Director Panna Rittikrai, who was the fight choreographer on ONG BAK, utilizes a number of Thai athletes as the heroes. The last half hour, where the villagers fight back, is a non-stop battle. The adrenaline-pumping trailer, which made the internet rounds during the summer of 2004, contains only a fraction of on screen mayhem contained in this film. Knowing that person actually took the bump rather than standing in front of a green screen and being digitally made a bad ass is far more satisfying to me. Both this film (and ONG BAK for that matter) take me back to the time when a stunt would make me audibly wince in pain for the guy on the receiving end. What sets it apart from a majority of its action genre brethren are the astounding stunts and fight scenes. The basic premise of BORN TO FIGHT is so standard that it could easily be used for any American action film ("DIE HARD in a village!" is what the execs would call it). It is then up to the cop and the villagers to stop them. But as cinematic bad luck would have it, the thugs of the aforementioned crime boss shows up, take the village hostage and threaten to detonate a nuclear missile unless their leader is released.
To get over the loss of his partner, the cop decides to accompany his sister with a group of gymnasts on a humanitarian mission to a small village. The cop succeeds in an over the top opening sequence that leaves both a town and his partner blown to pieces. A cop (Choupong Changprung) and his partner are working undercover to capture a drug kingpin/mercenary. The plot of BORN TO FIGHT is very simple.
2004 continues the tradition with BORN TO FIGHT, a film that maintains the philosophy of doing stunts with no special effects, no wires and no stunt doubles. In 2003 Thailand produced one of the most jaw dropping action films in recent years in ONG BAK, a throw back to the reckless stunt choreography of Hong Kong cinema.