Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

[Bulbasaur]

The newspaper review said Jane Austen meets Bruce Lee, and that's pretty much it. Impressive wire-fu with lots of humor as well. Anybody who saw the old black belt theater will appreciate the caricatures this movie makes.

Anybody else seen it? It was on limited release in NYC last week, and just opened tonight in LA. Crazy lines. I think Jet Li would have done a better job than Chow Yun Fat. However, Jet Li's done a movie series like this, so he's probably looking for something a little more.

 

[Bluga]

yup i saw it during summer in Taiwan. Very good movie.

But the martial art are "ok" if you have seen a lot of "pure" martial art movie in Asia.

However the Bambo fight was a first in martial art movie i believe.

 

[Unsickle]

Is there a mandarin version?

 

[Bulbasaur]

It's actually all in Mandarin. I saw it with subtitles. Yeah, that bamboo scene was pretty trippy. Kind of weird, though. I prefer the classic fights over stakes of uneven length driven into the ground.

 

[dcdomain]

Good movie, but action wise, I'd go for another movie. I think it was a pretty good mix between drama and action. Would have liked it if there was more action though...

 

[Aquaman]

Actually........ I've heard the the actors/actresses in the movie took a huge paycut to make this movie. Personally I think that Jet Li would not have made a good choice because he is shorter than Michelle Yeoh

I read that the young actress, Zhang Ziyi, will be in her first North American movie next year with Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker (Rush Hour 2). This time it is set in Hong Kong.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Eug]

Overall good movie. A few of the choreographed kf routines were just gorgeous. The cinematography was nice too. But...

1) It's schlocky, on purpose, but it's still annoying. It's sort of like a cross between a cheesy Chinese soap opera (Is there any other kind of soap opera? ) and good kung fu.
2) The wire work was kind of lame (like most of these movies). It was as bad as Charlie's Angels in some parts. I especially disliked the bamboo scenes.
3) My Mandarin isn't very good, but even to me, Michelle Yeoh's accent is truly painful.

So this doesn't quite meet my ultimate kf movie yet. Ever since I was a kid I've always wanted to see a good dramatic kung fu movie. Unfortunately, this isn't quite it. It's a good melodramatic kung fu movie.

I was glad to see some Caucasian faces in the flashbacks to Xinjiang though. For those who don't know, Xinjiang is actually not really "Chinese" in the sense that North Americans understand it. While ruled by the Han Chinese, much of the Xinjiang population is of the Uighur tribe, which is related to the Turks/Persians. It's a pretty oppressive rule by the Han Chinese, so consequently, the Hans are despised. I've been there and it kind of threw me off guard to be in a semi-Caucasian city where everybody spoke Chinese but seemed to resent it. However, I don't quite understand the history, especially in the context of this film.

 

[DefRef]

Both Michelle and Chow had to learn Mandarin (and an old dialect) and had a hard time with it. Ang Lee initially wanted Jet Li, but decided he was too young and wanted a better actor.

I'm really looking forward to seeing it. See the sig.

 

[IamDavid]

Excellent movie. Hands down the best of the year. I know thats not saying much but it was a great movie.

 

[noxipoo]

actually Jet Li didn't want to do it because he wanted a US film. so he did romeo must die. he picked that over this.

 

[duke]

Probably a long shot, but know where I can find a trailer?

 

[Heifetz]

www.crouchingtiger.com


Heifetz

 

[TuffGuy]

another thumbs up for the movie. but i gotta rent 'fong sai yuk' again so i can compare the fight scenes.

 

[b0urg301s13]

this is the suckiest mandarin movie I have ever seen. The special effect is too corny, too fake-visible. Story-line sucks too. You guys should go to one of those chinese video rental place and ask them for kungfu movies, I am sure you would appreciate those more than the "crotching tiger."

b0urg301s13

 

[Bluga]

ya their chinese accent was weired, but over all its a great movie.

However i wished the movie could be more "fluent" (faster pace)

 

[dcdomain]

Das what I'm saying!

Greatest Kung-Fu flick ever still is Drunken Tiger 2...
Of course it isn't in the same league as Crouching Tiger, which leans towards the epic, ancient Chinese films.

 

[Bluga]

best film of 2000 by Los Angeles film critics

 

[BrightRed]

I haven't seen it yet.
does Chow Yun Fat have any fighting scenes??
i've never seen him do any hand-to-hand fightings ever, if any.

 

[Aquaman]

The film also was shown at Canne but not as an entrant, much to the relief of everyother film maker (so I've heard).

Chow does do some hand to hand but it's mostly swords. In his chinese tv/film career he mainly does gangsters (who can forget God of Gambling) or Cops (Hardboiled).

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[atom]

Why would I ask a store for a kung fu movie to see instead of Crouching Tiger when it really wasn't even a kung fu movie? Thats like recommending Face/Off as an alternative to Saving Private Ryan.

Crouching Tiger is good for what it is, an Asian action/fantasy. And compared to other action/fantasy type movies like Wind and Cloud (they really hacked up the comic book for this one), it was really good IMO.

 

[BrightRed]

"A Better Tomorrow" is one of his best movies i've seen.
with leslie and the other guy.

 

[Aquaman]

Anyone ever see the Chinese Fantasy-Fu series:

Legend of the Condor Hero

and

Return of the Condor Hero [Andy Lau, the singer was in this one]

[the ones made in the 80's in Cantonese not the remakes in the 90's in Taiwanese].

I think that these series are the best story & effects at the time (not having seen many since I moved out of the house and my access to chinese tv was cut off).

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[prodigy]

His best movie is Hard Boiled

 

[prontospyder]

$1.1 Million this weekend on 31 screens only...not too bad.

 

[prontospyder]

Saw the movie on Sunday.....one of the best movies in 2000!