When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations
Phetthai Vongkumlao
- Humlae
- (as Mum Jokemok)
- …
Suchao Pongwilai
- Komtuan
- (as Suchoa Pongvilai)
Chatthapong Phantana-Angkul
- Saming
- (as Chatthapong Pantanaunkul)
Wannakit Sirioput
- Don
- (as Wannakit Siriput)
Cheathavuth Watcharakhun
- Peng
- (as Chetwut Wacharakun)
Rungrawee Barijindakul
- Ngek
- (as Rungrawee Borrijindakul)
Chumphorn Thepphithak
- Uncle Mao
- (as Chumporn Teppitak)
Boonsri Yindee
- Yai Hom
- (as Bunsri Yindee)
Woravit Tanochitsirikul
- Sia Pao
- (as Woravit Tangchitsirikul)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsIn the cave near the end of the film, Saming is no longer using the electronic voice box that he had to use to speak with throughout the rest of the movie
- Alternate versionsThe UK Cinema version and Premier Asia DVD version feature a brand new orchestral soundtrack composed especially for the UK release.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Yo soy la Juani (2006)
- SoundtracksBangkok Running
Written by Excellence and Vincent Tulli
Performed by Excellence
Featured review
Entertaining
I saw Ong-Bak for the first time on the Stockholm Film Festival in November of 2003, and now recently saw it again on DVD. I usually see at least 4-5 Asian films on the festival every year and each one is a gamble. At worst Asian action films can be unbearably slow and dull with uninteresting action scenes and horrible acting. At their best they can be like a wonderful ballet with astonishing moves and moods. Ong-Bak falls somewhere inbetween these two.
The story and set-up in Ong-Bak is nothing very original. The head of the village Buddha-statue (named Ong-Bak) is stolen which spells bad luck for the village. So they send their best man to the city to find the son who moved away, and they can search for the head together. Of course the villager is completely lost in the city and soon gets himself into trouble.
So the story is nothing new, neither is the setup which is more or less van Damme standard fare movies like "Lionheart" except in Thailand. We see some street-fighting and some tournament-style fighting in seedy bars. So, what makes Ong-Bak stand out? Well, the fighting! I have seldom seen such well-made fighting scenes. Both well choreographed and plentiful! The thai-boxing done here might be very stylized to look good, but it really does the trick. The fights are simply put amazing! The lead actor really knows his moves and his acrobatics, and many times you can really feel the crushing hits as kicks and elbows hit home. Also the pace is very high with almost constant fighting in the last half of the movie. And it all looks very very nice.
So, Ong-Bak is definitely for those of you who are suckers for martial-arts and fighting. Don't expect an original story or terribly solid acting. But expect a fun ride, lots and lots of violence. And for me that's enough. Ong-Bak receives a 7/10.
The story and set-up in Ong-Bak is nothing very original. The head of the village Buddha-statue (named Ong-Bak) is stolen which spells bad luck for the village. So they send their best man to the city to find the son who moved away, and they can search for the head together. Of course the villager is completely lost in the city and soon gets himself into trouble.
So the story is nothing new, neither is the setup which is more or less van Damme standard fare movies like "Lionheart" except in Thailand. We see some street-fighting and some tournament-style fighting in seedy bars. So, what makes Ong-Bak stand out? Well, the fighting! I have seldom seen such well-made fighting scenes. Both well choreographed and plentiful! The thai-boxing done here might be very stylized to look good, but it really does the trick. The fights are simply put amazing! The lead actor really knows his moves and his acrobatics, and many times you can really feel the crushing hits as kicks and elbows hit home. Also the pace is very high with almost constant fighting in the last half of the movie. And it all looks very very nice.
So, Ong-Bak is definitely for those of you who are suckers for martial-arts and fighting. Don't expect an original story or terribly solid acting. But expect a fun ride, lots and lots of violence. And for me that's enough. Ong-Bak receives a 7/10.
helpful•8317
- Antagonisten
- Oct 28, 2004
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,563,167
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,334,869
- Feb 13, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $20,235,426
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Tony Jaa in Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDg4MmQyODgtM2Q4ZC00ZWI2LWJkYmMtYTQ5ZGI5NDJhN2IwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzgzODI1OTE@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)