Suriyothai (2001) depicts the 16th century ruined Kingdom of Ayutthaya, which later became Siam. During this period, there were 2 city states that encompassed Siam (Then Ayothaya and Phitsanulok). This film takes place over a score of years where the Kingdom saw many invasions from the neighboring Hongsawadi (Ancient Burma).
The film features full scale outdoor sets, real temples, throne rooms, ancient palaces, and massive scenes with thousands of extras on camera in a scale not seen since Lawrence of Arabia. It was funded by the Thai royal crown, allowing them access to royal palaces and relics. Francis Ford Coppola later re-edited the film, trimming 3 hours from its runtime, changed its name, added his own name to the title and ruined it. It took 6 years to film. They conscripted 20,000 soldiers to play the extras, used 350 elephants, etc.
This is the never before ripped non-export edition of Suriyothai that I recently bought. I have painstakingly and professionally re-written the entire English subtitle sourced from the export DVD, all 3,000 lines of dialog. Beforehand, the previous hard subtitle packaged with the export DVD was completely botched, with improper grammar, misspellings, mis-translations, and even several scenes without subtitle at all. I worked through the subtitle top to bottom.
No western media has ever reviewed the original Thai cut. They have only seen Coppola’s 2 hour cut. I have contacted Arrow, Kino Lorber, Criterion, and just about everyone else about remastering this film in its full 5-hour long glory.
>DOWNLOAD
https://archive.org/details/suriyothai-2001-dvd-remux-dts-mpeg-2
>PREVIEW(s):
https://www.viddler.com/A2xadH
https://www.viddler.com/EDsp58
Note: Not 1:1 historically accurate. Some of the Portuguese armor the Thai lords wear is certainly inaccurate. Everything else is fine, and a great preservation of an otherwise dead culture. Almost all soldiers other than lords don't wear armor and are half naked, for instance.
The film features full scale outdoor sets, real temples, throne rooms, ancient palaces, and massive scenes with thousands of extras on camera in a scale not seen since Lawrence of Arabia. It was funded by the Thai royal crown, allowing them access to royal palaces and relics. Francis Ford Coppola later re-edited the film, trimming 3 hours from its runtime, changed its name, added his own name to the title and ruined it. It took 6 years to film. They conscripted 20,000 soldiers to play the extras, used 350 elephants, etc.
This is the never before ripped non-export edition of Suriyothai that I recently bought. I have painstakingly and professionally re-written the entire English subtitle sourced from the export DVD, all 3,000 lines of dialog. Beforehand, the previous hard subtitle packaged with the export DVD was completely botched, with improper grammar, misspellings, mis-translations, and even several scenes without subtitle at all. I worked through the subtitle top to bottom.
No western media has ever reviewed the original Thai cut. They have only seen Coppola’s 2 hour cut. I have contacted Arrow, Kino Lorber, Criterion, and just about everyone else about remastering this film in its full 5-hour long glory.
>DOWNLOAD
https://archive.org/details/suriyothai-2001-dvd-remux-dts-mpeg-2
>PREVIEW(s):
https://www.viddler.com/A2xadH
https://www.viddler.com/EDsp58
Note: Not 1:1 historically accurate. Some of the Portuguese armor the Thai lords wear is certainly inaccurate. Everything else is fine, and a great preservation of an otherwise dead culture. Almost all soldiers other than lords don't wear armor and are half naked, for instance.
