Ong-Bak - Muai Thai Warrior is directed by Hiroshi Koujina, and stars Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamiao, Suchao Pongwilai, Wannakit Sirioput, Chumphorn Thepphithak, Rongrawee Barijindakul, Chatthapong Pantanaunkun, and Pumwaree Yodkamol. ***

Ong-Bak follows the action and adventures of a young man in a distant village. In that village, the local Buddha statue's head is stolen, and it is superstition in the village that if the head isn't restored, bad luck will befall the villagers. Not wanting to risk that fate, the villagers raise money to send the young warrior to the big city, on a quest to recover the missing head. ***

Ong-Bak may have a storyline and a plot that is followed, but the entire more is more-or-less a vehicle for Tony Jaa to show off his martial arts moves. The film makes no apologies for what it is, and it succeeds beautifully as this type of movie. The story is shallow, the characters uninteresting, and the end result in numerous parts of the movie is less than stellar. And yet, Ong-Bak is redeemed by Jaa's performance. His action scenes alone make the film worth recommending. ***

Tony Jaa can not be praised enough for his work in this film. He does his own stunts and will always maintain your interest throughout the feature. The stunts he does are incredible, and it isn't hard to see why this was his breakout film. It's great to see someone doing all their own stunt work and the like in a film like this. With his excellent performance here, it's not surprising that he went onto star in another of solid, well-received film - and that a sequel is in the works, with Jaa in the director's chair. ***

It's not a perfect film, and while certainly good enough to recommend, there are plenty of issues. The main problem here is that Jaa IS the movie. His performance is phenomenal, but other aspects of the film leave a lot to be desired - characters and a plot that lack depth, and a length that, while not extreme, probably could have been trimmed by 15 minutes or so. But don't let any of this steer you away, you've come to the right place if it's action you seek. ---

Image And Sound:

For the most part, this is a solid DVD transfer. ***

As far as the image quality goes, it's generally a clean, crisp visual experience, though there are a few minor visual issues here and there. The real issues come in the darker scenes, in which the grain becomes all too evident. Still, there aren't a whole lot of big issues, and there's certainly nothing that will detract from the overall experience. ***

The audio for the original Thai audio track with English subtitles (the one you SHOULD watch) is mixed excellently here, dialogue and sound effects alike throughout the presentation are audible with no difficulties. ***

The English dubbed track (which you shouldn't bother with) is less than stellar - the voice acting is terrible, very obviously a dub, and audio is mixed poorly. All the more reason to watch this film in the original Thai, as the filmmakers intended.

There are quite a few special features on the disc, but the problem is most of them are very short, and some of them aren't even really worth watching, The best bonus material on here is Jaa doing his thing at some live performances, but even these scenes don't last nearly as long as they should. There is also a music video set to Jaa doing his stuff, and a making-of featurette corresponding to the video, but neither one of those are all that interesting. To put it simply, the best stuff on here as far as bonuses go are the items that involve Jaa doing what he does best, and what few pieces of material show it don't last long enough. Extended cast and crew interviews would have been nice, too.

Final Words: