FrogGlace
In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Taha Avalos
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Takeshi-K
This feels more like the post modernist classic that American critics claim Pulp Fiction was. Fah talai jone is a bravura technicolor clash of colors and vibrant energy. Imagine Andy Warhol and Takashi Miike collaborating on making a 1950s popcorn counter postcard come alive and you get some sense of what its all about.The themes and motifs though are very archetypal and familiar. Cowboy and Western motifs abound in what is decidedly an Eastern film, and the plot structure is the stuff of pure romantic formula - a boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end.But its this movie's style that invigorates. Its a romp in the good old fashioned sense, where the frenetic use of color, editing and in your face acting is what makes it so unique.Another example that Thailand punches above its weight.
Scars_Remain
Westerns have never really been my cup of tea, I usually feel bored or I just turn them off. However, this Thai western was awesome. There's a good amount of comedy, heart and violence. I never thought I'd be seeing a western from Thailand, but maybe that's what made it better for me. This one is big time fun.The filming and camera work both seem very amateurish and it takes away from the experience a bit, which is the reason I didn't give this movie a 9. The acting is a little iffy at times but good for the most part. Everything else is great, the comedy, the romance and most of all, the bloody violence! See it now or I'll come to your house!
dbborroughs
Parody/homage/ pastiche/(take your pick) film thats a send up of romance movies and Italian westerns. so over the top you'll wonder if there ever was a top, this is one wild ride, even by Thai movie standards.With blood and gore and painted backgrounds mixing with real locations and a very deliberate sense of reality this film is either going to strike you as a master piece or a piece of cow flop. I'm somewhere in the middle-leaning towards the dislike camp. The problem for me its so artificial I that I was watching the wheels and gears whir instead of watching the story unfold. I also am not really in love with the idea that this is almost two hours long. Overwhelmed with the artifice I turned it off a good clip in. The reaction is not really unexpected since I have a real love hate relations hip with the Thai film industry where I find I either lover or hate the films, there is no rhyme or reason other than I dislike most Thai horror films I stumble upon on my own.Is Black Tiger worth seeing (or should that be trying?)? Hell yea. There is nothing like it for shaking the dust from the notion of all movies are the same. There is nothing like this I've ever seen in the west and very few in the east.
lost-in-limbo
After his father was killed a young man named Dum joins a group of bandits who dress up cowboys and roam the countryside of Thailand. After joining them he soon has made a name for himself as the fasted gun in the east and which he is known as the Black Tiger. But in the back of his mind is a childhood sweetheart that grew up in the upper class of society and despite Dum coming from a poor family they decided to meet at a particular place to reunite. Though, Dum gets caught up in gunfight and misses the chance to be with his loved one. So because of that she is married off to a policeman, but this doesn't stop Dum from trying to get in contact with her, even if something always gets in between them.Wow! Did someone splash some sort of painting on the screen? What a feast for the eyes, but the substance was clearly drowned out by the vibrant plateau of ultra-bright colours and by also the deviously campy style the director opted out for. These visuals just leap off the screen and were more than impressive. Sadly because of the style being the film's main strong hold, the story had to fall by the wayside, really. It's simple, but not always as compelling to that of what's happening in the background. It's one of those films when style is everything. Even the spoof element foreshadows the plot. Closer attention in building something stronger in the plot could have made this a more perfect viewing.This Thai film is filled with many, that's MANY homage's from the western genre, especially that off Leone's spaghetti westerns. All of this is blended in with formulaic clichés and a romantic twist about fate. This tragic love story isn't particularly new, but the way they interwoven the eastern culture with the western. There are enough unpredictable patterns drawn up. The storyline isn't a linear one, because we explore into our protagonist's past midway through the flick, looking at why he became an outlaw and how important this girl has been in his life. While the opening and ending scenes are set in the present time. Actually, I was kind of confused about the whole setting, but I found out it's set in the modern times, but the outlaws are just dressed up as cowboys. Basically the film goes out of its way to blind us with it's weirdness and zestful context, but amongst all of this it mixes elements of Thai traditions to that of Hollywood successfully to give us a laugh and create some excitement along the way.The production follows that of the early spaghetti westerns filming techniques. These things range from sharp editing, to the kinetic and circulating camera-work. The quick pans always seem to have a mind of its own. The pulsating score splashes out a variety of eastern, but also western themes. Even one of Ennio Morricone's themes from "The Good, the bad and the Ugly" is continuously given a spin. *Hmm* the score actually seems to be on a loop. The way the film looks it does come across like a stage show and the pacing is somewhat up and down. Although when it gets into Western extravaganza with the wild shootouts and loud explosions it's simply eye catching with the amount flair and wham-bang awe that's generated. These moment are filled with arty images, but they let the red paint spill out gratuitously. They do go over-the-top at times, like its been ripped out of a comic book. That can go to the final stand off, which has some panache about it and ends rather nasty. All I got to say is Ouch! That's gotta hurt! I kept asking myself if I was watching a cartoon and that's definitely because of the look, but also the performances. These characters were beyond cheesy, and all had massive egos, well except for the two leads that were kinda flat. Those outlaws with their colourful outfits and sinister laughter were just ridiculously hilarious! I just love how it found something to take the mickey out of. Everything about the film is well equipped with it being snazzy and polished up. Replacing the grit and rawness found in most spaghetti westerns, by keeping in the mode of the technicolour Hollywood westerns. Oh, well.It's no more but a terribly cheesy parody (and a decent one too) with steroid pumping visuals. But a definite warning as this film is not for everyone. If you enjoyed the offbeat "The Happiness of the Katakuris" (2001) you might find something to like here.
