Try Merantau, the first Uwai/Evans project, it's sort of "Ong Bak Done Right" (still simple yet better story, better acting, waaayyy better directing).

Iko Uwais / Gareth Evans could be the best thing in action movies since Jet Li / Tsui Hark. I really hope Berandal, as their biggest project to date, does work and proves they have the acting/directing chops for that.

>> ^bareboards2:

The very first minute of this report says these planes have never been used in combat.
Why we are risking the lives of these pilots for a training plane? It is seriously nuts.
I think of it as penis waggling. Boys and their toys. Even the pilots said they were happy to fly again at first.
Who in the Pentagon is so invested in keeping these in the air and why? It isn't rational.


Strongly disagree. If we didn't train pilots for this vehicle and suddenly we had a serious need for the it, the voice of dissent would be, "Why didn't we train pilots for a jet that could save our asses in a pinch and that we invested billions of dollars into?"

It's like in Ong-Bak when he's trained in martial arts and then told not to use martial arts. The violence of it is evil, but the threat within and without to forces that would otherwise seek to conquer, are deterred by their presence. If we had a peaceful society where we didn't need to constantly attack the shit out of each other, do we stop training pilots and soldiers? Hell no is the answer. That's the best way to get fucked over by the next big threat.

I also don't believe that we don't use the F-22. Lies within lies. They have an agenda and they don't need to whistle blow on everything surrounding it.

>> ^shuac:
One question for you, Sarzy. You say this film is a milestone. I'm sure you're right. Can you tell me why this film is a milestone?


Because the fight choreography and direction are peerless; the film's fight scenes easily rival anything that I've ever seen, and I've seen my share of action movies.

Because the critical consensus is that it's an instant classic.

Because it's breaking through into the mainstream more than any martial arts film I can think of since Ong Bak.

Because it is awesome.

Some quotes from reviews:

David Fear -- Time Out: And in terms of beautifully coordinated film violence—the kind involving flying fists and feet, whizzing blades and ballistic superbattles—Gareth Evans’s insta-classic Indonesian crime flick is leagues above every kinetic bullet-ballet and martial arts epic of the past decade. Whether this 31-year-old Welsh director will eventually be mentioned in the same breath as legendary chaos orchestrators like Sam Peckinpah or John Woo remains to be seen. For now, Evans can take pride in the fact that he’s set the bar for cinemayhem impossibly high.

Andrew O'Hehir -- Salon: “The Raid” is a witty, pulse-pounding instant midnight classic, an immediate sensation at the Sundance and Toronto festivals that should appeal to cinema buffs, action freaks and a pretty large mainstream audience besides. It offers some of the best Asian martial-arts choreography of recent years and an electric, claustrophobic puzzle-palace atmosphere that’ll leave you wrung out and buzzed.

Ty Burr -- Boston Globe: Not yet 30, Evans is a master of visceral tension and release. “The Raid’’ repeatedly slows down, gathers force, and rushes forward using all the elements of filmmaking at a director’s disposal: editing’s ability to expand and contract time; the camera’s gift for revealing information through motion and light; a good musical score (by Joseph Trapanese and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda) that can cue audiences to respond or just play with their heads. At times, “The Raid’’ feels like pure cinema.

Nordling -- Ain't it Cool: Then, there are the action sequences, which are so exquisitely orchestrated that they build like a symphonic suite of pain and kickassocity. This movie builds and builds, each fight even bigger than the one before it. I can't imagine an audience that won't be on their feet for some of them - and the action choreography is damn near perfect, with cinematography to match. Sure, there's some shakycam, but it's only to build the intensity because Uwais and director Gareth Evans have planned each fight so well that it's never confusing, not once. The geography is flawless. The film wisely lays out the building early on, so that you unconsciously understand where everyone is in the building and even in the same room. I haven't seen such confident action direction since John Woo unleashed the doves in THE KILLER and, yeah, HARD BOILED.

Gonna see this on Tuesday, can't wait!

Shuac's quotes are perfect examples of why your typical film critic are simply snobby douche bags. I feel sorry for anyone that cannot just have fun with a simple and sometimes awesomely cheesy action film such as Commando, Road House, Shoot 'em Up, Jackie Chan's films, Ong Bak, etc without lamenting the lack of "appreciation for human dimension, meaning, and morality". I'd gladly see those kind of people get round house kicked in the face, stumble backward, crash through a window, fall down flipping end over end until they crash onto a car 3 stories below

Tags for this video have been changed from 'ong bak tony jaa martial arts god' to 'ong bak 2, the protector, tony jaa, Thailand, Muay Thai, art of eight limbs' - edited by BoneRemake

Nice site, theauteurs, merci..
http://www.cinemaisdope.com/
and so is Sonatine:)

The Road and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans are not so high rated there..



>> ^Farhad2000:
Oh and sorry guys... Ong Bak 2 is really fucking shit.

check..

Oh and sorry guys... Ong Bak 2 is really fucking shit.

I'll be seeing a bunch of films at TIFF. Right now my most anticipated films of the festival are probably Perrier's Bounty (written by Mark O'Rowe, who wrote Intermission and Boy A), Harry Brown (a revenge movie starring Michael Caine! How can that NOT be awesome?), Enter the Void (new film from Gaspar Noe), Ong Bak 2, A Serious Man, and Air Doll (new film from Hirokazu Kore-eda).

Thanks for that promote! Nothing quite like getting out of a quagmire via breath mints. This Ong-Bak one lines up nicely as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8XIGAhVjDk

>> ^kronosposeidon:
Ah, I have a soft spot in my heart for Mentos parodies. Just ask around here if you don't believe me.
promote meme

Congratulations Gwaan, nice siftage! Some of my recent favs:
House of Wax 1953 Classic starring Vincent Price
Best ‘Car’ Chase Ever, Tuk Tuk Chase from Ong Bak
Bush Dances and Plays the Bongos!
And let’s not forget a couple from the Islamica world:
Female Author talks about Women, Sex, and Taboos in Saudi
Malcolm X, Make it Plain

Just FYI, this is not Ong Bak 2 but Tom Yum Goong retitled The Protector for the US market. Tony Jaa has started work on Ong Bak 2 in October 2006, with a scheduled release date of late 2007.

Can't wait to see Ong Bak 2 and to fast forward the first 40 minutes like I did in Tom Yum Goong.

Ong Bak 2 coming... waaaa?? you made my day people

The movie was called Tom yum goong in asia. In america, it was called The protector, and in the uk, warrior king.. at no point, has it been officially called ong bak 2(well, that was the working title for it in thailand). Tony Jaa is filimg another film, currently called Ong Bak 2 aswell, however, hasn't been released yet, or given an official name.

dblasdon, no it was Ong Bak 2. Look for yourself: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U5BaKiW4oCg
It is also known as Tom yum goong / Ong Bak 2 / The Protector as Baqueta mentioned. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427954/

and yes the stairway scene killed!