It's time to share the best of the best in Philippine action movies! After writing about my favorite Hollywood action film now you will know why On The Job is at the top of the Pinoy action movie genre! ❤
Have you ever heard of it before? No? Well it got a 2 minute standing ovation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Must mean even foreigners know a great Filipino film when they see one eh?
Screenshot of Wikipedia article about On The Job
Major Cast Members of On The Job
It's actually an all star cast film. Veteran, well known and newbie actors are all here. But of course I will only include the main stars in the story.
Joel Torre plays Mario "Tatang" Maghari
An old prison inmate who gets hired to do jobs outside of jail.
Joey Marquez plays SPO1 Sgt. Joaquin Acosta
A high ranking police officer who partners with a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent to catch the inmates and everyone involved with their crimes.
Gerald Anderson plays Daniel Benitez
A young prison inmate under the tutelage of Tatang.
Piolo Pascual plays Francis Coronel, Jr.
An NBI agent who investigates and goes after the inmates and partners with a police officer on the case.
Synopsis
On IMDb the summary goes like this:
Inspired by a real-life scandal in which prison inmates are temporarily released from prison to work as contract killers on behalf of politicians and high ranking military officials.
Trailers
To give you an idea of what On The Job is about, watch these trailers. This one is the Western version trailer w/ English subtitle which was used to promote it abroad:
And here's the original Filipino trailer w/c better showcases the Filipino heart and culture:
What Makes On The Job (OTJ) the Best Pinoy Action Movie of All Time?
Well I'll call it as it is. Haha. Nobody can tell me there's a greater Pinoy action film out there than OTJ. Others are merely mediocre even during their time. Of course I've also watched older Pinoy action movies from the '80s and '90s. Am not much of a fan but nothing beats the full package of OTJ.
It's got the best storyline, character development, cinematography, set and props design, oh even the acting is superb! Wow. Can't find anything else that has all of that in one Pinoy film. Basically it's a crime drama thriller but of course it has all the gun shooting and people chasing scenes too! Oh the suspense.
Screenshot from the OTJ HBO Go trailer
It is dark and seems more like a foreign film but made in the Philippines by Filipinos. That's how good the quality and level of production is. Why not when it had more than a million dollar budget. It deserves the recognition it is getting even up to now because they had enough resources to produce a film like no other.
Aside from having a gut wrenching ending the thrill and excitement while watching it is really something else! Kudos to the director (Erik Matti) and scriptwriters (Matti & Michiko Yamamoto). They really did a good job with this film. It was a sleeper hit though but hey it's already one of the top quality Pinoy movies known internationally. Haha.
I should elaborate but it's better if you watch it and see it for yourself. Don't read the reviews yet until you watch it if you haven't yet. Of course don't expect too much fantastical explosions and all that either but just base it on the trailers first then the synopsis second.
Screenshot from the OTJ trailer
Anyway, OTJ doesn't have any catchy soundtrack/song though. Doesn't matter because all the rest will make you dumbfounded. 😮 For real. That twist near the end. Whoa. Even the action sequences alone was so fresh and new to my eyes. Haha. Who knew Pinoy action films could be like that! Only Erik Matti did it the right way. 👍👍👍
The storyline is so real, the acting so truthful that it can raise your ire while watching it. I mean, it's based on someone's real experience but it isn't far fetched either! If you live here in the Philippines I'm telling you, with the current political situation right now you'll get more irate when you realize the reality that OTJ is showing us.
I kinda wish I watched this in a theater because of how good it is. It's really so great that if I can see it on the big screen now I would definitely pay for it instead of Spiderman: No Way Home. 😂 Seriously. (Can't stand watching the latter. Only 30 mins in and I'm like, NEXT! 😆 Good thing I never attempted to even buy a movie ticket.)
Unfortunately I was only able to watch OTJ online. Not sure if it's still available on Netflix in other countries but locally it isn't (as of last year). I think it's now in HBO but you should check to make sure. Or... wait... Read on below. Haha.
Screenshot from the OTJ HBO Go trailer
The Good News - OTJ: The Missing 8 and the OTJ Series
Upon checking further online, you will see there is a second movie called OTJ: The Missing 8. I wasn't able to watch this when it was released last year because, hello there's a pandemic. (Anyway maybe I will watch it when I have the time.)
Here's the trailer for the second movie:
Several years ago (2016) they released a trailer for an OTJ series meant for HOOQ but then it didn't materialize at all. Been waiting for it since forever but still nothing. It featured a young female lead actress too. Apparently they decided to make a series and a second movie instead!
The best part of it all is the first and second part of this film is finally on HBO Go (since Sept 2021). It's still called On The Job but it has become a 6 part miniseries with the first two episodes being the re-edited first movie. This means there are never before seen scenes included! Yayyy!!! 😃😃😃
Screenshot from the OTJ HBO Go trailer
Hey they even got HBO involved to create a series! Awesome right? 😱😃 Sounds confusing? Well this Spot PH article sums it up the best way:
HBO Go has the complete, expanded, definitely more volatile six-part On the Job series. The first two episodes are a longer version of the original 2013 film while the last four episodes are a longer version of the 2021 sequel film.
Are you also excited to watch the series? I haven't seen it yet so I am looking forward to watching it and chill. 😆 Oh my gosh I am so gonna watch it ASAP! Hahaha. Here's the HBO Go trailer for the series:
Does it look intriguing enough for you? For me it is!!! 😃 Instant cult classic FTW!
Anyway if I was to rate the first movie, I'd give it an 11/10! 😆 Hey of course it's not perfect but it's still awesome and highly recommended. ❤
Now that you know all about it, will you be watching the series or the movies or all of it? 😃
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