Bone-crunching action triumphs over story and, uh, character development.
The Protector
Vengeance Knows No Mercy.
2005 · 1h 45m · R
Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Prachya Pinkaew
Overview
A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Pretty tough to sit through.
Exactly like an elephant, mostly slow and lumbering -- but with great menacing charges of excitement.
Jaa's ingratiatingly ridiculous Protector delivers a steady stream of cheap B-movie thrills, plus two positive messages for young people: Be nice to animals, and when in doubt, always aim for the tendons.
It's silly, at times laughable, sure, but Jaa has a reckless, bone-cracking grace that transcends the film's triviality. For fight fans, he's worth the price of admission.
More films
Rush Hour (1998)
Action · Comedy · Crime · PG-13
When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.
- Runtime
- 1h 37m
- Director
- Brett Ratner
- Cast
- Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Ken Leung
Ong-Bak (2003)
Action · Crime · R
When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
- Runtime
- 1h 45m
- Director
- Prachya Pinkaew
- Cast
- Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol
Unleashed (2005)
Action · Crime · R
Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs, where Danny is the main contender. When Bart's crew is in a car accident, Danny escapes and meets a blind, kindhearted piano tuner who ta...
- Runtime
- 1h 43m
- Director
- Louis Leterrier
- Cast
- Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins
Fist of Legend (1994)
Action · R
Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hooligans, he gears himself up to save them.
- Runtime
- 1h 43m
- Director
- Gordon Chan
- Cast
- Jet Li, Shinobu Nakayama, Chin Siu-Ho
The Tunnel (2001)
Drama · Thriller · N/A
Inspired by true events, Olympic swimmer Harry Melchior defects from East Germany in the 1960s and hatches a daring plot to help his sister and others flee East Berlin through a 145-yard underground tunnel.
- Runtime
- 2h 30m
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz, Sebastian Koch
Dresden (2006)
Drama · History · War · N/A
At a Dresden hospital in 1945, nurse Anna Mauth (Felicitas Woll) cares for badly injured British pilot Robert Newman (John Light), whom Anna believes to be a German deserter. As Allied forces close in, Anna grows close to Robert despite her engagement to Dr. Alexander Wenninger (Benjamin Sadler). The gripping historical romance won a 2...
- Runtime
- 3h
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Felicitas Woll, John Light, Benjamin Sadler
Mogadischu (2008)
History · TV Movie · Thriller
The incredible true story of Lufthansa Flight 181, which was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in October of 1977, and the noble efforts of stewardess Gabriele Dillmann (Nadja Uhl) to ensure the safety of the terrified passengers throughout the harrowing ordeal. When terrorists sympathetic to the cause of th...
- Runtime
- 1h 48m
After the Truth (1999)
Crime · Drama · Thriller · N/A
Famous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele — the 'Death Angel of Auschwitz', who killed more than 300.000 people — emerges from his hideout in Argentina to Germany as a 87-year-old man, and must stand for his crimes in court. The young solicitor Peter Rohm is assigned to defend him, but Rohm himself — an expert on Mengele and his crimes — feels ...
- Runtime
- 2h 8m
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Götz George, Kai Wiesinger, Karoline Eichhorn











Comments
Talk about the film with other members