Born To Fight – Two Disc Ultimate Edition (DVD-Video)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B Extras: C Film: C
Tony Jaa
may not be here, but Born To Fight
(2004) is from most of the creators of his films Ong-Bak and The Protector. It is also a bizarre tale of terrorists with
nuclear weapons talking over a Thai village, an advanced fighting force goes
after them and tries to neutralize them.
It is really a weak story and excuse for fancy fight scenes that do
by-pass any digital effects. Too bad it
by-passes a good script.
Though
this is good for some of the action, the film get ridiculous when a child or
two can fight and becomes very problematic when there is just far too much (and
it is dragged out beyond belief) child-in-jeopardy situations as most are not
able to fight. Throw in a Buddhist
temple where a monk gets killed and the fight scenes become the only break from
some very desperate situations. Strictly
for action fans only, but I will stick with Jaa projects.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is softer than action fans will want,
with depth sometimes an issue. As for
sound, the 5.1 Dolby & DTS mixes do not have the soundfields they should
have, though the DTS is warmer and fuller by comparison. The combination feels like an upgrade of the
old dubbed 1970s martial arts cycle.
Extras include martial arts cinema expert Bey Logan on DVD 1, while DVD
2 adds original trailer, U.S. promo trailer, an hour-long documentary and
featurette on the action.
- Nicholas Sheffo
