Thailand's action: Born to Fight

Thailand has been producing movies recently that are staring to take notice here in the US. Ong Bak, the Thai Warrior, should be hitting the screens here soon, with most of the talk centering on the movie's action star, Tony Ja, who is being promoted as the next Bruce Lee. He probably isn't, because he doesn't have the same kind of charisma, but regardless, his unique style of fighting, a close quarters punching and kicking that makes open attacks very difficult to do. And is amazing to watch on screen. A more recent release, Born to Fight, is much more in the classic action movie mold of, say, Fist of Fury, or pick your favorite 80's action movie, starring Chuck Norris, Van Damme, Steven Segal, Schwarzenegger, or Sly Stallone. This means a threadbare plot with lots of ass kicking. Basically it all centers on a small Thai village, where a bunch of young men and women are volunteering to help distibute essentials to the villagers -- clothes, toys, food, etc., when suddenly a band of terrorists come out of nowhere and wipe out half the people in a show of force. The other half are used as hostages as the terror leader calls on the Thai government to release the group's leader from prison. What they don't know is that one of the volunteers (Choupong Changprung), is a police officer, and brother to one of the volunteers, who happened to come along for the ride. Most of the movie is spent showing him evading and kicking terrorists all over the place, and eventually leads the hostages to overcome the terrorists. All the main characters are stunt men and women, and the fight sequences and stunts are breathtaking! This is the purpose of the movie -- to see what situations they get into, and how they do it. There is a girl who had to have been an Olympic gymnast; she uses a strategically placed parallel bars to subdue the bad guys, another does a gasping leap from the top of a tractor trailer, flips over, and lands on the ground, and another leaps from his motorcycle in a firey inferno through a wooden wall, flips over, and somehow lands in one piece. Each incredible sequence is repeated in short, slo mo repeats, and all are worth seeing twice. Very minimal CGI; these guys really hurt themselves for your pleasure! A must see for action fans!!!