Rating: 
Summary: a decent flick
Review: This is one of those movies you can watch once, or maybe twice, and then it gets old.The special effects look pretty good the first time. Then you think to yourself, "this is getting lame". The ending is pretty fatalistic too. The story was vague. The acting was 'okay'.
Rating: 
Summary: Great film, OK extras, horrid menu
Review: Much as I love the film, a review of this *DVD* has to punish it severely. The quality is OK, the extras are there (the entire film commentary by the director and producer/writer is interesting), but the menus are appalling and wreck the whole DVD experience. Every transition is accompanied by two short clips, making navigation a real chore. This by itself is bad, but the subtitles menu actually spoilers the *final scene*, thereby ruining any impact it might have had (should you have missed this film at the cinema). For me, that is a shocking gaffe, and deserves to be thoroughly slated. OK, if you want to see this film on DVD, you have to get *this* DVD. The film is worth it, but I don't have to like the way it's presented.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Movie Ever Made
Review: This is easily the best movie ever made. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon mixes a passionate love story with a Chinese myth to create an instant masterpiece. The state of the art special effects and the dazzling fight-sequences make for an exciting as well as an emmotionally touching story.
Rating: 
Summary: True to it's genre.
Review: I've watched what seems like a hundred different Chinese wuxia films over the past few years, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is the highest quality I've ever seen in the genre. The acting was excelecnt, and I am so glad that I watched the DVD version, where I could choose between dubbed and subtitles. And although some may say that the special effects (the "flying" in particular) was poorly done, I must disagree. It was simply done in the style of the older films of the wuxia genre. The wirework was done in a slow, dramatic way to maintain an elegance, although in America with all of our fast paced gun toting heroes it just seemed slow. In other words, to people who are used to this type of cinematics, the film was great, for people who would rather see lots of fased paced shooting, killing, and such, you might be a little disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This movie is beautifully done. Buy the DVD today, but do yourself a favor and don't watch it with the English dubbing.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but ..........
Review: I would've given this movie 4.5 stars, were that possible - it is excellent on several counts, but the feeling that i had at the end of it all was one of dissatisfaction - basically, it builds up expectations, but then lets you down towards the very end.Also the middle portion of the movie tends to drag a bit .... First, the many pluses - (1)Direction : Of the highest order, for the most part.Ang lee has done a near-perfect job of most of the movie, but for the minor flaws pointed out below.It is only fair to say he's created a 'near-masterpiece'.Not to forget the fact that he's delivered the biggest ever blockbuster from China, no mean feat in itself. (2)Performances : Outstanding - All the main characters have excelled themselves.Chow Yun Fat has essayed the role a great Wu-dan master with a quiet dignity, making his presence felt effectively without resorting to any theatrics.Ditto Michelle Yeoh - both have played mature, 'evolved' , heroic figures. All their talent & experience is on display here, but sadly underutilized, in my opinion.The surprise packet of the movie is Zhang Ziyi, who plays a challenging part with panache.Her prowess at martial arts belies her frail appearance and even overshadows her emoting.And she's quite an eyeful, too :-) (3)Cinematography : Excellent.The film is chockfull of breathtaking visuals, and a delight to behold, frame after frame. (4)Special Effects : Literally so.The master craftsmen responsible for the stunning sequences in 'The Matrix' are at it again, coming up with dizzying action, though some of it does require a 'suspension of disbelief' in order to be digested. (5)Music : Good - blends perfectly with the flow of the narrative. Wow, i'm really raving about the movie, right ? Then why only four stars ? This is why - after really raising your expectations with all these pluses (not to mention all those glittering reviews, nominations and awards that already had you expecting the moon before you even sat down to watch it ), the movie lets you down on at least two fronts : (1)Characterisation : Zhang Ziyi's character, which gets the maximum footage by far, is not really developed properly.There are no plausible reasons for the extreme angst so clearly experienced by her character, making some of her acts seem almost mindless.The viewer is left guessing as to what possibly could her motives be for several of her decisions/acts ....... also the character of the desert robber who becomes her lover seems both irrelevant & poorly etched. (2)Continuity : The middle portion, which concentrates on the affair between Ziyi & the robber, is way too long with respect to its contribution to the story.Not only does this disrupt the flow of the narrative and make the movie too lengthy, it also takes us away from the other two chief protagonists for far too long.It would've been far better to develop the roles of Chow Yun Fat & Michelle Yeoh more fully, and perhaps explore their complex relationship. (3)Ending : While i don't want to give it away, it did leave me feeling unsated. All in all, definitely worth a watch, but do keep your expectations within realistic levels :-)
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Choreographed, Great Story and Visuals...
Review: The movie definitely gets my approval. The acting is great, the musical score is wonderful, the fighting scenes are wonderfully choreographed, and the story is different. However, I have a huge problem with the DVD release, I'm surprised that no one has pointed this out: On the English Dubbed Dolby Digital tracks the sound drops out during scenes with dialogue and some of the sword fight scenes. This is a major disappointment, Sony Pictures Classicals gives us a mediocre DVD release for a great motion picture. If you want to actually hear the movie keep it on the Chinese Audio track with English subtitles: the movie sounds a lot crisper and clearer in this mode.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Kind of Fairy Tale
Review: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is best described as a mythic/fantasy film. Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat portray Shaolin kung fu adepts who are both investigating why a princess disappears at night. A past relationship between Yun-Fat and Yeoh's characters is hinted at very broadly, and the chemistry between the two stars is sizzling. There are some beautifully choreographed fight scenes, and gorgeous special effects (take particular note of the battle in the trees). The DVD,like the film, is subtitled in English. If you're like me, you'll find that (eventually) you can follow the dialog pretty well with only an occasional glance at the written words. Well worth purchasing, because you'll want to see it more than once.
Rating:
Summary: Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen!!
Review: Out of every movie i have ever seen, this has got to be the worst. I mean, Chrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has no plot, it is in Japanese and has English subtitles so you can't read the whole subtitle before it flips to the next, you can never figure out who is a good guy or a bad guy, you never know what is happening where in the movie, and it is almost impossible to know who the main character is. Plus, what kind of a sword name is Green Destiny? Oooh, i am scared of The Green Destiny! The only good thing about it was a few fight seens, but they were too unrealistic. All that flying around game me a headache. The title also has nothing to do with the movie at all, and I still don't realize why it was nominated for so many Ocsars....
Rating:
Summary: You see no Tigers and you won't see a dragon
Review: Ok, I am here to praise and to criticize this movie. First, let me make a very clear point. This is a "Wusia" (martial art fantasy) film, not a kung-fu movie. If you expect to see Jet Lee or Jackie....go to another place. We are talking about "Fantasy" here. I believe most of Chinese have seen Martial Art Fantasy novels. Characters in those novel not only can fly, can jump higher than Michael Jordan, they can also break rocks by their Chi (Internal Power). So judging this movie with some third-graded Hong Kong Martial Art films (well, there were some nice ones I wouldn't deny, but lots of them are just like Die Hard, but with a hero who can fight in style).........you got to be kidding me. This movie is about the art of motion, background music and poetic dialogue (not including little tiger, he is the worst actor I have ever seen). It is hard for people to understand, not even today's Chinese (they have been "hollywoodized"). I also like the conflict between each characters. For example, how Little Dragon (Yu-Jiou-long, or Jenn) struggled with Little Tiger, then Li, Mu-bai (Chow, Yan-fat) and the Sho-lien. For Little Tiger, Little Dragon hated him for stealing her stuff, then accepted the affection. For Sho-lien, Little Dragon first admired her, then fought Sho-lien because of different belief, jealousy and embarrassment......(tired of explaining, just watch the film few more times) No film is perfect, including this movie. First, the accent of Chow Yan-fat, Michelle Yeoh (from Hong Kong) and Chang Jan (from Taiwan) are soooo bad compare to Zhang's. And the suicide at the end, Little Dragon was trying fake death (at least in the original novel) and the film said nothing about it. Then horrible acting by Chang Jan just made me laugh. Also, the bamboo scenes were not very good, because both of them were not balancing well (even a real wu-shu master will scare of height?) Otherwise, this film is very entertaining and poetic. Even some parts are so disturbing, I will still give it a four-star. By the way, wanna see a really good movie from Asia, check out Taiwan owned Confuscion Confusion (Du li shi dai), and City of Sadness (bae ching chun shi).
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