Product Description
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Named "Best Picture of the Year" by over 100 critics nationwide!
Two master warriors (Chow Yun and Michelle Yeoh) are faced
with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny
isstolen. A young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi) prepares for an
arranged marriage, but soon reveals her superior fighting talents
and her deeply romantic past. As each warrior battles for
justice, they come face to face with their worst enemy - and the
inescapable, enduring power of love. Set against 19th-century
China's breathtaking landscape, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is
the action-packed, box office smash from accled director Ang
Lee (Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm) featuring stunning
martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix). 2016
release Two master warriors (Chow Yun and Michelle Yeoh) are
faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green
Destiny isstolen. A young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi) prepares
for an arranged marriage, but soon reveals her su
.co.uk Review
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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- and Michelle Yeoh,
respectively) whose love for one another has lain too long
unspoken. When Li Mu Bai's legendary 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, O-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
On the DVD: As might be expected this superb anamorphic
widescreen version of the original 2.35:1 theatrical ratio
presents Peter Pau's spellbinding cinematography in its full
glory; the same goes for the Dolby 5.1 audio track that showcases
Tan Dun's haunting score. Annoyingly, however, the default
language option is the dubbed English soundtrack, which means you
have to select the original Mandarin version before playing. The
extra features are good but not exceptional, with an obligatory
"making-of" documentary and commentary from Ang Lee and James
Schamus being the best options: the director and
producer/cowriter chat amiably and in some detail about their
martial arts version of Sense and Sensibility. But it's the
breathtaking delight of the seeing the movie in such quality that
really counts, and this disc does not disappoint. --Mark Walker