जिगरबाज

Oh, I have an idea. Let's build a village, put some people there and then some evil men who shoot them. But here is the thing: They have athletes among them who will fight. Oh, and in the end let's blow up the village. That way we don't even have to tidy up a set. Let's call it ''Born to Fight''. If you want to see one and a half hour of people getting killed then this is your movie. They didn't waste time for something called a storyline or dialogue. OK given, the stunts are brilliant, probably some of the best ever filmed. But if I only want to see stunts I watch a broadcast of a martial arts tournament. The ''actors/actresses'' have nothing more than a few lines before the killing starts. No character depth, no development and no acting. There are probably 15 minutes without killing, not even done ''nicely''. You can't even memorize the names before the ''action'' starts. Also, I don't call it fighting but killing, on purpose. The movie is like an ego-shooter, like a scene from Rambo. The basic story was actually OK and you could see that the actors/actresses would have been able to act if given the chance. The characters just didn't interact at all with each other. Everyone says hi and that's it. Bum, bam, shot people falling down, an explosion here and there. The End. What a waste.

A lot of films try to trick you into buying/watching a movie based on some names attached and may not live up to the hype. This movie is similar in the sense it attach's tag lines such as "from the creators of Ong-Bak and The Protector" .however this movie lives up to those movies in many ways and if you loved those movies, this ones for you. Although it's a bit mindless, just look at what these guys do best and thats inventive action scenes. which include awesome fights, insane stunts. They deliver a fast paced, adrenaline fuelled movie. Iv'e watched it several times and is a must watch for action fans. Take it for what it is and don't think too much, just sit back and enjoy the action.

Overall 7/10

First of all, be wary of anyone who gives a score of 1. Only completely objectionable and morally bankrupt pursuits could warrant such a score.

Kerd ma lui is an action film that follows the life of an undercover Thai cop who is ailing from the recent loss of a partner. To salve his pain and to fulfill his duty as his sister's guardian, he decides to take some time to travel to an outlying village on a mission of good will. Whilst there, the village is overrun by murderous terrorist with sinister motives, not least of which being to indiscriminately slaughter innocent villagers for all the world to see.

The story in Kerd ma lui is solid and well paced. The cast of characters are adequate and they all serve their immediate purpose. There's a good deal of nationalism in the film as it does deal with terrorism and nuclear holocaust, but the Thai nationalism was refreshing to me as it offered a perspective that I had never before experienced. It was nowhere as political as the nationalism prevalent in many US films, but it was inspiring never the less.

The real meat of the film is its action. It's a reckless brand of stunt mastery that actually inspires fear and concern for the performers. Each stunt and flawless take seems to tempt fate. For example, trucks perform jumps only to land a couple of feet away from an actor's head. And though some of the choreographed fights between the less skilled performers utilize camera tricks for impact effect, there are some fights with hits that simply aren't pulled--high flying moves full of so much momentum and speed that they need to be slowed down in order to be appreciated. Speaking of slow motion, it's used quite liberally throughout the film. I've heard complaints against this, but it's important to note that some of the choreography would simply not be seen at 24 fps.

Kerd ma lui is a good film that has a lot more going for it than Ong bak. It has a deeper storyline and characters that are likable and interesting. The suspense is more genuine and the fights aren't as repetitive. Comparisons to Ong bak aside, Kerd ma lui manages to be a decent film that is certainly worth a watch and, as always, it provides a glimpse into a foreign approach to the action genre. Without doubt, the Thais have succeeded in creating an action fighter that outperforms many of its counterparts from the west.

I will start out by saying that "Born to Fight" is an action movie in every sense of the word. It is full of adrenaline and martial arts. However, the movie does suffer from a fairly mediocre storyline.

The story in "Born to Fight" is about a drug bust going awry, when Deaw's boss is killed in an explosion. Upset with the situation, Deaw joins his sister and a group of Thailand's top professional athletes to go to a village to do charity work. However, the village falls prey to terrorists demanding the drug lord released, while they plan to blow up Bangkok with a nuclear missile. But Deaw and the athletes do not sit idly by and let this happen.

There is a lot of action sequences in the movie, and they are really nicely executed, plus filmed in great angles as well. Plus there is a lot of martial arts as well. And they even implemented ways to bring in gymnastics, rugby and soccer into the fights, which for most parts worked out nicely enough. Personally, I think the scenes with the soccer and ball-kicking during gunfights was a little bit too much, it just didn't seem all that plausible.

"Born to Fight" had an impressive array of athletes on the cast list, each displaying some impressive stuff from their given fields of expertise. Dan Chupong (playing Deaw) is a great newcomer to the Thai martial arts movies, and I think we will see more great martial arts movies from him in the future. Acting-wise, well not the best of performances in this movie, but it is not the acting you watch these movies for, it is the sheer, brutal action.

However, the storyline in "Born to Fight" was very predictable, you knew immediately how the movie would end. Plus it was something that didn't bring anything particularly new to the genre. Sure there were new stunts and fights, but the plot in general was generic and stereotypical, which was a shame, because it did bring down the movie a bit. And also, for a Thai action movie, then "Born to Fight" didn't fully bring what you'd expect from it. It had a lot of great action, but in other Thai action movies, you just get that one extra length, which was missing from this movie.

The fighting in "Born to Fight" was great. I, personally, really love watching Thai martial arts movies, because they are so raw, brutal and direct. You can see how feet and hands impact with whatever they are striking, and you can see that it is forceful and hard hitting. Lots of contact with knees and elbows to various parts of the body. And in "Born to Fight" you also have a lot of scenes where people bang against various physical objects; wooden fences, poles, etc. and you can see that it is real and there is a lot of speed and force behind those impacts, which makes you either cringe and curl your toes in sympathy pain, or makes you go 'wow, that is just awesome'. And that is one of the great things about Thai martial arts movies; no wires, no silken gloves, just sheer, pure action.

Well I'm still quite impressed or just stunned with the lengths these guys will go to for a stunt. I wouldn't be surprised if there really were some casualties at the end of the filming. But anyway, as a newcomer to Thai cinema, I can say that the actual fight sequences are choreographed pretty well, the elaborate death blows thrown in the world of Muay Thai are seen here, along with a little different touch as well. As good as the choreography is, the lack of coherency far out paces it though, which leads me to believe that the story is just somehow weaved in-between these high flying fight scenes. Which I think is further shown with the always surprising use of the slow-motion instant replay (for all of us with broken rewind buttons?), which they use for those really sweet stunts. But hey, since when do judge an action movie by it's coherence, that would take out all the fun out of it. While not a great movie it is still quite entertaining, and if you don't actually speak Thai well you can probably skip the subtitles seeing as the dialogue adds little too the movie, just watch these little thai guys running around jumping off stuff and you'll be alright.

cheers