BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT (Thailand, 2011)
Directed by: Panna Rittikrai, Morakot Kaewthanee
Starring: Chatchapol Kulsiriwoottichai, Sarawoot Kumsorn, Speedy Arnold, Sorapong Chatree

You might look at the trailer for this movie and say, "What?  Another Thai action movie where a bunch of fearless performers risk death for my enjoyment?  Boooooring." But BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT pushes its brief to such dizzying heights of physical peril that even the most jaded moviegoer will be a nervous wreck by the time it ends.  "Did that guy just fall 50 feet onto concrete? Did that dude just get set on fire? When are they going to put him out? Did those guys just perform a fight scene underneath moving truck?!"  Yes. Yes, they did, and we haven't even gotten to the part where a bunch of dudes fight each other with motorcycles.

Clearly, this is why movies were invented.

The demented lovechild of Morakot Kaewthanee (writer of 2004's blitzkrieg, martial arts jam film Born to Fight) and Panna Rittikrai (daddy of modern Thai action cinema, and mentor of sometime-monk Tony Jaa), BKO tells the touching story of a group of aspiring stuntmen who can't wait to go Hollywood. Unfortunately, the world has other plans. Plans like drugging them, dropping them into a warehouse populated by psychotic murderers and betting on the outcome for fun. It's The Most Dangerous Game with a healthy side of head trauma as these intrepid scrappers kick their way to freedom one death-car, one axe-wielding maniac, one high-kicking transvestite at a time. Rittikrai and Kaewthanee didn't bother to cast any actors in this, instead they turned over the movie to a dirty dozen of the best stuntmen and women in Thailand, the ones who never get their names on the posters.  Together they've created a jaw-dropping monument to these rare talents, and when the bruised, battered cast beams at the camera during the outtakes, it's obvious why: this time, they're the stars.