Siyama (2008) User Reviews

A Disappointing Fantasy-Action Film

[Uriah43 · 3/10 · 9 September 2023]

This film essentially begins in 1766 with a sizeable army from Burma invading Siam and heading straight for the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya. It's during this time that a sizeable portion of the army inadvertently gets separated from the main body and, realizing that they are needed for the final assault on Ayutthaya, their leader "Yuntra" (Hassapon Konsib) quickly selects the most feasible route available to him--and the only thing standing in his way is the small village of Siyama. Unsurprisingly, given the mountainous geography of this particular area, it doesn't take long for the people of Siyama to learn that this specific portion of the Burmese army is headed directly for them. Yet rather than simply surrender to this massive invading force, the leader of the village decides to fortify the town and defend it to the death. It's at this point that the scene then shifts to present-day Thailand where two young women named "Ana" (Thitima Maliwan) and "Gib" (Nattanun Jantarawetch) along with their male companion "Boat" (Bawriboon Chanreuang) are driving in a car through that particular area, when they are magically transported back in time to that specific event in history. Needless to say, their arrival causes great consternation to the men fighting under Yantra and, being the savage warriors that they are, they immediately attack the car with their spears and arrows. Equally bewildered by all of this, Ana presses down on the accelerator and drives in the only available direction left open to them--straight for the village of Siyama. Naturally, being a peaceful people--and recognizing that these strangers are under attack by the same enemy--the villagers quickly allow them to enter their village. What they don't realize, however, is just how important these three people will be for the future of their nation. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, after reading a quick synopsis, I was quite intrigued by this film and looked forward to watching it. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed after the first 30 minutes or so as it became quite apparent that this was not a film to be taken seriously. For starters, although visitors from the future could have certainly been useful to a certain extent, other than the medical knowledge at Ana's disposal, none of them possessed any skills that could have been applied to readily alter the situation at hand. And even then, considering the extremely basic equipment and medicine available to her, Ana's skills would have been minimal at best. At least, in the short term. For example, Ana might have been able to save the life of a person shot in the chest with an arrow. Maybe. But to simply patch him up, so that he can engage in full combat within a day or two, is stretching things way out of proportion. Likewise, not even someone as skilled as Thomas Edison could have invented as many useful weapons as Boat managed to do within just two weeks. Be that as it may, while I applaud the effort, this wasn't a movie that I particularly enjoyed, and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

nice little fantasy flick worth the entire running time of 100 minutes

[Reiko_95 · 8/10 · 18 May 2008]

the story evolves around 3 teens that are destined to travel back in time to save a village from a ruthless invader Ong Mien which will stop at nothing to accomplish his miserable goal. The surprise comes after about 20 minutes into the movie, when we see the actual time travelling of these teens as their car makes a spectacular touch-down in the middle of the on-going battle between the siyama villagers trying to defend their village and the ruthless invader (not much of an invader but you will see that as you watch the movie)as their enemy. The special effects are descent, don't expect anything fancy, but the story of the film as well as pretty nice shots the camera caught surely makes up for their fanciness. Also the choreography (the fight scenes) are well done. Overall the movie is made up of some 75 % action pretty well done in terms of choreography (not the kind that keeps you on the edge of your seat, for mostly it is predictable) but still on a B/B- level, some 3 % romance and the rest counts for the story's introduction and of course, the end of the movie which is quite nice.There is one moment in the film where you might expect one thing to happen but due to certain....circumstances the entire story takes on a whole different turn which helps in the outcome of the picture. For obvious reasons I will not reveal what that moment is. Watch the movie and you will see what I mean. I rate this picture an 8/10 mostly because of the overall story and the performances of the characters which i didn't find as being overly-done. They kept true to their roles and took them heartedly.

Enjoy everyone.