Smartorhypo
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Leofwine_draca
This extremely low budget production has been widely advertised as a 'Tony Jaa' film in the wake of the success of ONG BAK and WARRIOR KING; unsuspecting fans might mistake it for the third part of a 'spiritual' trilogy with those two films. However, SPIRITED WARRIOR is a different kettle of fish altogether. Even lower budget than the period Hong Kong kung fu films made in the early 1970s, this is a film that does contain Tony Jaa's debut performance, but the bad news is he's only in it for fifteen minutes! Rather than being the main star of the show, Jaa is a minor character who nevertheless gets to perform in some fun martial arts battles before getting killed off.This is actually the fourth part in a series of TERMINATOR-inspired films about an indestructible killer butchering his way through lots of people in a forest setting. That's actually the whole plot. The emphasis is very much on the fight scenes, and there are a ton of different fights here that are not bad in themselves. Unfortunately, because of the low budget, they do tend to get a bit repetitive and there's none of the fancy camera-work that director Panna Rittikrai would bring to the likes of BORN TO FIGHT. Really, this is one of the lowest budget movies I've ever watched, and I've seen a lot of them! The film does have some inspired lunacy to recommend it. The opening shots of a witch doctor performing at his altar bring to mind classic Asian horror flicks like ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND and later there are some sped-up shots of people running which are absolutely hilarious to watch. There's plenty of bloodshed towards the end of the movie and a cheesy twist ending – any '90s horror film producer would be proud of it. Panna Rittikrai, noted Thai action director, also plays the leading character and he gets a chance to whup backside left, right and centre. Tony Jaa, still a teenager when he made this, looks like nothing more than a kid in a tracksuit, although his fight scene with Rittikrai is a definite highlight of the movie, and watch for the bit where he does the splits! In fact this bit is so enjoyable they repeat it scene-for-scene right at the beginning of the film, even though it doesn't make any sense in that context. Unfortunately, the paucity of the production means that there's no room for explosions, shootings, or anything of the sort. It's just people fighting in the woods, over and over again, until the closing credits roll. Some halfway decent music and lots of bad acting are all you'll find here.
BA_Harrison
Released on DVD as Spirited Warrior, and sold mainly on the strength of the movie debut of Muay Thai star Tony Jaa, this is actually the fourth film in a series known as 'Forest Man' featuring Ong Bak's stunt coordinator Panna Rittikrai.Rittikrai stars as a superhuman zombie controlled by a voodoo doctor who is seeking revenge on those who tried to kill him after one of his potions proved to be lethal. Not only does the zombie attack nearby villagers, and a gang of thieves, but he also has a go at a group of Japanese students who have travelled to the area to study ancient relics.Virtually the entire film consists of chase scene followed by fight scene: the voodoo doctor chases the villagers and they have a fight; the zombie chases the villagers and they have a fight; the villagers chase the zombie and they have a fight; the zombie chases the Japanese students and they have a fight; the voodoo doctor AND the zombie chase the students AND the villagers and they ALL have a fight. Now I enjoy chase scenes and fight scenes as much as the next fan of dumb martial arts films, but this repetitive format soon gets extremely tedious despite the action being well choreographed and pretty violent. All action and no plot makes Spirited Warrior a dull flick.And as far as Jaa is concerned—he's in the film for about 15 minutes, and does some pretty impressive flips, kicks and the splits, but his presence doesn't save the film from being a forgettable experience.
I_love_you_too
I like Tony Jaa, his skill is so impressive. I saw the DVD box for this and thought it was another Tony Jaa film. I was wrong. When he finally shows up his skill is shown once again but then ... poof ... he is dead and this crappy movie carries on. The cover has Tony Jaa, the synopsis has Tony Jaa, I really thought he would be in this more.I will say this for the film though: I thought they did a pretty decent job with the obviously low budget they had. The weapons were cool and I could only tell they were not real during the close up shots. The fighting was pretty good but I guess I went in expecting to see Tony Jaa going ape all over the screen and ended up seeing a low budget Thai film with so-so action.
massbits
This is the fourth part in a series of "Forest man" films-entitled "Wake up to kill pt 1-4" starring Top Thai action star and Director Panna Rittikrai- the action director of Ong BAk, Born to fight and Tong Yum Goong, Panna plays a mad silent kung fu Zombie that lashes out at a group of explorers and villagers in a remote area in Thailand in demonic retribution for the beating of his mentor the mad Vodoo Witch Doctor .Brilliant no holds barred action that never lets up for the full duration of the movie also marks the big screen debut of Thai superstar Tony Jaa in an effective cameo roll as a Wu shu swordsman. This is a great low budget film with loads of well choreographed fights