Warrior King [DVD]

After being blown away by Ong Bak, I was looking forward to see Jaa's next film, Tom-Yun-Goong. I found that the film still delivered the same amount of high flying, bone breaking combat which made Ong Bak what it was, albeit delivered in a different way.Kham (Jaa) is a village boy leading a peaceful life in Thailand, alongside his beloved elephants, Poor Yai and Korn. However, things become less peaceful when both elephants are stolen by poachers, and transported to Australia to be used for slightly unorthodox uses. This triggers Kham into action, and he heads to Australia to track down his huge 4 legged friends. Soon after arrival, he comes across policeman Mark, played by none other than Ong Bak's Humlae, only in this he is attempting to speak English alongside Thai. From then on, the 2 confront deadly martial artists, police corruption, shady business and lots of thugs in black.Earlier I mentioned the fight scenes being slightly different to Ong Bak, mainly because they were served in a slightly more 'Jackie Chan-esquire' way than the brutal bar room knockouts we saw in OB. There is a particularly OTT scene in a warehouse, where Kham takes on a crowd of young men on roller blades and bmx stunt bikes, not to mention real motorbikes and even a quad! It is a scene more about stunts and acrobatics than actually fighting, which is where it differed from Ong Bak in a sense. However, the lack of brutality in that scene is paid in full when Kham takes on a legion of calcium deficient men in black with amazing ease and energy.There is also the increasingly well known single take fight scene, in which Kham ascends the staircases of a multi-storied building throwing, kicking and kneeing opponents out of the way, to reach a restaurant at the top.Another strong fight scene is where Kham takes on 3 skilled martial artists of different styles in a temple, with a 3 or so inch layer of water on the floor to boot.Apart from the regular fight scenes, unfortunately this film does not fair well. It does not have the code of honour that Ong Bak had, and its plot is at times just silly. Many of the characters are not at all developed, and some of the lines are straight from a comic book. It would be fair to say that the concentration of talent seems to have gone into the fight scenes, leaving the interlocking scenes weak and poorly scripted. In Ong Bak he was on a mission to get back the stolen head of a village statue, which was priceless to the village and its welfare, so you could see why he went to such lengths to get it back, but in this, the fighting is all for these elephants, so the violence is harder to justify.I wouldn't say this a merely a showcase for Jaa's skills, but as a motion picture in cinema history, it does not deserve much praise. It is the kind of film worth a watch for its combat sequences and fight choreography, but not the kind of film that you will ponder over after the credits end.

If you like martial arts moves then this film is for you . I am amazed it`s rated 18 as it`s much less violent than other films in that category. I think 12 or 15 would be more suitable. I can recommend this film if you like the martial arts.

I love it, Great Quality and a memorable movie. Tony Jaa is unbelievable. The fight scenes are masterpieces of acrobatics, martial arts and supernatural agility. I am a die hard Bruce lee fan. I saw Enter the Dragon with my Father at the Cinema when I was about 5 years old and I firmly believe Tony Jaa, easily, belongs among the Greats along with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Wu Jing, Mark Dacascos etc etc. He is also a gifted Director, having directed Ong bak 3, which I believe was a masterpiece in story, atmosphere, settings, acting and action. I loved it. I love this guy aswell, any martial arts movie associated with him, or more importantly, has him in it, just has to be Gold. Big Thumbs up. An enjoyable romp and great action movie.

Fair enough, maybe the plot's not particularly complex, but it's a martial arts movie - the plot's not particularly important anyway... Tony Jaa (star of Ong Bak) is back and is as incredibly impressive as ever. Awesome athleticism and martial arts skill is the order of the day and, unlike so many other films, wires and camera trickery is simply not needed. It's easy to see why these films require the cast to work and train and practice the scenes for around four years before shooting. Perhaps the clearest example of the sheer talent and hard work involved is the staircase scene (if you've seen the film, you surely know exactly what I'm talking about)- as Tony Jaa fights his way up against opponent after opponent after opponent, all in a single uncut camera shot. If you like martial arts and you haven't seen this film yet, then you really should.

Forget everything else. Jet Li Jackie Chan and dare i say it......Bruce Lee....Ha Ha only kidding i would never diss the master. But seriously this Jaa character is raising the bar for martial cinema so high that noone can possibly hope to compete. He really is something special...something else. Warrior king elevates him to God like status. What he does in this film is super human and its all there to see. No CGI no wires just pure skill again and again and again in a relentless series of set-pieces that feature awe inspiring physical antics and bone crushing thai martial arts. Witness his lithe physique slip between impossible gaps in single shot,fluid sequences. Marvel at the one take massacre in the bad guys multi level hideout. Hitchcock would have choked on his charute. See the legend before he goes soft in the middle with success. Unbelievable!!! Thanx.

A must have film to watch if you your a fan of tony jaa....good story line I love how they had a bit of comedy in to there films just the right amount, fighting parts are amazing as usual. If you've not seen tony jaa in a film yet then its a must..once you have seen one you want to see more. Only down side is (warrior king) and (the protector) are the same film just different names dont make same mistake as me I bought both and didn't need to tut tut

I thought this movie was amazing. It was every emotion wrapped up in one. Very sad at parts but also very exciting and funny. Full of action I bought warrior 2 which iv still to watch but I'm sure it's going to be just as good. The martial art in the movie where fantastic. Tony jaa is amazing in this film.

after ong bak tony jaa & co. got a hard task to accomplish... the bar was set very high... is it better than ong bak? in my opinion no, but it is definitely worthy watching. the plot is not all that great, but there are a lot of great scenes to see, new tricks from tony jaa, good fight choreography... english spoken lines are stiff, they should stick to their native tongue, it makes the acting look better... all in all it's a good deal... too bad there is no commentary from bey logan on this release...