When you look at Thai Martial Arts movies, you know what to expect in almost every films... Excellent brutal fight scenes, extremely Craptastic unoriginal storyline. I have watch almost everything when it comes to the 90s American martial arts industry, so i had to look elsewhere for entertaining. I must say American flicks are not very original either, but i love the classic formula of "get beaten down by the bad guy, train, come back" or the other famous formula of "get revenge for your brother/friend's murder" But when it comes to Thai movies, its almost always about some artifact of a small village that got stolen and our hero has to go after it. Or sometimes its even worse... It started with Tony Jaa, and i did love Ong Bak and The protector for there awesome fights, but after that i saw many movies with the same formula and lesser fight scenes.But with Cheiya, this is not the case at all. For once i saw a Thai movie that made me felt something, like those Korean or Japanese movies, in the vain of Fighter in the Wind.This movie tells the story of 3 boys went to the same place by extremely different roads. I got to admit some parts seem a bit exaggerated and this movie is not perfect, but its extremely interesting, i loved following the story, i loved the characters, and i hope future Thai movies will be in that style. The whole "artifact stolen" has got very old...

Being an extreme Muay Thai fan, I decided to see this film. Expecting jaw dropping action, I came into the movie with a somewhat a little less than satisfied feel to it... but being a big MOVIE fan... I came to see that even if this isn't what some come to expect (An action packed fighting movie with a bunch of stunts), it came to a great example of traditional Muay Thai style and a GREAT and BEAUTIFUL story. I do not wish to go into detail, but if you are looking for an overall good movie with more to offer than just some cool moves, definitely check this out. With a little patience, you will come into the movie wondering, but in the end it will all come into picture.

After I saw the commercial of this movie, I was expecting a solid Muay Thai action movie like those from Tony Ja. But I am totally wrong, there are only very limited action scenes. And all the fighting are composed with very short cuts which I personally dislike. I enjoy more median or long cuts that really show off the Marital Artist's talent like those you saw in Tony Ja or Bruce Lee's movies. OK, despite the wrong reception from the commercial, let's view it as a story telling movie. 3 bothers seek their dreams and went to 2 different directions... the plot is OK (not bad) for an action movie, but the director's story telling is just as awful as it could be. That guy certainly don't know where needs emphasizing and where should save the cuts. All those long boring scenes are unbearable to watch. Please don't waste your money and time. I certainly regret I did.

At first, I thought this film was connected around martial action with some revenge among protagonists in its usual kind. However, after having finished watching it, this film is far beyond my expectation for this kind of film I have seen in years since I find my accessibility to this film quite unique.Although sequences of "Chaiya" boxing are well-choreographed and living up to acrobatic movement by its standard type of fighting, its plot is also satisfactory with subtle and multi-layered storyline, that makes some predictable ending to be easily ignored. The drama in this film, which depicts the lives of three male friends since beginning till the finale, is not that much saturated, but full of fluidity, instead. And that's the reason why the storyline emotionally affects and paves the good way for little twist, at the end, of why each protagonist has later shattered their friendship. Well-woven mixture between drama and martial bout definitely needs laurel. Additionally, besides the director sparking off his promising career, the performances, by many leading actors and supporting actresses, also do a commendable job. At last, cinematography, back to old-time Bangkok metropolis, is yet a joy to watch.Hope, when this film is globally screened, the foreign audience will see how magnificent it is. Highly recommended for this little gem.