Crouching Tiger...Coo-eee! Luv Hidden Dragon.xx (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (DVD))

Member Name: Critchyboy

Product:	Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (DVD)
Date:	28/09/01 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully filmed, Great fight scenes

Disadvantages: Difficult to follow in places

I had heard so much about this film that I just had too see it, hence it was one of the very first DVD's that I purchased.

CTHD is a rareity. One of the foreign films that is actually pretty good. Don't be tempted though to watch it with the English dubbing - eeeek! No, no. Watch it instead with the origional Mandarin soundtrack with English subtitles. It just seems to flow better and sounds a lot more poetic.

The film itself revolves around a bloke called Li Mu Bai, played by Chow Yun Fat with a long pig-tail and his sword the Green Destiny that gets stolen from Yu Shu Lien, played by Michelle Yeoh of Bond girl fame. The sword is stolen by Jen (Zhang Ziyi) who is being trained by Jade Fox who had killed Li Mu Bai's master and someone else relative...or something like that. Jen herself is not wanting to be a part of the marriage that has been arranged for her, preferring instead to run away with a bloke she met in the desert. The desert scene in particular is bizarre and just seems to serve the fancy ending which sees Jen...oh, you'll have to watch it. I wouldn't want to spoil it.

The fight scenes themselves are impressive - I certainly couldn't do it, nor do I know anyone who could. The actors float through the air with the greatest of ease and fight in tree tops, looking very silly as they battle with the waving branches while trying to look cool and in control.

There are, however, marvellous scenes, which seem to act as a travelogue of the area. Beautifully photographed and filmed, artily directed, but somewhat lacking in something coherent.

The DVD itself is fine. The commentary is informative, but not in any knock you out sort of way. The making of is fair as is the conversation with Michelle Yeoh. Maybe I'm just a wishful thinker, but a bit more of a behind the scenes look and a more in-depth look at the story line would have been great. Would have helped me to understand what was going
on as well. Perhaps I should watch it in English, but I feel that I would betray it and loose something of the mysticism that is there with the lilting Mandarin language.

The picture is clear, although the widescreen version does have very big bars top and bottom on a normal TV. The sound again is great, the clanging swords sounding from all directions and the drum driven soundtrack resonating through the speakers.

All in all, this DVD is worth getting hold of. The film looks and sounds great, but somewhere I get the horrid feeling that I'm missing something very obvious about it all...

Summary: