[Blu-Ray Review] CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
As the move to adopt High Definition continues to gain pace, more and more older movies are being re-released on the Blu-Ray format, and one of the recent ones to see be given the HD makeover is Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Released theatrically in 2000, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the first “mainstream” exposure most people in the West had to the Asian genre of “wuxia”. Wuxia is a long running genre, where the protaginists are almost super powered martial artists who’s skills include being able to float through the air, walk on water and many other feats that would not be possible to normal people, and mixes elements of historical epics, martial arts movies and fantasy.
And it was a huge success. It took $128,078,872 at the US box office alone! It also won four of the ten Oscars it was nominated for. So if you haven’t seen it, then you really should (and have probably been living in a cave somewhere for the last nine years).
But to briefly recap, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tells the story of Li Mu Bai (played by Chow Yun Fat), a warrior monk and last master of the Wudan. Deciding to retire, he asks Shu Lien (played by Michelle Yeoh) to take his sword, the Green Destiny, to his former mentor to keep safe until the next worthy person to possess the sword makes himself known.
Unfortunately, after the sword has been delivered, a young thief steals the sword and Li Mu Bai has to regain the sword as a matter of honour. But has he finally found a person worthy of being taught his experience and wisdom?
Cue some stunning fight sequences, which include one in, around and over the streets and buildings of Li Mu Bai’s mentor, and a quite memorable fight in the tops of giant bamboo trees (which once you’ve seen it you’ll never forget).
I loved this movie when I first saw it all those years ago, and I have to say it has lost none of it’s beauty or magic nine years later.
Ang Lee approached this movie from a more art director angle than an action movie director one, and it is more beautiful for it. The characters are very well created and the action scenes grow from their interactions rather than the characters being forced into acting a particular way to create the action scenes.
Chow Yun Fat, who we were more accustomed to seeing in gangster and crime roles, adapts to the role of the spiritual warrior monk with ease, and he seems more dangerous when still than he does when his sword is drawn!
Michelle Yeoh, who was already well established in the genre, is also amazing in her role, but the real standout is Zhang Ziyi, who’s performance propelled her into stardom.
The Picture
While it’s not up to the standard of a recent Blu-Ray release, the video is still very good. It might lack some of the sharpness that we are accustomed to with Blu-Ray, but you still get a very good level of detail and the colours are vibrant, especially in the bamboo forest. The black levels are very deep, as well, even though sometimes there doesn’t seem to be as much detail in the shadows as we are maybe used to.
Regardless, it is still a major improvement over the DVD release.
The Audio
The audio on the disc is presented in a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and it is truly stunning. It handles equally well the quiet dialogue present throughout the movie as well as the action scenes. And the musical score is absolutely beautifully rendered. It is a real treat to listen to all the different levels on this soundtrack.
Special Features
Ang Lee and James Schamus Commentary
A Conversation with Michelle Yeoh (Interview)
Making-of Special: Unleashing the Dragon (featurette)
Photo Gallery (photo montage)
All of these were present on the original DVD release.
All in all, this is a very worthy re-release for this beautiful movie. While the lack of any new, or even high definition, extras makes the upgrade a little less worth it, the way the movie looks and sounds does kind of make up for it.
If you have never owned a copy of this movie, and you own a high definition player, then you could go far wrong than investing in this beautifully filmed epic.
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2 Responses to “[Blu-Ray Review] CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON”
In High School we used to make fun of this movie and empersonate some of the scenes. It was pretty funny.
This movie is funny as shit to watch, some scenes are like….insane- this is one of those movies you have to watch under the influence…just like Tron, anything Tim Burton and Hostel
Everytime i watch this movie i litterally CRY from laughing. Especially that fight scene at night
I mean its a good movie, not great, but okay.
but some parts where out the door hilarious
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