Bangrajan

Thailand is not the place people would expect to see high quality movies made. Though over the last couple of years some very interesting films have surfaced. This is yet another.

This is a biographical tale of a village called Bang Rajan. During the Burmese invasion of Siam (Thailand) in the late 1700's this village played a pivotal part in the war against the invaders.

The movie starts out quite below par with a rather cheesy battle scene. Though stick with it, as the film becomes very engrossing shortly after. You get to meet the characters of the film and witness their struggle against the cruel Burmese. The film is about honor and bravery against even the worst of odds.

There may be qualms about the acting as most of the cast seem to be amateurs, though this does not detract from the film rather than actually heighten the reality. Some of the special effects are cheap, though the action is great to watch.

I give this 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it to lovers of pre-1900's war movies and Asian Cinema buffs!

Despite I studied history many years, we had no time studying South Asia's own history, so I was pleased to learn a bit while being tetanized with the action ! Let me tell you, it's clear enough that Thai are very proud of Bang Rajan's Buddhist monk, strong men (and even women) amazing resistance against cruel Birman.

This Thai big movie is as far from, says, Chinese than from European or Hollywood super productions, which is something I find valuable.

As for the technical part, quantumcat has already written what could be said on it. That's : a bit of confusion and low level special effects, that may be because of *my* point of view or real. You'll see by yourself.

I had the privilege of watching this on its release in Pattaya Thailand, What can i say? William Wallace, pack your bags and go home! This film makes Brave Heart look like Noddy in Toy Town. The choreography of the fight scenes was Fantastic-probably the best I've seen! And funnily enough i didn't understand a Bloody word! The buffalo in the fights is allegedly a genetic throw back to prehistoric times and died shortly after filming, its horns are supposedly over 12feet long! It is now in the Thai National Museum. Thats the History lesson over! Anyhow shortly after i was so bedazzled by this Film i received a VCD copy from a friend in Thailand, Since then I've been amazed by the fact it wasn't released in the UK with subtitles, lets face it we've got Bloody Bollywood and its Crap, we've got some super Gangsta Brit Flicks, the Japs some Fantastic Action-Gangsta movies & the Germans some pretty cool Hardcore! So having seen a number of Thai films inc 1 serious funny comedy about the army--Why Why Why don't we have a movement for Thai movies! After all Hollywood seems to be churning out the same old drivel time after time and with the exception of a few directors, & would do well to watch some of these movies- Super films low budgets and good story lines! As opposed to the same old formulae time and again with Budgets that could wipe out 3rd world debts!(Mr Spielburg)

So if anybody knows where i can get an English subtitled version you'd make this 'Tingtong' a very happy man!

Keep smiling guys

G

I lent this on VCD from a friend of mine and I was impressed. I watched a non-subtitled thai version and I don't understand a word thai.

this movie re-accounts the struggle of a small village against one of 2 burmese invasion armies and holds out for about 5 months -against all odds.

I was pleasantly surprized to find a thrilling action movie without too much sentiments, but just enough to not all hack & slash and not to much to become hollywoodish overly dramatic to the very annoying level of fase-turn-off-the-dvd-player (like Peal Harbour). The comparison with braveheart is easlily made -since this movie has one of the last mass-armies scenes that is not computer enhanced (like 10 soldiers digitally multiplied by 1000)Which is a very impressive scene

There are a few flaws. I thought the fight scenes a filmed a bit messy. It does creatw a feeling of the chaos that is melee, but unfortunately, if one can't tell one villager from another -the all look a-like, which makes the action scene little difficult to follow(compare Black Hawk Down where all were mostly caucasian and had short trimmed hair, underneath the identical helmet all wore in combination with the same desertpaterned uniforms). Concerning the main characters, this problem is solved by giving one a babyface, another a mowhawk hairsyle and british-like moustache and another a beard etc. The more you watch the the less this problem becomes The other flaw are the special effects, these are really bad. BUT I must say that didn't annoy me.

The story is easy to follow, even the flashbacks are easily spotted. The acting is good (for me I watched bodylanguage, facial expressions and intonation of voice, what else can you do when you don't understand the language) The actionscenes are very impreessive especially those with lots and lots of people fighting. The music is great as well, maybe no John Williams, but more than adequate enough to accompany any feeling a scene should return, whether it's a gentle look between 2lovers or an all out end battle

Great movie -I'm still impressed!

Regarded by many as the Thai epic that was successful enough to launch a new wave of internationally-popular movies from Thailand, BANG RAJAN is similar to Hollywood's BRAVEHEART, and just as interesting. That's impressive alone, seeing as the budget is about a thousand times lower than the Mel Gibson epic, but when you consider that the bloody battle sequences are just as good as in that and the likes of THE LAST SAMURAI, you'll realise that BANG RAJAN is a very good film indeed. The movie tells a SEVEN SAMURAI-style tale about villagers holding out against an army, and that cues two hours of bloody mayhem, heartfelt speeches, strong character building and tons of suspense. The budget is low and the camera-work sometimes choppy, but that's where the negatives end; in all other respects this is an epic movie with a high entertainment value.

I always feel that 'true story' movies – like this one – have an extra 'oomph' to their fictional counterparts, and knowing this really happened makes BANG RAJAN a really interesting film to watch. Some Western viewers have found problems with the villagers themselves, seeing as they all have the same haircuts, are all mostly naked, and all look pretty much the same. That's not too much trouble though, as the main characters are easily distinguishable, from the drunken axe-wielding guy (who reminded me of Ajax from TROY) to the moustachioed hero and the younger family man and his pregnant wife. Acting from the unknown cast is surprisingly strong, and combined with a workable script, you end up with characters you really care for – and shed a tear or two about – in the battle sequences.

The latter are varied and exciting, and easily the best parts of the movie. This film is chock-full of action and it never lets up, delivering more and more bloodshed until the exciting, climatic showdown. Thai filmmakers don't skimp on the gore either, so there are tons of bloody arrow hits, decapitations, flying limbs and people being blown to smithereens; sure, they're all shown very quickly, almost glimpses, but somehow that makes the battles seem more realistic and more hard-hitting. Sometimes the film transcends predictability and becomes inspired, like the bit where the heroes ride massively horned buffalos into battle, or when the villagers decide to make their own cannons from scrap metal. Other images, like the husband and wife on the battlefield, or the warriors emerging from the river, really stick in the mind for days to come. All in all, this is a highly rewatchable war film that offers pretty much everything for fans of the genre; even the cheapo special effects (like the digital explosions) are good enough to convince.