Sahamongkol Film International

Background
Sahamongkol Film International (บริษัท มงคลภาพยนตร์ จำกัด) is a Thai motion picture production and distribution company. It is the leading movie company in Thailand, ahead of GMM Grammy's GMM Tai Hub, Five Star Production, and RS Film. The company is privately owned and run by its founder and chief executive, Somsak Techaratanaprasert, who is also known as "Sia Jiang". The company's films include the international hit martial arts films, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, Tom-Yum-Goong and Chai Lai, and the Nak animated movie, as well as recent romantic comedy hit drama film First Love. It distributes foreign films (Hong Kong and United States) in Thailand through its Mongkol Major distribution company.

1st Logo (1977)
Nicknames: "Boring Sahamongkol Logo", "The Early Sahamongkol Film"

Logo: On a purple marble (or space) background, we see in yellow with a simple 3D effect, the Sahamongkol name in Thai with the text "Sahamongkolfilm Co., Ltd.", with the words "Presents" in Thai below.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic horn fanfare.

Availability: Only seen on ไอ้ขลุ่ยล่า.

2nd Logo (1978)


Logo: On a blue marble background, a teal box zooms out, as a spade zooms out. As the background changes with a spinning transition into the same color as the box, the company name in Thai and English in red and with a 3D effect appears, with "PRESENTS" below. The spade also gains a red pattern inside it.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant fanfare.

Availability: Rare.

3rd Logo (1980)
Logo: On a space background, the planet Earth zooms in, then, a gold model of Buddha on the Bodhi leaf (the Sahamongkol logo) fading in and zooming in. When the logo stops zooming, the background (along with Earth) changes to a starfield. The logo slides to left. The Thai letters standing for "SAHA MONGKOL FILM", pop in one-by-one, and other Thai letters translated as "PRESENTS" wipe down.

Variant: An English variant has been spotted.

Technique: Live-action with chroma-key, and 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: Silence, followed by electronic morse code-like beeps when "Sahamongkol" pops in and a descending synth chime sounds when "Film" wipes.

Availability: Seen on อีพริ้ง..คนเริงเมือง.

Legacy: Note that during the 1980’s, Thai movies are often recorded in anamorphic format, so the logo (and the rest of the movie) are either cropped or squished.

4th Logo (1984-1987)
Logo: On a black background, a star draws a glowing blue "SM" and flashes. The SM turns into a line then explodes, forming a golden leaf with Buddha sitting on it and sliding to left, making the Thai name of the company, and the words "SAHA MONGKOL FILM CO. LTD." also from left.

Variant: A deteriorated (or filmed) variant also exists.

Technique: The star drawing, the line exploding, the logo forming.

Music/Sounds: Silence, followed by fastly-ascending piano tune which sounds like it came from a keyboard.

Availability: Ultra hard to find. Was spotted on the Thai dub of Maximum Overdrive and ร่านดอกงิ้ว. It might have also been seen on Thai release prints of the other foreign films that they distributed, such as Scanners, Evil Dead, Day of the Dead, The Outsiders and The Day After, among others.

Legacy: Interesting of making the logo in the style the 1981 Atlantic Releasing Corporation logo while releasing one of Atlantic's movies.

1st Logo (1980s-1990s)


Nicknames: "SM"

Logo: On a space background with a blue gradient underneath, a light flashes, which creates the Buddha statue, then the leaf which follows suit, forming the one seen on the previous logo. Then, a triangle with the "SM" logo underneath is then drawn while a copy of it zooms to the logo, which then turns into a solid green color. The company name in Thai (in green) and in English (in blue) zoom underneath the logo in with a trail effect.

Variant: A videotaped variant was spotted.

Technique: All in Scanimation, which looks pretty good.

Music/Sounds: “Proclamation” by David Snell: A soothing triumphant fanfare that ends suddenly.

Availability: Seen on some movies during the 1980s.

2nd Logo (1990s-1999)
Nicknames: "SM II", "CGI SM"

Logo: In front of a nebula on a space background, a spinning ring of smoke spins, which has a green triangle on it. The triangle comes into view, and we see the triangle's underside, which has blue rays on it. A golden leaf centers itself on the logo, which then flashes and creates the Buddha and the "SM" logo. The text from before, now in white, fades underneath.

Variant: On later releases, the Thai text is different and the name was changed to "SAHAMONGKOL FILM CO., LTD.".

Technique: Decent CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: An electronic rendition of “Proclamation”, complete with electronic whooshes, crashes, and explosions, and a different ending. For the later variant, an orchestral version of “Proclamation” was used.

Availability: Seen on some movies by the company from the '90s, like Mean Street Blues, the Thai dub version of Tai-Chi Master and Thai dub version of Armageddon.

(2001- )
Logo: We move around Thai ancestral drawings in stone with a weird waving effect. Then, the camera zooming from middle, showing to us a great sculpture of Buddha on leaf. Then, it turns into gold, and the background lights out, staying of the the logo is on, and the company's name, both in Thai and English (this time "SAHAMONGKOLFILM INTERNATIONAL") in gold, fades in and shines.

Variant: In some movies, both texts say "SAHAMONGKOL FILM".

Technique: The camera moving around, the text fading and shining. Incredible CGI.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy traditional tune with some synths.

Availability: Common. It's seen on their films. The "Sahamongkol Film" variant is known to be seen on Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior.