Ong-Bak 3 (2010)

Movie: 3.5/5
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Overall: 4/5

The Final Battle?

If you've seen Thai action films, they aren't big on plot and story and rely mainly on action to fill 90 minutes. This film is no exception. I feel the same way about the other two previous Ong Bak films. First film filled it action with this whole underground fight club with the missing head of Ong Bak. Ong Bak 2 was about a kid who grew up and wanted revenge; he was trained by pirates to become a bad ass. Ong Bak 3, well... from what I could tell, the kid learns that you need to change his ways.

The film had problems, that's for sure. Tony Jaa lost everything while filming Ong Bak 2 and became homeless because he believed in this series and it cost him dearly. The plot is not consistent; not with how the way Ong Bak 2 ended. You may think you might know what will happen in this movie, but the studio decided to take the film in a completely different direction and that leaves the viewer somewhat confused.

I think if Tony Jaa was given everything that he needed and the studio didn't interfere and bring Tony's mentor, Panna Rittikrai, into co-directing the film; we could have possibly had an epic action masterpiece. Instead we're left with these two films that are not on par with other Asian action films. At best, it's just another average Thai action exploitation film like Panna Rittikrai's Spirited Killer series.

Why do I give it a 3.5/5? I think visuals that were shown to us, like backgrounds and other set pieces really look good. Also, the scoring is pretty good. Sure, the music is re-used from Ong Bak 2, but it works with this. The film has replay value to me since I've watched the film three times all ready since I've purchased it back on Tuesday.

The video is 4.5/5. Given that it's shot with equipment that's a lot better than what's seen on other Thai films that are released on Blu-ray, the video is quite pleasing. However, the artistic changes in softness and sharpness does bring it down. But it wasn't as bad as it was in Ong Bak 2.

The audio is a solid 5/5 for me. I think both Thai and English dubbing sound great on this release. Hearing the wrapped chains around Tony Jaa's wrists in the opening fight scene clanging as he's hitting the king's warriors sounds exceptional.

Extras are weak, 2.5/5. Magnolia Pictures gave Ong Bak 2 a ton of bonus materials. This one is weak. The Digital Copy is nice. I would prefer a disc to copy it off of because doing it as a straight download takes forever in a day with my internet connection.

Overall, we come to a 3.875/5 and I'm going to round this up to a 4/5 for this release. If you like action films, I'd recommend it. It's not as good other movies out there, but then again, was Ong Bak 2 as good as other action films?

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)

Movie: 3/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2/5
Overall: 3/5

Buy It If You Can Get It For Under $13!
WARNING: If you are an extremist for perfect 5/5 PQ, stop right now and pick another movie. The video is a 3 at best. The picture is very soft. Also, colors are very weak; you'd think when it's daylight it wouldn't look like there's a dirty sky like in the opening. Also, there's a scene where Ting (Jaa) is on fire, the colors of the flames look extremely weak.

The audio is another rough one; there's Thai and English DTS-HD 5.1. They sound weak and could be improved. Given this is Luc Besson's edit, you'd think he'd re-work the sound to make it top notch, but no. Simply put, outside of directing, Luc Besson is the French equivalent of Harvey Weinstein with getting films and butchering them.

Simply put, if you are fan of martial arts, then this is a good movie to get. Tony Jaa is a badass and he proves it in this film. However, FOX rushed this release to have it tie in with the release of Ong Bak 2. I'm hoping that film studios from Thailand break into the Blu-ray business and we can hopefully get a decent release of Ong Bak and finally see it the way it was meant to be seen. 3/5 for this rushed release. Avoid if you have pay more than $13.

Ong-Bak 2 (2008)

Movie: 5/5
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

Very Solid Blu-Ray Release From Magnolia.

I thought the story was over all good. It showed that Tony Jaa has range as an actor as we see him happy, sad, in pain, all other types of emotions through out the film. The plot is pretty much the basic revenge plot. It starts out with Tony Jaa's character as a child on the run and he's put into slavery. He is quickly set free by a group of pirates who in turn raise him as one of their own.

I give the video a 5. I know some will probably disagree with me because in some shots, the film looks soft and blurry. I've noticed these types of shots in two of Jaa's previous films; Ong Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong. I question if these types of soft shots are meant to be artistic or just a possible problem with film stock. But, to me, in some of the shots, it works well.

I watched the film twice with both Thai audio and then the English dubbing; both are in 5.1 DTS-HD. Both soundtracks are very nice and loud, they will not disappoint. When the action scenes are going on, you can hear the elbows hitting the head; swords clashing; people yelling out in pain very clearly. The beautiful score for Ong Bak 2 flows very nicely with the rest of the audio on the disc; it is not too loud nor is it too quiet. I give the audio a 5 out of 5.

Magnolia offers a nice amount of special features on this release; granted most are in SD, but informative none the less. We have a behind the scenes that shows the whole filming process; interviews with the cast and crew; HDnet introduction for Ong Bak 2; US theatrical trailer; Original Thai trailer; the Alternate Europa Corp edit of the film which runs at 88 minutes; coming attractions from Magnolia; and the biggest one on here is the trailer for Ong Bak 3. A word of caution, avoid the Europa Corp edit of the film as it removes ten minutes of footage from the film and places the opening credits at the end and adds a new soundtrack that ruins the intensity of the original Thai version. Also, the music on the end credits has been replaced with a horrible French Rap song.

I give Ong Bak 2 a 5 out of 5 overall. It is a fun martial arts movie to watch; it has action and drama. The video presentation is amazing as well as both audio tracks on the disc. It has a ton of bonus material worth checking out. I got it for the price of $13 and it is well worth it.