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List Price: $22.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 32313
Released: January 6, 2009 |
| Our Price: $7.81 |
| Used Price: $2.26 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
An adrenaline-charged action thriller, Lionsgate's Bangkok Dangerous stars Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure) as "Joe," an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Nicolas Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, finds himself mentoring the young man instead whilst simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard …just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house. Directors The Pang Brothers (The Eye) paint an explosive picture of the Bangkok underworld, illuminated with neon and saturated in violence. From a screenplay by Jason Richman, Bangkok Dangerous is based on the Pang Brothers’ wildly popular Hong Kong action film of the same name. Starring alongside Cage are Shahkrit Yamnarm (Belly of the Beast), Charlie Young (Seven Swords), Panward Hemmanee and Dom Hetrakul (Sniper 3). The film is produced by Jason Shuman, William Sherak, Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly. Andrew Pfeffer, Derek Dauchy, Denis O’Sullivan and Ben Waisbren serve as the executive producers.
Description of Bangkok Dangerous (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy):
It’s hard out there for a hitman. Just ask Joe (Nicolas Cage), the hero (well, the protagonist, anyway) of writer-directors the Pang Brothers’ Bangkok Dangerous. Sure, the money’s great, and you get to travel to exotic locations. But this is a seriously high-risk, high-tension gig; it’s hardly a shock that the dude has a heroin habit, a perpetual scowl, and the overall appearance of Gene Simmons on a particularly unfortunate hair day. But Joe’s been at this for a while, and he has his rules for survival: four of them, in fact, like "there is no such thing as trust" and "don’t take an interest in anyone outside of the work." One can only wonder, then, why he picks his very last job--a contract that brings him to Bangkok, where he’s supposed to take out four different guys--to discard every one of said rules. First he takes the Thai street hustler (Shahkrit Yamnarm) he’s recruited as his bagman-messenger under his wing, showing him the ropes and looking after the kid and his girlfriend. Then he starts courting a lovely young, mute woman (Charlie Young) he meets at a pharmacy. And to top if off, he lets his emotions get in the way of completing his job. The Pangs give the film, which is a remake of their own 1999 offering of the same name, plenty of local color (most of it dark; the look is relentlessly blue and depressing). Cage brings his usual bug-eyed intensity to his role, and there are a couple of nicely-staged, well shot action scenes, particularly the boat chase on a crowded canal that ensues after hit number three goes a little sideways; the extended final shootout is pretty cool as well, even if it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But although the ending comes as a surprise, Bangkok Dangerous isn’t especially exciting or compelling. They might have been better off filming the real-life coup d’etat that happened while shooting was in progress. --Sam Graham
Beyond Bangkok Dangerous on DVD
Bangkok Dangerous the Soundtrack | 
Bangkok Dangerous on Blu-ray |
Bangkok Dangerous (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy) Reviews:
Nice Travelogue of Bangkok 
2009-11-25 - At the beginning of the movie, I was disappointed to hear Nick cage's character start narrating the film and spoon feeding the plot to the audience. Follow that up with a focus on the venue (Bangkok) rather than the characters, and what could have been a great action movie turned rather mediocre and failed to emotionally invest the audience. Even the finale doesn't really leave an emotional impression - it was just kind of an oh well moment with a quick transition to the Blu-Ray extra features. Speaking of the extra features, they included an alternate ending that was typical Hollywood happy ending - glad to see they didn't use it.
Campy Violent Fun! 
2009-09-29 - I love Nicholas Cage in just about anything, and this was no exception. Yes, it was an extremely "campy", predictable, violent and definitely Grade B film, but it was so much fun! The way it was filmed was delectable, filled with the raw sights, sounds and colors of Bangkok-you could almost taste and smell the foods in the market, feel the seedy, oily, hot and humid backstreets, and it's mixed-class people; it was wonderful. The story line was typical: assasin meets girl, changes his ways, loses girl because he had to make a moral choice, then goes out in a blaze of glory. But this film has a twist: the love interest was a (delightful) normal woman, AND she was deaf! This made the film much more "realistic"(if you will), using a normal woman rather than the typical woman often portrayed as the heroine, read: stick-thin, extraordinarily beautiful, with a killer wardrobe-even if she is ridiculously poor. If you enjoyed the cult favorite film "Replacement Killers" (Mira Sorvino and Chow Yun Fat-in one of his first US films), you will also enjoy this film.
Good Stuff 
2009-08-31 - A lot of my peers refer to me as the "guy who watches those B-Grade Action Movies", so please keep this in mind if you're reading this review.
First, I must confess that Nicolas Cage is very far from being my favorite guy to watch in movies; however, I think that the producers were spot-on when they chose him for this role. He looks the part, acts the part, and executes (pun intended) the part very well.
The story is very solid, and the action sequences are awesome. I'm a sound junkie, and the special effects really rock the house. This movie has my favorite composer, Brian Tyler, so the music is killer (yes, another pun).
Let's face it, if you really need to have your confidence built via an Amazon review before you watch a movie like this, please go rewatch Titanic or something. If you like action, then you'll like this movie. 'Nuff said.
A miss for Nicolas Cage 
2009-08-02 - This hitman Joe, (Nicolas Cage) spends a lot of his time training a street-wise con artist named Kong (Shakrit Yamnarm), to be his "understudy" only for his student to get kidnapped and spill the beans of Joe's location in a......never mind. Joe falls in love with a deaf, pretty drugstore clerk named Fon (Charlie Young), only for her to see him kill two street thugs....never mind. Nicolas Cage sported some ratty long hair with his receding hairline that made him look really slimy. The ending was extremely bad. And what a stinking, lousy ending it was. Terrible editing.
Something to add
2009-07-07 - Some movies try to say to much. Some movies spend too much time blowing stuff up and showing people killed in excruciating detail. The Hong Kong style of film making, at times, tries to bridge that gap. Joe, portrayed by Nicholas Cage, is a killer aware that time in his trade is growing short and its time for one big score and get out intact. As in the real world, life takes mysterious turns. This is not a happy film. It is dark, moody and brooding. I recommend you watch this film entirely and then make a judgement.
