There are dozens of movies made in Thailand; mostly Viet Nam war flicks. I'm sure they could be found by internet search.
Many years ago I worked on Uncommon Valor and Hamburger Hill in addition to a couple of the ones mentioned in this thread.
Apocolypse Now was shot inthe Philipines as was Brokedown Palace or Bangkok Hilton -- I can't remember which was abot 2 falang chicks?--(the Thais wouldn't allow it to be filmed here because it represented Thailand in a poor light).
When my two buddies from the States came to visit me they were more interested in seeing the temple in Ayutthaya, where the exterior scenes were shot for the beginning of Mortal Kombat than meeting BGs. ÝWe had the place mostly to ourselves, and were shouting out "IT HAS BEGUN!" ÝI don't know where I've failed. Ý;) Ý
Is it at all possible to buy a legit DVD copy of some of the better Thai movies (made for Thai market). ÝI recall something with a title like Bangrajan (sp?).
Sua: I'm not sure of the spelling but there is such a movie. Nang Nak,Suriyothai, Fan Ba Karaoke are other quality films. Bangkok Dangerous aint bad either (made in Thailand by a rather hot HK director).
Suriyothai has recently been re-edited (this was the critics biggest complaint; too long and poor continuity) for US release by one of the great directors and master editors of all-time: FF Coppola.
JR, What about Rambo III as well? There was an intro scene where he was stick fighting in a warehouse and some scenes at a temple... before he heads out to Afghanistan...
Running Time: (9/17/01) Approximately 210 minutes (in Thailand). This may be part of why distribution hasn't quite happened yet; I think it's possible the theatrical version in the USA could be considerably shorter than that. The original edit is rumored to be well over five hours long. (2/26/02) Indeed. Francis Ford Coppola is personally overseeing the editing to get this down to the 120-150 minutes range. (3/11/02) Variety reports that the U.S. release will be 150 minutes, cut down from 180 minutes. (9/25/02) More specifically, the final running time for the U.S. release is 154 minutes.
... Apparently Francis Ford Coppola intends to bring Suriyothai to the US. I can't help but feel dread at this prospect. I am far too afraid that he will follow the practise that Americans seem compelled to follow when they get hold of Asian movies - i.e. cut it to shreds. Cutting 30 minutes out of MUSA for the 'international cut' almost ruined the movie. Cutting any more out of a movie that already feels a little skeletal can hardly be expected to help. If he cuts footage *back in* then he might be doing the audience a favour.
I do wish Suriyothai had been edited a little differently though - certainly it could have benefited from being edited less, but even with the 3 hour time I think the editing could have helped to make the story flow more smoothly. People who have a good knowledge of Thai history (e.g. Thai people I presume) probably won't be as confused as me by the movie, but even still I think the narrative could have been better presented. Perhaps some of the subplots and details could have been sacrificed in exchange for a richer development of core events. ...
This movie was just released on video in Denmark, and I persuaded a friend to watch it with me. He thanked me afterwards! This is a great movie, and the battles are just INCREDIBLE. You can only compare it to Braveheart, but this movie avoids being as over-the-top romantic.
The only problem is that the people are a little hard to tell from each other (wow, do I sound like a racist!). We have a hero with a big moustache. A drunk with a beard. A guy who is younger than everybody else. And thats about it. The rest of the men look like each other with the same haircuts and facial hair. And the names being so different from western names makes it harder to follow. Luckily, it doesn't really matter who of the men did what. This is a film to watch for its fighting scenes.
If you liked the fighting in Braveheart, you just have to see this. I believe the budget was smaller for this one, but the battle scenes are very convincing. You have to see it for yourself. Actually I think this movie is better than Braveheart, even though I liked that a lot!
