Ong Bak
(Australian Region 0 PAL DVD)
(2005)
review by Mickey Juice

With a swift knee to the chest and an elbow to the face, Ong Bak leaves the typical action movie whimpering in the corner, crying for their mammas.

Whilst Ong Bak may have a threadbare plot, it’s still one of the best action films going around, and for all the right reasons. The film has already been reviewed by Don’t Feed the Dead (you can read his review HERE) and I agree completely. I won’t be retracing old ground, so I’ll mainly be focusing on this awesome Region 4 release.

Compared to the standard action film, Ong Bak has some originality going for it in regards to its action and fighting scenes… All the stunts a performed without cables and no stand-ins for the main star Tony Jaa; it’s all legit, adding that extra bit of ‘wow’ factor to the already impressive fight scenes.

Madman Entertainment Australia, as part of their ‘Eastern Eye’ line of Eastern flavored movies (horror/action/thriller) has released one of the best DVD versions of Ong Bak available anywhere in the world.

This is currently the only release containing both versions of Ong Bak, which consist of the "Luc Besson Version" and "Original Thai Version".

The original Thai version is about 4 minutes longer; the extra footage mainly consists of the subplot of Muay’s drug-addict sister and her involvement in drugs. The soundtrack is also completely in Thai, compared to the shorter Luc Besson version which has some changed songs and audio cues. All the fights are intact e.g. the leg breaking in both versions, just some of the impact sounds are different. I personally prefer the original Thai version; the subplot helps to explain elements that are slightly confusing in the shorter version.

The recently released UK version of the movie has a newly composed soundtrack. So that makes 3 different versions of this film!

This PAL transfer is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The picture can tend to be a little soft at times, but this comes from the original footage and is nothing to do with the actual DVD transfer.

There is a slight differing of quality between the two versions of the film as the Luc Besson version has a slightly altered picture when compared to the original. I’m not sure if this is from a different compression rate or just differing film transfers. When comparing other DVD releases I would assume the difference comes from the creation of the new version (rather than being a compression issue).

Now onto the DVD details!

DISC ONE
* French Theatrical Cut (PAL 100.41 mins)
* Thai Uncut Version (PAL 104 min)

DISC TWO
Documentary & Interviews:
*Born for the Fight: The Art of Muay Thai - documentary (51.09)

*Cast and Crew Interviews:
- Actor [Tony Jaa]
- Director [Prachya Pinkaew]
- Actor [Petchtai Wongkamlao]
- Fight Choreographer [Panna Rittikrai]

Behind-The-Scenes & Fight Demonstrations:
* Making of Ong Bak (48.39)

* Behind the Scenes of Ong Bak:
- Tuk Tuk Chase
- The Fight Club
- Petrol Station

* Tony Jaa - Fight Demonstrations:
- International Film Premieres
- Rehearsal Fight Demonstrations
- Muay Thai Promos with Tony Jaa
- The 8 Muay Thai Movements

Trailers and Bonus Materials:
French Music Video
Artwork Galleries:
- Poster Gallery
- Stills Gallery
- Storyboards Gallery

Original Trailers:
- Thai Teaser Trailer (1.26)
- Thai Theatrical Trailer (2.12)
- French Teaser Trailer (0.58)
- French Theatrical Trailer (2.06)

Madman Trailers:
Seven Samurai, The Eye, Happy Together, Howl's Moving Castle and Madlax
Plus 5 easter eggs hidden throughout.

***

So as you can see this DVD is loaded to the gills with extras!

The extras are divided into 3 sections: (i) Documentary & Interviews, (ii) Behind-the-scenes & Fight demos, (iii) Trailers and bonus material.

My particular favorites are the extras involving the fight scenes from the movie, such as the rehearsal fight demonstrations. There’s just something cool about seeing a guy come flying across the screen and kneeing someone in the chest.

The making of doco contains plenty of on-set action as well as rehearsals, tests and goofs. The quality is of the footage isn’t that great at times, but it’s still acceptable. Running at 48 minutes, there’s plenty in here, even though scenes from the film have been used as filler.
The behind-the-scenes clips only run a few minutes each, but they’re are also good viewing. They consist mainly of handheld camera footage and dailies from on-set.

With the ‘Art of Muay Thai’ doco as well as the other promotional information, you’ll find plenty of information regarding Muay Thai fighting. The main doco runs at roughly 51 minutes, so it covers a lot of ground, from the history, training and the rougher side of the sport. There is also text based information on Muay Thai found on the disc.

The DVD has now been out for a few months, and is encoded Region 0, so I a highly recommended picking this one up as it’s one of the best releases of this movie thus far.