Theatrical Release Date: Thailand, 2012
Director: Nopporn Watin
Cast: Seigi Ozeki, Kanokkorn Jaicheun, Sorapong Chatree, Winai Kraibutr, Thanawut Ketsaro, Buakhao Paw Pramuk, Somjit Jongjohor, Bin Bunluerit

BluRay released: March 5th, 2012
Approximate running time: 102 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 Thai / Japanese / Burmese, Dolby Digital Stereo Thai / Japanese / Burmese
Subtitles: English
BluRay Release: Well Go USA
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $24.98

Synopsis: A Japanese samurai is forced to come to terms with his past. When his former associates, who tried to kill him several years before come back to finish the job.

The plot for Muay Thai Warrior is loosely based on the real life exploits Yamada Nagamasa, a Japanese warrior who rose to prominence in the Ayutthaya kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century.

Though the plot claims to be based on an actual history person. The end result is something that often stretches historical facts to suit a more cinematic experience, then a straight forward recollections of the events as they actually happened. With that being said, this is a far too common device that has been exploited in countless other films and the way in which this film follows suit at least this film always remains respectful to the historical origins from which this film’s plot are drawn from.

Narrative wise, this film follows the well worn path that has long since become synonymous with the martial arts genre. The hero protagonist narrowly escapes death. They then recover from their injuries that occurred from said near death experience. Along the way the train for their obligatory final showdown. And in the case of this of this film some romance is thrown into the mix for good measure. So as you can see that there is really nothing that occurs in this film that has not been explored before in the martial arts genre.

Gripes about the narrative aside this is a martial arts film and any diehard fan of the genre knows that the bread and butter of this genre are its action set pieces. And this regard this film delivers in spades and then some. Also it should be noted that these action sequences often served up plenty of bloodshed, some of which gets pretty brutal.

Unfortunately this is the one and only area in which this film excels. The visuals are merely adequate, the pacing is inconsistent, especially the middle section of the film which often drags along at a tedious pace. And none of the performances leave any lasting impression. Sure when it comes to the fight scenes the actors look good, but that is about the only time they come off looking good.

The BluRay:

Muay Thai Warrior comes on a 25 GB single layer BluRay. The film is presented in a 1080 progressive anamorphic widescreen. Though this transfer is not without a few short comings, most notably it weak black levels. The end result is a transfer that does a good job retaining the intended look of this film.

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Thai / Japanese / Burmese and a Dolby Digital Stereo mix in Thai / Japanese / Burmese. Both audio mixes sound clear and balanced throughout. Also they both does a very good job range wise and with the more ambient aspects of the soundtrack. This release comes with one subtitle option English.

Extras for this release include a trailer for the film and trailers for other titles also available from Well Go USA. Overall Muay Thai Warrior gets a well rounded audio / video presentation from Well Go USA.

Note: This film is also being released by Well Go USA on DVD.