Bang is a Thai action picture from the director/cinematographer known as Kaos (Wych Kaosayananda). It is a routine shoot-’em-up (hitman develops a conscience), but there are some interesting positives, so I’ll focus on those:
Kaos has never made a respected movie, but I swear the man has talent. This film looks great. The location shots are well-chosen and gorgeous, the action scenes are always comprehensible, and the technical quality of the photography is superb.
Kaos must drive his investors crazy. I respect the lush production values, but he’s like the Johnny Larue of real directors. He filmed a nighttime shot of Bang and his girlfriend making love in a transparent cabin on the very top of the Asiatique ferris wheel in Bangkok, as shot FROM ABOVE. I assume that he had to pay the ride operators to assure that the actors would be in the right cabin at the right time for a long enough time, and filmed the shot from a helicopter. (One commenter noted that the shot was probably filmed by a drone. That seems to make sense.) The scene lasts only a few seconds, the actors are barely visible, and the scene is totally unnecessary to the plot. It’s just there because he thought it would be cool. Remember when Johnny Larue just had to have his expensive crane shot in Polynesiantown? Well, Kaos did him one better. (And he was right. It is cool. It’s an impressive scene, with the ride lit up like a Christmas tree at night, and all of nighttime Bangkok as a backdrop! See below.)
The co-star of the film is Robocop. You could argue that he’s the star because he has the most dialogue – and in two different languages. (Robo, or should I say Professor Robo, is not Italian, but has studied the language and speaks it fluently. He has a Ph.D., and his areas of focus are the history and art of Rome and the Italian Renaissance.) Man, does he look old, but his voice still sounds the same, and he did a good job in an over-the-top part.
There is one clever, albeit totally preposterous, plot twist in the middle of the film. SPOILER FOLLOWS – hide your eyes until the next paragraph if you want to watch the film (or, of course, if you are one of those whiny snowflakes who feel obligated to complain about spoilers when they have no intention of watching the film). After the hitman develops a conscience, he keeps killing, or so his boss thinks, and so we think until the twist is revealed. He has faked all the killings and hidden the “victims” and their families in an abandoned pseudo-Venice theme park outside of Bangkok. (Such an attraction actually exists, but is not as pictured here.)
There is nudity in three scenes (seen below under “videos”), but Alisa Arunahiran is the only actress credited.
Anastasia Maslova is not listed in the film’s credits, but IMDb does list her as “prostitute.” Assuming that to be correct, she must be the one on your right in the pic below.
I think the IDs may not be correct here. I saw this posted at phun and one of the two women in bed with the thug (big hair) was identified as Anastasia Maslova. The woman in the shower was IDed as Marie Broenner and the actress that plays Bang’s girlfriend is Tristin Mays. If this is Tristin’s nude debut, the distance involved gives her plausible deniability.
Alisa Arunahiran is a former Miss Universe contestant with zero movie credits that I could find.
HTH
PR
My IDs are correct.Well, technically my ID is correct. I only ID’d one women, and that’s definitely her.
The woman in the shower is definitely Alisa Arunahiran. (1) Look at her Facebook page – obviously the same woman. (2) The guy who shoots her calls her by the name “Chariya” before he does so. That’s the name of the character played by Alisa Arunahiran, according to the credits.
Tristin Mays is the woman on the Ferris Wheel, Bang’s girlfriend at the beginning of the film. No nudity that I could see.
Marie Broenner plays Bang’s girlfriend at the end of the film, and is definitely NOT killed in the shower! (She and Bang are alive and together at the end.)
Anastasia Maslova is not credited in the film at all, but is credited on IMDb as “prostitute.” I don’t know where that ID came from, probably somebody’s personal knowledge. I suppose that is her as the curly-haired prostitute. It does look like her.
Interesting post and nice find. Thai actresses are beautiful. Their recent relaxing of censorship should bring more ‘revealing’ scenes to their movies and streaming series. Be great to see. Thanks for posting.
“and he had to have filmed the shot from a helicopter.”
More than likely a drone w/a small HD camera rig on it, movies have been using it for years, he could’ve gotten a hold of something for $1000-5000 (bought, not rented) fairly easily for all ‘crane’ and ‘elevated’ shots.
No reason to pay bigger money for a helicopter, when they could do it cheaper. As a low budget filmmaker, I’m sure he’s familiar with what’s out there.
Good note. Thanks.
In the gunfight clip, I appreciate that not all the shots were on target, like the first shot that hit that one guy in the arm, then second in the chest to kill him.