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.
-

Overall not a bad movie, but shouldn't be regarded as something special.

[–] cameronsampson 19 years ago

your *beep* stupid there is no way this was an over rated movie if any thing this was an under rated movie your a douche bag

[–] steelsamurai 19 years ago

I completely agree with the op i must say. On the back of my dvd case there's quote saying tony jaa is "bruce lee, jackie chan and jet li all rolled into one". That quite simply is an insult to all three of them. As a performer, jaa lacks all of the charisma, intensity and presence that the mighty bruce lee had and as an artist , his skill is greatly inferior to lee's or li's. As for the stunts, well i was promised the "most amazing stunts ever", yet what i got was laughable when put next to jackie chan's work and a quick glance at mr.nice guy, armor of god, rumble in the bronx, project A and the police story trilogy to name but a few, shows this many times over. Jackie chan literally defies death in his movies and has broken almost every single bone in his body, anyone who tries to compare his work with the average stunts in this movie should damn well be ashamed of themselves. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, it's ok, and i do think tony jaa has fighting skill, but to compare him to any of three above just ain't right. It's good that he's raising the profile of eastern cinema and martial arts, but however hard he promotes it, he won't improve his technique. As for the miserable wretch above me, you might want to expand your repetoire of insults beyond 'douche bag'.

[–] jclayton-2 19 years ago

My brother and I finally watched Ong Bak last night. We thought the story was so pathetic that they should have cut out most of the dialogue. We liked the fight scenes, though, and Tony Jaa did remind us of a young Jackie Chan. I don't think Ong Bak is anything special, but it's entertaining.

[–] chrisk151 19 years ago

your *beep* stupid there is no way this was an over rated movie if any thing this was an under rated movie your a douche bag

The only success story is a personal one, and that's for Jaa. Jaais a good lad with great skills, but this movie suuuuuuuuucked. End of.

[–] qmason 19 years ago

Learn...to...spell. And when I say this, I don't mean muy tae, I mean physcology, psoter and ncie. You pulled off the word charisma, so you obviously aren't dumb.

[–] stijnminator-1 19 years ago

Where I come from we call people like you "zeikers"... This movie was cool, and jackie chan is even more repetitive! But what am I saying, I like them both. And who cares that they are repetitive, as long as it's fun toooooo watch, I'll keep on watching.

[–] king_of_bob 19 years ago

Im sorry but jackie chan's first movie was not exactly a piece of art. lets face it, most of the time an action stars first movie is not going to be their best work. for a first timer, Id say Ong-Bak was good.

it's funny how you say the henchmen are weak, since after all, thats why henchmen are what they are. I havent seen very many martial arts movies where the hero doesnt beat up pretty much everyone with relitive ease.

muay thai isnt about being fancy, it's about being fast, powerful and as direct as possible. sure kung fu is good for looking pretty, but when it comes to functional combat muay thai would be the way to go. when tony jaa hits a persons in this movie it looks like it hurts, where as in jackie chan and jet li movies people just go flying or spinning around.

you saw a fight movie and you're let down by the over abundance of fighting?

you think tony jaa has slow hands? Im curious what gave you that impression.

[–] Leonhart621 19 years ago

Let me guess, you're below 10 years old. You know nothing at the field of martial arts. Compared to Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do is a joke.

And don't compare Jaa to Li and Chan. They're making movies for a long time while Jaa doesn't.

Yea, the action is repetitive but as it is stated in the DVD, he used 12 styles of Muay Thai. Can't blame him for that for sticking with the syles.

I also agree as the story being weak. Well, I'm an action junkie so I like the movie because of the fighting.

[–] jampf 19 years ago

I'm so tired of this taekwondo bashing. Someone has said it before; there are many variations and styles, some competative, some practical and based on self defense. Some schools are a joke, some are hardcore. Again, there could be 1st degree taekwondo black belts that could own someone with 10 years experience in muay thai, or someone who has practiced muay thai for a matter of months that could own a 5th degree blackbelt in taekwondo. There are infinate styles of each type of martial art, and with that an extremely diverse population of highly skilled fighers in any martial art. You cant direclty compare one art to another and say it's better/worse. Anyway, Ong Bak was amazing and Tony has impressive skill and some very devastating attacks. I don't think the movie was overrated in any way, and the fighting was quite realistic, and for the most part realistic and practical.

P.S. A kid with any level of training should hardly be considered a fighter, and theres no way 18 months of training will make you a 3rd degree blackbelt. Try about 7 years. And plus, can you relly compare kid black belts to adult blackbelts?

Come on, no martial art "sucks" and one kind is not absolutely better than another.

I think Tony will go far in the world of martial arts, and is sure to continue to astound with his films.

[–] BiGMaDFisH 19 years ago

This movie will be acceptable if u're drunk.

[–] BigBadBreach 19 years ago

Like most people I don't like fighting and my ability is only determined by how many Stella's I've drunk, so all this talk of @$$ kicking dosn't intrest me. I do love the odd martial arts film though. It is only a film and therfore just an elaborate expresion of a technique. What made this film slightly different from most was the sense of power behind the moves. How many times have you seen a film where bad guys fly off screen spinning like crazy from a left hook that was about 2 foot away from them. Ong-Bak is not a masterpiece, no-one realy got their arse kicked, but it showed me techniques I've never come across and made it look like one knee from this bloke would destroy me no mater how many beers i have in me. Good luck to him.

[–] lotusblossom 19 years ago

Everyone who trains or even watches martial arts will claim there school is the best. If you train in any version the result is supposed to be that you can defend yourself and others and not do anything to lose face for the style/school.

How many martial artists does it take to change a light bulb?

ten. One to change the bulb and nine to tell them it was done wrong.

[–] ivee-1 19 years ago

Everyone's a critic. I like Jackie Chan, I like Jet Li, I like Tony Jaa, I like Bruce Lee. All becuase I think the action and fight scenes are cool since I can't do any of them. And when it comes to the movie, it's either I like it, it was alright, or I didn't like it. Come on people, the movie didn't make fun of your mom, so it's no big deal.

[–] jimbobjackdannycrew-1 19 years ago

sTUNTS ARE REALLY GD, but charography abit boring. Jaa doesn't really spar, or have a fight with a worthy opponent.

Market scene is very gd though, him and the producers got that inspiration was Jackie Chan

[–] Wolfgangh-2 19 years ago

No charisma? What about Bruce Lee? He had all the charisma of a brick and he was still one of the greatest martial arts actors of all time. People don't go to Ong Bak and go "Hmm I wonder what deep and involving story telling devices will be used in this movie"

The go to see it and go "HOLY *beep* HIS PANTS ARE ON FIRE AND SPIN KICKED THAT DUDE IN THE FACE!!!!"

[–] Zimmy-Z 19 years ago

Bruce Lee had tons of charisma. Why do you think still to this day people buy posters, t-shirts etc with him on? Bruce Lee's charisma was in how cool he always remained.

Oh and why do people keep saying Ong Bak is realistic unlike other martial arts movies? O.o; His first opponent is clearly a fighter and gets knocked out with one kick and then normal people take tons of beating. Its just like in Jackie Chan movies, yes we know that after a few powerful kicks like in these movies people would go down but thats boring. I mean some of the elbows,knees, kicks etc in this movie would easily leave you unconcious and in some cases kill you, and people still get up. I mean the final fight where he jumps up and does the elbow to the head, that would easily kill you yet the guy gets up. This movie i actually felt was less realistic than many martial arts movies. When i was learning TKD my teacher could easily knock you out with one kick, i mean even holding pads you could feel the force of the kicks and it knocked you back. In this many knees,kicks, elbows don't knock people out. I mean a full force kick to the head and people get up? Yea thats really not going to happen.
(btw i would like to point out that even though i did TKD it was also with mma so i did grappling etc and didn't stick to any of the lame TKD sparring rules, it was more like MMA with a healthy dose of TKD kicking)

[–] fatherharper 19 years ago

i am not saying his mvies are better but if it came down to a fight bruce lee would beat jaa, jackie, and jet li.

[–] ViolentRhapsody 19 years ago

TOTALLY AGREE.

I will give kudos to Tony Jaa for not resorting to "wire fu", but then again anyone who regularly watches HK action cinema with REALLY GOOD choreography (Yuen Woo Ping and bros., circa 80's/90's JC, Tsui Hark, etc) will attest to the fact that ONG BAK is highly overrated and kinda boring. It's enjoyable compared to North American made action movies (e.g. Segal, Norris, Van Damme, BORING), but nothing like HK masterpieces such as JC's "Drunken Master II", Jet Li's, "Once Upon a Time...", or even the high-brow flick, "Crouching Tiger", or popcorn offerings like, "Operation Scorpio".

- YES, YES, and double YES: The fight scenes in OB became very repetitious with same knee to the head, etc. After awhile, it was a bit obnoxious. I know Tony Jaa is trying to sell the muay Thai cause but, with all his talents, he needs a better fight/stunt choreographer...and sorry, but Muay Thai might be exciting to watch as a sport, and an effective martial art, but it's not visually exciting to watch in the context of action cinema.

- The chase scene in the street was too contrived. His multiple front tucks were amazing, and he's an incredibly gifted athlete, but his scenes are too contrived...you could see the jump through the barbed wire, and aerial cartwheel through the panes of glass coming from a mile away. It reminded me of that 80's fiasco, "Gymkata" starring Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas...can someone still explain a pommelhorse in the middle of the street in Eastern Europe (Gymkata)???

- Jaa also needs better opponents, and a better stunt crew. The reason why JC's movies are so exciting is because he has the very best stuntmen in the Jackie Chan Stuntmen Club. When HC's stuntmen take a hit, they sacrifice themselves. They'll do a flip, bounce off objects down 10 feet, and crumple in a heap. Compare this to the lazy-ass stuntmen in OB where Jaa hits them with an amazing kick and his stuntmen just rollover like a dog; this really takes away from Jaa.

- Also, and this is just personal taste, Jaa might be a great gymnast, and a good Thai boxer, but his martial arts moves aren't as precise as opera trained Jackie Chan, or former All China wu shu champion, Jet Li. He's got moves but it needs polish. Once again, he needs a better choreographer.

- Finally, that young girl in the movie was butt ugly!!! Very androgynous. It was like a Thai offering of SNL's, "Here Comes Pat"

[–] Zimmy-Z 19 years ago

Actaully funnily a lot of the moves Tony Jaa uses in the movie are Tae Kwon Do moves because the flashy kicks look more impressive than Muay Thai, interesting fact from over on wikipedia.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Zimmy-Z 19 years ago

Ringmaster i would like to say i am not a blackbelt i am infact only a lowly green belt. However doesn't change the fact that if my instructor kicks you, your going down X.X

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]