Bang Rajan

The vigorous Bang Rajan moves with a sure sense of direction and authority to its major culminating battle, a singularly savage and wrenching encounter that for all its bloodshed is never exploitative and concludes the film on a resounding note of tragic grandeur.

There's extreme brutality, gore and violence, scads of severed body parts and oceans of squirting blood, as the brave -- and buffed -- people of Bang Rajan fight to the death.

As hokey as "Braveheart" and yet much more apocalyptic, Thanit Jitnukul's muscular jungle bloodbath outdoes Hollywood's recent efforts at combat ultra-realism.

It's easy to see why this violent, thrilling tale broke all box-office records in Thailand: Not only does it stir a sense of deep national pride, but Thanit delivers the goods when it comes to action.

Far too bloody for the art house crowd and too leisurely paced and obscure for more general audiences.

Choppy, cheesy historical war epic really has only a couple of things going for it, and its biggest asset remains the heroic popular legend that inspired its making.

It becomes, after a while, little more than a mind-numbing bloodbath.