Ang Lee's gorgeous 2000 masterpiece has awe-inspiring martial arts stunts and a tragic love story for the ages.
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A Valentine’s Day homage to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
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"It’s truly impressive wire work..."
This is my favorite part of the film, but not because it's absurdly great. More because it's not quite real-looking - obviously people acting on wires, but imo that look actually contributes to the magical elements of the film as people move in ways almost, but not quite, governed by everyday physics. I don't know if this was intentional, but it's a case for me where less is definitely more.
This is my favorite part of the film, but not because it's absurdly great. More because it's not quite real-looking - obviously people acting on wires, but imo that look actually contributes to the magical elements of the film as people move in ways almost, but not quite, governed by everyday physics. I don't know if this was intentional, but it's a case for me where less is definitely more.
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Thanks, saw this in the theaters twice. So amazing. I have not rewatched it in years. The fights and effects were elegant and still super exciting.
I look back at the 90’s and into the first decade or so of 2000’s and there is not really a complete single movie that has the arc, beauty, dynamics, and drama of CTHD, maybe some would argue Titanic. Yours is a nice retelling and fun review. Cheers!
I look back at the 90’s and into the first decade or so of 2000’s and there is not really a complete single movie that has the arc, beauty, dynamics, and drama of CTHD, maybe some would argue Titanic. Yours is a nice retelling and fun review. Cheers!
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I loved that movie. Watched it multiple times and was always enthralled.
If not for CTHD I never would have seen Jet Li's Hero, which is one of the best uses of color I've ever seen in a film. Not to mention all the hype about 2 people taking on the 3000-strong imperial guard ... then actually showing that battle. Hells yes.
If not for CTHD I never would have seen Jet Li's Hero, which is one of the best uses of color I've ever seen in a film. Not to mention all the hype about 2 people taking on the 3000-strong imperial guard ... then actually showing that battle. Hells yes.
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I am shocked that the film's release was 25 years ago. Where did the years go, TOTO?
It is one of my Top 5 all around-
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It is one of my Top 5 all around-
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It's especially great because it's a parodic reference to the martial arts wuxia genre of novels and movies, where the fighters all have elaborate nicknames and reputations, but she just brushes past all that.I did enjoy the scenes where Jen fights at the tea house.
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I think Hero matches it, or is at least a very close second. Outside of those two, not much.
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Imagine a year in which you got to see that AND O Brother Where Art Thou in the theaters...
...and die of eye rolling when Gladiator won Best Picture.
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The title can't be a direct translation because in the poem you quote the tiger is hidden and the dragon is crouching.
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Unquestionably one of the best films ever made. Basically flawless. It's almost in another class altogether.
My only possible complaint is that Zhang Ziyi occasionally seemed slightly out of her depth compared to some of the other incredible actors. Well, that and that Jade Fox feels a bit like a cartoon villain.
My only possible complaint is that Zhang Ziyi occasionally seemed slightly out of her depth compared to some of the other incredible actors. Well, that and that Jade Fox feels a bit like a cartoon villain.
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I think at this point anyone who loves movies knows that the Oscars are driven by political maneuvering and favor rather than any real merit. Everything Everywhere All At Once winning Best Picture over All Quiet On the Western Front is still the most irritating to me...
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I could never tell if it was on purpose or not, and that "just not quite right" really made it feel "wrong" to me. It's like when something is off just a fraction, vs far off - the fractional one always feels like they were going for the exact thing, but the far off makes it seem more like what they were going for. For example, the running up bamboo, no other movement made them seem lighter than human, but then suddenly they were, and it broke the whole movie for me as it just seemed out of place. It hit me more like slightly off CGI, where an actor is supposed to be in physical contact with a CGI'ed thing, but they don't move naturally together.
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jonbob_newcastle
Ars Scholae Palatinae
CTHD is the film that introduced me to the incomparable Michelle Yeoh. A quarter century later and she can still deliver the goods.
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Interesting that CTHD and Hero are getting paired in the comments, as the two of them are probably my most "re-watched" films of all time (there's a couple of 40s noir that get close), but for slightly different reasons. They both tell stories in beautiful ways. For me, Hero wins for visual intensity. Not the fight choreography, though that is amazing, but the shifting use of color. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is also a treat for the eyes, but just overwhelms in its mastery of "having a story to tell and telling the story". I'd have a hard time picking one over the other and it probably comes down to which I've seen last (Hero at this point).
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I never watched it but now it makes sense why Michele Yeoh was treated as such a big star when she as introduced as the empress of earth in ST
iscovery.
iscovery.
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I remember feeling ambivalent about the wire work because it was so beautifully done but also so physically unconvincing on screen. It's a neat stylistic choice but it also looks very obviously like a person on a zipline wiggling their feet instead of a person actually running and jumping, to the point where it repeatedly took me out of the story and reminded me that I was watching a movie.
Kung fu movies are obviously unrealistic in myriad ways, it's a fantasy tale, and it wasn't too hard to accept this aspect of the film's visual language since it's done well and the whole thing is gorgeous, but the wire work didn't quite click with me. It's been a while though, maybe if I watch it again...
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Its been so long since I saw this I somehow forgot it was Michelle Yoeh. I need to find a new copy as I think I only have the DVD
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O_O
Most honorable guest. That is the way to crouching karma, hidden comment.
(As for me, this may be surprising but I haven't watched the film yet.)
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She was outstanding in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. And cruelly wasted in Wicked, imo; I enjoyed both Wicked movies well enough, but Yeoh got no material to work with at all.
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In all honesty, reality is the last thing I expect of wuxia films.
Jack Burton said:
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The first time I saw this was on VHS, but I'm not entirely sure on how we got it. It was either like a video-of-the-month kind of thing someone had gotten for free or it was like a "buy 1 and get 1" deal. Of course I was blown away by it. I might even have the tape somewhere still...
For me it was the opposite actually, but I'm extremely good at suspending my disbelief. The obvious but proper wirework elevates it for me, it is the thing that turns it from "realism" to "magical realism".
For me it was the opposite actually, but I'm extremely good at suspending my disbelief. The obvious but proper wirework elevates it for me, it is the thing that turns it from "realism" to "magical realism".
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jonbob_newcastle
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Please, you’re bringing back bad memories. I was so excited when I saw her as the captain in the first episode and so despondent when they killed her off. It was all downhill from there.I never watched it but now it makes sense why Michele Yeoh was treated as such a big star when she as introduced as the empress of earth in ST
(I’m fairly sure they only brought her back as the Empress because of the backlash from the fans.)
I detest musicals. She was a good subversion of the Bond Girl trope in Tomorrow Never Dies though.
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I like musicals - if the music is good. Wicked definitely qualifies. Part 1 more than Part 2, but that's a flaw that applies to the original material rather than the film.Please, you’re bringing back bad memories. I was so excited when I saw her as the captain in the first episode and so despondent when they killed her off. It was all downhill from there.
(I’m fairly sure they only brought her back as the Empress because of the backlash from the fans.)
LaLa Land is an example of a not-great musical, for me anyway. Within minutes of seeing it, I couldn't remember a single tune - although there were a lot of them, and a typically stunning performance by Emma Stone, but for me it failed as a musical. They probably should have just done it as drama.
Moulin Rouge is a great movie and a great musical - a juke box musical, in this case - that features probably the best cover ever of Madonna's Like a Virgin. Baz Luhrmann pretty much peaked here, and has disappointed me ever since, although his earlier Strictly Ballroom (since converted to a stage musical) was quite good.
And if you either like or detest musicals, Apple TV's Schmigadoon is probably worth a watch. It's on both sides of that fence. Jane Krakowski and Kristin Chenoweth chew the scenery like nobody's business, especially in Season 2 (Schmicago).
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I love that giant hatpin shoved through his head.In all honesty, reality is the last thing I expect of wuxia films.
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The other one worth a re-watch occasionally is Last Emperor
I much prefer this to a lot of the modern green screen and cgi.
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My immediate reaction to reading this article was to make me want to watch both movies with my son. Hero's visual design is among the finest such work ever done in movies, period.
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It will impress you even more when you watch her fight scene with Jen and are told she had a torn ACL while doing those stunts.I never watched it but now it makes sense why Michele Yeoh was treated as such a big star when she as introduced as the empress of earth in ST
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Great review. 100% agree on how great this film is.
I also highly recommend Hero, the 2002 Yimou Zhang film. As beautiful as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is, Hero is the most beautiful film I've ever seen.
I also highly recommend Hero, the 2002 Yimou Zhang film. As beautiful as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is, Hero is the most beautiful film I've ever seen.
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I thought the flying swordplay was unrealistic on purpose; adding a dream-like component to a semi-mythic movie.
(A Man and a Woman remains my favorite romantic movie. I didn't understand Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well as I should have at the time, though I thought it so beautiful.)
(A Man and a Woman remains my favorite romantic movie. I didn't understand Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well as I should have at the time, though I thought it so beautiful.)
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This was good but I preferred Hero. Going to do some archeology in the Blu-ray archive to rewatch it
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