Ong Bak - Thoughts Post Panna Rittikrai's Passsing

[blue_skies]

In the light of the sad news of Panna Rittikrai dying at the young age of 53, I decided to re-watch Ong Bak this evening. While I think there are far more qualified and better spokespeople on the forum, to write something more worthy of this film and the action director behind it. I think I will make some comments on my thoughts of this movie. I'm not going to go into any details of my thoughts of Hong Kong's answer to this movie, just where I think it belongs in martial arts cinema history.

I'm hoping other people take the time and consider their thoughts posting below. While I may have come later to kung fu/martial arts cinema than a lot of posters here. I think this movie needs to be considered, instead of when it was made but compared to movies in the golden age of Hong Kong action/martial arts cinema.I've often seen comparisons made to newer movies with higher production values of a similar time period from Hong Kong. But let's forget the year of production and see how it compares to movies of what is often referred to as the "Golden age" of Hong Kong cinema.

Back then we didn't see the slick productions we see now. We saw predominantly action driven movies with amazing stunts, lacking special effects and trickery that we would now see. There were limited production values, that the budgets reflected, stories weren't necessarily the strongest, we didn't see the best acting on display necessarily but to quote an American phrase. We got an awful lot of bang for our buck! We saw lots of great action, stunts and no doubt lots of people got hurt for our enjoyment of these movies. We overlooked certain flaws as we got an adrenaline kick from what was back then the Kings of action cinema, even if most of us in the Western world were oblivious to what was going on in Asia.

I watched the UK Premier Asia DVD in original language and English subtitles, with the Premier Asia music. While in places it doesn't have the greatest choreography I think this movie deserves to be mentioned alongside the best of 80s and 90s modern action/martial arts cinema. Whether you are a fan of this movie or not, Tony Jaa (Panna's protege) Delivered some breathtaking sequences in physical agility and not just for his fighting technique. Like many fans of the genre I was literally blown away by what I had seen. A feeling that far surpassed my early entry into these movies and the amazing skills featured by Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Yuen Biao etc. Ong Bak was , to me like all of the "wow" moments from the films I had previously watched. Except that this movie just kept on making me think and literally say out loud "wow" like no other movie made me.

To me this young Thai star, Tony Jaa, was like a breath of fresh air. It was like he was taking the best parts of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Yuen Biao etc (excluding the acting/screen presence) and delivering such amazing feats of physicality. In a time with so many movies using wire techniques . Panna had successfully action directed a young star that could compare with the greats of the genre.

Maybe I'm crazy but this belongs among the all-time classics and doesn't have the luxury of budgets that Jackie Chan had in the 80's and 90s. I don't think this should be compared to modern movie but stand the same kind of scrutiny of movies from the golden age of Hong Kong.

Let me know what you think?

[One Armed Boxer]

I definitely don't think the impact of what 'Ong Bak' had on the action movie scene should ever be overlooked. It remains one of the few foreign language martial arts movies that even casual movie watchers are aware of, and in many cases will have also seen, not only in English speaking countries but around Asia as well.

I remember when it came out in 2003 I was backpacking around Australia. A couple of Australian guys who worked in the same company I was employed for at the time came into the office one morning, and they started ranting and raving about a movie they'd just seen which had a guy who "literally knees someone through the floor!" & "elbows a guy in the head so hard it split his motorcycle helmet in half!" Within the week pretty much everyone in the office, including myself, had watched 'Ong Bak', and it's amazing just how strong word of mouth for it was several years before there was Facebook or any other kind of social media to spread the word.

'Ong Bak' was not only an adrenalin shot directly to the fading heart of action cinema in the early 00's, but it was also a completely different type of action than anyone had seen before, even for long time fans of HK action cinema. Panna trained Jaa in Muay Thai specifically for 'Ong Bak', blending in the brutal elbows and knees with the acrobatic aesthetic that the Peking Opera guys brought to the table, all set in the grimey streets of Bangkok.

So, yes, I'd agree that it's a landmark movie in the martial arts cinema genre. While for me both 'Tom Yum Goong' and 'Ong Bak 2' are superior movies to 'Ong Bak', neither of them had the same impact on international audiences, perhaps indicating that for the casual viewer it's very much a case of if you've seen one you've seen them all. What surprised me the most though was when Panna was given the reigns to direct a movie himself, and he unleashed his remake of 'Born to Fight' a year later in 2004. Check out any of the reviews of this from at the time and the stream of hatred towards it, mostly out of ignorance, is unbelievable. I remember reading comments which would say stuff like Panna was a complete hack and was trying to imitate Jaa, clearly indicating just how little was known about the names behind the Thai action movie scene even after the release of 'Ong Bak'.

While I think it's safe to say that most people will always associate 'Ong Bak' with Tony Jaa, I think it's important to remember that without Panna, we wouldn't have either of them.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I've always considered Ong Bak a benchmark film. It set a new standard for martial art films that many claimed as inspiration or comparison but failed to match. It was a harkening back to 80's HK style action as well as an attempt to up the ante. And it succeeded. It caught everyone by surprise, even us genre fans. Especially us genre fans.

This is what HK action cinema should have progressed to. However, with the success and popularity of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the wuxia genre held sway instead. Sad. (And I love that movie considering the fact that I find that the fantastical elements of wuxia films have a tendency to induce narcolepsy in me, something I don't even suffer from.)

Ong Bak was an unintentional line drawn in the sand. Oh, it was intentional in advocating the potential merits of the Thai film industry. But I think it was unintentional in that it served as a call to get back to what MA films were originally about. It had great choreography that built in intensity. It had a spiritualistic/nationalistic feel. It had a modern setting with entertaining stunt sequences. And it showcased a style of fighting.

Tony Jaa had/has jaw-dropping talent, but were it not for him seeking out Panna Rittikrai, the action master of his country, we would never have this awe-inspiring film. And it's not like they threw it together in 2-3 years. Panna groomed Jaa for a long time, developing his talent and skill, getting ready slowly but surely.

Panna was essentially self-taught, inspired by the likes of Bruce Lee's and Jackie Chan's films as well as those of the James Bond franchise. He formed his own stunt group and began making his own movies. He learned through the school of hard knocks...literally. And Jaa learned of him and sought him out as a mentor and teacher. Who knew that this pairing would cause such a new breath of fresh air in a genre growing stale and tiresome? They took the baton that HK action cinema left lying in the sand when no one was looking and ran with it. What inspired them they used to influence others across the world and spawn untold imitators. And better yet, they inspired other filmmakers and martial artists to showcase their own styles on films thus causing a furtherance of appreciation for the martial arts.

As far as what happened afterwards in their artistic endeavors on film, the results were both good and not so good, and I'm not about to address that here. Panna's love of action and martial arts is one I see in Isaac Florentine, and I for one am truly grateful for it. I love the old MA films of the 70's and 80's, but much of the new films...well, I don't know if we would have gotten them without the influence of Panna, his muse Jaa, and their freshman effort Ong Bak.