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Amazon.co.uk Review
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is so many things: an historical epic on a grand scale, an Asian martial-arts flick with both great effects and fantastic fighting (choreographed by The Matrix's guru Yuen Wo Ping), a story of magic, revenge and power played with a posse of star-crossed lovers thrown in for good measure. Set during the Qing dynasty (the late 19th century), the film follows the fortunes of righteous warriors Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien (Asian superstars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, respectively) whose love for one another has lain too long unspoken. When Li Mu Bai's legendary sword Green Destiny is stolen by wilful aristocrat's daughter Jen (exquisite newcomer Zhang Ziyi), who has been trained in the way of the gangster by Li Mu Bai's arch-rival Jade Fox, the warriors must fight to recover the mystical blade. The plot takes us all across China, from dens of iniquity and sumptuous palaces to the stark plains of the Western desert. Characters chase each other up walls and across roof and treetops to breathtaking effect, and Tan Dun's haunting, Oscar-winning East-West inflected score. Directed by Taiwanese-born Ang Lee and co-written by his longtime collaborator American James Schamus, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon joins the ranks of the team's slate of high-quality, genre-spanning literary adaptations. Although it superficially seems like a return to Ang's Asian roots, there's a clear throughline connecting this with their earlier, Western films given the thematic focus on propriety and family honour (Sense and Sensibility), repressed emotions (The Ice Storm) and divided loyalties in a time of war (Ride with the Devil). Nonetheless, a film this good needs no prior acquaintance with the director's oeuvre; it stands on its own. The only people who might be dismissive of it are jaded chop-socky fans who will probably feel bored with all the romance. Everyone else will love it. --Leslie Felperin
Synopsis
Known for making films about familial relationships, director Ang Lee surprised everyone with his martial arts epic CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. Based on a novel by Wang Du Lu, CROUCHING TIGER starts with the revenge plot common in the wuxia stories that Lee loved as a child, then adds a feminist twist. Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) is a legendary martial artist who has decided to pass on his sword, the Green Destiny, to a friend. Soon afterward, the sword is stolen by a masked female, setting in motion events that test the bonds of family, love, duty, and sisterhood. Chow appears with three generations of female stars: Cheng Pei Pei, a 1960s action heroine; Michelle Yeoh, the beauty queen turned 1980s action goddess; and newcomer Zhang Ziyi, who smolders as the princess who wants more than domestic tranquillity. Famed action choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (THE MATRIX) stages jaw-dropping zero-G fights across rooftops, rivers, and bamboo trees, while Yo-Yo Ma punctuates the fisticuffs with dramatic cello solos. Described by Lee as "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY with martial arts," CROUCHING TIGER recalls the best wuxia films of the 1960s and pushes the genre in new directions.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
There's already many reviews for the movie itself here on Amazon, and im sure the majority of people interested in this have already seen it in one form or another. For that reason this is basically a review of the Bluray itself. As im sure a lot of people want to know if its worth trading in their dvd for.
First of all, any cool new extras? Ala's no. We have a commentary with Ang Lee and James Schamus. A conversation with Michelle Yeoh (interview). Making of featurette.... and a photo gallery. All of which were supplied on previous DVD releases. Unfortunately, they are still in SD as well.
Secondly, the sound and subtitles. Thankfully we have TrueHD 5.1 for the English dub and Mandarin track. There are a 18 subtitle options in total, including English, and English for the hearing impaired.
Finally, the picture. I wasn't blown away at first truth be told, as I skipped to one of the movies night sequences. The picture had some grain to it, although its quite mild I wonder if it has had some DNR applied to it, as on closer inspection it did appear as though skin complexions would blur a little when moving. Blacks were mostly solid although I did notice a lack of detail on them during the night scenes, especially the fast moving ones. Again, perhaps a result of applied DNR. Day scenes I found to be excellent. Very clear with plenty of detail anywhere you looked. Nice!
Overall though, the picture is good and at times very good. The print used is very clean with almost no dirt or grain to be seen. Its only the night scenes that I could find a few faults with, nothing that serious though and nothing that made me regret my purchase. I can honestly say, yes it is worth buying even if you own the DVD. It's a far better Bluray than the House of Flying Daggers release we had as well, which im sure you will all be relieved to hear.
The lack of effort put into the extras would probably push me towards giving this Bluray a 3.5 if I could, but as Amazon dont allow halves, and I think its pretty good when compared to a number of catalogue titles, I think its deserving of 4 stars.
First of all, any cool new extras? Ala's no. We have a commentary with Ang Lee and James Schamus. A conversation with Michelle Yeoh (interview). Making of featurette.... and a photo gallery. All of which were supplied on previous DVD releases. Unfortunately, they are still in SD as well.
Secondly, the sound and subtitles. Thankfully we have TrueHD 5.1 for the English dub and Mandarin track. There are a 18 subtitle options in total, including English, and English for the hearing impaired.
Finally, the picture. I wasn't blown away at first truth be told, as I skipped to one of the movies night sequences. The picture had some grain to it, although its quite mild I wonder if it has had some DNR applied to it, as on closer inspection it did appear as though skin complexions would blur a little when moving. Blacks were mostly solid although I did notice a lack of detail on them during the night scenes, especially the fast moving ones. Again, perhaps a result of applied DNR. Day scenes I found to be excellent. Very clear with plenty of detail anywhere you looked. Nice!
Overall though, the picture is good and at times very good. The print used is very clean with almost no dirt or grain to be seen. Its only the night scenes that I could find a few faults with, nothing that serious though and nothing that made me regret my purchase. I can honestly say, yes it is worth buying even if you own the DVD. It's a far better Bluray than the House of Flying Daggers release we had as well, which im sure you will all be relieved to hear.
The lack of effort put into the extras would probably push me towards giving this Bluray a 3.5 if I could, but as Amazon dont allow halves, and I think its pretty good when compared to a number of catalogue titles, I think its deserving of 4 stars.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
First of all I have to say that service from Amazon.uk is excellent. I ordered Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon blu-ray from here because it is not available as a stand alone movie in the US. I was EXTREMELY happy to find that shipping costs were very low and delivery time was incredibly fast. Conversion to US dollars was almost seamless. In other words I will certainly do this again!. Great job!
The movie in blu-ray was excellent all around. It is a great movie but that I already knew from the standard DVD that I own. The blu-ray was fantastic however with greater detail and more vibrant color. Shadow detail seemed better as well. In some ways it was like watching the movie all over again. There was some grain present as well as some image softness but that might have more to do with filming technique rather than flaw in the transfer. Overall a very good transfer to blu-ray.
The movie in blu-ray was excellent all around. It is a great movie but that I already knew from the standard DVD that I own. The blu-ray was fantastic however with greater detail and more vibrant color. Shadow detail seemed better as well. In some ways it was like watching the movie all over again. There was some grain present as well as some image softness but that might have more to do with filming technique rather than flaw in the transfer. Overall a very good transfer to blu-ray.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
Being a martial arts junkie, I simply adore the grace of this movie.
It manages to avoid the over dramatisation of 'The Hero' yet does not fail to move its audience.
Poignant, tragic and an unparallelled action choreography makes it my favourite kung fu flick.
It manages to avoid the over dramatisation of 'The Hero' yet does not fail to move its audience.
Poignant, tragic and an unparallelled action choreography makes it my favourite kung fu flick.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Crouching blu ray, hidden slipcase!!
I ordered this as i was a fan of the film and also collect the Blu rays in the Sony collectors range, these come as pictured with the slipcase and nice embossed gold colour... Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Owen
It's no Yimou Zhang.
This movie is way over rated. It's story pales in comparison to House of Flying Daggers and it's visuals pale in comparison to Hero. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jack
Great Picture Medium Story
This movie has a great prestine picture, mostly when you see the chasing scene on the bamboo forest, it's very amazingly.
The story is ... Read more
The story is ... Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by E. S. Widjaja
Fantastic!
I loved this film at the Cinema, on VHS, on DVD and now on BluRay, fantastic!
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by P. L. Setchell
BEST version by far, highly recommended BLU-RAY!
Since this stand alone version is not available in the US, I decided to get the UK Steelbook. This was my first Steelbook purchase and I really like the case and packaging a lot. Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2009 by tg5spd
average, not overwhelming
I purchased this item as soon as I found out it had a real metal cover, and it was what I expected. Not so much can be said about the video quality, just "it could've been... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2009 by Miguel Amaro
Excellent transfer!
This is a great transfer onto Blu Ray. The film is amazing in high definition and it plays on US based blu ray players, thus making it probably an all-region disc.
Published on 27 July 2009 by K. Palayan
Great film, ok video quality
CTHD is a great film, if i was reviewing just the film it would get at least a 4/5.
The image quality on this blu-ray release is a step up from the DVD but as a Blu-ray... Read more
The image quality on this blu-ray release is a step up from the DVD but as a Blu-ray... Read more
Published on 20 July 2009 by A. james
Fantastic Picture
As the previous comment states most people looking to buy this film has already seen the film and you maybe looking to either upgrade from DVD and looking to find out if it's worth... Read more
Published on 6 July 2009 by Mr. Martyn Poole
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