Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, it would have been 5 start if not for three ...
Review: Great movie, it would have been 5 start if not for three anoying problems.1. DVD only contains the wide screen format, ie you see a black bar on the top and bottom of your screen. 2. Only contain English & French subtitle. It should have at least contain Chinese subtitle for people the speak Cantonese. 3. Should be dubbed in Cantonese
Rating:
Summary: 5 Star Film! 3 Star DVD! Sony Rushed this one!
Review: What else needs to be said about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? It is the most amazing action film in years. It is the single most imaginative piece of fiction to come to the moving going audience in a quite a ling time. But what about the DVD? Well sadly it is the most dismal piece of work to come from Sony DVD center this year. Sony was on a streak of superb discs recently but this hack job put an end to that. The DVD was clearly rushed to market. The transfer is not very clean at all. The MPEG2 artifacts are terrible. Those of us who are fortunate to have a widescreen TV are going to be the most unfortunate this time. The Native widescreen presentation is oh so dismal of an experience! The colors are clean but the pixel jaggies does enough damage to distract the viewer. The Audio tracks are not at all well managed. There is no reason what so ever to waste valuable data bandwidth to do a Dolby pro-logic track. I love the fact that the disc comes with both Mandarin & English 5.1 Dolby Digital but the bass is so weak. The audio was not at all enhanced. The commentary track is nothing new, it's above average. The Extras are well... lacking, the making of documentary is pure PR fluff sadly, and the trailers are not even the original ones that Sony was using to advertise the film. The photomontage is mediocre at best. So why all these complaints? Sony has a masterpiece on their hands and it's pretty clear they did not give it the proper treatment. In a market place where we will have "Patch Adams: Ultimate Edition", and Bring it on: Super Special Extra Spectacular Widescreen Edition, one would assume the big guys at Sony will release a DVD of monumental standards of their big film of 2000. But NO! So what they miss? First of all the Video was mediocre and should be redone. The Audio needs a lot of work; they should be enhanced to take advantage of all the speakers. A DTS track is perfect for this film I would say. How about a Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat & Ang Lee commentary track? Most of all a Score Only track would be prudent since the film won best score at the academy awards. I am sure there are deleted scenes they could have put on the disc. How about some real making of docs, discussing the stunt work, the novels, or even the production in a larger scale. There are a wealth of pictures on this film, why not include them in user control slide shows? What happened to the music videos? Sony rushed this disc to the market to capitalize on the films fame. The product is average at best. This film deserves a superior DVD job. Come on Sony, stop giving us special editions of Center Stage and give us a true Collector's Special Edition of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon! (Like Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on River Kwai, Men In Black, and so on... Hint Hint! )
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy before seeing
Review: I had not seen this film in the theater but was considering buying it because of all the acclaim it received. Fortunately, I rented it first. While some of it was entertaining, it is not a movie I would ever care to watch again. Admittedly, I do not know the folklore involved, but a movie should be able to stand on its own. Because this movie does not do that, it's disjoined somewhat and the ending makes no sense. If you enjoy la-la land then you may like this movie . . . I didn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Beatiful Film, Great DVD!
Review: Let me begin by expressing my utter amazement at the artwork in this film. From the beautiful sets and incredible special effects to the consummate acting, brilliant direction and wonderful storyline, I must say that movies of this caliber are very rare. It succeeds on all levels: it is action-packed yet well-paced, dramatic and humorous; it is both a love story and an epic adventure. Admitting that my knowledge of the Wuxia genre is somewhat limited, I would still venture to say that the fight scenes in this film are some of the best (at least that I have seen) committed to celluloid. The fight scenes come across as both poetic and energizing, like a ballet with sharp and dangerous weapons. If you are looking for a slapstick Jackie Chan-esque martial arts fun-fest in the vein of Drunken Master, this IS NOT your movie. It does have its fun moments but the humor is much more sublime, with a dazzling wit that never seems out of context. All this being said, I would like to focus on the DVD itself, that is its features. The audio is superb, with both the English dub AND original Mandarin presented in a well-mixed 5.1. The dialogue is well-integrated with the action and score, with little need to constantly adjust the volume. The picture is pristine and quite frankly, among the cleanest I have ever seen on DVD. There is some interesting commentary and an informative making-of featurette, but the thing that most impressed me was the English dub. I noticed one reviewer here who indicated interest in this DVD because it contained an English dub that might be funny to watch like other martial arts films. Well, I'm sorry to say that said reviewer will be sorely disappointed if he's looking for laughs in that department. Unlike many films of the genre the dub is almost flawless. The fluidity of the English language allowed the producers of this DVD to manipulate sentence structure so that the English dialogue synchs perfectly with the actors' lips, yet still stays true to its content. Of course, I would always recommend the original Mandarin with English subtitles, but for those of you who despise subtitles (shame on you!) will still be able to enjoy this movie with minimum distraction from the dubbing. Altogether, I found the DVD release to be a wonderful complement to this beautiful film. If you have not done so already, buy this one. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Great multi-lingual edition
Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on DVD is great. Not only did Amazon have it shipped to me by the day of the release but the also shipped and delivered it in the dame day!!!! When I opened the package and played the DVD I was very excited to see all of the options associated with this DVD. The original english sub plots in the movie were great, but for those of us that don't speak Mandarin, the DVD offers the English voices to go with the movie. The best part about it is that the English voices actually match the lip movement of the characters!!! But the movie is so great, with the special effects and fight scenes, you can turn the subtitles and voices off and watch the movie over and over again with enjoyment!! For those of you that love martial arts and the old martial arts films, this DVD is a MUST HAVE!!
Rating:
Summary: Best movie of the last 5 years!
Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon along with The Matrix are the two best movies of the last 5 years. Both have amazing depth in terms of dialogue, humanity, and important human experiences and desires and both have some of the most spectacular fighting sequences and technology used. I keep seeing so many claims that Crouching Tiger is not a martial arts film and that it is a drama. Well, I don't know about those people...but the martial arts were very very integral to this story in my book. I do go to scenes 20 and 21 just to watch them, after all! After the years invested in watching men fight, it was nice to see a few women involved. I very much enjoyed the few lines sprinkled in by the bad guy (girl), Jade Fox about how she couldn't get training...and the line about "Poison...poison is an 8 yr old girl full of deceit"...even though we can't relate with these characters fully, we get to peek into their life experiences...and all the acting was just amazing. I like how even when some characters are briefly on the screen, they are not cardboard papercut people. The fighting scenes are right up there with Fist of Legend and Supercop. For those who loved the fighting...The Matrix has nothing on the two aforementioned films. Go see them all!
Rating:
Summary: Disapointing
Review: This movie had a lot of great reviews, but I didn't think it was that great. The biggest problem I had with the movie is that is was all in subtitles. They should have done a version in English. Most of the battle sequences were lame, just people throwing darts at each other or chasing each other around on roof tops. With all the great publicity the movie got I expected it to be better. Even though I was disapointed, the movie is worth seeing if you don't mind subtitles. The thing I did like was the acting, Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh did a great job. I also like the ending, it wasn't what I expected to happen.
Rating: 
Summary: It's really entertaining, but...
Review: Now granted I'm an american who can only understand maybe one or two words of Mandarin if I'm lucky, so any complaints I have may be a result of translation between the languages. I've done my share of reading chinese history and philosophy so it's not like I don't *get* it, but... I don't understand the extreme fuss, some people act like they've never seen a martial arts show before (if you haven't, then I understand) I see this as an entertaining action adventure with non-offending female heroines (ie they're not half naked and seducing everyone in sight, or anything else degrading to women) and a plot. It's just fun and I've watched it several times already but I don't think it's the g reatest film I've seen. I actually like Gladiator better, stronger storyline. Really, Zhang Ziyi steals the show, just her beauty and energy. Chow Yun Fat as Li Mu Bai is my second favorite character. But really, the movie is best when the action is going on, especially when Zhang and Chow are on screen together. The scenery, costumes, score and directing are all gorgeous. The film carries a strong message of liberation, it's very Daoist in it's message, and I LOVE the end. Unfortunately, the major problem is the way the plot is presented, it's disjointed and takes a couple viewings (at least with the english sub and dub) to understand the point. Too many things are introduced, but end up going no where or are forgotten. Also the plot tends to loose it's footing after we return from the flashback of jen and lo and doesn't pick up again until the final 15 minutes - which are excellent. Given that, I don't think it functions well as serious drama as others are claiming. I didn't feel this tragedy between Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai, it was more random to me really. I think instead of spending so long on the desert flashback, why not show us a flashback of Mu Bai and Shu Lien? I didn't feel that any character was concentrated on long enough to really feel for in that way, although the final scene between Shu Lien and Mu Bai was satisfying. But again, with the english, I may be missing something. As for the DVD itself, I adore Ang Lee's commentary and the featurette with Michelle Yeoh. I do not have enough experience with foreign films to judge the dubbing quality, but the major problem I have is the voice used to dub Michelle Yeoh, other than that, it's certainly watchable. All in all, good movie, good DVD, it's just not as revolutionary as I'd heard so I was slightly dissappointed.
Rating:
Summary: spectacular love story is original and breathtaking
Review: "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" is a film unlike any foreign film I have ever seen. Before seeing it or reading any of the reviews, one could assume that it would be a typical kung fu movie with the poorly done voice overs and the bad story. It is not even in the least. This DVD features the original theatrical subtitle version as well as an extremely well done voice over version. The story is hands down one of the best of this year. It contains two love stories, martial arts choreographed from Yuen Wo Ping (For those of you who have seen "The Matrix" you know what I'm talking about), beautiful acting, and some of the best scenery that I have seen since the deserts in "Lawrence of Arabia". Two great warriors (Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh) begin their new challenge when the 400 year old sword "the Green Destiny" is stolen. Zhang Ziyi plays an aristocrat who has a far away love and a strong temper. The film appears like it has extremely expensive special effects but the total cost of the film was 15 mil. Now lets get to the DVD extras. This DVD features more extras than some of the "Special Edition" DVDs that only have a trailer and production notes. The film features commentary from director Ang Lee(The Ice Storm, Sense and Sensibility) and writer James Schamus, a Bravo making of special, a conversation with Michelle Yeoh, and the U.S. and International trailer(There are more but these are the best). Finally, some DVDs are exiting to get at first but after a few weeks get old. Let me tell you, this is not one of them. With a plethora of extras, great acting, awe inspiring fight sequences, and amazing directing, this is a must buy.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth seeing - but suspend your disbelief
Review: CT,HD is at times a beautiful film that seems to occupy an awkward middle ground between east and west. I have heard that Eastern viewers found the fight scenes a little tame in comparison to their all-out action movies, and found that the non-mandarin speakers in the lead roles coped awkwardly with their lines. Equally, I've heard westerners say that they found that the action scenes were over-dependent on wireplay, with unbeliveable aerial stunts a-plenty. It's the story of two close companions, who have been in love for many years, but have been kept from revealing their feelings to one another by the strictures imposed on their lives, one as a master of Wuxia, the other as a shrewd businesswoman running her late father's bodyguarding business. They are reaching the stage when the veneer is beginning to crack, and their true feelings to seep through, when destiny intervenes. In a symbolic act, the master sends his mystic sword into safe keeping, only to have it stolen. An old bitterness resurfaces when he suspects that a renegade mistress of Wuxia is responsible, one who killed his own master. Instantly, you are whisked away on an adventure, not only through ancient China, but through memory and sensation. This film won't appeal to someone who judges a film purely by its special effects. The plot is involving, the cinematography spectacular, and the characters not necessarily as one-dimensional as you'll find in mainstream films. The fact that the film is subtitled will also not appeal to the shallow, but the chinese language is the only means that could do it justice. The fight scenes are one reason why I want to see this on DVD and not in the cinema again. A common convention in eastern films is to represent the legendary ability of old wuxia masters to defy gravity, jumping and gliding as if they had wings. CT,HD is not the first film to use this convention, but it will be the first film for many western audiences, and I found the snickering in the cinema spoiled the atmosphere. CT,HD is not a historical film, it's a fantasy, and some people don't seem to be able to bridge the gap - all the same, perhaps it's carried a bit too far, and doesn't sit too well with the rest of the film. If your definition of a good film involves lots of pyrotechnics, last-second escapes and the baddie being firmly killed at the end (which generally gives them terrible problems in sequels), you may be disappointed. But then again, you may find yourself enjoying a visually spectacular, moving film that doesn't behave like the usual plastic hollywood melodramas. Personally I found some elements of the movie to be absolutely breathtaking - the scenes in the desert were almost dream-like in their beauty, and I enjoyed the gentle humour that pervaded the film. I found myself drawn to the characters, and entertained by the action, in what was ultimately a bitter-sweet finale. Although the quest to retrieve the sword would dominate mainstream eastern action movies, here your attention is drawn away to the complex characters, their lives and their histories. A little less wireplay would have sat better with me, but there were parts of the film that really can't be surpassed. Suspend your disbelief (on a wire ?) and you're in for a moving and entertaining adventure.
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