Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: I've been a fan of kung-fu films for a very long time now and to see this was a bit disappointing. The storyline was very weak and a bit out of sync with the rest of the movie. The flashbacks took longer than I cared for and I wasn't sure which character was the main one. However, the fighting sequences were very spectacular, espcially with Michelle Yeoh. It has been awhile since I have seen Chow Yun Fat in a kung-fu movie, but he didn't play much of a major role in this one. Overall, I felt there are better movies like "Once Upon a Time in China".
Rating: 
Summary: ziyi my pretty
Review: I recently watched the subtitled version of crouching tiger on dvd, and yes I would agree with all the reviews here lauding the cinematography, the acting, the fight sequences, and the moody musical score. My favorite scene is the one where Jen is spinning upwards two stories in the air. I thought the best acting performance in the movie was by Michelle Yeoh. If I had a dvd player myself, I would get my own copy of this movie just to watch some more of my pretty ziyi. She must have been 19 or just turned 20 when she made this film. Every time I listen to coco lee's song from the movie I start daydreaming about her...ouch...what a babe.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre at Best
Review: Set in China, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is basically about a big old knife called the 'Green Destiny Sword' that is fought over by a young woman and her family and community. It sparks a lot of interest for reasons that I don't understand; aside from the fact that it has green trim on the blade, it is just another one of the hundreds of weapons used in this disgrace of a movie.The opening of this sorry excuse for a motion picture didn't lead me to believe that it would end up being as bad as it was. It started with a detailed sort of environment and a young girl wandering the neighborhood between her family, learning about her ancestors and about the green sword, which is the first sword we see in the film. After a while, everybody is in some Chinese desert hustling and bustling at each other on horses. Eventually, the woman meets a stranger and goes between getting acquinted with him and trying to kill him. The martial arts scenes were impressive and fast paced, but I didn't care for them after it was an old lady taking on 3 men and when a mother fought her daughter. Chow Yun Fat did do a good job in most aspects of this, which is the only major reason I'm giving this more than one star.
Rating:
Summary: A spectacular and stirring film!
Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon centers around the world of Giang Hu (a lifestyle for kung fu masters in which they wander from place to place, touring cities and seeking matches with what opponents they find), the Green Destiny (a mighty 400-year-old sword), and three skilled fighters (Li Mu Bai, played by Chow Yun-Fat; Yu Shu Lien, by Michelle Yeoh; and Jen Yu, Zhang Zi Yi). Li Mu Bai is a "renowned swordsman", famous as the best kung fu master. He has had enough of Giang Hu and looks to spending the rest of his days in peace with Shu Lien, his long-time lover. So Mu Bai turns his sword, the Green Destiny, over Shu Lien, telling her to give it to Sir Te. But the sword is quickly stolen and as Shu Lien investigates this, she comes to suspect Jen Yu, the young aristocrat she has just befriended. Jen is a willful girl, somewhat spoiled, but frivolous. She longs for the adventure of Giang Hu and despises the thought of an arranged marriage. What she hides is a romance in the desert and her great competence in fighting. Jen's nanny, the villainous Jade Fox, is her secret kung fu teacher, whom Jen has long surpassed. As things are slowly revealed, the characters are faced with complications of vengeance, prejudices, and true desire. This film is both captivating has the essence of classical Chinese folklore and Giang Hu. My only objection is to the flying, though it is part of wuxia. The acting is well done; Ang Lee has successfully brought another wonderful story to the screen. ...Need I add that I highly recommend this film?
Rating:
Summary: Excellente movie
Review: This is the kind of movie that you want to see once again becouse everything has many details that you can not always see. The Kung Fu fights are spectacular, the story is excellent and that is why this movie won 4 Academy Awards. But, I think that Amores Perros was better.
Rating:
Summary: This is a HOLY COW kind of film...
Review: ...Meaning that the reaction of the viewer should be a resounding "HOLY COW!" I must admit that I am no expert in Chinese theatre. In fact I could count on one hand the number of Chinese films I've ever seen. What makes this film so incredible, however, is that it is so accessible to a general audience. This is the rare kind of film that leaves a lasting impression, and which is sure to cast a long shadow in the film industry for years to come. There are some elements of this Chinese film, however, which may serve as obstacles for a comparatively staid, literalistic Western audience. I was so struck by the blend of fantasy and reality in this film. The romantic notion of ancient warrior traditions and the fantastic flying and fighting blend amazingly well with the realistic drama and romance of the story. This reveals much about Chinese culture. It seems that in Chinese art and film, fantasy and reality are not competing artistic elements, but complementary ones. Admittedly, this is a harder transition to make for most Western audiences who have been thoroughly ingrained with narrow, scientific pragmatism. The other superficially striking element of this film on Western audiences is the subtitles. Honestly, within a few minutes I was so drawn into the story that I forgot that there were subtitles. The story unfolds in such a compelling way that sometimes words are unnecessary anyway. I haven't seen the 'dubbed in english' version, but still I would warn against it. See this film as it was intended to be seen, endure the subtitles, and hopefully you will be able to move beyond the potential obstacles to see this great film for what it is.
Rating: 
Summary: And this whole time I thought I was losing my hearing
Review: ANYWAY...so I get home last night from a very hard day of hanging around waiting to be stomped. I pop in my brand spanking new Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon DVD and go straight for the goodie section (since I have seen the movie twice in the theater already, I was curious to see what extras the fine folks at Sony were going to stuff on my disk). I decide to view the "Bravo" making-of featurette first...I am a total sucker for making-of films. And BOOOOOM..the music hits you like a ton of bricks...BOMP BOMP BOMP or something like that. Then cut to director Ang Lee sitting in his director's chair...moving his lips... Eh? I cant HEAR him! I scroll back a few frames...BOMP BOMP BOMP BOMP....and lips moving...so then I grab my remote and pump up the volume REALLY high...and then I hear it...this faint faint voice...gee whiz,,,is that ANG? When I got into the grape factory this morning, I log onto Amazon and see that I was not the only one who thought the sound truly SUCKED on this disk...and this whole time I thought I was turning into a raisin. I cannot express to you how disappointed I was at this DVD. I really loved Tan Dun's score, but MY LORD...I wanted to hear some of the dialogue too! And the poor sound quality was all over the disk too... The images were crisp and pretty..the night fight scene, which was difficult to see in the theatre, was brightened the teeniest bit so that you can see the surfaces and the houses more clearly... But there is no excuse for that GODAWFUL SOUND! I personally prefer subtitles, but that doesn't mean I dont want to hear the inflections in the actors voices...oh wait..I could barely hear those at all because of the GODAWFUL SOUND! Grapes make very little money, therefore it was a pain to me to know that I wasted my hard earned dollars on a disk that is so low in quality. Two lessons learned from this experience: 1) Always read customer reviews before buying anything, especially electronic stuff 2) Always wait for a special edition/platinum edition/Criterion... (if they could do it for "The Rock," they could do it for this movie too)
Rating:
Summary: I am amazed at the Hollywood Hype Machine.
Review: This movie is horrible. I tried and tried to think magically, but the 'people on wires' thing is just funny. Especially when the actors are flying up to a roof. Their legs flail just as if they are on wires (which they are). Why didn't the director stop this? Every fight has the same moves as the last - wires wires wires. Bor-ring. I always watch non-English movies with the subtitles to enjoy the inflections and the *acting*. However, for the first time ever, I think I prefer the dubbed version of Dragon to the subtitled version. The acting is just not very good. I am truly surprised as I love Ang Lee's movies and I love The Matrix and so expected much more from the special effects. I just don't get it. As for the great story, art direction, and wonderful panoramas - doesn't come close to other movies that really shine in this area. There are so many other Chinese movies that are better: Yimou Zhang's (Raise the Red Lantern) and Chen Kaige's (Farewell My Concubine) movies are masterpieces, not Hollywood hype schlock. Farewell My Concubine is out of print while this piece of garbage is making millions. Go figure. I watched an hour and didn't even finish it, so didn't miss the missing 20 minutes...
Rating:
Summary: HIGHLY overrated...
Review: before anyone decides to write me hate mail, let me first say that this was probably the most well done kung-fu flick i've seen, and yes, that is what i consider it. the acting was great, as far as i could tell, being that i don't speak a word of chinese (be it mandarin or otherwise). and i concede that some of the scenery was very beautiful. but, in all honesty, anybody can pick a pretty spot to film a movie. the story itself was a bit dry, and as far as directorial insight, well, i thought that half-hour long desert flashback smack dab in the middle of the movie was utterly useless and unnecessarily interrupted the flow of the plot. i'm not saying this was a horrible movie, but i certainly don't see what was so remarkable about it. it was a kung-fu film with a slightly higher budget than normal, i think the fact that it was the first of its kind to be imported specifically for the american (and international) audience somehow made the critics feel obligated to laud it as some great masterpiece, some crowning achievement for chinese cinema. nice movie to look at, fun to watch at times, but it for a movie that was nominated for so many academy awards, it lacked substance, fluidity, and anything remarkable overall. didn't win any awards with me...
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Epic Of Drama And Action
Review: First time I saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was in the movie theaters. I had very high expectations for the movie. I didn't mind the Chinese (Mandarin) dialog, since I am Chinese, and it's always better than the poor English dubbed movies. It was a beautiful film with lots of stunning sceneries of China. It gives the movie a sense of mysticism that kung fu period films of recent years usually have, which is a must. When the first fight scene came on, with Jen (Zhang Zi-Yi) and Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), I thought it was going to be one of the best fight scenes I have ever seen... it wasn't the best, but it was very good. There were loads of awesome moments, with the cool spinning kicks, jumping around the buildings, and other such action, but some of the flying around I thought looked a tad unrealistic. There was one particular part where Shu Lien collided with Jen when they where running on the wall, I thought they could of made that scene a little better. But I had to hand it to Yeoh and Zhang, it was a hard scene to shoot. All the other fight scenes were better in exception to the first fight with Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-Pei). I do not know if Cheng studies kung fu, but in the movie, with all due respect, she didn't look too convincing. Li Mu-Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) was good, knowing this is his first kung fu movie ever. Chow's acting was strong, but I think Jet Li would of been a better Li Mu-Bai because of what Jet Li is capable of doing physically. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I've heard that Jet Li was suppose to play Li Mu-Bai, but turned it down because of his promise to his wife Nina. Anyway, the dramatic elements was a good touch for the movie and new to this genre. Overall the movie was very well made and a delight to watch. It was a good movie, which gets better after more viewings, but it does not live up to the hype that most American audiences give it. Mainly because as a Chinese movie viewer, I've seen it done before, as far as the action scenes, and I don't really see anything new. I still liked the fight choreography done by the master of fight choreographies, Yuen Woo-Ping. I am glad that this movie got the exposure that it did in America, hopefully the American audience can see more of the beauty of Chinese culture in future Chinese movies theatrically released in the US. If you want to see other great period kung fu films in recent years, check out these titles: "Tai Chi Master" (aka "Twin Warriors"), "Swordsman II", "Wing Chun", "Once Upon A Time In China" series, "Drunken Master II" (aka "The Legend Of Drunken Master"), "The Last Hero Of China" (aka "Deadly China Hero"), "New Legend Of Shaolin", & "Fong Sai Yuk" series (aka "The Legend" series). Get the original Cantonese version to these movies if you can, it's not that good when it's dubbed in English.
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