Kung Fu fan? A film you've got to see...

If you're a fan of kung fu films, there's a movie you need to see. If for nothing else then see this film for the star of the show, Panom Yeerum, who - given the recent breaking of asian cinema to western audiences - should be a massive star in years to come.

The movie is called Ong Bak (Mauy Tai Warrior), and was made in Thailand 2 years ago. I came across this film about 12 months ago, and was absolutely blown away by the martial arts skills of Yeerum. They are literally jaw-dropping, incredibly skillful, and devastatingly brutal. Having watched a 'making of' documentary, it is still mind-boggling to think that no strings are attached - all the stunts, impossible looking moves you see are live footage.

The story of the film and the script are not much to rave about; a Muay Tai student volunteers to go to Bangkok to retrieve a Buddha head stolen from his village, beating up prize fighters and gangsters along the way. But its the martial arts that are the draw here, and had me watching it over and over.

Heres a link to some reviews of the film, following its premier at the Torronto Film Festival.

Has anyone else seen this movie? Am I right in being so enthuiastic about it? What do you reckon to it if you've seen it?

[edit on 8-3-2005 by Paul]

I'm interested in seeing it myself.

NO CGI!

Matrix wore me out on the fake stuff.

Just from what I've seen Panom Yeerum is the real deal.

A local TV station here keeps airing a 15 second ad for this movie but the last few seconds of it get cut off every time! That made it hard to get any details on it, but thatnsk to the internet, I figured out what it was and really want to see it. Now I just hope a theatre here chooses to run it.

I've seen this movie this 3 bleedin times its soooooo good.