This movie was just released on video in Denmark, and I persuaded a friend to watch it with me. He thanked me afterwards! This is a great movie, and the battles are just INCREDIBLE. You can only compare it to Braveheart, but this movie avoids being as over-the-top romantic.

The only problem is that the people are a little hard to tell from each other (wow, do I sound like a racist!). We have a hero with a big moustache. A drunk with a beard. A guy who is younger than everybody else. And thats about it. The rest of the men look like each other with the same haircuts and facial hair. And the names being so different from western names makes it harder to follow. Luckily, it doesn't really matter who of the men did what. This is a film to watch for its fighting scenes.

If you liked the fighting in Braveheart, you just have to see this. I believe the budget was smaller for this one, but the battle scenes are very convincing. You have to see it for yourself. Actually I think this movie is better than Braveheart, even though I liked that a lot!

Exciting, full-blooded account of a small village in Siam that held off a far greater force of Burmese for 8 attacks. It may be formulaic at times, but the actors and film makers obviously believe in what they are doing, and the result is some of the most thrilling & simultaneously horrifying battle sequences in some time. The characters are broadly drawn (the stuff of legend). The actors and scenery are very photogenic. The score, filled with pounding drums, is incredible.

Thailand is fast making a name for itself in the International film market thanks to the success of a certain Mr Jaa in a film called Ong Bak. If you are reading this review, I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that you will know exactly what I'm on about and will be nodding your head in agreement, smiling to yourself as you recall the head-splintering chaos that that martial arts thrill ride provided us with but despite all it's successes, Ong Bak really was quite a low budget feature and it's limitations were plain to see. Bang Rajan however is an entirely different kettle of fish. It is not another martial arts movie but a war film set in the 18th century and having been made several years previously, was Thailand's first major attempt to secure its reputation as a movie-making rival to the likes of Hollywood and Hong Kong. And unlike the Tony Jaa star vehicle, it has the budget behind it to stand toe-to-toe with any of its rivals.

Set just before the fall of Thailand's old capital city Ayuttaya to the invading Burmese army, the film tells the story of the people of Bang Rajan, a large village that despite insurmountable odds stood up to the approaching horde. With legions of soldiers marching on their doors, the untrained, poorly equipped and vastly outnumbered villagers still managed to give the Burmese a brutal lesson in Thai hospitality and their story has become a popular example of patriotism in their home country, so needless to say the transition to screen makes for a rip-roaring war film.

To this end, director Tanit Jitnukul resists the urge to focus on solitary figures and instead concentrates on a small number of characters from various backgrounds to represent the Bang Rajan community. There's Taen; the elderly leader who is injured early on in the running time but still manages to be a significant player in the proceedings, Chan; the jungle warrior who succeeds Taen and becomes the figurehead of their resistance, Inn; a younger warrior who fights to defend his newly pregnant wife, Taeng-Onn; the village drunk whose slovenliness masks the highly-skilled axe man lurking within him and numerous other characters who all get plenty of scope, illustrating that it is not just the warriors who are effected by battle but the wives, priests, elderly and children as well. This is one of the film's strongest points and allows it to illustrate a whole patchwork of emotions and situations affected by the chaos. And it is difficult to pick a highlight because no actor ever really outshines any of the rest, you come to care about all of them and when the deaths inevitably occur, some are very sad to behold.

But of course, emotional depth is one thing but what everybody really comes to Bang Rajan for is fighting and boy does it deliver. The opening ruck sets the tone instantly as the two opposing armies clash in the middle of a muddy field that soon becomes a mass of flailing limbs and blood-drenched bodies that is all watched by a steadicam that rolls and pivots with the warriors as muddy water splashes the lens. It may be a lesson in camera-work lifted straight from Saving Private Ryan but nonetheless, it is highly effective in taking you right into the heart of the maelstrom. Later skirmishes in the jungle lose none of the brutality as axes and swords are used in ever-more inventive ways to destroy human bodies and the whole thing climaxes in glorious fashion in the jaw dropping final battle. The last Burmese assault flings itself upon the walls of Bang Rajan, cannon fire erupting all around, blowing apart people and buildings as the people we've known for the last two hours contort and die in a hideous barrage of limb-chopping insanity.

As far as action goes then, Bang Rajan is definitely an impressive romp and as an Eastern alternative to the bloated, over-stylised likes of Alexander or Troy, it is the far superior choice. Provided you are confident in your sexuality enough to put up with the sight of around two hundred half-naked men getting covered in mud and sweat for two hours, you'll find a good-old fashioned war story with a great big ruck at the end.