Rating: Summary: Fantastic and Magical Review: Despite flying in every chase scene, subtitles as opposed to dubbing, and a plot that is confusing, it truly brings out the best of Chinese fairy tales, and martial arts weapon fighting. Being a martial artist, when I see a poor martial arts scene in a movie, I usually pan the entire movie, but Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had no fight scenes of poor quality. The way Chinese fairy tales were pulled into the plot of the movie was very creative for a foriegn language film. Overall, the movie can almost be summed up as beautiful and magical; for it transports you to place you have never been before.
Rating: Summary: Too much hype? Review: There are few products one encounters in life that lives up to or exceeds one's expectations. This movie is one of them.You know how the trailer gives these one liners "awesome" "jaw dropping" "excellent" etc.... You go see the movie and it [is bad] and you leave feeling cheated? Well this move like i said, EXCEEDS expectations and those one liners DOES NOT DO JUSTICE. This movie will be THE quintessential action movies to be used as the standard to which all future action movies would be judged. It's that m0tha-freaking GOOD! There will be some people turned off by this... But that's okay, they are nothing more than frogs trapped in a tiny well anyway.
Rating: Summary: This movie didn't seem interesting to me at first, but... Review: it turned out to be excellent. The cinematography was rich and colorful. I love the bamboo forest fight. I also like the the beautiful mountain scenery at the very end. I don't know where the filmmakers found locations for filming the movie, but they made excellent picks. I love the acting from the main actors. I like Zhang Ziyi. She is downright superb to play the role they gave her. I wonder what she'll be like in "RUSH HOUR 2". I loved the sets and costumes. I understand from a review on "Reel.com" that there were several "mini-storys" all tied in to this movie. I don't really care. I have my own definition of good movies and bad movies. This movie however is EXCELLENT! The special effects were amazing. I don't know why people would rather watch the subtitled version in instead of the dubbed. Watching the subtitled version would mean that you would have to spend a lot of time watching the words below the screen area of the movie. I never saw the movie in theatres, but I don't care. I still loved it. I give the DVD 5 stars too. The widescreen transfer is superb. Not a flaw that "I" could see. I have grown acustomed to widescreen sice my family bought a DVD player. I have grown to respect widescreen as really preserving the film as it was meant to be seen. I love 2:35.1 transfers. Somehow on 1:85.1 transfers I find myself looking at the bars a lot more wishing the movie had a wider scope. I still thought "CASTAWAY" was good, but I still think it should have been given a wider screen format. Now back to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The score was also good. I love the song "A Love Before Time". I thought that song deserved the "Academy Award" (copyright Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(a.m.p.a.s)) instead of that awful Bob Dylan "song" from "WONDER BOYS" blahh. I don't even call that piece of trash a song. I haven't seen "WONDER BOYS", and I don't want too. Needless to say "THAT SONG" stinks. "A Love Before Time" deserved that oscar. I was hoping that Gladiator would would win Cinematography, but after seeing this I respect the Academy's decision to award "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" the award for the best Cinematography of the year 2000. This is possibly the longest review I have written. My other reviews include "WE'RE BACK: A DINOSAUR'S STORY", "SECRET OF NIMH 2", "EDWARD SCISSORHANDS", and "102 DALMATIANS"(on bn.com). Needless to say this is probably the longest rewiew I've ever written, but why not, the film is worth it. I also like the making featurette on the disc. I always like to see the making of movies like "ANNA AND THE KING", "GLADIATOR", and "CAST AWAY". Anyway I need to rap this up. I love this movie. A quick review of What I've covered... 1. Locations 2. Cinematography 3. Acting 4. Story and I almost forgot to mention the excellent 5. DIRECTING! Thankyou for reading this rather lengthy review. I hope I never have to right a long one like this again. I hope to see more movies like this. This movie should set a standard. Thankyou and "Enjoy the show".
Rating: Summary: Mystifying Review: Wonderful movie that makes you feel as if you are in ancient China. Incredible backdrop, wounderous scenery. A must see movie!
Rating: Summary: astonishing actions and visuals with a superficial story Review: This film is a visual feast with actions taken in a way that amazed me. Camera shots displayed oriental setting with a slight western touch that added rich favor to scenes. However, I would wish the story line and characters invoke more realistic thoughts and feelings. It is a disappiontment to me that Hong Kong movies have gone a long way but still displays not more than moving images of eye-catching actions. In my opinion, it should not be nominated for the best foregin film.
Rating: Summary: Great film! A surprise, and truly entertaining. Review: The Far East storytellers finally meet the Far West in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It is one of the most refreshing films I've seen in a long time. At last, Eastern Culture reveals their swashbuckling romantic side, in a film that portrays the plausible impossible. It's comforting to know that, worldwide, we share the same dream. It's a tale of love, with the thread taking a trail similar to King Arthur's Knights in Shining Armor. It has its evil villain, oriental style, and the Impossibly Beautiful Princess, who is miserably betrothed to some old-coot throne dweller, whom she doesn't love. Now comes the hero, whom she truly does love. He, of course, a handsome but poor peasant, culturally doomed --- forbidden to even think of marrying her. Swords are destined to clash in a plot like this --- and clash they do --- but with one huge difference: the swordspeople are not your men in shining armor: they are women! This is truly cool. When men clang swords, I see grimness in their eyes. When the women of this film clang swords, I see fire in their eyes. Nice touch. The direction, cast and filmography are great. The very talented actor, Chow Yun Fat, will be a familiar face to most viewers and thank goodness, we need him. He provides a steadying influence when we come upon the Impossibly Beautiful Princess, Zhan Zi Yi, a dazzling young actress, wielding her heart-stealing repertoire of skills. This film is a gigantic leap from the sad grayness that's been so often depicted in earlier works from the Far East. Try this film; if you're a hopeless romantic like me, you'll love it. Hellooo, Hollywood: You have some serious competition.
Rating: Summary: Maybe it Had Too Many Glowing Reviews... Review: I watched the subtitled version (touted to be the best), yet I was still disappointed in the movie. To give it its due, how could I help but be disappointed? I'd read SO MANY raving reviews saying it was the best movie ever made, I expected to have my socks blown off -- which is a perfect setup for a letdown. The subtitles were not a serious disadvantage; the dialog and plot were easy to follow. The acting was good, the scenery was incredible, and the fight scenes (despite the very obvious use of wires) were engaging in their way. What detracted from my enjoyment of this movie was my inability to empathize with the focal character, Jen. Her role as the beautiful, flawed heroine should have made her an incredibly interesting character, but I found her hard to cozy up to. Everyone around her seemed nearly worshipful of her, able to overlook her willfulness, her duplicity, and her self-centeredness. With that much adoration, she didn't need mine... so I felt emotionally disconnected from her. This was, in my opinion, a fatal shortcoming. A movie is about more than gorgeous scenery and incredible battles - it should, first and foremost, have characters we care about. The supporting characters, though imperfect, were sympathetic in their own ways (even the villainess, who only wanted, after all, to be loved). Yet, they circled this petulant, selfish girl like planets orbiting the sun. It was all a bit hard to swallow. No, it wasn't a bad movie at all... just not as fantastic as it was built up to be.
Rating: Summary: Crouching Movie, Hidden Entertainment... Review: The fight scenes: Been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt. If you've seen ANY Martial Arts flicks like the old Run Run Shaw pictures, you've seen fight scenes like the ones in this picture, done better in some respects to boot. If you want to see a real martial arts flick, buy a Jet Li film or go with the "Classics", like Enter the Dragon, but I doubt people who rave about Crouching Tiger will ever see one of those films. The "drama": Nothing's worse than a talky martial arts flick. Boring talk too. I would'nt sit through the subtitled version of this film if my life depended on it. Blah-blah-ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... The cinematography: Yeah, its well filmed, but so what? That's not enough of a reason for a 5 star review, there is alot of nice looking garbage on DVD. So why all the hoopla? Beat's me, maybe it has something to do with women movie goers getting all worked up over the "strong female" characters in the film (again, nothing new to this genre, the "Heroic Trio" is one example). And a PG-13 Rating? That was a pure marketing decision. I like Anime and martial arts flicks but not this watered-down chopsockey film.
Rating: Summary: BOOORRING Review: The best thing that can be said about this film is that it has beautiful color and cinematography. The flight scenes with the characters flitting around like Superman or Superwoman just left me absolutely cold. Maybe if they weren't running up vertical walls and on the ceiling or across the landscape with their feet moving it would have been a little more believable. I mean why move your feet when they aren't contacting anything half the time. Why not just wing it like Superman did. His flight scenes were much more realistic than this amateurish attempt. The plot is feeble at best involving the theft of a 400 yr. old sword that looks like something Captain Hook might have been carrying. Sorry, but in my opinion this film is HIGHLY over-rated.
Rating: Summary: Beautiful... Review: This was a beautiful movie! As I started watching the movie I was initially intrigued by the action sequences because of the beautiful choreography. Next, I savored a beautiful courtship sequence set in a desert...the scenery was fantastic...and the relationship full of fire. As the movie ended, I enjoyed a heart-wrenching and skillfully crafted tragedy reminiscent of Shakespeare. On all facets...this is a beautiful movie.
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