Just saw the american release and didnt like it..
I love the original soooo much and watched it too many times to find an appreciation of the american version.


- Main differnences-
they turned a lot of the background sounds down and added electronic and hiphop music.
eliminated the whole sister tie in.
Story was changed a little i think (because i dont know thai), dont know which subtitiles for the story were more accurate, the original or this american version.
for instance , they say in the american version that Tony pretended to lose the rope fight instead of just getting beaten.


- The good -
Tony is still awesome, the crowd cheered, oooed and ahhhed at all his fight scenes and stunts. He really is a star and carries the film.
The comic relief was very nice, whole crowd laugh and enjoyed themselves.
The parts they cut out of the film werent really missed and helped the story move along a bit more.

- the bad - They really turned down all the crowd noise during all the pit and arena fight scenes ; you had very quiet scenes with loud subtle music playing. the sound effects didnt sound to good and diminished the impact of hits a bit. they added some touches to the hard hit sounds and that was a little better.
The tuktuk chase scene really sucked. the sound effects were soo low and music was sooo loud that it made the scene boring and almost too comical for the audience.
AND they took off 'Dirty Balls' name and replaced with George.

Overall-
Tony carries the film which lacks in the impact power i got from the original version. The loud music addition i think helped take the impact away by trying to add tension fight scenes that didnt need it. And I loved dirty balls.

other than that, was glad the audience did enjoy and reacted during all action scenes. that was a great sign of entertained audience.
didnt hear nothing negative for a martial arts film.

for instance , they say in the american version that Tony pretended to lose the rope fight instead of just getting beaten. <======


That is correct. He pretend to lose since the bad guy promised him to give Ong Bak back.

I don' think they should cut the sister tie-in story. Its tragic but I thought the point of that scene is to show the consequence of getting involve with thugs and drugs. It mess people lives up.

In the original Thai version, the poeple who call Mr.Dirty ball as "Hum Lae" are only Ting, Muay Lek (only sometimes), and people in Nong Pra Doo village

and the people who call "George" are Muay Lek, and the people in Bangkok.

... I am wondering where is the "Dirty ball" name from ?? .... from your DVD subtitle ? ..... I am not sure if it's copyrighted DVD because my Thai DVD has no subtitle.

Luc Besson should't change the movie at all, I think.
But... he did.. so, wish the movie success :)

I'm sure Ongbak would receive a higher rating if Luc Besson allowed the movie to retain most of its originality such as the music, not cutting out certain scenes, and keeping the story accurate to the original.

Please, can you stop with that ? It's like Luc Besson has completly change the movie and cut the essential. I saw the 2 versions and I like the thai one (taiwan hehe :blush: ) and the french one. I don't think the cut are so prejudicial to the movie.

I can understand that when you watch a movie in original version, it's unpleseant to see it cut. I agree on the principe : a film must be presented the way the director wanted it to be presented. Why change a movie just because it will be see by western people ? That's silly i agree. I think people are openmindedness to watch the original version. But well, it's the industry, the business :rolleyes:.

Concerning Ong-Bak, the cut didn't shocked me. I like the movie like that and I like the original version too. I don't think the cut misrepresent the movie.

I want to thank Luc Besson because without him Ong-Bak would never be released in France (or much more later). I just have the impression the new fashion is kicking on Luc Besson (sorry for my bad english). But, you know, he did a really great job for Tony Jaa and Ong-Bak in France. I came to all the premieres because last year nobody knew who was Tony Jaa. He helped them and the movie was a great success in France (1 million of viewers, it's a big score in France especially for a first film with an unknow actor).

One more time, it's just my opinion...

oops. sorry sawatdee. I meant like the american audiences as well as everybody should watch the original version too. Anyways I found an ign article of ongbak and Tony Jaa

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/587/587205p1.html

And i'm quite surprised that this website is allowing surfers to download the entire street chase scene. The quality is GOOD and has subtitles. And the download is just 34.1 mb

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/586/586163p1.html

I didnt have a big problem with the film,
i just enjoyed teh feel of the original a bit better..

Yes, i probably didnt have a licensed dvd, dirty balls was used through out the film.
I just thought it was cute comic relief.

I agree with sawatdee, though i didnt agree with Luc besson on some points, overall i appreciate his effort in pushing this film that may not have been given a chance in the states. Luc I say thank you.

BTW,
the other main thing i found funny/annoying was that song playing during the tuktuk chase scene..
anyone like that song and/or know what it is????

I wanted to see the American version but they did'nt release it in Ohio

when i saw the movie, i got the impression that ting was unaware of that promise, and did get honestly beaten, but they lied to the 'boss' and said that he lost on purpose...