The Protector Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

The Protector Blu-ray Movie Review

Where are his elephants???

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 27, 2010

What’s in a name? The oft-quoted adage that a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet isn’t directly translatable into the annals of film, where one film can have multiple titles, none of which really illuminate much about its subject matter, much less its cinematic “scent.” Take The Protector, for example. In its original Thai release, it was called Tom-Yum-Goong, an allusion to a spicy Thai soup. Are we to infer someone is protecting food products? In the United Kingdom, the film visited cineplexes as Warrior King, which, considering the original Thai title, may give a whole new meaning to “food fight.” Germany’s audiences saw the film as Revenge of the Warrior, which perhaps comes closest to giving us an idea that this is a film about comeuppance, though perhaps not with the unusual backstory one discovers in the film. Western films have often exploited the bond between a boy and his dog, but other than a couple of largely forgotten films (Elephant Boy and Maya spring to mind), there haven’t been a glut of films concentrating on the love between a boy and his pachyderm. That’s exactly what The Protector is about, along with an astounding array of bone crunching martial arts sequences highlighting Muay Thai, an explosive technique that star Tony Jaa adapted for both this film as well as his breakthrough role in Ong-Bak, a film which also utilized Jaa’s collaboration with fight and stunt choreographer Panna Rittikrai.

It's always good to pray before kicking butt.

The Protector made it to the United States under the aegis of both the Weinsteins and Quentin Tarantino, whose imprimatur was thought to be an instant allure to younger males who would hopefully flock to the film. While The Protector’s worldwide take was at less than summer blockbuster levels, it still managed to become the most successful Thai release in U.S. film history. I’m not sure that’s much of an accomplishment, considering how few Thai films have made it stateside to any level of public support. Be that as it may, these same young males may have thought, initially at least, that old Quentin was going soft in his middle age, as The Protector opens on a series of quaint, quiet and sylvan scenes in Thailand, showing the young Kham growing up with a beloved elephant, Por Yai, and Por Yai’s young son, Kohrn. Kham (Jaa) is the last in a long line of royal guards to the sacred elephants which once belonged to Thailand’s King, though by this time Kham’s family are simple breeders, hoping to give Por Yai to the King. That sets off an improbable series of events which sees both Por Yai and Kohrn elephant-napped and taken (are you ready?) to Sydney, Australia, where the bulk of the film takes place. We’re quickly in more familiar Tarantino territory once we arrive in Australia, a world of thugs and double dealing, as Kham finds himself up against the organized crime element of Sydney’s Thai underworld, as well as a crooked Australian cop.

Plot wise, especially in this heavily edited U.S. version (the original Thai version is also available on the Blu-ray), there are gaping holes of logic and coherence (as is readily admitted on the commentary track by scholar Bey Logan). What the U.S. version offers instead is a literally breathless tour through one astounding fight scene after another, with Jaa performing gravity (and death) defying feats that will leave your jaw slack, especially when you realize that virtually all of this film’s fight scenes were staged without wires or even special effects (a couple of green screen moments excepted). The Protector frankly doesn’t make a lot of sense in its U.S. incarnation, but if you simply let go and accept that suddenly you’re “here” and “this” is happening, the film offers an incredible panoply of visceral action sequences that are among the best martial arts showcases in recent memory. Jaa flies through the air, delivering excruciating kicks to various enemy body parts, twisting their limbs into hapless pretzels while hardly raising a sweat.

Jaa is here reunited with his Ong-Bak director Prachya Prinkaew, who stages the action effortlessly, whether it be a warehouse fight with Jaa up against everything from fluorescent light tubes to marauding motorcycles, or one on one battles with gargantuan American muscle-men. In fact there’s a welcome lack of camera tricks here, no step printing, no Matrix-esque slow motion (for the most part), just good, simple mayhem with lots of kicking, fist fights and of course the snap of broken bones. Jaa seems poised as his generation’s answer to Jet Li or Jackie Chan (a Chan lookalike makes a comedic cameo in an airport—keep your eyes peeled), and though neither Ong-Bak nor frankly The Protector has risen to the heights of the best Chan or Li films, Jaa is obviously a martial arts force to be reckoned with. He also brings an appealing innocence mixed with a certain fierce aspect to his performance quality, both of which augur well for a long-lived action film career.

The Protector Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Your parents probably told you that you only have one chance to make a first impression. I actually gave Vivendi's Dragon Dynasty Blu's two chances, the lamentable releases of both 36th Chamber of Shaolin and The Killer, each of which appeared in ridiculously poor 1080i transfers. I'm not sure if Vivendi got the message, or if Tarantino's involvement with The Protector scared the living daylights out of the powers that be, but three is finally the charm for this new series of Blu's, as The Protector arrives with a very solid, 1080p AVC encoded image in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This is a great looking transfer for the most part, with nicely popping colors and a wealth of detail. I was a little less impressed with the contrast in at least a couple of scenes, notably the fiery battle sequence about three quarters of the way through the film, which was on the hazy side, and not because of smoke. Otherwise, this is easily the best looking release in the Dragon Dynasty series thus far, which frankly isn't saying all that much, considering the absurdly poor transfers the first two releases were given. Even without that sad (if short) tradition, The Protector should delight videophiles with its sharp, accurate and artifact free transfer.

The Protector Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Only the heavily truncated U.S. cut of the film is given a lossless audio track on this Blu-ray, with a very robust DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix (in both Thai and English, with optional subtitles). (Strangely, the Blu-ray defaults to the DD 5.1 mix, so make sure to toggle through to the second audio option to get to this lossless track). This is a wonderfully immersive track, with all of the cracks, pops, thuds and smashes martial arts lovers have come to expect from their sonic experiences. There's nice attention paid to whip pans and discrete channel effects as Jaa confronts one thug after another from any number of directions. As might be expected, this is a fairly bass heavy outing, with lots of LFE rumbling through the track, though never oppressively so. Dialogue is clear, though ADR is quite obvious most of the time, even with actors who evidently spoke their lines originally in English. The U.S. version is also offered with a standard DD 5.1 mix in Thai and English, as well as yet another English only version. For once, the English dub is actually acceptable, with decent translations (based on the subtitles) and good voice work from the actors. The uncut Thai version is available in only DD 5.1. The biggest difference between the DTS-HD MA 5.1 and the DD 5.1 mixes is the thundering low end available on the DTS track. Otherwise, the DD 5.1 mix suffices quite nicely.

The Protector Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Though it's not billed as such, the best extra on the Blu is the addition of the uncut original Thai version, which restores at least a semblance of coherence to the story, as well as providing some additional background on a number of characters. (If you've only seen the U.S. version and wondered why villainness Rose reminded you of Jaye Davidson, the Thai version reveals all, more or less). The commentary on the U.S. version by Bey Logan is also extremely well done and informative. Moving down the quality scale, we get some but not all of the SD featurettes that were on the 2 disc SD-DVD, including:

• Tony Jaa Martial Arts Demonstration, (2:02) a nice display of Muay Thai techniques
• No Wires Attached (14:59), detailing how Jaa performed the stunts and fights with no artificial help
• Making Tony Jaa (6:29), more of an EPK featurette interview with the star
• Deleted Fight Scene (2:08)
• Theatrical Trailer

The Protector Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Protector, in its heavily edited U.S. theatrical version, leaves coherence and continuity on the cutting room floor. It's still a knock your socks (and everything else) off entertainment, full to overflowing with the bone crunching action that martial arts fans love. Vivendi has finally done one of their Dragon Dynasty releases service by providing an excellent transfer and some excellent supplements. Let's hope they've finally come to their senses and this is the beginning of a whole slew of great releases.