Le guerrier de feu

Watch this movie without expecting Ong-Bak or Tom Yum Goong and you might like it.

The story is really basic but I guess I need to explain it a bit as there are no subtitles on the Thai DVD. French bring Tractor to Thailand in order to use it in agriculture but Thais refuse to use it over their cattle's. So the bad guy of the movie (some kind of rich man I suppose) hires some bandits in order to steal cattle's of this farmers.

And our hero is some kind of Muay Thai Robin Hood (steals from the rich and gives it to poor) in cowboy outfit trying to stop all these ill behavior.

There are some really spectacular Muay Thai moves thrown in this movie and I believe martial arts movie fans which are accustomed to no story - no acting but good action will like it

Tony Jaa- love this guy- he has done for Muay Thai what Bruce lee did for kung fu and he's an awesome martial arts talent. For that reason alone you should see this movie- just be prepared for a LOT of SILLINESS with bottle rockets the size of courier tubes and complete ignorance of gravity and physics and editing in some of the stunts.

This is a great movie for teens into martial arts movies since it has a light handling of adult situations that if I were directing, would probably result in this movie being banned in 18 countries. :-)

I think the roughest scene is when one guy takes a bite out of another guy and even that is handled pretty lightly.

All that cartoonish mockery of a real film experience aside- this a fun little movie about a dude that has stupid bottle rockets and killer Muay Thai skill and a score to settle with a Cattle thief in pre industrial revulsion (some call it revolution) Thailand.

He pairs up with some unlikely allies that started off as dire enemies to fight the ghost of a wizard who is a ghost from his past- using magical amulets to trap demons etc...

I gave this movie an extra two points for being one of the only movies I know of to depict the Thai tradition of "finding your animal spirit" which is a ritual celebrated at Wai Kru festival where tattoos are made of a psychedelic ink that then creates a trance where the recipients "become" the animal the tattoo depicts - this is covered with two characters having tiger and monkey spirits respectively and a wizard activating their tattoos. Of course this is a Hollywood 7 second treatment of an all day ritual but it was still a fun nod to Thai history.

Thai are a very proud people and this shows in their film making- they make a few nods to American movie making but the script continually resounds with a centrism on the Thai, probably because the story is in Thailand :-). This is directed by one of the camera men for Tom yum goong.

The movie also mocks kung fu at the end which is a long held tradition apparently- to make fun of the weaker kung fu compared to the monstrous brutality of Muay Thai and Krabi Krabong.

Honestly now...I read the comments before i watched this feature film, and I must say that I am glad I paid little to no interest in some of the posts i saw prior to my actual viewing. One must wonder what some of the so called "critics" use as the fundamentals for judging when they view different genres of movies.I mean come on now...it's a MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE...what we want to see is martial arts action...if you want a great plot then go and watch a psychological thriller or a drama. However, this is not to say that the plot of the feature film was at all empty, as I would say that the plot was far more fulfilling that our glamorized "Onk Bak". The action in this feature was definitely entertaining, and the special power aspect gave rising to that of "Kung fu Hustle" while still retaining a realistic point of view.

To summarize it all I would say that any martial arts fan or action lover will definitely agree that "Dynamite Warrior" surpasses the expectations beyond that of satisfactory. I rate it a solid 7/10 after all was considered, as it managed to give me a feeling of euphoria after my viewing....something which rarely happens. Do enjoy.

If you don't like foreign, sub-titled, films don't bother watching it. It did provide me with a few laughs and the ending was interesting.

Talented stuntman/fighter Dan Chupong (Born To Fight) is given little to work with in this repetitive, overlong mess from Thailand. Clearly hoping to bask in the financial glory of Ong Bak and The Protector (aka Tom Yum Goong), this film seems rushed and it shows. The plot is terrible and the acting is substandard (even for a Thai film). The action scenes are poorly conceived and filmed. Slow motion is used for shots that don't deserve it and money shots almost always feature a cutaway revealing the choreographer's complete inability to make the action scenes work. If they get any credit, it's that they don't stoop even lower and use the horrible "shaky, camera on a string" crap to further cover the shortcomings! The character's are cardboard and the set's look like, well, sets! The special effects are cheap (as in most modern Thai films).

Just a reminder to those Thai filmmakers who wish to emulate Ong Bak-

1. Get talented martial artists & stuntmen

2. Concentrate on the quality of the fight scenes and don't give in to CGI and cutaways.

3. Keep the plot simple (the best martial arts films usually have minimal plot)

If you are going to ask those talented stuntmen to risk injury or death, at least try to make a film worth them getting injured for!