starring: Nappon Gomarachun, Dan Chupong

written and directed by: Panna Rittikrai

the plot: A humanitarian trip to a rural Thai village by a coalition of Thailand's finest national athletes is interrupted most unceremoniously by a pack of bloodthirsty terrorists who take the place hostage and point a small nuke at Bangkok. Their goal is to ensure the release of evil drug lord General Yang (Gomarachun) who was recently captured by one of Thailand's invincible super-cops (Chupong). Too bad they never counted on that very same cop being in the captive village among the humanitarian aid workers, as well as numerous martial artists and one of Thailand's greatest living Thai boxers. It'll take the collective athletic prowess of the athletes, a flurry of knees and elbows, an endless hail of bullets and the enduring national pride of the Thai people to turn the tables on General Yang's army and prevent a nuclear missile from vaporizing Bangkok.

why it's good: Labeling "Born to Fight" a good movie in the traditional sense is just plain dishonest. It is, in fact, quite shallow, as most Thai action movies tend to be—a cheap excuse to produce endless, thrilling, death-defying fight and stunt scenes. At its core, "Born to Fight" is your average "Die Hard" rip-off, but what makes it so much fun is the staggering volume of excessive mayhem on display. Thai action movies are often way over the top, but this one goes above and beyond in terms of its shocking violence and ridiculous innovations for dispatching bad guys. If our hero isn't killing two terrorists with one bullet, a soccer star is bending it like Beckham to knock out a machine gunner with a soccer ball. A gymnast rescues a baby from a burning hut and then does a series of complex maneuvers on a set of conveniently placed parallel bars. "Born to Fight" is a 90-minute action film with 10 minutes dedicated to plot and 80 minutes dedicated to extended action sequences. The final hour of the film is one long fight scene, and it's quite amazing. Still not sold? They blow up not one but two rural villages.

why you should own it: "Born to Fight" requires repeated viewings and is the kind of movie you're going to want to lend out or show your friends at parties. With the exception of one clumsy Kali stick fight, every battle is full-contact and brutal. Each stunt looks like it hurt a lot, including many near-miss deadly collisions involving a stunt man's head and the wheels of a moving vehicle. It's available on DVD from Dragon Dynasty, who assures you: no wires, no stunt doubles, no CGI. "Born to Fight" is the perfect introduction to the zany world of Thai action movies.