Magnolia picks up Dan Chupong/Panna vehicle TABUNFIRE

[udar55]

This news comes via Twitch:
Magnolia Pictures announced at AFM today the acquisition of all North American rights to DYNAMITE WARRIOR (TABUNFIRE), the latest martial arts sensation from Thailand. The film will see release in its home country this December.

Produced by Prachya Pinkaew (ONG BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR) and featuring death-defying stunts from acclaimed coordinator Panna Rittikrai (ONG BAK, BORN TO FIGHT), DYNAMITE WARRIOR stars Dan Chupong of BORN TO FIGHT as Zieng, “The Rocket Thief,” a young man riddled with grief and bent on revenge after witnessing his parents’ murder by a callous and malicious killer. The only information Zieng has as to the killer’s identity is the tattoo-covered man who is part of an organized group of cattle rustlers. Zieng makes it his mission to stop all cattle rustlers and in the process return each head of cattle back to its rightful owner.

Panna returns to acting!!!

www.twitchfilm.net/archives/008067.html (http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/008067.html)

[Yakuza954]

I remember a new movie with Dan Chupong being mentioned a while back, but I forgot about it till now. And with Panna choreographing the action too, it sounds promising. Hopefully the movie plays it straight, has a plot, and is not just a big Thai propaganda film like Born to Fight.

[kermit]

Any news on UK and european rights for this?

[BKarza]

Ong Bak had people stealing religious relics. Tom Yum Goong had people stealing elephants. This has people stealing cattle. All with the same premise storywise as well as the set up for the hero. Only diff. with this is no Jaa.
Someone is using the Jack Chan model for success. Looks like 20 years from now someone will be stealing boats and Jaa and this guy as his sidekick will go oof to get them back and stop the bad guys. There will be wired elbows and knees and wired kip ups as the stunts and such will have taken some toll on their bodies.

[David G Rees]

Looking forward to this....enjoyed Born To Fight...any links to a trailer yet?

www.asiancultcinema.co.uk (http://www.asiancultcinema.co.uk)

[Hanadensha77]

The "plot"had me smirking a bit,and although I'm still waiting for dvd to view TYG,the description of Jaa breaking limbs while searching for his precious elephant,well it doesn't get any B-movie better than that!

It's unfortunate that the action genre relies on the same old plots and sacrifices any attempt at innovation or originality,nevermind character study.You might laugh,but what's to stop someone,someday from putting great martial arts action with a very involving plot and real character development?

By the way,what's the word on that proposed flick with the young girl martial artist,Chocolate I think was a title going around?

[Tosh]

It's unfortunate that the action genre relies on the same old plots and sacrifices any attempt at innovation or originality,nevermind character study.You might laugh,but what's to stop someone,someday from putting great martial arts action with a very involving plot and real character development?

They're out there, usually a Wuxia Pien movie, you might want to start watching the Samurai films if you realy want plot and character though. Remember, Thailand is still a very small film industry, they're trying to get there.

[udar55]

Here is the trailer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS5eCNWjAOY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS5eCNWjAOY)

All I can say is WOW!

[theportlykicker]

I second that "WOW", it looks great. I like Chupong more than Jaa too, so I'm definitely looking forward to this.

[BKarza]

WOW!!!

[Linn1]

only in Thailand. Certainly looks like a lot of fun if nothing else!

[udar55]

Here is a slightly different trailer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdkzDttFjd8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdkzDttFjd8)

[tigerstyles]

saw this on ebay not sure if its subtitled though

[wu mui]

I came here tonight for the sole purpose of posting this. I see that this one is on everyone's mind. I ordered the VCD but I know there are no subs. Will check ebay though. Spelled TABANFIRE here-

www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=29846 (http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=29846)

[zhunaid]

this movie is great

[tigerstyles]

any news on this DVD yet? (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=120100293740&rd=1&rd=1) realy wanna see this1

[udar55]

I got the VCD of this in the mail today from ethaicd. I've only watched the first five minutes but I had to share this opening fight with you guys. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEfS8TuZmXw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEfS8TuZmXw)

[bertie wooster2]

Thanks a lot for the clip!
I have mixed feelings about the choreography there, but I'm still really keen to see the whole thing.

[udar55]

I watched the entire thing last night and, unfortunately, it is a bit of a disappointment. Don't go into this hoping for fights like ONG BAK, BORN TO FIGHT or TOM YUM GOONG.

The clip I posted earlier is a good indication of how the fights are filmed. Notice how when Dan does his flip over the two guys at the beginning, they cut three different times. In those other movies I mentioned above, it would be one nice, long shot. You can see it throughout that clip. Most of the time before someone hits someone else, they cut to a different angle right before the hit which definitely lessens the impact (the spinning knee to the head at :56 in that clip is a perfect example). There are some good stand alone shots showcased there but a majority of the fights are done in the style I mentioned above. Even worse, they resort to some wirework. So sad to see Panna's choreography chopped up that way (it also happend in the terrible MERCURY MAN).

[theportlykicker]

That was okay... but you're right about the editing. What's Panna playing at?!

[udar55]

I can't really blame Panna. The action looks great. It is the director who decides when to edit and he does a horrible job.

[Hardz]

Action looks nice, but the music score feels wrong.
Maybe a re-score for the international release might make it better.
Can't wait to see the whole film.

[kermit]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the editing of that fight.
The problem I have is with the pace. The goons just stand there for a minute waiting for Dan to crack them with a knee. It means the fight lacks tension or excitment. I hope it isnt like that throughout the film.