The Protector TV ad looks good, but is RZA added in movie?

[Guest ShaofuSage]

I guess what it's all gonna have to come down to is what type of mindset each person goes into this film with and the threshold that they have for cinematic cheese. I can deal with completely non-sensical plots as long as I enjoy the action, so my thredhold is relatively high. With this film, I was expecting to see Jaa do some incredible ish, and he delivered, hence I was happy......my expectations were not high with regard to the film as a whole, thus I do not mind it's shortened version.

[Guest Tosh]

Well, Jaa got my full attention today, went to see the Protector, the last day it was showing down by me, but before I strolled through Best Buy to see if there was any Image releases, there was the usual bs, American made ninja movies, CVD movies, and of course all the Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies we've seen a thousand times before, but to my surprise they had Spirited Killer, so I'll be watching it in the next day or two.

I'll stick to my guns and still say Tom Yum Goong(The Protector) was an inferior movie to Ong Bak on many levels, I watched a pretty poor version of it the first time around, so it was great to see it on the big screen, and I agree with everything everyone has said on the US version (not like the original wasn't a editing mess in the first place), but one thing that really ticks me off - they cut out the women doing the Thai dancing, I swear to christ, is our country devoid of all things cultured or something? With that being said it was still worth seeing on the big screen.

[Guest Markgway]

Film opened at number four at the US box office, but disappeared out the top ten completely this week. I guess word of mouth saw it open strongly (for a Thai film with no names) but that's it.

[Guest Senor Quack]

I don't think The Protector has done all that poorly all things considered. According to boxofficemojo, it currently sits at number 78 all time in the top 100 martial arts films released in the U.S. since 1980. Here's the list for those that are interested:

www.boxofficemojo.com/gen...alarts.htm

It has grossed $9.47 million U.S. so far, which is more than 5 million more than Ong Bak.

The list is interesting and yes, there are some films on it that are questionable as to whether they should be called "Martial Arts".

[Guest Liu chung liang]

Waw... Rush Hour 2... Rank number one. :lol

Going back to Jaa's protector. It's always on the bad story and good action. Remember that it is a Martial Art film, and if we don't see any martial art fights, it disappoints. Right?

What I like about MA films is never necessarily the story. It's usually the philosophy of their art and the intricate fights that interest me. Like some of Sammo Hung's films. 8)

[Guest The Running Man]

Going back to Jaa's protector. It's always on the bad story and good action. Remember that it is a Martial Art film, and if we don't see any martial art fights, it disappoints. Right?

No. And even if so, there is a limit to how bad things can get outside the action. I've seen porn with better film making than Tom Yum Goong.

What I like about MA films is never necessarily the story. It's usually the philosophy of their art

None of that exists in Tom Yum Goong.

Like some of Sammo Hung's films.

Not even the worst piece of trash movie that Sammo Hung was ever in can compare to how badly Tom Yum Goong was handled.

[Guest Liu chung liang]

No? wtf? What is it then that got so bad outside of the TYG action? The action and fights are good IMO. You don't have to be so picky.

None of that exists in Tom Yum Goong.

True. I was just telling about the MA films I enjoy. In TYG, they didn't go deep into Muay Thai or that bone breaking Muay Kotchasan technique.

Not even the worst piece of trash movie that Sammo Hung was ever in can compare to how badly Tom Yum Goong was handled.

Not true.... Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger was handled pretty bad. I can't even watch it without falling asleep.

[Guest The Running Man]

No? wtf? What is it then that got so bad outside of the TYG action? The action and fights are good IMO. You don't have to be so picky.

It ain't about being picky man. It's about being reasonable. Tom Yum Goong outside of action was embarrassing. It was quite horrible. This thing about people saying that, "It's an action movie...what did you expect? We don't watch this for the story!" is bull. It's even more bull when you have a movie as god awful as Tom Yum Goong. There are limits to how bad something can get before you cannot excuse it anymore.

I am not asking for Goodfellas level of genuine character study and drama for Tom Yum Goong. But something that is at the very least reasonable that I can watch the movie and buy into it. Not something so bad that I actually get depressed thinking about how many good ideas for action have been wasted in such a crappy movie.

Not true.... Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger was handled pretty bad. I can't even watch it without falling asleep.

Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger looks like Raging Bull when compared to Tom Yum Goong as a whole movie.

[Guest Chen Zhen]

It ain't about being picky man. It's about being reasonable. Tom Yum Goong outside of action was embarrassing. It was quite horrible. This thing about people saying that, "It's an action movie...what did you expect? We don't watch this for the story!" is bull. It's even more bull when you have a movie as god awful as Tom Yum Goong. There are limits to how bad something can get before you cannot excuse it anymore.

I am not asking for Goodfellas level of genuine character study and drama for Tom Yum Goong. But something that is at the very least reasonable that I can watch the movie and buy into it. Not something so bad that I actually get depressed thinking about how many good ideas for action have been wasted in such a crappy movie.

despite all the times me n Running Man have disagreed on an assortment of topics...i agree 150% there. TYG is just bad filmmaking, save for the action. i personally dont believe in that "its a martial arts film, so its ok that everything else about it is crap" logic. i dont like paying for a movie just for the 15 or 20 minutes of action, i want the full experience. like RM sed, i also dont expect OldBoy in terms of direction or even plot...but i expect to be able to watch a movie without reaching for my fast forward button constantly. the best thing that Tony Jaa and Panna Rittikrai can do is to leave that hack director alone. to be fair, Ong Bak, was acceptable in its filmmaking. it kept it simple and it didnt take itself seriously. TYG TRIED to be more than what i was, and it failed. miserably i may add.

[Guest Liu chung liang]

it doesn't matter if you consider it a MA film or not, but we do see MA fights, and a lot of action. that's the good. they deliver.

the bad? ....@#%$, i guess you can say everything else in TYG is crap. hmmm don't forget the bad acting as well. :lol

but the movie as Jaa's 2nd leading role... it's not that terrible. i still say Sammo's Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger is worse. Avenging Fist, with Sammo and Biao again... that sucked too. i would watch TYG over these two flicks anyday.

[Guest Chen Zhen]

when i watch a "movie", regardless of the genre, i expect to be entertained in a 'complete' manner. like i sed, i dont expect a Quentin Tarantino script from a kf movie, but i expect something at least reasonable that can hold my attention and i expect to connect in some way with the characters. i didnt care about any of the characters in the least, or the elephants. the only character i cared for was jaa..and thats only cuz hes tony jaa. i havent seen flying dragon, leaping tiger or avenging fist...i dont doubt that theyre bad..but those flix being bad doesnt make tyg any better. jaa's second acting role was the best acting in the full movie...that aint sayin much! to be fair, his acting did improve quite a bit from ong bak...he still has a far way to go tho..