, where the camera follows our hero up a spiral staircase in the restaurant for about 5 stories as he beats the crap out of about 40 thugs. Did I mention that it's done in one take? Seriously. I feel strange comparing this to a film like "Russian Ark". Well, it is only one scene. There are plenty of other noteworthy fights. Jaa pits his Muay-Thai against the Wushu of Johnny Nguyen ("The Rebel") and Jon Foo. In my personal favorite, he takes on the amazing Capoeira of Lateef Crowder. There is also the scene where Jaa fights about 30 x-treme skaters and rollerbladers. There's a LOT more fights that I'm not going to get into.
Dragon Dynasty's 2-disc set is loaded with special features that will likely please any fan of the movie. Since 3/4 of the movie takes place in Australia, most of the dialogue is in English, with subtitles when characters are speaking Thai. This movie gets less than 1-star for plot, but the fighting is mostly 5-star quality. 5-1= 4 stars. The fights in the staircase scene aren't quite as good (though the stunts are) because they had to get it in one shot. They suffer so little though, and the scene is so impressive, that you probably won't notice. I didn't for the first 12 or 13 times I watched it. Now that I have, I still love it and don't care. If you are a fan of fighting movies at all, you're only hurting yourself by not seeing this.
2005. aka: Honour of the Dragon; Warrior King
Movie Review: Somewhat disappointing follow-up to Ong-Bak but it does have its moments
Summary: 3 Stars
After the jaw-droppingly impressive array of he-must-be-out-of-his-****ing-mind stunts in Ong-Bak, Tony Jaa's follow-up Warrior King (released in a heavily cut version in the US theaters as The Protector but available on this disc in both its uncut and re-edited versions) is something of a disappointment. You can see where the time and effort have been put into the stunts, many of which are more impressive on paper than onscreen, but it never quite pays off proportionately. A big part of this comes down to the fact that the characters are poorly integrated into the action while the plot is a mess even by Asian action standards (imagine a cross between Tarzan in New York and The Freshman), not helped by the casting of some of Australia's worst and most effeminately-voiced actors in the supporting roles. Still, the four-minute single-take restaurant fight up several floors is VERY impressive and there aren't many movies where the villains throw an elephant at the hero... Movie Review: Tony Ja is the Future
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this movie it was another side of Tony Jaa I never seen, so serious and aggressive. He is like a Bruce Lee number 2 in this movie. The fight scenes are amazing especially the one Scene with the Brilizan man he was fighting. Tony keep up the god work this was a master piece. (P.S. and someone was stupid enough to trade me this for Hero lol.)