Discover the Top 7 Must-Watch Martial Arts Movies Starring Superstar Tony Jaa

1. The Hunt for the Sacred Statue - Ong Bak 1: The Muay Thai Warrior (2003)

Ong Bak is hailed as the pinnacle of Thai martial arts cinema, revolving around the story of a sacred Buddha head stolen from a village shrine called Ong Bak by a gang of criminals. Ting, a humble villager, volunteers to journey to the city to retrieve the stolen relic. Hindered by the futile assistance of a fellow villager, Ting finds himself drawn into illegal underground fights. With his simple and honest nature, Ting throws himself into these bouts in the hopes of reclaiming the revered artifact awaited by the entire village. Ong Bak marks the emergence of action star Tony Jaa. In preparation for the film, he dedicated four years to mastering the art of Muay Boran, the precursor to modern Muay Thai. Throughout the filming process, he refrained from using stunt doubles, and even the fight scenes were devoid of special effects or any supportive equipment. This allowed Tony Jaa to showcase the essence of Thai cinema in its purest form on screen. Following the success of Ong Bak in 2003, subsequent installments were released in 2008 and 2010. To this day, it is considered the finest work of Tony Jaa individually and Thai cinema as a whole.

Kill Zone 2 is a renowned Hong Kong film directed by Trinh Bao Thuy, produced by Donnie Yen. The film revolves around 4 main characters: Seven Deadly Sins (Aaron Kwok), Smackdown King (Tony Jaa), Greed Monster (Louis Koo), and Dance of Death (Andy Lau). Each character, each story with different circumstances, if Seven Deadly Sins is the one who can control life, then Smackdown King has to sink into injustice. Meanwhile, Greed Monster is blinded by wealth, at this time only Dance of Death has a heroic heart, righteousness, always protecting and sheltering the weak.

Taking the theme of kidnapping, human trafficking for organ harvesting by transnational criminal organizations, Kill Zone 2 has brought a diverse character system, creating more knots for the film than the first part.

The script rich in current affairs combined with thrilling chase scenes between good and evil, especially the harmonious acting ability of the talented cast, Kill Zone 2 has achieved great success and received the love of the audience.

IMDb: 6.7/10

The Guardian is a Thai action film starring the famous actor Tony Jaa. The film revolves around the life of Kham (Tony Jaa) and his family along with the baby elephant he raised. Particularly, it is not a normal breed but a special one used to protect the king.

Suddenly one day, Kham's elephant is accidentally captured by an international Mafia gang while they are on a campaign to hunt for elephant tusks. At this point, Kham's beloved elephant has been taken to Sydney, a place thousands of miles away from his homeland.

The only way Kham can save his beloved animal is to embark on a journey to a strange country. This is an extremely difficult task, and he may even have to risk his own life when confronting the thugs in that Mafia gang. The journey to rescue the elephant begins here.

Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Starring: Tony Jaa, Nathan Jones, Xing Jin,...
IMDb: 7.1/10

Skin Trade revolves around the battle between international human traffickers and the police. After his family is murdered, Nick Cassidy - a detective from New Jersey - travels to Bangkok, Thailand to collaborate with Tony Vitayakui - a Thai detective - to take down a criminal syndicate specializing in scamming, trafficking women across borders. The journey is not easy because Vitor Dragovic - the leader of that syndicate - is cunning, scheming, ruthless, and extremely greedy.

Lost in Bangkok, Nick must face intense pursuit and cowardly betrayal from his colleagues. Although there are continuous thrilling chase scenes, the fight scenes are constructed normally, not impressive even though he has the image of a muscular American hero. Meanwhile, the Thai martial arts scenes are not really well described in the film. The film is considered to have a decent plot, not too much drama.

IMDb: 5.6/10

The Quest for the Buddha Statue 2 - Ong Bak 2: The Dragon is Born takes viewers back to the 15th century in Thailand with the main character, Tien. Born into a noble bloodline, Tien was not trained in martial arts by his father from a young age; instead, he was sent to a traditional Khon dance class. Unfortunately, his whole family was murdered by enemies. Witnessing the deaths of both his father and mother made Tien the target of a mysterious group of assailants.

During his journey, Tien even became enslaved, but later he was rescued by Chernung, the leader of the notorious Garuda Wing Cliff gang of thieves. Recognizing Tien's rare talent, Chernung and other masters in the village decided to pass on all their martial arts skills to Tien, making him Chernung's successor and a skilled leader.

Still haunted by the loss of his parents years ago, Tien decides to return to seek revenge for his family. However, he discovers a cruel truth. In part 2, Ong Bak still showcases Tony's masterful skills, but there have been many changes in the fighting style. While Muay Thai was extensively explored from start to finish in part 1, in Ong Bak 2, he utilizes a variety of martial arts including Tai Chi, Shaolin Kung Fu, Japanese sword fighting, wrestling, Taekwondo, three-section staff, and even Persian martial arts, as well as various illusions and explosives.

IMDb: 6.2/10

In the second installment of The Guardian, audiences witness for the first time the combination of Tony Jaa and Jeeja Yanin, a beautiful and skilled martial artist. She is also one of the prominent faces in the Thai martial arts film industry.

The film begins after the death of the elephant camp owner Boss Suchart, where the murderers deliberately set up a fake scene to frame Kham (Tony Jaa) when he unexpectedly appears at the crime scene. Faced with a police manhunt, he is forced to flee.

Meanwhile, the twin nieces Ping Ping and Xu Xinh also begin to seek revenge for the tragic death of their unfortunate uncle.

Throughout the escape from both the police and various factions, Kham must simultaneously perform multiple tasks including searching for Boss Suchart's missing elephant or getting involved in an underground tournament organized by the boss LC. At this point, those known as LC's fighters have been tasked with killing Kham.

IMDb: 5.2/10

Triple Threat is a highly anticipated action-martial arts film featuring world-renowned stars such as Tony Jaa, Scott Adkins, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen… Especially, the film also gathers top-notch Western action stars like Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, and UFC champion Michael Bisping. This is also a rare collaboration between Muay Thai star Tony Jaa and Yuri Boyka Scott Adkins.

Triple Threat, also known as The Trio Assassins, The Trio Guardians, is a collaboration between Thailand, the United States, and China. The film tells the story of three guys named Payu (Tony Jaa), Jaka (Iko Uwais), and Long Fei (Tiger Chen), who become bodyguards for the daughter of a famous billionaire. Their main task is to protect her from notorious assassins hired by a criminal gang. Meanwhile, assassin Collin (played by Scott Adkins) is the leader of a ruthless, brutal, and vicious criminal gang.

IMDb: 5.6/10