Bangkok Dangerous (2008 film)

Last updated
Bangkok Dangerous
Bangkok dangerous 2008 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Pang Brothers
Written byPang Brothers
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDecha Srimantra
Edited by
  • Mike Jackson
  • Curran Pang
Music by Brian Tyler
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • September 5, 2008 (2008-09-05)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States [1]
LanguagesEnglish
Thai
Budget$45 million [3]
Box office$42.5 million [3]

Bangkok Dangerous is a 2008 American action thriller film written and directed by the Pang Brothers, and starring Nicolas Cage. It is a remake of the Pangs' 1999 debut Bangkok Dangerous , a Thai film, for which Cage's production company, Saturn Films, purchased the remake rights. [4]

Contents

Known by its working title, Big Hit in Bangkok, [5] and also as Time to Kill, it began filming in Bangkok in August 2006. [6] [7] The film was financed by Initial Entertainment Group, and Lionsgate Films acquired its North America distribution rights. [8]

Bangkok Dangerous was released on September 5, 2008. Upon release, the film became a major failure, grossing $42 million against a production budget of $45 million as well as receiving negative reviews from critics which criticized Cage's performance and the action sequences, as well as the direction, editing and screenwriting.

Plot

Joe is a professional freelance contract killer who works strictly by the rules; never socializing outside his work, staying secluded in quiet spots, never interacting or meeting with his handlers and always leaving on time without a trace. He usually hires young pickpockets or small-time criminals as his local help, whom he usually murders after the end of the job to prevent any identification. He uses multiple aliases and also has middlemen between him and his handlers. He also carries a watch to perform a hit in specific time and correctly visualizes his every target.

After completing a hit in Prague and killing his current help, Joe travels to Bangkok for an assignment to assassinate four people for notorious Bangkok crime boss Surat, whom he never meets. Joe occasionally provides insight via voiceover narration throughout the film. He hires a local Thai pickpocket named Kong, who has simple English knowledge, as his go-between in Bangkok, a condition of the contract being that the gang will never meet Joe. Contracts from the Bangkok gangsters are passed to Kong one by one via a nightclub dancer, Aom. Joe's first execution in Bangkok is done on motorcycle; when the target car stops at a red light, Joe kills all the occupants with a MAC-11.

Kong retrieves information about the second target, again via Aom, and the pair become friendlier with every contact. Before Joe executes his mission, Kong informs him of the target, Pramod Juntasa, another notorious gang lord and Surat's rival crime boss who acts as a sex trafficker, buying young girls from impoverished parents and selling them for sex. Joe sneaks into the target's penthouse and drowns him in his pool. Unsatisfied with Kong's assistance, Joe contemplates killing him, but after a brief confrontation when Kong is ambushed by local gangsters regarding a briefcase containing information files of Surat's/Joe's targets, he instead decides to act as Kong's mentor and trains him for self-defense.

Midway through the movie, Joe meets Fon, a deaf-mute pharmacist, with whom he becomes intrigued after a brief consultation. Joe later returns to the pharmacy to invite Fon out for dinner. Soon after Joe falls for Fon and meets her mother, the affair is cut short when he shoots and kills two assailants in Fon's presence. Blood splatters on Fon, and she runs off, trembling and traumatized by the violent deaths. Feeling betrayed, Fon cannot forgive Joe and ends their relationship.

Before the third kill, the gang attempts to identify Joe, and he warns them off. For the third execution that takes place at the Damnoen Saduak floating market, Kong assists Joe. The kill does not go as planned, and the target, a playboy and a criminal underworld associate, nearly gets away but Joe manages to catch and assassinate him. Before beginning his last mission Joe visits Fon, presumably to say goodbye. She initially ignores him but as Joe begins to drive away she runs after his car.

His fourth target is the Prime Minister of Thailand, who is revered by many but a great hindrance to Surat due to his hard-line crackdown on organized crime. Joe is about to make the kill when he has second thoughts, is spotted, and escapes through a panicking crowd. Meanwhile, the gang has abducted Aom and Kong with plans to execute them. Joe, now a target, is attacked at his house by four of Surat's henchmen. He uses explosives to take them out and is faced with the choice of rescuing Kong or leaving the country unharmed. Joe decides to rescue Kong, so he sets off to the gang's headquarters with one of the half-alive attackers.

Joe goes to the gang's headquarters, kills most of the gang including Surat's underboss/bodyguard (who is blown into half by explosives), and saves Kong and Aom. The fearful gang leader flees to his car with three other accomplices. Joe spots him and shoots the gang members, then gets into the back seat with Surat. As the police arrive at the location, Joe realizes he has only one bullet. He puts his head adjacent to Surat's, puts the gun up to his temple and pulls the trigger, killing himself and Surat.

Alternative ending

An alternative to the theatrical version depicts Joe about to kill himself when he sees Kong hijacking a police car and coming to his rescue. He kills Surat and runs to the stolen car (although he is shot once in the arm). The duo manage to elude the authorities and hide in a neighbourhood a few blocks away from Surat's headquarters. As locals come out to investigate the commotion, Kong reveals Joe as Surat's killer. They help him recuperate while one local remarks Surat's reputation, adding his death marks an end to his crimes and atrocities in their place. Kong then takes Joe to a boatman and gives him his passports, so he may flee the country. Joe thanks Kong for his assistance and gives him a bank account number with "a bonus", stating he was a good student. Joe then departs, with the camera focused on Kong (from Joe's perspective, similar to the original ending).

Cast

Production

The original film's main character is a deaf hitman, whose disability makes him a fearless, unflinching gunman. That character has been changed in the remake. "We'd like to keep him the same, but we understand that from a marketing point of view Nic needs to have some lines," Oxide was quoted as saying in The New York Times . "So what we’re going to do is transform his girlfriend instead into a deaf-mute. This switch will maintain the drama of communication between the two main characters." [9]

The Soi Cowboy entertainment district was among Thai locations used for filming. [7] [10]

Release

Box office

The film grossed US$42.5 million, of which $15.3 million was from the US. [3] The film grossed US$7.8 million on its opening weekend, making it the first film since Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star to debut at number 1 with such a low gross. Lionsgate distribution topper Steve Rothenberg said, "It will be a nicely profitable film for us." [11] The film's budget was $45 million. [3]

Home media release

Bangkok Dangerous was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 6, 2009. As of December 1, 2009, 760,178 units have been sold, gathering US$15,058,164 in revenue. [12]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 9% of 93 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "With murky cinematography, a meandering pace, a dull storyline and rather wooden performances, the Pang Brothers' Hollywood remake of Bangkok Dangerous is unsuccessful." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 24 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soi Cowboy</span> Street in Bangkok, Thailand

Soi Cowboy is a short street (soi) in Bangkok, Thailand, with some 40 establishments, mostly go-go bars. It caters mainly to tourists and expatriates. Soi Cowboy contains one of the three largest groups of foreign-oriented bars in Bangkok, the other two being Patpong and Soi Nana Tai.

<i>Infernal Affairs II</i> 2003 Hong Kong film

Infernal Affairs II is a 2003 Hong Kong crime-action film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. It is a prequel to the 2002 film Infernal Affairs. Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue and Chapman To reprise their roles from the original film alongside new cast members Carina Lau, Francis Ng, Hu Jun and Roy Cheung. Neither Andy Lau nor Tony Leung, who played the central roles in the original, appear in this film as they are replaced by their younger versions portrayed by Chen and Yue respectively. The events of the film take place from 1991 to 1997. It was followed by Infernal Affairs III (2003), which is both a sequel and a semi-prequel to the original film.

<i>New Police Story</i> 2004 Hong Kong film

New Police Story is a 2004 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Benny Chan, who also produced with Willie Chan, Barbie Tung, and Solon So. The film stars Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Charlie Yeung, Charlene Choi, and Daniel Wu. The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 24 September 2004.

<i>The Eye</i> (2002 film) 2002 Hong Kong-Singaporean horror film

The Eye, also known as Seeing Ghosts, is a 2002 supernatural horror film directed by the Pang brothers. The film spawned two sequels by the Pang brothers, The Eye 2 and The Eye 10. There are three remakes of this film, including Adhu, made in 2004 in Tamil, Naina made in 2005 in Hindi and The Eye, a 2008 Hollywood production starring Jessica Alba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonzee Nimibutr</span> Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter

Nonzee Nimibutr is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. Best known for his ghost thriller, Nang Nak, he is generally credited as the leader among a "New Wave" of Thai filmmakers that also includes Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Danny Pang Phat and Oxide Pang Chun, collectively known as the Pang Brothers, are a filmmaking duo of screenwriters and film directors. The pair are twins, born in Hong Kong in 1965. Among their films is the hit Asian horror film, The Eye, which has spawned two sequels, as well as a Hollywood version also titled The Eye and a Hindi film called Naina. Besides working in Hong Kong, the pair frequently work in the Thai film industry, where they made their directorial debut as a team, Bangkok Dangerous.

<i>Bangkok Dangerous</i> (1999 film) 1999 Thai action film

Bangkok Dangerous is a 1999 Thai action film written and directed by the Pang Brothers. Stylishly edited, the story of a deaf and mute hitman was the debut film for the twin-brother team of filmmakers. A 2008 remake of the same name starring Nicolas Cage was also directed by the Pangs.

<i>3:10 to Yuma</i> (2007 film) 2007 film by James Mangold

3:10 to Yuma is a 2007 American action thriller film directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles, with supporting performances by Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, and Logan Lerman. Bale plays a rancher impoverished by drought, who takes on the dangerous but lucrative job of taking a notorious outlaw (Crowe) to justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Thailand</span>

The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by François-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry had started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films.

<i>Omen</i> (2003 film) 2003 Thai film

Sung horn is a 2003 Thai suspense film. It was written by the Pang Brothers and starred Kawee Tanjararak (Beam), Panrawat Kittikorncharoen (Big) and Worrawech Danuwong (Dan) – all members of a popular Thai boyband at the time, D2B.

<i>Tears of the Black Tiger</i> 2000 film

Tears of the Black Tiger is a 2000 Thai action-adventure film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial governor, it is equal parts homage to and parody of Thai action films and romantic melodramas of the 1950s and 1960s.

<i>Metrosexual</i> (film) 2006 Thai film

Metrosexual is a 2006 Thai romantic comedy film about four women who believe their best friend is about to marry a man who is gay. The film was directed by Yongyooth Thongkongtoon, who also directed The Iron Ladies. The five female leads all co-host a daytime talk show on Thai TV Channel 3.

Patharawarin Timkul is a Thai actress and model. Her films include Bangkok Dangerous and Jan Dara. She is the daughter of leading Thai dance theater figure and National Artist, Performing Arts branch Patravadi Mejudhon. Her nickname is May.

<i>13 Beloved</i> 2006 Thai film

13 Beloved is a 2006 Thai horror comedy film written and directed by Chukiat Sakveerakul and starring Krissada Sukosol Clapp. The story, about a man who is led through progressively challenging, degrading, and dangerous stunts by mysterious callers from an underground reality game show, is adapted from the 13th Quiz Show episode in the My Mania comic-book series by Eakasit Thairaat. It was the second feature-length film for Chukiat, who previously directed the horror film Pisaj.

<i>Anthony Kaun Hai?</i> 2006 Indian film

Anthony Kaun Hai? is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film directed by Raj Kaushal and produced by Nikhil Panchamiya. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Minissha Lamba and Raghuvir Yadav. It is a remake of the 2002 film Who Is Cletis Tout? starring Christian Slater.

<i>The Warlords</i> 2007 Chinese–Hong Kong film

The Warlords (投名狀), previously known as The Blood Brothers, is a 2007 Chinese–Hong Kong epic historical action film directed and co-produced by Peter Chan, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. The film, set in China in the 1860s during the Taiping Rebellion, revolves around the sworn brotherhood of three men. The film was released on 13 December 2007 simultaneously in most of Asia, except Japan. It received generally positive reviews, and won many prizes in many Hong Kong, Chinese, Asian and international film festivals in 2008 and 2009.

<i>Invisible Target</i> 2007 Hong Kong film

Invisible Target is a 2007 Hong Kong action film directed and produced by Benny Chan, who also wrote the screenplay with Rams Ling and Melody Lui. The film stars Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan and Shawn Yue as three police officers who are thrown together due to their backgrounds to bring down a gang of seven criminals led by Tien Yeng-seng.

<i>One Take Only</i> 2001 film by Danny Pang Phat, Oxide Pang Chun

One Take Only is a 2001 crime-drama film written and directed by Oxide Pang.

<i>Connected</i> (2008 film) 2008 Hong Kong film

Connected is a 2008 Hong Kong action film, and a remake of the 2004 American film Cellular co-written, produced and directed by Benny Chan. The film stars Louis Koo, Barbie Hsu, Nick Cheung, and Liu Ye. Connected tells the story of Bob (Koo), a single father who receives a distressing phone call on his cellular phone from Grace Wong (Hsu), a woman who has been kidnapped by a gang of corrupt Interpol agents who have a hidden agenda.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bangkok Dangerous". American Film Institute . Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Here Comes Hollywood". 3 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Bangkok Dangerous (2008)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Michael (June 6, 2006). "Cage's 'Dangerous' liaison". Variety . Reed Business Information . Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Nicolas lands in Bangkok for Pang brothers movie". Agence France-Press. August 22, 2006. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2006.
  6. ↑ "Stickman Weekly 20/8/2006". Stickmanbangkok.com. August 20, 2006. Archived from the original on August 31, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2006.
  7. 1 2 "Thai filmmakers hope remakes will lure overseas audiences". Channel NewsAsia. Agence France-Presse. July 20, 2007. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Lionsgate Acquires Cage's Bangkok Dangerous". Comingsoon.net. February 7, 2008. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  9. ↑ Jessop, Sonia Kolesnikov (July 13, 2006). "Pang brothers see eye-to-eye on horror". The New York Times . Retrieved July 14, 2006.
  10. ↑ "Stickman Weekly 20/8/2006". Stickmanbangkok.com. August 20, 2006. Archived from the original on August 31, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2006.
  11. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (September 7, 2008). "'Bangkok Dangerous' on top with modest take". Variety . Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Bangkok Dangerous — DVD Sales". The Numbers.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.