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BORN TO FIGHT (2005)
Director: Panna Rittikrai. Hacktors: Dan Chupong, Amornthep Waewsang, John Itsarum. Rating: 
The lowdown: A blinding action fest from some of the same people who brought us the excellent Ong-Bak, only undertaking different roles. Prachya Pinkaew, who directed Ong-Bak, produces here. Director Panna Rittikrai was action director on Ong-Bak. The story here is brilliantly simple: Deaw (Chupong) is a young undercover Thai cop, who spectacularly attempts to bust drug lord General Yang along with his veteran chief. That doesn't do entirely well - despite giving us a host of ridiculously dangerous stunts to enjoy - and causes Deaw to take some time out. When his athletic sister announces that she and the other members of the National Sporting Association group have been invited to visit a remote Thai village, he goes along for the ride, to make sure she's safe. Lucky he did, too, because the village is soon taken over by a whole army of guerrillas affiliated with General Yang, who want to fire a nuclear missile at Bangkok. Good points: Pinkaew and Rittikrai are clearly either geniuses, completely insane or both, as they specialise in mounting painful-looking stunts that don't have CGI, green-screen or any other fake elements as safety nets. This shit hurts just to watch and some of it looks genuinely dangerous. An early pulse-pounding sequence sees a fight atop two trucks, driving side by side, and when people fall off them, they fall for real, very nearly going under the wheels. This stuff is insane! I sat in my living room, yelling like a child on way too much orange juice, I tells you! The second half of the film, which sees the surviving villagers and athletes turning the tables, is basically one extended battle. Mind-blowing stunts, martial arts gymnastics and squib-tastic gun violence are set to an irresistible Prodigy-style techno-rock soundtrack. It never ends and God, it's bliss, like The A-Team with mass murder. And blood. And far, far better stunts. Obviously. Bad points: Really can't think of any. The script's attempts to involve faith as a theme tend to amuse, seeing as this is basically one big body count movie. But these elements are so fleeting, they don't even qualify as bad points. This movie f**king rocks. Overall: One of the very best action movies I've ever seen. And I've seen plenty. DVD Extras: A few bits and pieces. Most of the principal cast and crew members are interviewed, with subtitles. These aren't the most rivetting or illuminating chats, but it's interesting to see the actors in 'person' - most of whom are, of course, real athletes. Release Date: Hits DVD on October 24, 2005 in the UK. If you know of release dates in other territories, let me know. [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present |