BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT Blu-ray Review

Panna Rittikrai sure can pick 'em.  The man who introduced the world to Tony Jaa has discovered the next batch of Thai madmen prepared to risk life and limb to entertain you.  The nine new faces in BKO: Bangkok Knockout do things with and to their bodies that no sane person would attempt, but that's Thai stunt work for you, always pushing the envelope and making the audience somehow simultaneously cringe and cheer.  This movie is all but devoid of plot and exists only to pit crazy talented stunt men against one another in increasingly violent and absurd situations.  In the immortal words of En Vogue, "Free your mind, and the rest will follow." Don't attempt to analyze, but lean back, and prepare to be blown away.

Magnet Releasing:

Panna Rittikrai is a legend in Thai action cinema. With credits as director of Born to Fight and stunt coordinator for such classics as Ong-Bak and Chocolate, he was also the star of many action films in the 70s and 80s. Rittikrai is well known for being a famous mentor to some of the top action superstars working today, including Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak), Dan Chupong (Dynamite Warrior) and Jija Yanin (Chocolate). BKO features a range of martial art disciplines at its best when a group of "fight club" friends, whose styles vary from Muay Thai, Capoeira to Kung Fu and Tai Chi, must join forces and fight for their lives in a daring rescue of a kidnapped friend.

As I mentioned above, there is a plot, but it really doesn't matter much.  The film begins with two stunt teams competing for a coveted gig in the USA, but little do they know that they are being recruited for a hidden camera-styled gladiatorial gauntlet inside an abandoned warehouse for the entertainment of the super wealthy.  I first tried to follow the plot and found myself being disappointed.  The acting, especially by the non-Thai speaking cast was abysmal, and in fact, there is a Japanese actress who speaks such stilted English that I didn't understand her at all.  That threw me off big time, but after about 30 minutes I found myself not really caring. The film is really a show reel for these super talented performers in Rittikrai's troupe, and once you're able to make that paradigm shift in viewing, the film gets so much better!

The hook for the film is that each of the nine leads practices a different martial art.  For the untrained eye only a few of these will be separable, and I must admit, some of them aren't that distinct, even to me, that I noticed.  However, a few of the actors truly stand out, and you can tell when Rittikrai (who co-directs, produces, and co-stars) really likes someone because they get the "Jaa Shot" where he replays a particular stunt from several angles. The true lead of the film is Pom (I believe), played by Tanarit Wongsuwan.  He's tall and lanky, and is honestly built more like a gymnast than a martial artist, but the things he's able to do with his body are incredible.  Several of the other actors also stand out, but the names were hard to remember, one problem with having nine leads, I suppose. 

The characters move from space to space within the abandoned warehouse finding new people to beat into oblivion.  Each of the villains seems to have a specialty as well, anything from metal full body armor to spider style martial arts, with the armored guys being particularly nasty.  One guy, whose face we never see, is huge and armored from head to toe.  He attacks with a flaming axe at one point before becoming completely engulfed in flames himself without even pausing his attack.  Some of the action is a bit ridiculous, but it is all pretty punishing, and apart from some disappointing sped-up action with one particular female performer, very impressive.

BKO lays it on thick when it comes to attempting to build some kind of rapport with the audience, but in the end, no one really gives a shit. It's all about the action, and that does not disappoint.  If you liked Ong Bak or Chocolate, but thought they were a bit plot heavy, try this one on for size, and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

The Disc:

Magnet Releasing would have had to try pretty hard to screw this one up.  BKO was shot digitally, so the "transfer" is really just a transfer of the digital file from the camera to the disc.  Sure, there are some people who could truly screw this up with digital noise reduction, but BKO looks very slick. The one recurring issue I saw was blooming whites whenever a light source appears on screen, but it happened in such a way that it is very possible that it was a stylistic choice.  I tend to think is was just unavoidable with the technology.  That small issue aside, the disc looks great.  The image is sharp, detailed, and colorful.  The audio is equally excellent, with a DTS-HD 5.1 Thai language track that delivers good directionality and oomph when necessary.  Well done.

The extras are pretty standard.  There is a behind the scenes section with raw background footage of the set and action.  If nothing else, this feature is nice because it shows just how tough these guys are, no wires in this action.  There is also a making-of featurette which is mostly talking heads interspersed with footage from the film.  Panna Rittikrai dominates the narration with his explanations of how he came up with the idea and what kind of challenges he faced.  It was nice to hear that he allowed his performers to come up with most of their own action sequences, which he then finessed to get them camera ready.  The actors are all very gracious and excited to be a part of this project.  Not too shabby, it was nice to see that the performers had as much fun making the film as I had watching it. 

BKO is a really fun little film that I hope gains a bit more attention that the typical Magnet DTV title.  I know it got a few festival plays, but I really think this is a worthwhile film.  It is sure as hell better than Ong Bak 3, and that got into theaters.  Highly recommended!

Magnet Releasing's BKO Blu-ray disc is locked to Region A