i watched this last night. i think this movie has been out on vcd and dvd for a few months already.
*WOW* this movie harkens back to the 80's Hong Kong action/martial arts movies. it is very evident that the star is talented. his stunts remind the viewer of a young jackie chan. the sheer energy and reckless abandon that he puts himself through as well as the other stuntmen were awesome. there did not seem to be any wirework (although a few scenes there had to have some wirework - the star literally runs on some guys who chase him), the star really runs and jumps over cars, jumps through a small hoop, cartwheels between 2 guys moving big glass panes without breaking the glass, runs and slides into a split to go underneath a truck, etc. the philosophy of filming this movie was very much in the vein of the 80's Hong Kong action movies - there seems to be an abandon of reason and care for life of the stuntmen - the movie is the most important thing. the director and/or martial arts choreographer (or stunt director) literally has the stuntmen do stunts which even i think even HK has not done in some time.
i heard some of the buzz about this movie about its bringing on authentic thai bareknuckle master for the fight sequences. although they are flashy on film (spinning and/or flying knees and elbows) it really was choreographed well and the fights had me on the edge of my seat. there was a brief fight scene in which i believe krabi krabong was used (thai weapons system). i particularly liked the staff fight. it was a 6' staff used double-ended and ended up with a baseball grip. there were the mai sowks which were huge compared to the thin ones i've seen before. the mai sowks look like tonfas.
initially i wanted to check out only the fight scenes and i'm glad i watched the whole movie. although i watched an unsubtitled, undubbed version on vcd, it was easy to understand the plot. 1 hr 44 min total running time.
a cursory google search turned up the following:
you can get it here:
http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=9599&asso=1083alternate reviews:
http://www.nixflix.com/reviews/ongbak.htmhttp://www.talkingpix.co.uk/ReviewsOng-Bak.html