By | Published January 27, 2010

Film site 24Framespersecond has confirmed with Sahamongkol Film that Tony Jaa’s period martial arts actioner ONG BAK 3 is heading to Thai theaters on April 29.

The film sees Jaa return as a feudal-era nobleman’s son in Thailand driven by revenge to become a martial arts dynamo who narrowly escapes death following a massive struggle with the forces of the treacherous Lord Rajasena. He recovers to reclaim his fighting prowess in time to face his greatest enemies, the Golden-Armored King’s Guard (Supakorn “Tok” Kijusuwan), the mysterious killers in black and Bhuti Sangkha (Dan Chupong).

It’s great to see that ONG BAK 3 is on track for release but I can’t help feeling that some of the momentum and excitement that surrounded Tony Jaa’s first two films has disappeared with these ONG BAK sequels.

Although it had plenty of martial arts action, ONG BAK 2 proved to be a disappointment for some fans with the script most often cited as the main flaw. A misleading title has thrown others off who may have been anticipating another contemporary actioner and continuation of the original, unrelated characters.

It also took far too long for ONG BAK 2 to be released in the U.S. It got an overpriced limited VOD pre-release late last year and is only now coming to Blu-ray and DVD on February 2, 2010 over a year after the first pirated, English-subtitled DVD rip started circulating online.

The piracy won’t stop but it will help if ONG BAK 3 delivers more of what fans want and it gets distributed overseas sooner to better capitalize on peak interest. Tony Jaa is still one of the best MA stars in the business right now. He just needs better handling.

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  • Dragonwire

    “The biggest fight of all is with himself”

    I hope the whole movie is not Jaa vs Jaa! That would get stale and it's been done a million times before.

  • http://www.facebook.com/musicvibes Kevin Celebi

    Yeah, that tag sounds cheesy as hell. I can only shudder at how it sounds in the commercial

  • http://www.wopular.com/ Wopular

    I was disappointed with Ong Bak 2 too. I don't mind the title or the plot – Tony Jaa's previous two films didn't have much of a plot either. I just didn't think the fight scenes weren't that good. It's interesting to see his unique take on classical Kung Fu, but I didn't feel he brought anything new to the table. We've seen it all before from Jackie and Jet.

    Nonetheless, I'll still watch it. I just hope, he throws in more of his unique blend of martial arts from Ong Bak and The Protector to the table.

  • chase007

    I agree…I went to see Ong Bak 2 with high expectations. Wasn't looking for a great story, just expected to see spectacular fight sequences. At the end, I felt a little let down. I hope Ong Bak 3 can deliver this time around.

  • justjoe

    I really liked ONG BAK 2. Sure, the flashbacks were a pain in the ass (I couldn´t care less about that romatic subplot), the acting was all over the place and the fight may have been underwhelming but I loved the epic tone of that flic, the costumes, the sets, the lightning;.. the sure as hell put a lot of effort, money and heart in this movie and it show. It was more like a “Muay Thai Conan” than a sequel to ONG BAK but I really appreciated it for trying to come up with someting new.

  • GMmaster

    I think your all a bunch of dum shits that have no idea of whats going on in front of them. Jaa killed ong-bak 2 and the fighting in it was top notch. So when it comes right down to it he did more forms, and did more with weapon than all his films put together. Ong-Bak 2 is way tech, and is a top notch martial arts movie.

  • http://www.wirthconsulting.org Kraak Mo

    I'm digging all kinds of Thai movies lately and I can't wait/will patiently wait for this one…

  • Raizo

    i hope in the 3rd sequel theres a romantic scene with her beautiful childhood friend!!!to make the movie balance on some part,not only the drama and the action part!!!

  • ChAo

    ONg BaK,
    ThE BeSt ACtiOn fiLm.
    Of All TimE………..
    ToNy Jaa rulzzzzz………

  • chris

    Anyone out there experience playing Ong Bak 2 in a blue ray player? At first i thought i was just a messed up dvd, then i went to buy it again and the same thing happened, it wouldn't play. Ong Bak 2 was good, loved all the different styles he used in the movie. Hope Ong Bak 3 works well.

  • eNinja

    U ppl dont know whats up…u dont watch MA movies to see love, drama, titles, plots and good acting, u should stick with your Brokeback Mountains for that.

    U watch MA movies to see kick ass martial arts fight scenes and thats what you get in Ong Bak 2, the fight scenes in there push boundaries. Imo much better than first one. If Ong Bak 3 comes close it will be good.

    Chase and Wopular you two obviously would not recognise a good MA movie if it kicked you in the head!