BKO: Bangkok Knockout

[GeneChing]

New from Panna Rittikrai. Opens this weekend (in Thailand, not here). I hear Magnolia/Magnet has already picked it up.

Bangkok Knockout long trailer 2010 [Full HD] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1GYw-3mPME)

[Jimbo]

This looks to be another great stunt-fest.

[Vash]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/269780/movie-trailers-bko-bangkok-knockout#s-p2-sr-i1

I'm going to have to check this out.

[Hebrew Hammer]

My back hurt just looking at that...although I've seen worse, probably gonna pass on this one.

[GeneChing]

BKO: Bangkok Knockout Review (http://www.justpressplay.net/reviews/8409-bko-bangkok-knockout.html)
by David M. DeLeon

Thailand seems to be the place for full-on, balls-to-the-wall martial arts flicks, where the level of awesomeness is in proportion to how often the fighters seem about to maim, injure, or murder themselves. I don't know if this is because of Tony Jaa or not, but Thailand has taken over what used to be Hong Kong's place as the land of suicidal stunt men.

BKO: Bangkok Knockout comes at the tail end of this trend, and if the writers had any sense of irony it could be seen as a parody. It's directed by the stunt choreographer for the Ong Bak films, who also directed the largely forgettable second and third movies, so expect lots of cranium-busting, high-jumping, painful-to-watch fight scenes, along with a complete lack of story or characterization.

The plot is even more phoned-in than usual: a group of stunt men is chosen for a "special assignment," which as we all know means that they are drugged, kidnapped, and forced to fight a small army of bad dudes for the laughing pleasure of an (of course) American gambler. They are confined in what seems to be a scaffolding, crate and porcelain factory, and the fighters are paired off into individual or group matches as they try to rescue whoever needs rescuing at the moment.

The movie even does away with the concept of a leading man, instead giving us a band of roughly equivalent fighters, with so little identity that you remember them only as The Guy With The Hair, The Guy Who Likes The Girl, The Girl Who Kicks Ass, The Girl Who Kicks More Ass But Isn't As Pretty, and The Annoying One. Even the women are stunt men, one minute laying the smack down alongside the big boys and the next being ridiculously carted away as damsels-in-distress.

But the plot devices are all plot devices, we're here to see some ass being kicked. The first thirty minutes or so are dull and pointless, but after that it's pretty much non-stop fighting until the end. The best choreography comes early, when some nimble fighters are locked in a cage match, jumping and bouncing and flipping around like this was Thunderdome. And while BKO isn't nearly as good as the original Ong Bak, or the much-superior Chocolate, it specializes in the sort of large-scale group fighting not seen too often anymore. There are lots of two-vs-twos and many-vs-manys (and in one hilarious scene, many-vs-many-vs-car).

The most dangerous-looking sequence has two characters fighting underneath a moving tractor trailer, with no visible harnesses keeping them from being squashed like watermelons. When the bad guy falls, hits the pavement, then grabs a hold of the undercarriage again right before being crushed, you start to wonder just how much of the joy of watching an action flick like this is a delight in the choreography and artistry of the stunt men, and how much is deferred schadenfreude.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

The usual behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, which show just how many of those "That looked like it hurt!" moments actually did.

"BKO: Bangkok Knockout" is on sale August 30, 2011 and is rated R. Action, Foreign, Martial-Arts. Directed by Panna Rittikrai. Written by Dojit Hongthong, Jonathon Siminoe. Starring Gitabak Agohjit, Speedy Arnold, Supakson Chaimongkol.



'BKO: Bangkok Knockout' Is a Face-Paced Blast -- Except When the Actors are Talking (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/146575-bko-bangkok-knockout/)
By Brent McKnight 30 August 2011

BKO: Bangkok Knockout is an interesting film. Interesting because it simultaneously has a lot going for it, and a great many things working against it. BKO is the latest in a long line of high-flying Thai martial arts movies. Produced by Sahamongkol Films and directed by Panna Rittikrai who, aside from being a Thai action legend, served as stunt coordinator for films like Ong-Bak and Chocolate, and was integral in the careers of Tony Jaa, Dan Chupong, and Jija Yanin.

From this genre pedigree, you would be correct to assume that the action sequences in BKO are phenomenal. Not simply the human highlight reel that many of Jaa’s films turn into, BKO is more akin to 2004’s Born to Fight, also directed by Rittikrai, where there were not only epic fight sequences, but a whole world of insane stunts. I seriously hope these young men and women have comprehensive health insurance, because the way they fling themselves around, they’re going to need it.

The action set pieces are truly spectacular. There is a scene where two guys fight while hanging on a fence, a chase that involves three people dangling off of a moving semi-truck, and an epic down-and-dirty battle that involves close to 30 people all fighting at the same time. My favorite has to be the pursuit and fight that takes two characters through the skeletal rafters of an abandoned factory. There’s even a martial arts equivalent of Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th films. When the film focuses on what it does best, action, it’s a fast-paced blast.

The problem with BKO is every single thing that is not an action sequence or a fight scene. Everything else, and I mean everything else is complete and total garbage. BKO is an ensemble piece, with nine prominent players. Not only does this juggling act get confusing and leave little time to differentiate between characters, let alone give them all a personality, most of these young actors are primarily stunt performers, and thus their acting leaves much to be desired. Certainly they can kick the living hell out of each other, and are more than willing to put themselves in harm’s way to get a shot, but when it comes to pulling off things like conveying emotion, they’re clearly out of their element.

It doesn’t help matters that the story is jumbled, nonsensical, and fraught with continuity errors. A group of martial artists vie for what they think is the opportunity to do the stunts in a major Hollywood motion picture. They win, and that night they go party in a suitable fashion. The next morning brings a Hangover style revelation that they were drugged, and are now trapped in a closed circuit TV show. In order to save themselves, and each other, they’re forced to fight, so that ridiculously rich foreigners can bet on them. The concept is a little bit Running Man, though it more closely resembles the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vehicle The Condemned, with a few visual and thematic nods to Death Race thrown in for good measure.

You keep thinking there’s going to be some point to the story—something about observers and the observed, or our culture of callous voyeurism taken to the extreme—but there never is and, perhaps most unforgivable of all, BKO takes way too long to get going. Fast forward through the first 35 minutes and you won’t miss anything. The script is confusing and poorly written, and executed on screen with equal incompetence. Rittikrai has a good feel for how a fight scene should be filmed, but nothing else. In dialogue centric scenes characters are often on opposite sides of the frame from shot to shot.

The action scenes are tight, but everything else is sloppy and feels like it was added as an afterthought. One of the bonus features on the DVD illustrates how much of a priority the action was in comparison to everything else. All of the fights and stunts were filmed first, with months of practice, training, and choreography to make them unique and not just your run-of-the-mill action. When all of that was taken care of and in the can, only then did the production go back and stage the story elements. A mysterious love triangle between three of the main characters is explained with a brief, not more than five-second-long, series of flashbacks. That’s how little emphasis BKO places on anything other than action.

Being an over-the-top action-oriented movie, the other notable bonus on the BKO DVD is an obligatory behind-the-scenes feature that is little more than footage of stunts gone wrong and performers getting absolutely wrecked in the process of filming. I find a certain nobility to a profession that constantly puts themselves in danger in order to amuse and entertain, like stuntmen, circus folk, and professional athletes.

If you’re a hardcore fan of martial arts films, especially those centered around insane stunt work, you’ll want to check out BKO: Bangkok Knockout. You’ll have to sit through a great deal of inane chatter, slow-moving plot, and ****-poor storytelling to get there, but once the cinematic adrenalin finally kicks in, there’s a lot to see. The final 25 minutes alone are little more than a full-tilt, all-out action extravaganza, and is well worth the wait.
more to come...;)

[GeneChing]

00:30|In theaters Tuesday, August 30, 2011 (http://www.hulu.com/watch/269780/movie-trailers-bko-bangkok-knockout)

[GeneChing]

Enter to win a BKO: Bangkok Knockout on DVD! (http://www.kungfumagazine.net/index.html)

Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 09/22/2011. Good luck everyone!

[GeneChing]

See our BKO: Bangkok Knockout Winners (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61989) thread.