Dynamite Warrior

Plot

The story is set in 1890s Siam. Siang (Dan Chupong) is a young Muay Thai warrior and rocketry expert who steals back water buffalo taken from poor Isan farmers by unscrupulous cattle raiders. He is searching for a man with a tattoo who killed his parents.

A local nobleman, Lord Waeng (Phutiphong Sriwat), wants to create a market for his steam tractors, so he hires a hulking convict, "The Thief" (Somdet Kaewleu), to kill all the cattle traders and round up all the water buffalo for slaughter, depriving farmers of the draft animals they need to cultivate rice. Lord Waeng's men are eventually pitted against Nai Hoi Sing (Samart Payakaroon), a cattle trader with supernatural martial arts powers and a tattoo on his chest. The tattoo gets Siang's attention, and while the Thief is attempting to steal Sing's cattle herd, Siang briefly confronts Sing but is repelled.

Lord Waeng consults the Black Wizard (Panna Ritikrai), who was once cursed by Sing so that he cannot withstand sunlight, to find a way to defeat Sing. The Black Wizard says the only way to reverse his spells is to use the menstrual blood of a virgin – the Black Wizard's daughter, E'Sao (Kanyaphak Suwankut).

Production

The film's working title was Tabunfire, but was renamed Khon Fai Bin by Sahamongkol Film International chief executive Somsak Techaratanaprasert who wanted the film's name to be similar to the Thai title for Chen Kaige's The Promise, which was Khon Ma Bin (literally "flying horseman"). Khon fai bin means "flying man of fire". Khon is also spelled with the obsolete character ฅ, presumably still in use at the time of the action, but since replaced by ค.

The English title underwent a change as well, to Dynamite Warrior, as the film was sold to Magnolia Pictures, an American distributor.

In Thailand, the English title has been listed as Fire Warriors.

The film was made with an all-Isan cast and crew, filming for several months in a small village in Phu Wiang District, Khon Kaen Province. "With over a hundred buffalo in the village, it provided the perfect backdrop for the movie," star Dan Chupong said in an interview.