Whats all the fuss about ? (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (DVD))

Member Name: cjkace

Product:	Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (DVD)
Date:	21/07/01 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sublime fight scenes

Disadvantages: Disjointed story, people run up walls

I heard about this film, when it won four Oscars, and just about everyone seemed to be raving about it, so when I got the chance to pre-order the DVD from Blackstar I did.

I settled down to watch it the afternoon of the day that it arrived ( and have watched it twice since) and cannot honestly see what the fuss was all about. If this film had been made in Hollywood it would have been panned and sunk into obscurity.

The film stars Chow Yun Fat (Replacement Killers) and Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies) and supposedly centres around a sword called Green Destiny. While the sword is part of the plot, it doesn't make that much of an appearance (and seemed a little on the floppy side for a weapon). The whole story seems to be very dis-jointed, and in all honesty made very little sense.

The sword is stolen and Michelle Yeoh chases the thief, floating across rooftops, jumping gaps that Jonathon Edwards would have had difficulty with and running up walls. This makes the whole film feel very surreal as it is quite obvious that they are attached to wires, by the way they move their legs.

We find out the identity of the thief, and then the film takes a massive leap in a different direction and we end up in the desert, with the thief as a young girl being chased by a brigand. Confused? I was.

The first time I watched it I got very bored here, and although I persevered the second time, still felt that the story lacked direction, and that the special affects were a little too over the top, and had none of the finesse of 'The Matrix'.

The films only real redeeming features for me were the fight scenes, especially when they kept their feet on the floor. Choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, who also did the fight scenes for 'The Matrix', they were simply sublime. I haven't seen nartial arts depicted as slickly as this, since Brandon Lee in Rapid Fire. They manage to portray grace, while demonstrating the
power very well.

All in all, Crouching Tiger isn't a bad film, I just think that I may have understood it more if I had been Chinese. I don't think it translates very well, but if you are into martial arts then this film is worth watching just for the fight scenes, but suspend your disbelief for a while.

Extras include a making of feature, commentary, trailers, weblinks, photo gallery and filmographies which add to the value a little.

Summary: