User Reviews

First of all, be wary of anyone who gives a score of 1. Only completely objectionable and morally bankrupt pursuits could warrant such a score.

Kerd ma lui is an action film that follows the life of an undercover Thai cop who is ailing from the recent loss of a partner. To salve his pain and to fulfill his duty as his sister's guardian, he decides to take some time to travel to an outlying village on a mission of good will. Whilst there, the village is overrun by murderous terrorist with sinister motives, not least of which being to indiscriminately slaughter innocent villagers for all the world to see.

The story in Kerd ma lui is solid and well paced. The cast of characters are adequate and they all serve their immediate purpose. There's a good deal of nationalism in the film as it does deal with terrorism and nuclear holocaust, but the Thai nationalism was refreshing to me as it offered a perspective that I had never before experienced. It was nowhere as political as the nationalism prevalent in many US films, but it was inspiring never the less.

The real meat of the film is its action. It's a reckless brand of stunt mastery that actually inspires fear and concern for the performers. Each stunt and flawless take seems to tempt fate. For example, trucks perform jumps only to land a couple of feet away from an actor's head. And though some of the choreographed fights between the less skilled performers utilize camera tricks for impact effect, there are some fights with hits that simply aren't pulled--high flying moves full of so much momentum and speed that they need to be slowed down in order to be appreciated. Speaking of slow motion, it's used quite liberally throughout the film. I've heard complaints against this, but it's important to note that some of the choreography would simply not be seen at 24 fps.

Kerd ma lui is a good film that has a lot more going for it than Ong bak. It has a deeper storyline and characters that are likable and interesting. The suspense is more genuine and the fights aren't as repetitive. Comparisons to Ong bak aside, Kerd ma lui manages to be a decent film that is certainly worth a watch and, as always, it provides a glimpse into a foreign approach to the action genre. Without doubt, the Thais have succeeded in creating an action fighter that outperforms many of its counterparts from the west.

Well I'm still quite impressed or just stunned with the lengths these guys will go to for a stunt. I wouldn't be surprised if there really were some casualties at the end of the filming. But anyway, as a newcomer to Thai cinema, I can say that the actual fight sequences are choreographed pretty well, the elaborate death blows thrown in the world of Muay Thai are seen here, along with a little different touch as well. As good as the choreography is, the lack of coherency far out paces it though, which leads me to believe that the story is just somehow weaved in-between these high flying fight scenes. Which I think is further shown with the always surprising use of the slow-motion instant replay (for all of us with broken rewind buttons?), which they use for those really sweet stunts. But hey, since when do judge an action movie by it's coherence, that would take out all the fun out of it. While not a great movie it is still quite entertaining, and if you don't actually speak Thai well you can probably skip the subtitles seeing as the dialogue adds little too the movie, just watch these little thai guys running around jumping off stuff and you'll be alright.

cheers

Riding on the international success of Ong Bak as a sort of quasi-sequel, Born to Fight works on the simple principle that it's easier to teach fighters to act than actors to fight. It was this that prompted me to watch it without subtitles, not speaking a word of Thai. Bear that in mind when I attempt to explain the plot. Not that the film requires any for if you've seen 'Air Force One' or 'The Rock' you'll have seen this movie before.

Following the daring kidnap of a rebel leader in which his partner heroically dies, our hero seeks solace in a small village. There will be no peace for him for the rebels storm the village, gun down countless children and brutally execute the police officer there before demanding the government release their leader. And in the midst of this, our hero finds himself out gunned and outnumbered, and all that stands between the villagers and certain death.

The hero now wanders the village alone despatching a few guerrillas before being captured: strictly formula stuff. What makes 'Born to Fight' different from American movies is that when the inevitable fight is taken to the villains, it's not just the hero who takes on the terrorists: it's the entire village who take them on. And this is the film's real muscle: athletes and martial artists all showcasing their arcane talents in a fightback that lasts almost half the length of the film.

The low budget means that this isn't a CGI fest of Michael Bay proportions but more in the vein of the gutsy Golan & Globus thrillers of the 80's. Low on money but laden with good and often ingenious stunts 'Born to Fight' is the direct descendant of movies like 'The Delta Force'. It's got limited budget, lots of guns, knives and cheap wooden huts to be destroyed. In fact, at times it's more like playing 'Far Cry' than watching a movie, with pistols, shotguns and machetes used in turn to despatch the red-scarved rebels while the suitably repetitive soundtrack hammers away.

'Born to Fight' is a film out of time, some twenty years too late for the cinema but by no means a bad film, and a welcome one on DVD if you need to kill an hour. You genuinely won't need subtitles for this movie, just a remote control to fast-forward the few dialogue scenes. If you're in the market for more eye-watering stunts I'd strongly go for Ong Bak instead.

I will start out by saying that "Born to Fight" is an action movie in every sense of the word. It is full of adrenaline and martial arts. However, the movie does suffer from a fairly mediocre storyline.

The story in "Born to Fight" is about a drug bust going awry, when Deaw's boss is killed in an explosion. Upset with the situation, Deaw joins his sister and a group of Thailand's top professional athletes to go to a village to do charity work. However, the village falls prey to terrorists demanding the drug lord released, while they plan to blow up Bangkok with a nuclear missile. But Deaw and the athletes do not sit idly by and let this happen.

There is a lot of action sequences in the movie, and they are really nicely executed, plus filmed in great angles as well. Plus there is a lot of martial arts as well. And they even implemented ways to bring in gymnastics, rugby and soccer into the fights, which for most parts worked out nicely enough. Personally, I think the scenes with the soccer and ball-kicking during gunfights was a little bit too much, it just didn't seem all that plausible.

"Born to Fight" had an impressive array of athletes on the cast list, each displaying some impressive stuff from their given fields of expertise. Dan Chupong (playing Deaw) is a great newcomer to the Thai martial arts movies, and I think we will see more great martial arts movies from him in the future. Acting-wise, well not the best of performances in this movie, but it is not the acting you watch these movies for, it is the sheer, brutal action.

However, the storyline in "Born to Fight" was very predictable, you knew immediately how the movie would end. Plus it was something that didn't bring anything particularly new to the genre. Sure there were new stunts and fights, but the plot in general was generic and stereotypical, which was a shame, because it did bring down the movie a bit. And also, for a Thai action movie, then "Born to Fight" didn't fully bring what you'd expect from it. It had a lot of great action, but in other Thai action movies, you just get that one extra length, which was missing from this movie.

The fighting in "Born to Fight" was great. I, personally, really love watching Thai martial arts movies, because they are so raw, brutal and direct. You can see how feet and hands impact with whatever they are striking, and you can see that it is forceful and hard hitting. Lots of contact with knees and elbows to various parts of the body. And in "Born to Fight" you also have a lot of scenes where people bang against various physical objects; wooden fences, poles, etc. and you can see that it is real and there is a lot of speed and force behind those impacts, which makes you either cringe and curl your toes in sympathy pain, or makes you go 'wow, that is just awesome'. And that is one of the great things about Thai martial arts movies; no wires, no silken gloves, just sheer, pure action.

A rookie cop and his experienced partner capture a notorious drug lord, but the older cop is killed. The cop joins his sister, a competitive Tae Kwon Do fighter, and a group of athletes to a small village to deliver donated items they need. While they are there, armed men working for the same drug lord (there's a coincidence) invade the village and demand the release of their boss or they'll kill everyone in the village. Initially cowed by the extreme violence visited on them by their captors, the villagers are roused to patriotic action by their national anthem and the cop, the athletes and the villagers strike back at their captors. This is not a clever movie. The plot and the characters are all about the level of sophistication you would expect from a cheap straight-to-video action flick. What this has going for it is some incredible stunt work and fight choreography. The opening action sequence has some great stunt work involving trucks, but that's nothing compared to the last half hour of this film which is one continuous action sequence. The fight choreography is particularly engaging since the athletes ... gymnasts, soccer players, even a one-legged soccer player ... all use the tools of their sports to fight the bad guys. Not a great film, but a joy if you can turn your brain off and marvel at the stunt work.

In 2003 Thailand produced one of the most jaw dropping action films in recent years in ONG BAK, a throw back to the reckless stunt choreography of Hong Kong cinema. 2004 continues the tradition with BORN TO FIGHT, a film that maintains the philosophy of doing stunts with no special effects, no wires and no stunt doubles. Keanu Reeves need not apply.

The plot of BORN TO FIGHT is very simple. A cop (Choupong Changprung) and his partner are working undercover to capture a drug kingpin/mercenary. The cop succeeds in an over the top opening sequence that leaves both a town and his partner blown to pieces. To get over the loss of his partner, the cop decides to accompany his sister with a group of gymnasts on a humanitarian mission to a small village. But as cinematic bad luck would have it, the thugs of the aforementioned crime boss shows up, take the village hostage and threaten to detonate a nuclear missile unless their leader is released. It is then up to the cop and the villagers to stop them.

The basic premise of BORN TO FIGHT is so standard that it could easily be used for any American action film ("DIE HARD in a village!" is what the execs would call it). What sets it apart from a majority of its action genre brethren are the astounding stunts and fight scenes. Both this film (and ONG BAK for that matter) take me back to the time when a stunt would make me audibly wince in pain for the guy on the receiving end. Knowing that person actually took the bump rather than standing in front of a green screen and being digitally made a bad ass is far more satisfying to me. The adrenaline-pumping trailer, which made the internet rounds during the summer of 2004, contains only a fraction of on screen mayhem contained in this film. The last half hour, where the villagers fight back, is a non-stop battle.

Director Panna Rittikrai, who was the fight choreographer on ONG BAK, utilizes a number of Thai athletes as the heroes. By doing this Rittikrai is able to incorporate their various athletic abilities such as gymnastics, soccer playing and the Thai sport of sepak takraw (which utilizes a hard ball that becomes a formidable weapon). This helps substantially in the film's pursuit to "one up" each previous stunt. However, that is not to say that regular action staples such as gun battles and car chases are left out of the mix. The film contains lots of bloody shootouts, including one done in a long take a la Woo's HARD BOILED. And the vehicular mayhem is ever present with a number of motorcycle stunts that qualify as the most dangerous I have ever seen in a film. In a nod to their influences (particularly Jackie Chan), the filmmakers end the closing credits with footage of the stunts as they happen. Surprisingly, the most dangerous looking ones result in the stuntmen jumping up and signaling they are okay.

With ONG BAK getting a lot of (deserved) hype leading up to its North American theatrical release, it is refreshing to see that the Thai film industry isn't resting on that film's rep. While this film may lack the plot dynamics and production value of ONG BAK (it probably cost half of that), it still manages to deliver on the promise of non-stop action. BORN TO FIGHT is a must see for anyone who was once thrilled to the sight of Yuen Biao kicking a coconut, Sammo Hung getting into a stick fight or Jackie Chan destroying an entire shanty town.

A lot of films try to trick you into buying/watching a movie based on some names attached and may not live up to the hype. This movie is similar in the sense it attach's tag lines such as "from the creators of Ong-Bak and The Protector" .however this movie lives up to those movies in many ways and if you loved those movies, this ones for you. Although it's a bit mindless, just look at what these guys do best and thats inventive action scenes. which include awesome fights, insane stunts. They deliver a fast paced, adrenaline fuelled movie. Iv'e watched it several times and is a must watch for action fans. Take it for what it is and don't think too much, just sit back and enjoy the action.

Overall 7/10

An absolute waste of time. This kind of movie reminds me of the late 70's early 80's American movies. A lot of violence some cool stunts and lots of stuff blowing up. The main thing is that they forgot about passable dialog (Some loss in translation too I imagine) it is just plain embarrassing. I imagine in about 20 some years or so their films will actually have a decent story w/the cool fight sequences. But until then the Weinstein brothers will continue to bring these pretty stupid films to other Audiences other than just the Thai nation. I am probably being harsh, but just like all kinds of white rappers showed up after Eminem took the world by storm, so has some other wannabes trying to become the next Tony Jaa, (even though his success here in the states has at the very least been limited) Granted this kid did O.K. but I doubt anything will translate to money in the future. I imagine if I was 12 and had never done martial arts myself, I would think this was just the best. But just as I thought "Karate Kid" was amazing when I was a kid (I laugh at the lameness of the fight sequences now) I imagine most adults will laugh at just about everything in this film. Oh if you do decide to jump into these murky movie waters, whatever you do, either mute the English dubbing (it's some of the worst I have ever heard, especially in this day and age)or listen to the Thai track and read the subtitles. Yes the dubbing is that bad, and the generic Rock music is torture too.

Where ONG-BAK is a traditional martial arts film that strings a series of muay-thai fights and Jackie Chan-style chase scenes together with a simple plot, BORN TO FIGHT is an action film more akin to DIE HARD. That means plenty of John Woo-esquire gun battles and an incredibly high body count, with a sprinkling of brutal stunts. BORN TO FIGHT is not a sequel to ONG-BAK, its not "the next ONG-BAK", its simply a highly entertaining actioner that will keep fans of this director satisfied until TUM YUM GOONG is released.

The opening sequence, featuring people leaping between 2 moving trucks, is reminiscent of similar classic scenes from POLICE STORY. The story then switches gear, seemingly heading towards simple martial arts film territory (our hero is challenged by a local thug over the affections of a girl) before a hail of gunfire signals a massive change in direction. The next portion of the film is a relentlessly brutal slaughter-fest, as the evil villains randomly gun down villagers without a second thought, to levels you would never see in a Hollywood film. Hans Gruber has nothing on these guys! Finally, after a few false starts and a rendition of the Thai national anthem, our plucky villagers rise up, although quite how they manage to slaughter so many villains in revenge despite being outnumbered, unarmed, and constantly being killed in the gunfire is never entirely clear. What is clear is that the ridiculously gimmicky "gymnastics fights" are fun to watch, the ball-kicking guys who fire kettles and things at the heads of their enemies deserve a SHAOLIN SOCCER type film of their own, and there's nothing cuter than seeing a little kick-boxing girl kick the hell out of a baddie.

Our hero has a few moves of his own, but the film's focus is wider than ONG-BAK, concentrating on the efforts of a team rather than a lone individual, nevertheless he is the star of two wonderful gun battles shot in single takes without cuts: forget DOOM's first-person-shooter scene, this is the true visual embodiment of the modern shooter game, a breathtaking yet agonisingly short sequence inspired by similar sequences in John Woo's HARD BOILED and John Carpenter's THEY LIVE.

What BORN TO FIGHT lacks in coherence, it makes up for in energy. This is the modern equivalent of the kind of crazy rule-breaking action films Hong Kong could churn out so successfully in the 1980s. And its the perfect appetiser for TUM YUM GOONG to come.

Sure, the director from Ong Bak the Thai Warrior is terrific. Sure there are some truly amazing fight sequences. Sure it's nicely shot. Sure there are some amazing locations and full-sized explosions. Besides all of this, this movie was barely watch-able. Why? Because NOTHING HAPPENS FOR FORTY MINUTES!!!! After this amazing opening scene we're subjected to an endless array of set-ups that were unbearable. First the star is brooding, then his sister's brooding (and VERY hot), then they're traveling to the country, then they're meeting the villagers. All of these scenes had a modicum of charm but strung back-to-back they just made for endless set up that rose the dramatic level about zero percent. I strongly recommend this film to karate movie fans, but only if your remote is working properly. You NEED it for this flick.

Oh, I have an idea. Let's build a village, put some people there and then some evil men who shoot them. But here is the thing: They have athletes among them who will fight. Oh, and in the end let's blow up the village. That way we don't even have to tidy up a set. Let's call it ''Born to Fight''. If you want to see one and a half hour of people getting killed then this is your movie. They didn't waste time for something called a storyline or dialogue. OK given, the stunts are brilliant, probably some of the best ever filmed. But if I only want to see stunts I watch a broadcast of a martial arts tournament. The ''actors/actresses'' have nothing more than a few lines before the killing starts. No character depth, no development and no acting. There are probably 15 minutes without killing, not even done ''nicely''. You can't even memorize the names before the ''action'' starts. Also, I don't call it fighting but killing, on purpose. The movie is like an ego-shooter, like a scene from Rambo. The basic story was actually OK and you could see that the actors/actresses would have been able to act if given the chance. The characters just didn't interact at all with each other. Everyone says hi and that's it. Bum, bam, shot people falling down, an explosion here and there. The End. What a waste.

Reviewer Niz sums this movie up really well, but I have to add that some of the fighting was so bad it had me laughing. A lot of it actually. The inclusion of "Gymnastics Battle Bad Guys" was a really bad idea and had me laughing the hardest. The weapons a drug kingpin could buy in 2004 is amazing and the few cgi effects weren't really passable, but fit in with this movie as a throwback to the 80's.

I did feel a little guilty from the laughing as you could see they put a lot of blood, sweat, effort, and little money into making this film and some of the scenes worked really well (the first gun draw at the beginning, etc..) but the cheese scenes are grade A. I didn't see any wire work and some of the stunts made me cringe as I know they had more then one "ouchee" through this shoot and they used slow-mo a lot so you could feel the pain for yourself.

Watch the end credits to see some for yourself.

I give this 1 star out of 10.

This is the second movie I have seen from Thailand and so far, it has been a mixed picture. The first movie from Thailand that I saw was Ong-Bak. That movie had terrible story and terrible acting but the action was so awesome that it overwhelmed the terrible acting and story. The action in this movie, however, could not compensate for the terrible story and terrible acting. Don't get me wrong, the action by itself, was good but definitely not enough to overwhelm the other deficiencies in this movie. I am just glad a friend of my loaned me his copy of this movie because if I had to pay money to see it, I would be really incensed.

The story is about a drug kingpin who is captured by the main character, who is a police officer. Despondent over his partner's death during the capture, he accompanies a group athletes who go to some shanty village to distribute goods for the needy. However, as fate would have it, the followers of the kingpin storm into the village and take them as hostage for their leader's release. The villagers take as much as they can before they rise up and fight their occupiers.

What Born to Fight lacks in plot development, it sure makes up for with bone-crunching violence and explosive mayhem; this has got to be one of the one of the most action packed movies I have ever seen, with the entire second half consisting of wall-to-wall fights and death defying stunts (all accompanied by a pounding techno soundtrack).

Thats not to say that the rest of the film is dull, either. The opening sequence, which introduces the main character, Deaw (Dan Chupong), is an absolute stonker and sets the tone for the movie immediately. Deaw is a cop who, with his partner, is on the trail of an evil gunrunner, General Yang, and his gang. There is a breathtaking chase scene which sees Deaw fighting Yang's men atop a moving juggernaut. Yang is eventually arrested, but not before Deaw's partner is killed by one of the film's many explosions.

In order to help him get over this ordeal, Deaw's sister invites him to accompany her on a trip to a small village, where she and her athlete chums are going to hand out food and toys to the villagers. All is going well until the village is attacked by a small army and its inhabitants are held prisoner. It transpires (by an amazing coincidence) that these are Yang's men and they wish to make a deal with the government: Yang's release for the release of the villagers.

But when Daew discovers that they intend to kill the villagers and also plan to fire a nuclear missile at Bangkok, he rallies the prisoners and together they kick major bad-guy butt!

Wonderfully OTT, Born To Fight is a great film for action fans who wish to switch off the brain for a while and revel in some of the barmiest and outrageous feats of derring-do to ever be committed to celluloid. Dan Chupong (who had a small part in that other great Thai action flick, Ong Bak) is incredible and deserves to be huge, and his co-stars, some of which are actual athletes, are also impressive. Even a little girl and a one-legged man get in on the action, inflicting serious pain on the baddies.

By the end credits (which feature amazing behind the scenes footage), Born to Fight had me grinning from ear to ear. I highly recommend it to all action film fans and give it a whopping 9 out of 10.

Born to fight is a wildly entertaining ride packed with stunts and fights so ludicrously dangerous and amazing that standing up and applauding will seem like the only way to react to it all .

Honestly this is an action bonanza that has to be seen to be believed .Chupong and co engage in bone crunching , high flying stunts that are not only highly entertaining but inventive too- director panna ritikai cleverly uses the characters sporting abilities and incorporates them in the fight sequences to dazzling effect. So as a result you get stuff like the football guy using footballs as weapons , the gymnast flipping away from gun fire and the rugby player charging guys down and its all seriously enjoyable to watch.

It wont win any awards for its script or acting, but this isn't the kind film where those things are too important-it's the kind of film that intends to entertain the heck out of you with a display of absolutely brilliant and painful looking action .And it succeeds. !

After watching movies like Ong Bak (or it's successor Tom Yum Goong), this movie does not live up to them. What is more unnerving though is that if you watch the trailer, you'll see scenes, that seem to have been cut out (at least from the international and/or English version of the movie ...

And that's not good at all, because let's face it, this is an action movie. And although some action movies do have a nice build up and/or story, this one hasn't. You're anxious for the action to begin, but that doesn't happen for quite some time in the movie. And although it doesn't disappoint entirely, you are left with the feeling that there could be more! (see first paragraph) Mediocre action movie then, that could've been a lot better

John McClane has moved to Thailand with a vengeance. He's undergone a skin change operation, learnt a bit of muay thai and chopped off a couple of years. Deaw (aka McClane, also known as Dan Chupong) is a Thai cop creating havoc and catching bad-guys. Such as evil meanie crime-lord General Yang (Nappon Gomarachun). Unfortunately whilst nabbing this scum of the earth his partner and mentor tragically dies in an explosion with Deaw possibly not doing everything possible to save him.

Ridden with guilt he decides to accompany his younger sister to a athlete's training camp in a remote Thai village. Instead of solace and peace the worst thing imaginable happens - the town is taken over by General Yang's thugs, who shoot at any resistance and kill innocents without a blink. Armed with a nuclear missile and absolutely no moral code the band of killers they demand the release of their General or else...

Given the odds this McClane has a bit more common sense than his American version. Intead of going it all alone he incites the ordinary village folk and the athletes to fight, instead of let themselves be slaughtered like animals. And some of these athletes and villagers are more impressive bad-asses than McClane himself (with a one-legged soccer marvel all inclusive). McClane still needs to hone his muay thai skills a bit, as he constantly gets beat up and massacred. Would be very beneficial for him to watch how it should be done by putting on "Ong Bak".

As insinuated fight scenes are unfortunately unconvincing and apart from a couple of kicks, punches and the spectacular falls I didn't really believe in the damage done by most attacks (unlike Ong Bak or the more recent Chocolate). That led to the movie being somewhat unsatisfying.

However the stunts in general are quite spectacular and I really wonder about the budget on this movie. Made 100% pro and on par with the best action films made in the USA. Plus everything is real and no CGI is added on.

Movie purists may also nag about the scant plot, almost total lack of character development, extreme and mostly unfounded immorality of the baddies as well as the rampant pro-Thai propaganda (headlined by a Thai flag waving footballer and a national anthem sing-along). But hey... it's an action movie. And it's not like American action movies don't overdo it on the nationalism (Spiderman anyone?)...

While Ong-Bak made Tony Jaa a bonafide star in Thailand, the same can be said for Dan Chupong (Chupong Changprung) in Kerd Ma Lui. A protégé of Panna Rittikrai, Chupong gets to show his own acrobatic style of fighting in the film as heroic cop Daew. Some of the moves he pulls off are ones that viewers would only imagine can happen in video games. The story is well done as Chupong, his sister, and some of her athlete friends go to a village only to become hostages then revolutionaries. The last half concentrates on the athletes' specialized skills (soccer, gymnastics, taekwondo, muay thai, and sepak takraw--a combo of soccer and volleyball). Definitely for the action fan out there!!!! See it now!

Watch the trailer and you will see all the best parts of the movie. Seriously. It may lead you to think there may be some awesome action that leads or follows some of the scenes but there really isn't. They're really all just in the trailer. Watch it and save 90 minutes of your life. May be good to watch for cheesy camp value with some buddies and beers as the clichés abound and are good for laughs at how inane some of them are.

Absolutely wild stunt-work - in fact maybe one stunt too many, as we occasionally lose track of who all the characters are, there' so much fighting going on. But definitely, the stunts are top-of-the-line. And they are all very neatly filmed and edited.

I wish to comment on the politics here. The film's nationalistic attitude may seem trite by American standards. But it does have a ring of truth. The rebels in SouthEast Asia calling themselves "marxist" are nothing but a bunch of illiterate thugs with no theory, no ideals, no compassion, and no plan except the achievement of power through force. They call themselves "mnarxists" or "maoists" because they think this still sounds good in the world media - that they are as wrong about this as they are about everything else indicates just how out-of-date and uninformed they really are.

So the villains are believable, the situation of the film is realistically portrayed - regardless of the film's jingoism.

I guess I can tolerate a little Thai propaganda for the sake of an enjoyable thrill-ride with such talented and well-trained performers as these.