Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (DVD)

This movie came out in south east Asia around June 2000 and was very well received. We all waited with baited breath as Columbia promised to release it with a media blitz in the US and Europe. How would a Mandarin language film do in places where the general opinion of most punters (as far as martial arts films are concerned) was that they're bottom of the bargain bin affairs? Happily everyone has now seen the spectacular successes of the film's theatrical run both here in the UK and in the US. Being nominated for 10 Oscars and a few BAFTAs didn't hurt neither. So, it's time to air a few grievances as well as praises in what's ...  Read the complete review

Hearing of the sensational reviews, and having had it recommended to me as 'the best film I've seen this year' I was eager to check out Ang Lee's highly acclaimed film. From his second best known film 'Sense & Sensibility' Lee takes just about as dramatic a contrast as possible in this mesmerising piece of cinema. Yet while I was astounded by much of it, I felt that there was something, just something very very small that it lacked that prevented it from being one of the best films I've seen . The central plot is basically that of an ancient powerful sword that gets into the hands of it's owner's enemy, and her reluctant ...  Read the complete review

I've just come back from going to see the film at a cinema in downtown Manhattan, where, despite having been on release over here for several weeks, it still manages to draw large audiences. When you see it, you appreciate why. 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' (or, to give it its Mandarin name, 'Wu hu zang long') is a truly remarkable film. The cinematography and direction are outstanding, and in general, the acting is very good. However, despite this, I still had a few reservations about the film. It's difficult to classify 'Crouching Tiger' into a specific genre. It features some outstanding martial arts sequences, along with ...  Read the complete review

Being a long time fan of Chinese movies, I was thrilled at the idea of an Ang Lee production of one. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is steeped, as many of these films are, in a Chinese myth. Concerning Li Mu Bai, a famous warrior, Shu Lien, his friend and would-be amour, and Jen Yu, a fragile, misguided, but incredibly talented martial artist. I was amazed when I first heard that this film was packing cinemas in the USA, not because of the viewers, but because of the genre. Despite the subtle, and highly skilled acting on display, this was, and still is being billed as a 'martial-art' movie, not something renowned for packing people in. The same ...  Read the complete review

----<A New Generation>---- Since the filming of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, there has been a new wave of films that have breathed new life into the dwindling martial arts Genre. Along with Crouching Tiger, comes; Hero, The House of Flying Daggers and Tarantino's, Kill Bill Vols. 1&2, these were straight from the top of my head, other films like Rush Hour 1&2, Shanghai Noon & Shanghai Knights, Tomb Raider 1 & 2 and more notably The Matrix Trilogy, are seeing more mainstream films incorporate martial arts in them. ----<Subtitles>---- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, is a subtitled film, though there is an ...  Read the complete review