Born to Fight [เกิดมาลุย Kerd Ma Lui] (2004)
Starring Dan Chupong, Nappon Gomarachun, Santisuk Promsiri, Piyapong Piew-on, Somluck Kamsing, Kessarin Ektawatkul
Directed by Panna Rittikrai
Expectations: High. I saw the trailer and expected this to be fantastic.
Wow! If you like high-octane action to the X-TREME! then I’ve got a movie for you. Born to Fight is directed by Panna Rittikrai who was Tony Jaa’s mentor and is responsible for the martial arts and action choreography for Ong Bak and The Protector, among others. He leads the Muay Thai Stunt team and if you haven’t seen them in action, you are seriously missing out on the most exciting, ridiculous and horribly painful stunts ever to grace the screen. The level of “Oh shit!” is off the chart, and I am instantly brought back to the feeling of when I started watching Hong Kong movies.
Dan Chupong, member of Muay Thai Stunt, gets his first starring role and does very well. The film opens with Chupong and his buddy/mentor cop raiding the dastardly General Yang’s hideout. It quickly escalates into an extended action sequence involving guns, martial arts and some amazing stunt falls from moving semi-trucks. On one of the falls in particular, if the stuntman had landed maybe one or two inches differently his head would have been fatally crushed like a grape. It’s crazy stunts like this that let you know how committed the Muay Thai Stunt team is and just how far they’ll go to film a quality looking stunt.