Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

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Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

R

Released Feb 11, 2005

1h 47m

Action

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85%

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106 Reviews

84%

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50,000+ Ratings

In Thailand, the impoverished village of Ban Nong Pradu has its most precious Buddha statue stolen from the temple. Luckily the small town also has a very skilled fighter in the form of Ting (Tony Jaa), who sets out on a quest to recover the cherished figure. His journey leads him to Bangkok, where he must wrangle the statue from Don (Wannakit Sirioput), a volatile drug dealer. Meanwhile, the village is suffering a severe drought and needs the Buddha to restore vitality.

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Critics Consensus

While Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior may be no great shakes as a movie, critics are hailing the emergence of a new star in Tony Jaa, whose athletic performance is drawing comparisons with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Just a showcase for Jaa's athletic abilities.

Rated: C

Aug 24, 2006

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Kerry Lengel

Arizona Republic

Jaa's moves are impressive, but the choreography ranges from bland to ridiculous (as when one dirty fighter resorts to using major appliances as weapons).

Rated: 2/5

Mar 3, 2005

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Bob Longino

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

What Jaa does is often mesmerizing.

Rated: B-

Feb 17, 2005

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

But most of the movie has a more visceral goal — to make you gasp or laugh or cringe at the physical excesses of Tony Jaa.

Rated: B+

Sep 19, 2022

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Employing no special effects or wirework and doing all of his own stunts, Tony Jaa is clearly the man to watch for the future of martial arts movies.

Rated: 8/10

Nov 9, 2020

Full Review

Miles Fielder

The List

While the Muay Thai kickboxing style employed by star and action choreographer Tony Jaa is impressive, the way in which the various bouts are filmed is uninspired and ultimately tiresome.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 24, 2019

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felipe g

Um dos filmes mais autêntico do gênero e o Tony Jaa é um artista marcial fenomenal sem dúvidas!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/08/25

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Audience Member

Ong-Bak is a 2003 Thai martial arts film directed by Prachya Pinkaew and featuring action choreography by Panna Rittikrai. It was written by Suphachai Sittiaumponpan. It stars Tony Jaa in the lead role, alongside Petchtai Wongkamlao and Pumwaree Yodkamol. It is also called Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior in North America, Thai Fist in Hong Konog, Enter the New Dragon in India and Ong-Bak: The Hunt of the Statue of Buddha in Vietnam. Ong-Bak proved to be Tony Jaa's breakout film with the actor hailed internationally as the next major martial arts star. After Ong-Bak became a hit in Thailand, sales rights for outside Asia were purchased by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, which in turn re-edited the film. Most of the subplot involving Muay Lek's sister, Ngek, was removed and the final showdown between Ting and Saming was shortened. Vision wrote: "Ong-Bak showcases an amazing improvement in Thai action choreography. Tony Jaa at his finest. The story was progressively perfect, the martial arts were fantastic and convincing, the acting was comical and impressive, especially from Tony Jaa and Petchtai Wongkamlao and the production was a fine tune of the Bangkok crime world. Four fries!"

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/26/25

Full Review

Felipe G

Na minha opinião Ong-Bak é um dos melhores filmes do gênero destaque para o Tony Jaa ele é um artista marcial fenomenal!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/25

Full Review

Audience Member

It’s mostly the nostalgia speaking, but I loved this movie as a kid and still do now. It’s fun to watch and the action is nice. Tony jaa does a great job with his skills.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/18/24

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Fer S

Much of the action did not make sense. The main actor's skills are impressive, but the performances were unrealistic.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/20/24

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felipe g

Na minha opinião Ong-Bak é um dos melhores filmes do gênero destaque para o Tony Jaa ele é um artista marcial fenomenal!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/25

Full Review

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Prachya Pinkaew

Director

Tony Jaa

Ting

Phetthai Vongkumlao

Humlae

Pumwaree Yodkamol

Muaylek

Suchao Pongwilai

Komtuan

Wannakit Sirioput

Don

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Synopsis

In Thailand, the impoverished village of Ban Nong Pradu has its most precious Buddha statue stolen from the temple. Luckily the small town also has a very skilled fighter in the form of Ting (Tony Jaa), who sets out on a quest to recover the cherished figure. His journey leads him to Bangkok, where he must wrangle the statue from Don (Wannakit Sirioput), a volatile drug dealer. Meanwhile, the village is suffering a severe drought and needs the Buddha to restore vitality.

Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Producer: Prachya Pinkaew, Sukanya Vongsthapat
Screenwriter: Panna Rittikrai, Prachya Pinkaew
Distributor: Magnolia Films
Production Co: Baa-Ram-Ewe
Rating: R (Sequences of Strong Violence|Language|Sexuality|Some Drug Use)
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 11, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 7, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.6M
Runtime: 1h 47m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital

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