Hi
i am at the moment updating all of my opinions so take a look now at my first few pages
Hi
i am at the moment updating all of my opinions so take a look now at my first few pages
Member since:09.04.2001
Reviews:79
Members who trust:3
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a wonderful mix of a classis chinese fairy tale and classic kung fu action.
Whereas most Kung fu films don't make it to the big screen outside of Hong Kong, it was easy to see Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was something special. For a start it is a very beautiful film, rarely do films present this nice a look and feel, and thats big budget Hollywood films. The genre that this film comes from is notoroius for drab, cheap backgrounds, poor acting, and little to no plot. There only saving grace is the fantastically performed and choreographed fight sequences. This film has, thankfully broken all those traditions!
Ang Lee's direction is superb, this is easily his best picture. Many of the themes in this film have been delt with before; trust, loyalty, honour, etc. But never have they been blended
so well.
In short, the story revolves around a sword, "the green destiny", which has a great history attached to it. A young girl, Jen(Zhang Ziyi), steals the sword, assuming that with the sword at her side she is a) unbeatable, and b) therefore free from her arranged marriage. The swords rightful owner, Li Mu Bai(Chow Yun Fat) wishes to find the girl and teach her to use it properly. But the girl, largely due to the fact that it will upset her own master, Jade Fox, is unwilling to learn. There are many side stories in this film, the love story between Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh being one of the main ones, and they all tie together wonderfully. I could go on to explain the plot further, but I advise you to just watch the film.
What I will do however is move to the choreography in an attempt to entice you further.
In charge of the choreography is possibly the most experienced man there is! Yuen Woo Ping has been in the business for decades and his style is as fresh as it ever was. Those who follow Hollywood cinema will know him from films such as 'the Matrix'. Those of you who follow Hong Kong cinema will know him for "Snake in the Eagles Shadow" or "Drunken Master" (or 90% of the other classics if we're honest).
Like he did in "Iron Monkey"(1994) and "the Matrix"(1999), Woo Ping uses wire work to great affect in this film. It's maybe not as stylised as the Matrix, but it is no less impressive. He does succesfully create the affect of people fighting up and down walls and jumping from roof to roof, with only a subtle disregard for physics. So while it is still quite ridiculous is rendered somehow believable by Woo Ping.
I'm not sure how many of you will know this, but before Crouching Tiger, Chow Yun Fat had never starred in a Kung Fu film! He is a legendary Hong Kong actor, but is known for doing fantastic John Woo action films such as; "Hard Boiled", "A Better Tomorrow" and "The Killer". So all the fabulous sword play and kung fu you see at the hand of Chow Yun, was all learnt specifically for this film. I think he is superb in it. Both from an acting and kung fu point of view.
Michelle Yeoh is also very strong. Though she is quite experienced in a kung fu role.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of all is that of Zhang Ziyi, who is relatively new to both worlds yet shines like she has been fighting in the lime light since birth.
There is a fine Extras package on the DVD as well! Including; the making of, full length commentary from Ang Lee, a featurette with Michelle Yeoh and of course the theatrical trailers. More importantly, the DVD comes equipped with both the original language version with subtitles(like the cinema release) and the English dubbed version (for those too tired/ drunk to read).
I have watched both and found them both to be excellent. I found the film retained the zenith of its beauty in the original language, but (considering the genre) the dubbing was impressive to say the least!
If you've not yet seen it, then I advise you to watch it as soon as possible. Even if you don't think your interested, give it a chance:)
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Production Year: 2003 - Martial Arts - Director: Paul Hunter - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, James King, Karel Roden
Production Year: 1972 - Martial Arts - Director: Bruce Lee - Original Language: English\Cantonese\Chinese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Chuck Norris, Robert Wall, Jon T. Benn
Production Year: 1991 - Martial Arts - Director: Tsui Hark - Original Language: Cantonese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Donnie Yen, Jet Lee, Rosamund Kwan, Yuen Biao, Mok Sui Chung
Production Year: 1981 - Martial Arts - Director: Kenji Misumi, Robert Houston - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ohki, Akiji Kobayashi, Shin Kishida, Masahiro Tomikawa, Tomisaburo Wakayama
Martial Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Sho Kosugi, James Ryan, Jim Kelly, Jimmy Wang Yu, Bolo Yeung, Christopher Lee
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragonis so many things: an historical epic on a grand scale, an ... more
Asian martial-arts flick with both great effectsandfantastic fighting (choreographed byThe Matrix's guru Yuen Wo Ping), a story of magic, revenge and power played w...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragonis so many things: an historical epic on a grand scale, an ... more
Asian martial-arts flick with both great effectsandfantastic fighting (choreographed byThe Matrix's guru Yuen Wo Ping), a story of magic, revenge and power played w...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Amazing martial arts fighting sequences (choreographed by Yuen wo Ping - The Matrix) ... more
stunning special effects action adventure and romance have made Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon the most talked about movie of the year. Martial arts masters Li Mu B...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
In the most-talked about movie of the year, Director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility) ... more
brings together a breathtaking combination of high-flying action (choreographed by Yeun Wo Ping - The Matrix) and stunning visual effects, woven around a story of humo...
Advantages: Spiritual and moving, stunning locations and fight sequences. Disadvantages: Subtitles - the translation into English quite probably loses certain meaning.
Advantages: Beautiful shots; excellent performances; fantastic fight scenes Disadvantages: Incredible? Felt like quite a long film - perhaps too long? Some may not like the subtitles
![Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78543493.jpg "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon [DVD] [2001]")
Jul 19th, 2001
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