The Fountain The Fountain
Feb
28
2007

The Original Born to Fight Hitting R1 DVD May 15th!

Posted by Todd Brown at 12:40pm.

Posted in DVD News , Martial Arts, Action, Asia.

BORN TO FIGHT.jpg

When BCI released early Tony Jaa film Spirited Killer on DVD not so far back it immiediately raised the possibility that they may dip farther back into the Pechpanna Productions catalog and - glory be - that has turned out to be the case.  Panna Rittikrai’s original version of Born to Fight is the film that inspired Tony Jaa to train as an action star with Rittikrai and, though it has no significant relationship to the remake on a story level, it is without a doubt one of my favorite two or three of the Pechpanna titles, a film that demonstrates to me that if Rittikrai had been working anywhere other than upcountry Thailand through his peak years he would have been a major international action star.  Yep, the budgets on these films were tiny and plots are often lacking but the man himself really is that good and this film features him at his best.  Read on for all the details of the BCI release, including the special features.

NAVARRE CORPORATION’S BCI ANNOUNCES THE CLASSIC ACTION FILM STARRING TONY JAA’S MENTOR

“BORN TO FIGHT”

From BCI’s Kung Fu Theater Series;
Available May15th for $14.98

Los Angeles, CA – With the recent success of Tony Jaa action films “Ong Bak” and “The Protector,” BCI, a Navarre Corporation Company, has announced the release of “Born to Fight” starring Jaa’s mentor Panna Rittikrai.  The film is the follow up release to the highly successful “Spirited Killer” and will be available May 15th at a suggested retail price of $14.98.  The announcement was made today by Cliff MacMillan, Director of Acquisitions, BCI.

“Thai action cinema has been exposed to mainstream audiences thanks to the talent and skill of martial arts stars Tony Jaa and Panna Rittikrai,” said MacMillan.  “Born to Fight unequivocally contains some amazing fight scenes and truly captures the spirit and essence of groundbreaking independent action cinema.”

Sianfong, the lawyer to the powerful Yang family discovers that the son-in law, Tungseung, has been embezzling large sums of money from the family. When Tungseung learns that Sianfong has proof of his theft, he sends the Green Dragon gang after him, but Sianfong flees Hong Kong for Thailand.  With the Green Dragons on his trail, Sianfong heads to the countryside to hide with Uncle Jam.  Tong, a Thai cop (Panna Rittikrai) is hired to find Sianfong and return him to Hong Kong, but double crosses and mistaken identities come to play in this action-packed film that spawned a remake in 2004, also directed by Panna Rittikrai.

Rittikrai, a major action star/fight coordinator/director in Thailand, is the long-time mentor to Tony Jaa.  Rittikrai, Jaa and most of the production crew were responsible for the subsequent action epics “Ong Bak” (a huge hit for 20th Century Fox) and “The Protector,” recently released on DVD by The Weinstein Company.  The “Born to Fight” special edition DVD will be full of new bonus content created for this release, focusing on Panna and his stunt team.

Special features include:
• 15 minute interview with Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai
• 4 minute interview with the producer Chokchai Melewan
• Fearless Maniacs – a 35 minute special featuring the stunt team
• And more

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Reader Comments

  1. Marten 02/28/2007 @ 4:07pm

    Hmmm.....there seems to be conflicting information on this release.  I was under the impression that Dragon Dynasty will be releasing this on 4/26/2007.  Check out the link below from Amazon with cover art and all:

    http://www.amazon.com/Born-Fight/dp/B000K2V7DW/sr=1-3/qid=1172707323/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/103-0772111-4375020?ie=UTF8&s;=dvd

  2. Todd 02/28/2007 @ 4:29pm

    Dragon Dynasty is releasing Panna’s remake from a couple years ago.  This is the original version.

  3. Marten 02/28/2007 @ 5:13pm

    Aaah...I didn’t know there were two different versions of the “Born to Fight” movie.  Must check this one out.

  4. James Maruyama 03/01/2007 @ 8:46am

    I’m glad both Panna “Born To Fight” movies are getting R1 releases.  I haven’t seen the original one but the remake was awesome!  Hopefully BCI’s “Born To Fight” release will be received more positively than their “Spirited Killer” release which is getting nothing but mostly negative reviews over at Amazon.com

  5. daniel 05/09/2007 @ 1:24pm

    in New York BEST BUY has the BCI disc of the orig Born to Fight on sale already for $13 and according to a sticker on my copy this is a “Best Buy Exclusive” because there is a second disc with the 1987 Panna Rittikrai film “Thai Police Story”

  6. daniel 05/10/2007 @ 5:47pm

    Just watched both of these. Prints are rough but I’m sure that’s the best avail. Both begin slow and then end with non stop action. Watching both of these is like watching early test reels for Ong Bak and the new BTF. Many of the standout stunts and moves from both are in here. Fighting on top of a moving truck?...Check.

    Running a motorcyle head first into a truck?...Check. Fighting guys with a burning piece of firewood? ...Check. Finishing opponents by jumping on them and riding them through, floors, boards or windows?...Check. Main hero fighting the same 5 guys over and over in different wigs/hats?...Check. And since these were low budget films shot in rural Thailand many of the stunt “money shots” consist of a stuntman really taking a punch/kick to the face in slow motion. These are a great addition to any action library and show that On Bak and Tony didn’t spring up full grown.
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