Tom-Yum-Goong
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| Tom-Yum-Goong | |
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 The English-language Thai movie poster. |
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| Directed by | Prachya Pinkaew |
| Produced by | Somsak Techaratanaprasert, Prachya Pinkaew, Sukanya Vongsthapat |
| Written by | Prachya Pinkaew, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Napalee, Piyaros Thongdee, Joe Wannapin |
| Starring | Tony Jaa, Nathan Jones, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jing |
| Cinematography | Nattawut Kittikhun |
| Distributed by |  Sahamongkol Film International The Weinstein Company |
| Release date(s) | 11 August 2005 |
| Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | Thailand |
| Language | Thai, English, Chinese |
| Budget | 300 million baht |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Tom-Yum-Goong (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง; IPA: [tôm jɑm kûŋ], distributed as Warrior King in the UK, as The Protector in the US, as Revenge of the Warrior in Germany) is a 2005 Thai martial arts film starring Tony Jaa. The movie was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film Ong-Bak. As with Ong-Bak, the fights were choreographed by Jaa and his mentor, Panna Rittikrai. In the United States, it is being endorsed by Quentin Tarantino as "Quentin Tarantino Presents The Protector".
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[edit] Cast
- Tony Jaa as Kham, the last of a family line of guards who once watched over the King of Thailand's war elephants. He grows up forming close relations to his elephant, Por Yai and his calf, Korn. When they are stolen, Kham journeys to Sydney, Australia to get them back.
- Sotorn Rungruaeng as Kham's father. Kham's father taught him about the fighting styles of the Jaturangkabart, the royal guardians of the Thai war elephants. It has been Kham's father's dream that his elephant Por Yai would be selected as one of the Royal Thai elephants. However, during a fake inspection staged by a local member of parliament, his elephants are stolen, and he is wounded by a gunshot.
- Petchtai Wongkamlao as Sergeant Mark, a Thai-Australian policeman who patrols an area of Sydney populated by Asians. He is so popular there that the locals often do him favors like giving him free mangoes and haircuts.
- Bongkoj Khongmalai as Pla, a Thai student in Sydney who is forced into prostitution to repay the debt of her former boyfriend, the late Wittaya who used to own Tom Yum Goong Otob, a Thai restaurant.
- Xing Jin as Madame Rose, a transsexual member of a Chinese gang in Sydney, who is in conflict with the leader, her Uncle Mr. Sim. It should be noted that the actress who plays Rose is a transsexual herself.
- Damian De Montemas as Inspector Vincent, a corrupt policeman in Sydney who collaborates with Madame Rose.
- David Asavanond as Officer Rick, Sergeant Mark's new partner.
- Nathan Jones as T.K., a giant wrestler who proves to be more than a match for Kham.
- Johnny Nguyen as Johnny, a Vietnamese gangster in Sydney who is a subordinate of Madame Rose. He is responsible for her drug deals and the running of the Tom Yum Goong Otob.
- Lateef Crowder as a Capoeira fighter who fights Kham in the Buddhist monastery.
- John Foo as a Wushu fighter who is Kham's second opponent in the monastery.
[edit] Cameo appearances
- Pumwaree Yodkamol, who co-starred in Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, is seen briefly, portraying a Thai tourist in a Sydney street scene. She berates a friend of hers about DVD piracy.
- Wannakit Sirioput who also co starred in Ong Bak (as Don) cameos at the end of the film as Mark's new partner.
- An impressionist portrays Jackie Chan, whom Kham briefly encounters at the airport in Sydney. In real life, Chan is one of Jaa's idols and the impressionist is one of Chan's body doubles.
- Another impressionist portrays Thai rocker Sek Loso, the pitchman for the M-150 energy drink, which is among the brands with product placement throughout the film.
[edit] Plot
Kham is the last of a family line of guards who once watched over the King of Thailand's war elephants. He grows up forming close relations to his elephant, Por Yai and his calf, Kohrn. During Songkran festival, the elephants are stolen with help from Mr. Suthep, a local MP and his son who are collaborating with elephant poachers. Kham discovers that they are in the hands of Johnny, a Vietnamese gangster who runs a Thai restaurant named Tom Yum Goong Otob in Sydney, Australia.
Kham arrives in Sydney, and is stalked by the police as soon as he leaves the airport. He is eventually caught by Inspector Vincent and driven away in Mark's car. When the car stops outside Tom Yum Goong Otob, Kham sees Johnny leaving. He escapes and finds Johnny talking to Pla, a prostitute. Kham follows a minion as he jumps off a bridge. He takes that gangster out and manages to coerce another to lead him to Johnny's hideout, interrupting a drug deal. Outraged, Johnny summons countless extreme sports enthusiasts, who arrive to fight Kham. Kham defeats them one by one, and finally faces a quad bike rider, whom he takes down as well.
Exhausted, Kham falls asleep in an alley. Pla brings him to her apartment. In his sleep, he dreams of an epic battle involving war elephants and the Jaturangkabart, the elephant protectors. When Pla leaves, Kham wakes up to the sound of police sirens, and climbs down a pipe to make his escape.
Mark and Rick are taken off the case and re-assigned to provide security for the Police Commissioner's meeting with Mr. Sim. In that meeting, Pla acted as a hostess girl to the two men. During the meeting, Mr. Sim and the Commissioner are murdered. The murder is instigated by Vincent, who kills Rick and puts the blame on Mark. Mark escapes, but is later captured. Pla manages to escape, taking a camera phone that contains evidence of the murder with her. She is saved from the police by Kham. Pla reveals that she used to be a waitress at Tom Yum Goong Otob. Since Johnny and his men took over the management, it has been awful for all those who work there. She reveals a secret VIP area in the back of the restaurant.
With Pla's help, Kham enters Tom Yum Goong Otob. He fights his way into the VIP area and reaches the dining hall at the top. Kham demands, "Where are my elephants?" and is met with the laughter of Johnny and his men. Johnny taunts Kham with Kohrn's bell. This enrages Kham and he fights and defeats his opponents. He enters the storage area, containing various exotic animals ready to be butchered and eaten. Kham finds and frees Mark and Kohrn, escaping minutes before the police arrive. Meanwhile, Madame Rose is made the new leader of the Chinese gang after she murders two other possible successors.
Inspector Vincent initiates a search for Kham and Mark, who are hiding in a Buddhist monastery. Soon after their departure, the monastery is set on fire. But then Kham returns, and he defeats a fierce Capoeira fighter and a Wushu sword fighter. However, his third opponent, a giant wrestler, proves way too much for Kham. When the police arrive, he flees with Mark. By morning, Kham goes on his way. Mark is discovered by several policemen and sent to deal with Inspector Vincent, whom Pla has revealed to be the murderer.
Kham arrives at a conference hall where Madame Rose is having a press conference. Kohrn runs in, scaring off everyone while Kham engages the gangsters. He later finds Kohrn in an elevator lobby, where Vincent threatens to shoot him. Mark suddenly arrives on the floor in an elevator and disarms Vincent, killing his men. He beats Vincent up while insulting him. Suddenly, Johnny enters and kills Vincent, telling Mark that he has come to settle the score before leaving.
Kham finds himself with Kohrn in a huge room, and he is shown the skeleton of Por Yai, encrusted with jewels as a gift to Madame Rose. Her men then attack Kham, and are dispatched immediately. The wrestler from the monastery is called in, along with three others. Kohrn is thrown through a glass wall, and Kham is knocked into the elephant ornament, causing two leg bones to fall off. Kham ties them around his arms and uses them as clubs to knock the wrestlers out. The two bones then splinter into two sharp fragments. Remembering something his father told him, Kham uses the splinters to sever the tendons of the wrestlers, who fall quickly. He stops Madame Rose before she can escape in a helicopter, and the two crash through the roof and land in the room. Madame Rose is knocked unconscious, while Kham's fall is cushioned by the tusks of Por Yai.
Back in the lobby, Mark is shown Pla, and forgiven by his boss, Inspector Lamond. He is given a new partner who speaks Thai. Mark is then interviewed by a reporter about Kham. Finally, a narration from Mark is heard, with scenes of Kham's childhood shown. Mark explains that Thai people treat elephants like they are their brothers, and they hate people who hurt them. Thais love peace, but dislike people who take liberties. Kham is finally reunited with Kohrn.
[edit] Production
[edit] Technical aspects
Compared to Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, which was noted for its lack of wirework and CGI, this movie uses CGI in several scenes, from the obvious (helicopter scene, and an entirely computer-animated dream sequence), to the subtle (a glass window shattering in the four-minute steadicam shot that follows Jaa up several flights of stairs as he dispatches thug after thug in dramatic fashion).
The largest example of CGI is Tony Jaa's dramatic leap from the top of a building to attack Madame Rose with a double knee attack. While the background was blue screen (as shown on the right) with the Australian backdrop added in post production, the long fall shown on screen was real as Jaa and a stuntperson pulled the scene off, landing on large mats below. Even in scenes like this with blue screen, a stunt double would be called in for the lead actor, but Jaa once again made sure he did the stunt himself.
[edit] Fighting styles
Tony Jaa incorporates a new style of Muay Thai into this movie (มวยคชสาร, "muaykodchasarn", roughly translated as "Elephant Boxing"), emphasizing grappling moves. "I wanted to show the art of the elephant combined with Muay Thai," Tony told the Associated Press in an interview, adding that the moves imitate how an elephant would defend itself, with the arms acting as the trunk.
[edit] Stuntwork
Many aspiring stuntmen sent demo tapes, hoping to be cast in the film. An American stunt actor was cast but didn't properly take the impact and was injured on the first take. "He kicked me, I used my arm to block his kick, and he fell down hard," Tony told the Associated Press.
However, no one was hospitalized in the making of the film, with injuries limited to "bumps and bruises, muscle tears, a little something like that. Nothing major," Tony said.[1]
The fights include duels with:
- Wushu martial artist (John Foo).
- A Vietnamese triad captain (portrayed by Spider-man stunt double Johnny Nguyen).
- A capoeira fighter (Lateef Crowder of the ZeroGravity stunt team).
- A 6' 10", extraordinarily strong bodyguard (former WWE wrestler Nathan Jones – Brad Pitt's first opponent in the movie Troy)
- A whip-wielding triad boss (world renowned ballerina Jing Xing).
[edit] Alternate versions
International sales rights (outside Asia) were purchased by TF1, which made suggestions for re-editing to director Prachya Pinkaew, who then made some cuts that slightly reduce the film's running time from its original 108 minutes.
The UK title is Warrior King, and the theatrical release was on July 28, 2006. In France and Belgium, the title is L'Honneur du dragon, and in the Netherlands and other European it is Honour of the Dragon. In Cambodia, the film is called Neak Prodal Junboth.
[edit] Subtitle issues
As with Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior English-language subtitled DVDs of Tom-Yum-Goong were not made available when the movie was distributed for home video in Asia. One of the pirated versions of the movie had subtitles that refer to the main character as "Jin" despite it saying "Kham" on the back of the box. Also, the subtitles for the spoken English did not match what was being said. Counterfeit editions of the DVD also marketed the film as "Ong Bak 2", which was the Thai working title of the film but has been re-applied to the sequel to Ong-Bak, Ong-Bak 2.
[edit] US release as The Protector
The Weinstein Company purchased the US distribution rights for Tom-Yum-Goong and retitled it The Protector (also the name of a 1985 Jackie Chan film). The film was released theatrically in the US on September 8, 2006. It was released in January 2007 on DVD on The Weinstein Company's Dragon Dynasty label in a two-disc set that includes both the US edit and the original Thai version of the film.[2]
For the US theatrical cut, the film's length was reduced by at least 25 minutes, going so far as to trim down some of the fight scenes, even though it was given an "R" rating restricting audiences to people aged 17 and over. Out of all cuts outside of Thailand, it is the shortest cut of the film, even more so than the European cuts. It also features a new score by RZA. Some parts of the missing footage (including cuts to the "bone breaker" fight and Madame Rose envisioning herself in a red dress as queen) appeared in the US trailer and US TV Spots.
Also, The Protector is partially subtitled and partially dubbed, with all of Jaa's dialogue subtitled. Several changes were made to the plot through editing and subtitles that did not match the spoken Thai and Chinese dialogue.
Changes that were made to the US theatrical release include:
- The historical role of the Thai warriors is given in more detail in the opening prologue
- Scenes of TV reporters given tour of Sydney by Sgt. Mark are removed.
- Scenes of Sgt. Mark handling robbery and releasing the would-be assassin are removed.
- Kham's father, rather than being injured, died by the gunshot.
- Tony Jaa's lines now include "You killed my father!"
- Madame Rose loses face and is denied a "security" contract over bad turtle soup instead of the Chinese business leader's refusal to deal because of bad terms.
- Madame Rose's transsexuality is never mentioned.
- The ending has been trimmed to imply that Madame Rose is dead rather than just injured after her fall through the roof.
- Johnny does not return to kill Vincent after Vincent was apprehended by Mark.
- Exposition is given to further explain the cutting of tendons to defeat the bruisers at the end.
- The ending epilogue given by Sgt. Mark in the US version is significantly different and nobler than the Thai version, which is whimsical and comic relief in tone and is much less concerned with resolution.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Box office
Tom-Yum-Goong opened in Thailand on August 11, 2005, and grossed US$1,609,720 in its first weekend and was No. 1 at the Thai box office (normally dominated by Hollywood imports) for two weeks in a row.[3] It ended its Thai run with US$4,417,800, blockbuster business by Thai standards.[4]
The Weinstein Company released Tom-Yum-Goong in North America in a heavily-edited version entitled The Protector, which was the first release by their Dragon Dynasty label. It was also given the "Quentin Tarantino Presents" brand, which had proven lucrative in the past for films like Hero and Hostel. It opened in 1,541 cinemas on September 8, 2006 and ranked No. 4 in its opening weekend, grossing $5,034,180 ($3,226 per screen). It ended its run with $12,044,087.[5] In the US, it ranks 67th among martial arts films and 14th among foreign films.
The film's total worldwide box office gross is $25,715,096 USD. It is the most successful Thai film released in the US.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Pearson, Ryan. September 5, 2006. "Breaking down the beatdown", Associated Press (retrieved January 4, 2007).
- ^ Tom Yum Goong DVD comparison, Premier Asia vs Dragon Dynasty (retrieved January 11, 2007).
- ^ 2005 Thailand Box Office Index, Box Office Mojo, retrieved January 4, 2006.
- ^ Thailand Box Office September 1–4, 2005, Box Office Mojo, retrieved January 4, 2006.
- ^ Weekend Box Office, September 8-10, 2006, Box Office Mojo, retrieved January 4, 2007.
- ^ The Protector, Box Office Mojo, retrieved January 4, 2007.
[edit] External links
