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Thai historical drama, based one one of the nation's key historical events. In 1765, Siam (as Thailand was then known) was invaded by Burmese troops, and the only obstacle in the way of them seizing the capital, Ayudhaya, was a tiny village: Bang Rajan. Chumphorn Thepphithak stars as Taen, the village leader, who assembles a rag-tag band of fighters to stand up to the Burmese army. However, when Taen is mortally wounded in an early confrontation with the Burmese, the villagers draft in the help of loner Chan Natkeo (Jaran Ngamdee).
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
*some spoiling*
And I am sure the Thai's view the legend of Bang Rajan as *least* as fervently as the USA does the above.
This film however does suffer from a few problems. It is not paced very well. The beginning feels shoehorned in. Now, I'm not always a fan of big lengthy, detailed introductions. But Bang Rajan goes a bit quickly on the voice/text intro, and then slows right down for lengthy build-up.
Much of the action seems realistically bloody, even if not all of it is totally believeable. For being based on real events, some more explaination of the causes and effects would have been nice. Also, the "we're good, they're bad" solid rule is firmly in place. I don't expect the Burmese to be painted in a particularly favourable light in a film like this, but a bit more of "why" would have been nice. Also, the village eventually gets wiped out, but the Burmese fighters are almost universally incompetent. But they win in the end.
All that said, characterisation is good despite dubing so bad it forced me back to subtitled original language (which is often a preferred choice anyway).
Summary: a refreshingly different take on the old "righteous fight against probably impossible odds" idea, somewhat hampered by some technical and aesthethic issues.
And I am sure the Thai's view the legend of Bang Rajan as *least* as fervently as the USA does the above.
This film however does suffer from a few problems. It is not paced very well. The beginning feels shoehorned in. Now, I'm not always a fan of big lengthy, detailed introductions. But Bang Rajan goes a bit quickly on the voice/text intro, and then slows right down for lengthy build-up.
Much of the action seems realistically bloody, even if not all of it is totally believeable. For being based on real events, some more explaination of the causes and effects would have been nice. Also, the "we're good, they're bad" solid rule is firmly in place. I don't expect the Burmese to be painted in a particularly favourable light in a film like this, but a bit more of "why" would have been nice. Also, the village eventually gets wiped out, but the Burmese fighters are almost universally incompetent. But they win in the end.
All that said, characterisation is good despite dubing so bad it forced me back to subtitled original language (which is often a preferred choice anyway).
Summary: a refreshingly different take on the old "righteous fight against probably impossible odds" idea, somewhat hampered by some technical and aesthethic issues.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Andy
Format:DVD
The fact that this film is based on reality... and a historical war between the Thai and invading Burmese just makes it more compelling a watch! This is passion, revolution, pride and exciting action all thrown into a melting pot of gutsy war film making. (it does demonise the Burmese a little...)
Ok.. at several stages it was a bit slow and lingered on character play that obviously meant more to the Asian movie market it was made for... but this is more than made up for in the battle sequences and the strong determined actors who drive this film forward. What mayhem and action! What a great film! What a histroy to be proud of. Not my all time classic.. but a must see.
Ok.. at several stages it was a bit slow and lingered on character play that obviously meant more to the Asian movie market it was made for... but this is more than made up for in the battle sequences and the strong determined actors who drive this film forward. What mayhem and action! What a great film! What a histroy to be proud of. Not my all time classic.. but a must see.
By Ian R Cundy
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This film was good, the story line was typical of this sort of film but the content and acting wasn't bad.
good value dvd with speedy delivery
good value dvd with speedy delivery
4.0 out of 5 stars
An exotic war film about an XVIII century dramatic fight to the last man - and even to the last woman...
21 Jan 2013
By Maciej
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I believe this is the first Thai film I ever saw and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is a quite well done historical superproduction about events which really took place and it is an interesting viewing even for those (like me) who have no knowledge of Thai history or Thai civilization. The review which follows contains some limited SPOILERS.
The real events which inspired this film took place between September 1765 and January 1766. In this time Thailand was known as the Kingdom of Siam and sometimes also as Ayutthaya Kingdom, after the name of its capital. The Ayutthaya period in Thai history lasted from 1350 to 1767 and during this time the country expanded its territory and rose to become a major regional power. In XVI century Siam became also a wealthy country, greatly profitting from expanding trade between Far East, India and Europe.
However, beginning in 1548, Ayutthaya Kingdom and neighboring Burma entered in a violent, long-term conflict. Those bloody and costly wars lasted until 1614, after which an uneasy truce was negotiated. After another short but bloody and costly war in 1662-64 both sides had really enough and agreed on a genuine peace treaty. This peace lasted until 1759, when Ayutthaya imprudently supported an internal rebellion of Mon nation in Burma. In 1759-60 war the Burmese defeated the Siamese and only the sickness and death of their king Alaungpaya stopped them from taking the city of Ayutthaya itself.
But in 1765 a new Burmese king, Hsinbyushin, decided to finish the job and invaded Siam with two large armies, advancing towards Ayutthaya from north (having a longer distance to cover it begun its march in August) and south (which left Burma in October).... Read more ›
The real events which inspired this film took place between September 1765 and January 1766. In this time Thailand was known as the Kingdom of Siam and sometimes also as Ayutthaya Kingdom, after the name of its capital. The Ayutthaya period in Thai history lasted from 1350 to 1767 and during this time the country expanded its territory and rose to become a major regional power. In XVI century Siam became also a wealthy country, greatly profitting from expanding trade between Far East, India and Europe.
However, beginning in 1548, Ayutthaya Kingdom and neighboring Burma entered in a violent, long-term conflict. Those bloody and costly wars lasted until 1614, after which an uneasy truce was negotiated. After another short but bloody and costly war in 1662-64 both sides had really enough and agreed on a genuine peace treaty. This peace lasted until 1759, when Ayutthaya imprudently supported an internal rebellion of Mon nation in Burma. In 1759-60 war the Burmese defeated the Siamese and only the sickness and death of their king Alaungpaya stopped them from taking the city of Ayutthaya itself.
But in 1765 a new Burmese king, Hsinbyushin, decided to finish the job and invaded Siam with two large armies, advancing towards Ayutthaya from north (having a longer distance to cover it begun its march in August) and south (which left Burma in October).... Read more ›
By Autonome
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Bang-Rajan" is a pioneer among Thai action films: it is really the first one that made it outside the country thanks to the efforts of Oliver Stone, who distributed the movie abroad. "Bang Rajan" is Shakespearian in tone, brutal at times, always realistic (a lot of battles are filmed with hand held camera) and uiltimately very moving (the historical event on which this film is based is the equivalent of Thailand's "The Alamo"). The success of Bang-Rajan would lead to the equally successful "Suriyothai" (defended this time by Coppola), and the "Kingdom of War" saga (four films out and counting). So it is fair to say that "Bang-Rajan" changed Thai cinema for the best since it increased its exposure, and this is fully deserved.
Kudos have to go to Bey Logan, indefatigable defender of Asian cinema, for a very rich edition: a commentary with Mike Leeder (a bit shallow overall), fantastic interviews of actors, actresses, producer, director on what was a gruelling shooting, and two documentaries. Overall, a must have for fans of good epic cinema (one does not need to be a fan of Asian movies to enjoy this): very inspiring indeed.
Kudos have to go to Bey Logan, indefatigable defender of Asian cinema, for a very rich edition: a commentary with Mike Leeder (a bit shallow overall), fantastic interviews of actors, actresses, producer, director on what was a gruelling shooting, and two documentaries. Overall, a must have for fans of good epic cinema (one does not need to be a fan of Asian movies to enjoy this): very inspiring indeed.
By Tommy D
TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This film is based on actual events from the history of the Thai people. It occurred in 1767 when the ever encroaching Burmese made a pro longed invasion of their neighbour Siam. They raided the locals and demanded among other things the surrender of all unmarried girls. This led some villagers to attack the Burmese. They retaliated and things spiralled from there.
In the film it gets straight into the fighting and then leaves character and to some extent plot development till after we have had some gore. That may sound like a criticism, but actually it was quite good to get a taste of the action up front. The fighting is dubbed, which is a pity, like old martial arts films are; you know the sort where they punch a gloved hand to indicate a punch on flesh. That was a bit poor, but a lot of attention has gone into the fights and no cgi.
It is up to the inahabitants of this one village to make a stand against the Burmese aggressors and they ruddy well do, using anything at their disposal - this is the story of thier fight.
The characters are developed only in so far as to let us know their basic character, good, brave, drunkard etc. This has often led critics to accuse Asian cinema of being `childish', but that is really cultural imperialism, as that is how some people are.
The villagers have a Buddhist Priest who they put great faith in, and a newly elected leader Nai Chen Nuad Kheo (with a huge moustache!) ; he takes over after their chief is wounded fighting the invaders. He then sets about organising a defence and prepare for a siege. The authorities in the capital Ayutthaya, offer no help - which came as a blow and is actually true.... Read more ›
In the film it gets straight into the fighting and then leaves character and to some extent plot development till after we have had some gore. That may sound like a criticism, but actually it was quite good to get a taste of the action up front. The fighting is dubbed, which is a pity, like old martial arts films are; you know the sort where they punch a gloved hand to indicate a punch on flesh. That was a bit poor, but a lot of attention has gone into the fights and no cgi.
It is up to the inahabitants of this one village to make a stand against the Burmese aggressors and they ruddy well do, using anything at their disposal - this is the story of thier fight.
The characters are developed only in so far as to let us know their basic character, good, brave, drunkard etc. This has often led critics to accuse Asian cinema of being `childish', but that is really cultural imperialism, as that is how some people are.
The villagers have a Buddhist Priest who they put great faith in, and a newly elected leader Nai Chen Nuad Kheo (with a huge moustache!) ; he takes over after their chief is wounded fighting the invaders. He then sets about organising a defence and prepare for a siege. The authorities in the capital Ayutthaya, offer no help - which came as a blow and is actually true.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Big let down!
I am an asian movie freak. I love seeing reinactments of historical events, martial arts, uprisings, etc. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2010 by J. Hunter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intense film
Low budget doesn't show, great story well recreated... haven't a clue on how historically accurate it is, but hey great stuff!
Published on 13 July 2010 by BookWorm v CodeMonkey
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice story with poor dubbing
Story is good and action sequences are very good. Dubbing is poor. For people looking for a good story of outstanding odds and great bravery, here's one for you. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2008 by Mr. R. S. Sahota
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK, but a bit slow
To be honest, this film really takes its time to get going, and the battle scenes are the *only* things that make it of any note at all. Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2006 by Mark Sutherland
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bang on!!!!
Man I just loved this film even before I saw it , having seen the trailer on various discs released by this most excellent of companies I just HAD to find it and devour every... Read more
Published on 4 April 2006
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dubbed in cockney...
The movie is interesting, but it sounds like Asterix & Obelix in a thai version. Fight seens are good but the whole thing lacks of a peak. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2006 by Charles Wolf
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not so much Bang as fizzle
The story is heroic.
That deserves to be on a line by itself. The only problem with the film is that the characterisation is not convincing. Not one bit. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2006 by tesserhex
5.0 out of 5 stars
Un film à voir avant de mourir.
Vu la grandeur de ce film, c'est regrettable de le vendre à 22 €, 100 € minimum, je serai partant de l'acheter. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2005 by Ali Bacar
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