Rating: 
Summary: An absolute stinker. Would have given it zero if I could.
Review: Without a doubt this is the most overblown, overated film since The Blair Witch Project. Incidentally the Blair Witch was better, and this says a lot. This film is a series of fight scenes, cut into a dreadful full length soap opera which feebly disguises itself as "fable". The pre-school level writing and join the dot plot are among the worst I have sat through and there are scenes that are infuriatingly boring (most of them). I tried to leave the theatre a number of times but was stopped by a friend who kept saying "It get's better, it get's better". It doesn't, it grows increasingly duller as the minutes and hours tick by. Never have I been so relieved to see a closing credit roll. What happened to Ang Lee? He used to be a great director. This is without a doubt number one on my worst films of all time list, it is intolerably (...) from start to finish. If you can stand this, good luck to you, if you haven't seen this, take this warning: If you really want to watch Asian Bold and The Beautiful intercut with overblown MTV fight scenes that have been done better 8000 times before, you may get through this film. If not, and let's face it who would, see ANYTHING else.
Rating:
Summary: File under: OVERRATED
Review: I heard so many good things about this movie that I assumed I would love it. I love kung fu movies, I find Ang Lee interesting, it had a big budget (compared to Hong Kong cinema). I was incredibly disappointed. I think this movie is only raved about by people who have never watched kung fu movies. There are SO many better ones!!! Better stories, better action...better everything! This was a totally "Hollywood" offering and I'm not buying.
Rating: 
Summary: CTHD Superbit Review
Review: This JUST RELEASED SPECIAL SUPERBIT version of the film (10/09/01), means that all available disc space is used to present the film supposedly at the very finest visual quality possible. The disc space is devoted to improving the resolution of the film. That means no extras, no bells and whistles, behind the scenes documentaries, commentaries, nothing, nada. Perhaps an extra disc of extra's would have been nice. . . but this release is not geared to please everyone, only the pickiest DVDophiles amongst us. The difference will not blow your socks off. The picture is a little better defined, and a little crisper. You'll see a few more details in low-light situations. The DTS sound is also a little better. SUPERBIT TITLES are produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital video, sound and mastering technicians and engineers. Superbit DVDs are encoded at twice their normal bit rate which improves video resolution and gives you a choice of both Dolby 5.1 and DTS audio. They are fully compatible with DVD players already in use. There is no room on the disc for any extras. However, the print used for this film is exactly the same print used for the other version. There's still some dirt on the print and there's still some grain. In fact it's a little more clearly defined and accentuated. It's minor.. but here's a disc that is put out to please the pickiest amongst us and they have started the process with a print that is not as good as it possibly could be. I have extensively reviewed the film elsewhere. To Recap:
The most successful foreign film of all time is an action packed martial-arts fantasy that is also an epic romance. It won't satisfy the baser instincts of chop socky fans since there's little gore, breaking of bones or thud-thudding sound effects, but for most filmgoers it's a pretty impressive film.
This is an Asian martial arts film with a bigger budget, production values, better actors, better direction, and one of the best choreographers in the business to propel it over anything in its class. It also means it's a more artistic film and not as over-the-top or as frenetically paced as films it resembles often are. This is a film about emotions, romantic emotions. Like so many martial arts films there's a long romantic sequence in the film-- but unlike most martial arts films... I found myself caring about the romance and the characters. The acting and script were way above average. I never felt like I was in some kind of endurance test (fighting to stay awake) waiting for the next action sequence to begin. In fact there's enough production value in this film we get some truly epic film moments a beautiful desert sequence, and several breathtaking establishing wide shots which sometimes includes hundreds of extras (or so it seems). The martial arts scenes of characters leaping in the air, running across roof-tops, dancing over water, fighting from tree top to tree top are not silly... but mesmerizing and beautiful. They
are fantasy ballets celebrating the beauty of form and movement utilizing some of the best choreography you'll ever see. The film is about love, betrayal, and honor (of course). It revolves around the destiny of mercenary swordsman and the Green Destiny sword. We have charismatic performances from Chow Yun Fat, and Michelle Yeoh, and relative new-comer Zhang Ziyi. The fight choreographer is Yuen Woo-Ping (who is best known for his work in The Matrix). Here his always-superior wire enhanced acrobatic choreography is utterly stunning because computers have erased ever trace of the wires and director Ang Lee has filmed the movements at various speeds and with wide angles with the help and eye of cinematographer Peter Pau. * * * * The chase scenes up walls, across rooftops, and even over water , shot in a graceful slow motion are magical to watch. There are fight scenes as well which are stages with a grace rarely
seen in martial arts film. One fight scene in particular ,full of various traditional weaponry is one of the best-staged and exciting fights you'll see on film. Martial arts fight fans won't get blood and gore, and there's only a few moments of humor in action sequences so it won't compare to the Keatonesque comedy of Jackie Chan either. It is also not the old type of chop-socky highlighting the hand to hand combat of a Bruce Lee. The music and sound effects of the film are wonderfully conceived. At times we hear only wood blocks drumming, wind chimes, water trickles, the snap of clothing during chase or fight scenes,wind moving through tree tops, through bamboo, the scraping of metal sword against metal sword or bamboo or wood. Sounds of the elements which sometimes are joined by the slow
strokes of a violin or other string instrument being played with deep longing emotions. The rather spiritual ending of the film can be interpreted in several ways. All of them valid. Some may be disappointed by it however. Director Lee takes the time to show us glimpses of Chinese culture and the strong sense of morality and fair play the characters maintain despite their activities. We get some spirituality from the film, which winds up playing out very much like a Greek tragedy. --Christopher Jarmick,is the author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder a critically acclaimed, steamy suspense thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: A fairytale adventure
Review: Being a fan of Asian cinema it was great to see that an Asian film finally recieved the praise that so many are deserving. Director Ang Lee has created a fantastic tale of love and he had the good taste to incorporate numerous fight scenes in it as well. These fight scenes have, quite naturally, become the center of attention in virtually every single review of the film. My review is no different. While it is essentially a love story, it's the fantastic fights that really make it stand out. The fights are in no way realistic, with people running on walls, jumping from rooftop to rooftop - or treetop to treetop - while at the same time fighting with hands, feet, swords and anything else that comes in the way. Even more impressive is the fact that no digital altering was used to create these scenes. These incredible effects were made using wires attached to the actors, making it possible for them to perform these gravity-defying stunts. For more action of this kind, check out some of Jet Li's earlier films (before he made "Lethal weapon 4") like "Last Hero In China", and the "Fong Sai Yuk"-series.
Rating: 
Summary: dramatic, dark,
Review: This was a big disappointment to me on many different levels. First off, the story was really weak. There seemed to be no point or moral to the story, no happiness and no hope for change. My emotions, following the movie, went on an spiral downward into darkness. It was like watching caged birds wither away. Then the fighting... yes, it was beautiful, like watching people dancing, but that was all that came of it. There was no loss or gain, which kind of defeats the purpose of the movies. I felt like I was watching two really excellent martial artists sparring. Movies are here to take us out of reality, or invigorate our energies, particularly of fighting, and deep love and loss.
Yet, this movie failed to do! (Though, I know many other people feel differently.) In the trees, the fighting was just plain silly! I couldn't help but see the wires and the way the trees were hindering their performances! I really tried to not to notice, but it could not be helped! The love story... It felt like two people who where worlds apart from each other, with no emotion, or very confused emotions. I just found that I could not get lost in the movie, I could not feel for any of the characters, I could not get excited about any of the action. Well, I guess I could be happy that so many people continue to embrace the Asian films, particularly martial arts movies, and recognize the hard work of the choreographers. (I would highly recommend Iron Monkey, for those that liked Crouching Tiger, and for those that felt that Crouching Tiger was lacking. Iron Monkey has great action, sans wires, great humour, and morals. There is also growth, and change in the characters and story. And you can't help but feel drawn into the movie with both emotion and physical energy!) ~Best of viewing to all!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, *terrible* dub
Review: I love Crouching Tiger, it's one of my very favorite movies, but it gave me a nasty shock when the first line came out as "Li is back!!" not in Chinese.
It got worse from there. While the voices for Shu-lien and Li Mu Bai were alright (they were probably done by Michelle Yoah and Chow Yun-Fat, who can speak english), Shao-Long's (Jen) and Lo's and pretty much everyone else's were really bad. It also became confusing. Jade Fox was not only referred to as 'Jade Fox' but as something in Chinese as well, an attempt at retaining bits of the original, I suppose, but a pretty pathetic one. This is a movie that deserves to be kept as close to the original as possible, not Americanized in the slightest. Dubbing destroys it.
Rating:
Summary: Superbit Just a Bit Better
Review: I'll assume that you can get an idea of what this movie about from one of the 700 other reviews on Amazon, so let's talk about the Superbit version. What You Get:
Superbit dispenses with all the DVD extra features, and devotes the extra bits to the video and audio. What remains is the movie, Dolby and DTS soundtracks (in Mandarin *only*), and subtitles in several languages. NOTE: there is *NO* English audio track on the Superbit version of this DVD!! That means that, unless you speak Mandarin Chinese, you're relegated to watching subtitles, which I found distracting. How It Works:
Since there are no extra features, the bits no longer devoted to extra features can be used to create a version of the movie with more data. Since DVDs use lossy compression for both video and audio, a DVD with more data devoted to the movie should require less compression. That means that extremely fine details should be rendered more clearly, and the soundtrack should be cleaner. Is It Better?
Well yes, but not to the degree that I would have expected. At the beginning of Chapter 9, when Jen is doing calligraphy, you can clearly see the texture of the paper she is writing on. Also, the desert scenes in Chapter 18 show more contrast and better color saturation. I would have expected the audio track to be greatly improved, since it's the weakest part of DVD technology (especially when compared to Laserdisc). There was virtually no difference from the standard release in detail or soundstaging that I could detect - too bad. Is It Worth It?
On this movie, no. CTHD is beautifully filmed, and the standard version of this movie gives you a very good transfer. The audio track is about the same, and the lack of an English audio track is a major drawback - which actually knocks it down to only 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: This film has an excellent theme, photography and acting. When I first saw it, I was completely amazed due to the incredible message and the beautiful settings shown. It has all the details needed to make an extraordinary film, from the fighting scenes to a hidden love story. It is not an ordinary movie thanks to the profound oriental massage it holds.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: this film blew me away the first of four times i saw it at theatres. it is an excellent film, great story, and wonderful action. i recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wowza!
Review: This film really jump stated International cinema in the states again. And why not? It is an incredible achievment in film and should be apppreciated for years to come. The DVD is a little skinny on content and could have had a cleaner transfer but it is the film that counts.
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