MovieChat Forums > Ong-Bak (2005) Discussion > OVER_RATED (DETAILS INSIDE)

OVER_RATED (DETAILS INSIDE)

posted 19 years ago by t-owens81
258 replies | jump to latest

First I am going to start this off by saying that I am an active competitor and 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and have studied enough to consider myself fairly knowledgeable in the feild of Martial Arts.

This movie is for one, over-rated. Like a psoter in another thread stated, Tony Jaa has no charisma. If you see Jackie Chan or Jet Li fight, they tell a story. They have physcology (sp?) and presence, Jaa has none of that. He does his moves which are ncie indeed, but get repetitive and boring.

On the back of the DVD case this takes a cheap shot on Jackie Chan, I know it is for promototional purposes but please. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are gods of the Martial Arts movie world, and have the experience and charisma to execute well in a film like this. The chase scene was good and Jaa showed amazing agility but hell the barrel scene in SHanghia Knights leaves that in the dust, and that is saying something. Like earlier stated, Li and Chan have physcology, they can make it comedic or show fear etc.

Jaa is skilled at Muy Tae, but his ksills dont overlap into this area. His style is more for real life fighting, not demonstration and coordinated fighting. Three reasons why the fight scenes weren't good...

1)Crappy Partners.
All of the people Jaa fought were bad. Each guy in the bar was horrifically slow and showed no skill, the main henchmen was good but not something better than on a weekly Texas Walker show.

2) Repetition.
Ok we know Jaa can jump and knee someone in the face, or elbow them in head. Ok it is good the first time, but c'mon. He does the same moves over and over and over, showing no diversity in his style. You never see him adapt to knew opponents, he jsut sticks to his basic moves and does them.

3) No storytelling.
They were just fights... that is it.

I will go to admit Jaa has some skill. He can do flips and spin kicks like nothing but he needs to do that rather than his repitive moves. Li and Chan are so great because of there fast hand to hand combat. Do we see any of that? NO.
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Overall not a bad movie, but shouldn't be regarded as something special.

[–] wilson19912 16 years ago

Jaa is skilled at Muy Tae, but his ksills dont overlap into this area. His style is more for real life fighting, not demonstration and coordinated fighting. Three reasons why the fight scenes weren't good...

the style is spelled Muay Thai.

Also, the timing of these stunts take a lot of precise timing and practice.

You should watching Tom yum Goong where tony jaa is actually in a urbanized city area and he actually fights very skilled martial artists like lateef crowder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW0nEHEWGdA

Also you should watch ong bak 2 Tony Jaa actually transitions this form of Kung fu and weapons.

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[–] thorne321 16 years ago

Better than Jackie Chan, no way. But better than Jet Li, yes. At least Jaa and Chan do their own stunts. Li is not that interesting or entertaining like Chan. Chan is the best. Don't compare Li to him, there is no comparison. End of story.

P.S. Jaa is better then Li

[–] angel92304 16 years ago

first: tony jaa is a very HUGE fan of jackie chan(and jet li and bruce lee) that is why he apears on the dvd cover and in the airport(one of jackie's double in the protector) as a token for his idol

second: we don't care how many degrees you have...it is not the style that matters it is the fighter

third: this kind of movie aren't made to have story line

fourth: it's his first movie...so give the guy a f...g break

[–] wynonasbigbrownbeaver 16 years ago

All that maybe true but ONG BAK is STILL AWESOME!

[–] Nilasu 14 years ago

I bother not involve myself in the discussion, just making my opinion known:
I totally agree with the title, "OVER_RATED" (why the caps and underscore beats me though); I could not even finish this film.

[–] slayintheilluminati 14 years ago

Muay Thai >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> gay ass little tae kwon do so STFU gay poster
Tony Jaa is a beast!!!
no crappy hollywood 'fight'movie can top this
this movie rules all fighting movies

[–] PhilKill 14 years ago

1. It doesn't matter what style the person uses, it's down to the person using it. Why's everyone gloating about what martial arts they can do and how much better it is than another MA. All styles are good. It depends on the person using them!

2. Ong Bak is a decent film and Jaa is talented. It's not the most impressive MA film around, it gets repetitive and those action replays are a bit annoying. But, it paved the way for all the 'no wires, no cg' type films and the new wave of Thai martial art films coming out, 'Chocolate' being one of my all time favourites.

3. If you like MA films Jet Li and jackie Chan deserve your respect. Who cares which is best, they're all different.

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[–] frankzappayay 12 years ago

I agree totally over rated. I didn't think it was bad, just not very good.

Don't get me wrong, there were some amazing stunts, there was no crappy cgi and over elaborate wire work, and some great fight scenes. But unfortunately, for me there was only about a minute or two of this in total, and the rest of the movie was pretty poor. The tuk tuk chase was just laughable, the dialogue was horrible, the bad guys were jokes, the action was mostly repetitious without many interesting fights, and there was not enough action over all.

Not a total waste of a rainy afternoon but there are many far better martial arts films.