Customer Reviews

Bang Rajan

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bang Rajan won over eleven film awards including Best Picture and Best Director. This hard hitting true story of a group of villagers pitted against the entire Burmese army in 1765 will keep you on the egde of your seat. Never quiet even in its quiet moments you will follow these villagers as they plot, defend and ultimately sacrifice their lives to keep their homeland free. The lush tropicalness of Thailand, the savagery of battle is brilliantly captured, and the final fight with characters you have come to care about is heartwrenching to watch, and extremely graphic! This is not your average war film so be prepared, but do see it. You will NEVER forget Bang Rajan!

Bang Rajan is an exciting tale of heroism on the part of ordinary people forced into extraordinary circumstances and carrying off the task of resistance to invasion better than the Thai Army apparently was able to do. My only fault with the film was the use of ambient light only, leaving most of the action virtually invisible, as the battles seem to have taken place primarily at night or in rainstorms. The final battle is watchable and most graphic. Story was easy to follow. Good use of subtitles, introduction and wrap-up. Just a few floodlights for the night scenes and this would be a truly grand film. But maybe that's not what the producer's wanted. Real war, in the dark, is no doubt chaotic.
In a way this film reminded me of the Northern Ireland drama "Bloody Sunday" where the lack of a tripod or Steadicam made the picture almost nauseating to watch. There was no excuse for that. The budget and possible need for the actors to work day jobs likely forced the producers of Bang Rajan to shoot in the dark.

I first saw this movie on a flight home from Thailand. Thai version of the Alamo, but alot more action. My flight ended before the movie was complete. I had to have the movie!

Even the proud proclamaition of "Oliver Stone presents" across the top of the DVD wasn't enough to get the masses to check this out... it's a shame too because this is a borderline great(albeit flawed) Thai war epic based on actual historic events. The story follows the tale of a small Siamese village and it's legendary ability to repeatably withstand the invading Burmese empire. Although made with a meager budget(especially in comparison to it's American contemporaries), Bang Rajan is able to deliver in most of the areas necessary to make a war movie work. The battles are filmed well(although the fight at the begining is too dark and shaky for it's own good, thankfully this isn't a continuing trend throughout the rest of the picture) and provides enough cringe worthy moments to keep the ugly realism of war intact(arrows through necks, severed limbs, bashed heads, etc.). A strong musical score fits nicely too, and really helps propel both the action as well as the more dramatic beats. Honestly there is only one thing that holds this movie back... character development. Unfortunately nearly all of the characters are one-dimensional cardboard cutouts(i.e., the drunken warrior, the emotionless leader, the soon-to-be father) who get very little backstory(if any) and are basically the same at the end of the film as they were at their inception(except maybe dead). Don't get me wrong, you still like the characters, however; it's more because you feel for their plight and that they are shown to be good and honorable people(while the Burmese are portrayed as a souless conquering horde) rather than having any growing ties to them. There are definite moments that would have been far more poignant with more expansion of the characters. Another reviewer stated that they felt the acting wasn't up to par, which seems a tad unfair. The film is subtitled so I would argue the difficulty to judge the acting completely without being able to understand the actual delivery of the dialogue. The characters are strong and stoic(especially the leader of Bang Rajan, who it should be noted sports a killer mustache!) and are prepared to sacrifice everything for their freedom, and that comes across perfectly I thought. As Americans we've been spoiled with some truly great and epic war films, Bang Rajan isn't quite on their level BUT it's still a very good film that fans of the genre(and mustaches!) should catch at least once.

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 people of this lone village to stand against the Burmese aggressor and they ruddy well did, this is their story.

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.

This film cost a fortune to make, but made a bigger one back, it got limited screenings outside of Asia, but did see the light of day in America being presented by Oliver Stone. It is one for those who like a bit of history, lots of fighting and plenty of action. I really enjoyed it, it is also quite accurate on the historical front (including the fighting water buffalo) and they have an honest ending. I would gladly recommend on that basis and the certification is definitely for the blood and guts violence, so no rude stuff to worry about -shame.

What a well made film! Excellent direction, editing, and photography. I should think many Hollywood production people would be impressed and even envious. The acting was not dramatic in style. It was not phony ethographic either. Acting was not what carried the film, but it was just fine.

It was more bloody than I would have liked, but the shots of the violence were so well done that I let the amount of it go.

I very much liked that it seemed realistic and not overplayed in western terms of individual heroism and this helped me to visualize village life in South East Asia at that time in history better than I had images to use before this.

Exciting action packed movie that tells the tale of some of history's forgotten heros. Filmed on location, so realistic you will think it was yesterday insted of hundreds of years ago. Better than most American films.

The emotion this film captures breaks all language barriers. Dramatic, Action packed, and Powerful. Everyone will love it.

if you like "300" (the movie), you will like this one. Same story line. I actully think that "300" director got inspirayion by "Bang Rajan".

the stroyline of the screenplay is a little shallow, but the directing, acting, camera are all good, especially the stunt, the choregraphic design of the fight scenes are amazingly fantastic. the only problem i found in thai historical movie is the hairdo. almost every one of the male and female roles in this movie are with hairdos that only hairdressers could have done and with lot of gel used. but again, the alamo-like fighting scenes are so vicious and realistic just like what best korean movies could deliver.