CompleteMartialArts.com - Mercury Man (2006) Uncut & Unedited
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Our Price: $18.72
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: DVD
EAN: 8809086115958
Feature: Dolby Digital 5.1 Thai Audio
Region Code: 0
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Features
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Dolby Digital 5.1 Thai Audio
Uncut & Unedited
From the Creator's Of ONG BAK
Optional English Subtitles
Regon 0 NTSC Format
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Editorial Reviews:
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Sharn, a firefighter, is accidentally granted an unnatural superpower from holy objects called leklai. Realizing both of the postive and negative sid of this power , Shern tries to keep its in balance and in the mix with his won blood . At the same time , he is hunted by the mafai group who wants to take back this superpower.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "The Mercury Man" Answer to "Spider-Man" from Thailand
Comment: Those who are looking for "Ong-Bak"-style bone-crunching action film should stay away from "The Mercury Man," a kind of answer to "Spider-Man" from Thai film industry. I have recently seen several great Thai films (original "Shutter" was one of them) and the producers of "The Mercury Man" happen to be Prachya Pinkaew and Somsak Techaratanaprasert, producers of "Ong-Bak" and "Tom yum goong" aka "The Protector," and the former has also directed them. Unfortunately "The Mercury Man" turned out a hodge-podge of several superhero films and so-so martial arts action genre.
Because of a Tibetan magical amulet his body has accidentally taken in, Chan (model-turned-actor Wasan Khantaau) a lonely firefighter, burning with a sense of justice, is given the powers of superhero The Mercury Man. Chan/The Mercury Man and Punima, amulet's guardian/his accidental sidekick confront a group of terrorists trying to attack American citizens and companies in Thailand.
Maybe I shouldn't complain of the cheesy special effects, the thin and confusing plot or too blatant references to "Spider-Man." Quite honestly I don't care if they are weak as long as the film delivers the goods. Sadly "The Mercury Man" doesn't know what to deliver. It is humorless; characters are cardboard and actions are just a pale carbon copy of better action films, damaged by shoddy editing and bad lighting. It is obvious that the leading actor cannot really do actions - that is fine - but when the camera fails to show the jobs of the stunt people, it is a problem.
But perhaps what is more annoying is that after all we are not interested in the titular superhero. We don't know (and the film doesn't show) what this new hero can really do except some tricks using ... er ... mercury (why not). And that is not interesting at all. He wants to prevent the terrorists' plot, that is obvious, but he doesn't show exactly how he can stop it. The film producers need an idea or two to set this hero apart from other numerous heroes/heroines we already know.
Tony Jaa and his films have reminded us that the old-fashioned, special effects-free actions are not dead. "The Mercury Man" reminds us of the fact "Spider-Man" films are after all based on well-drawn characters we can relate to, something this film really needs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "He's not Jackie Chan!?"
Comment: As if firefighters weren't heroic enough, out of Thailand comes this 2006 superhero film MERCURY MAN, about a reckless and headstrong firefighter named Sharn (Wasan Khantaau) who becomes a costumed crimefighter. His time in spandex begins when he is stabbed by a sacred Tibetan amulet formed of an otherworldy substance, a shard of which then melts and seeps into his bloodstream, this granting him his fantastic stuff. But now a hardcore gang of terrorists, led by Osama bin Ali (*wink*), is after him for that absorbed piece of amulet. But Osama also has other things on his plate. He deploys his suicide bombers and follows thru on his master plan, which culminates with a missile armed with a piece of the sacred amulet and then launched at an American ship. He's a busy little terrorist.
Good thing for our fledgling superhero, then, that this pretty temple girl, the guardian of the ancient amulet, shows up to help Sharn control his powers. Sharn now has to come to grips with his body temperature shooting way, way the hell up whenever he feels strong emotions, with his clothes then bursting into flames. There's also a befuddling subplot involving a boy with psionic powers. Oh, and there's more than one amulet; there's the sun amulet (the one which imbeds itself in Charn) and its companion, the moon amulet. The moon amulet does become relevant in the plot later on.
It doesn't take too long before Sharn is sporting tight-fitting duds, patrolling the city, and ruining the dreams of hardworking felons (and rampaging elephants) in Thailand. Mercury Man learns that he has awesome magnetic powers, is imbued with great energy, and has super strength and impenetrable skin. Of course, this being Thailand, Sharn already had martial arts skillz, this being part of his firefighting training regimen. This bodes well for Sharn since the bad guys do find a way to nullify his superpowers. This leaves us with Mercury Man engaging in some meaty, crunching, up-close-and-personal knee-drops and elbow strikes, just the way we bloodthirsty non-pacifists prefer. However, note that these same moves have been done better in ONG-BAK and TOM-YUM-GOONG. And, since every superhero needs a super nemesis, Mercury Man ends up with this sexy villainess who, late in the game, transforms into a deadly ice-wielding bee-yotch.
Yes, the CG is less than cutting edge; at times, the CG looks simply cheesy. And some of the wirework look dubious, the end result quite unconvincing. But, obviously, MERCURY MAN isn't a big-budget Hollywood picture, so, expections should've been lowered from the get-go anyway. It is what it is. I didn't mind it too much, but then I knew what I was getting into.
We won't mention the acting, okay? One serious beef I have, though, is the dude who played the big bad. Not only does he not look like a Middle-Easterner, but his English is so bad I had to go with the sub-titles. I'm just sayin'.
Overall, MERCURY MAN isn't bad. I checked this out mostly because it's the same folks who made Ong-Bak - The Thai Warrior and TOM-YUM-GOONG (aka The Protector (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)), so I was hoping for some brutal martial arts treats, which I did get. As a bonus, we also get Parinya "Nong Toom" Kiatbusaba, the real-life "Beautiful Boxer" herself (see Beautiful Boxer). Here she plays Sharn's transsexual sibling and gets to show off some of her kickboxing prowess.
So, I say, if you find yourself with some down time and in a silly yet violent mood, throw this one in the player.
Lastly, dug the huge spray-painted "Hi, Spidy" sign.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Think Ong-Bak meets Spider-Man
Comment: Who said that you have to be Superman, Batman, or even Spider-Man to have a good superhero flick? Mercury Man is a movie made in Thailand that overshot my expectations. The story did start out a little slow, but picks up quickly. A small piece of info about the movie is that there are 2 amulets, one is the Sun amulet, the other is the Moon amulet. Our hero feels he is doing the right thing when he helps a police official. He doesn't know that the official is corrupt and is stabbed in the heart with the Sun amulet.
He acquires these extreme super powers. He kinda looks like Venom with different designs on is body. His suit was made by his tranny brother. Anyway, there is this kid that has the moon amulet in his body and he abuses his powers.
One of the reviewers said that the choreography was bad. He must have closed his eyes through the movie, especially the fight that took place in the nightclub. The bad guys build this device that took the heros' powers away from him. They must have forgot that this guy could fight.
You would have to see it to believe it. But don't listen to these guys with all of the negativity about the film. I mean can you really believe it took these two guys 2 hours to realize that they didn't like this movie, something must have caught their eye. Anyway check the movie out for yourself, you'll love it or you'll hate it.
8.7/10
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