Before 2003, a stuntman named Panom Yeerum was working earnestly in the Thai film industry, looking for his big break. Luckily for Panom, he was working with the best stunt choreographer in Thailand, Panna Rittikrai. Panna and director Prachya Pinkaew tabbed Yeerum to star in their big-budget (by Thai standards) film ONG BAK, which would become one of the most expensive films in Thai movie history.

As Hong Kong action cinema was in a state of flux, ONG BAK would go on to fill the vacuum and put Thai cinema on the map and in minds of martial arts fans around the world. The film displays the phenomenal acrobatic talents of Panom, the caliber of which has not been seen since the dawning of Jackie Chan. Panom would also go on to westernize his moniker to Tony Jaa in recognition of the international attention he received with the success of ONG BAK.

In ONG BAK, Jaa demonstrates some jaw-dropping stunts of cringe-inducing brutality and ballet-like feats to herald the arrival of a new action star. Choreographer Panna’s inventive use of Muay Thai showed a traditional martial arts form used anew to take the place of the styles featured in many Hong Kong kung fu flicks of the late 20th century, like the Shaolin Temple animal styles. In essence, ONG BAK uses the best of ‘80s Hong Kong action cinema: physical contact fight scenes combined with bone-crunching stunts – no wires, no holds barred and no limits filmmaking.

Some people have become jaded in the short time since ONG BAK’s release, harping on the simple storyline. Yes, the plot is threadbare, but quite adequate. Tony, freed from relying on his acting abilities, showcases his tremendous physical talent, which is, after all, the main attraction. To those detractors, let it be known that ONG BAK is a genre movie, and a martial arts one at that. In ONG BAK, “action is the drama” and Tony Jaa is the Laurence Olivier of martial arts action. There are some moves made by Jaa that are so nice, director Prachya decided to show them not once, not twice, but thrice. 

ONG BAK is fresh for bringing back some much-needed attention to the martial arts genre and for introducing the gifted Tony Jaa. The flick set off such frenzy that veteran Hong Kong action cinema star, Donnie Yen, choreographed the fight scenes in SPL as a response to ONG BAK. Now that is a compliment.