Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

20140601:
If I remember correctly, the only other time I saw this film before today was in theaters with my parents. Watching the movie again today, I realized that the only part I vaguely remembered was the ending. Furthermore, upon finishing the movie, I also realized that its just as much a romance movie as it is an action movie.

Jen Yu (Ziyi Zhang)

Unfortunately, much of the cool flying action and choreography was mostly the same old thing I had watched on VHS (Wikipedia.org) while growing up. While other kids probably watched Star Trek alongside their parents, I happily watched Chinese martial art series dubbed in Vietnamese with mine.* And what's there not to like? Running and flying across rooftops? Check. Awesome, epic battles? Check. Some sort of revitalization technique using the palms of your hands? Check.

Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh)

Overall, I would recommend this movie to anybody who like their martial art movies filled with a little bit of drama and romance. Otherwise, for fun and action, you're probably looking to go watch a Jackie Chan movie.

*I did, in fact, also watch television programming for kids.

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Li Mu Bai (Yun-Fat Chow)

20240504:
I was planning to watch the sequel (on Netflix) so I decided to watch this movie again today (on Amazon).

Jade Fox (Pei-pei Cheng)

I found the movie had a simplicity and beauty to it which I feel I rare in films, especially those from the last decade. I'm curious if this is due to a shift in story telling within the movie industry or simply from the subset of movies which I watch.

I loved the choreography and the score. For the most part I enjoyed the story, but I couldn't quite process the ending.

Rating: 4.6/5

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Lo "Dark Cloud" (Chen Chang)

Instant Comments:
2: Haha. "When it comes to emotions, even great heroes can be idiots."
3: I vaguely recall, or it would make sense, that she is secretly a fighter
2: Hehe, classic flight.
2: Where would she have found the time to learn all those martial arts? At least, she's the most likely suspect.
2: Shots fired! "You write gracefully. Calligraphy is so similar to fencing."
3: "Maybe it is. I wouldn't know" Hmm. Right...

I see what she did there.

2: Ha. Bumbling idiot. [20240504: I assume I'm referring to the fighter who is just getting in the way in the fight between Tsai and Jade Fox]
3: Wait... is Jade Fox the caretaker/governess of the young girl?
2: Tricked! (cup)
2: Quite a turn of events at the forty-eight minute mark.
2: A secret romance! This side-story takes about twenty minutes to tell.
3: "Don't touch the women!"

2: The flashback both serves to describe her character and foreshadowing.
2: Crouching tigers and hidden dragons are in the underworld... but so are human feelings. One hour nineteen minute mark.
3: Love this fight scene between Shu Lien and Jen, especially with Shu Lien going through the different weapons
3: hehe a bit of comedic relief with this big heavy weapon
3: What!?! How dishonrable. She had the broken knife at her neck and Jen took a cheap swipe
3: Hmm... she didn't keep to her word. She made a statement, he met it, and... well I guess she's being a child
2: The ol' hands on the back [20240504: in old VHS series, this was a common healing mechanism, though in this scene it was not executed to the same effect]
3: Wow. I can't believe she just openly said she wanted to kill Jen with the needle
3: Shouldn't a poisoned needle have an antidote?
3: Oh okay. Shu Lien is imploring for the type of poison and antidote
3: Uh... I don't get it [I like a person's answer on Reddit:

"The movie is entirely open to interpretation, but in the books she jumps off the cliff to fake her death and wanders into the desert, where she gives birth to a son. The son is taken one night as a baby and the kidnappers leave behind a baby girl who she raises for 20 years and then goes to find her son. She finds him and wants to take him to the girl but she dies. Then the son and girl meet up and slowly discover the true story of their backgrounds and finally they settle down and get married."

]
2: Love the soundtrack. Though the end credits song with English lyrics felt a bit out of place.
2=20140601,3=20240504

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Released 20001222.
Watched once before in theaters. (Mandarin audio, English subtitles)
Watched 20140601 (Netflix, Instant) (Mandarin audio, English subtitles)
Watched 20240504 (Amazon Prime) (Mandarin audio, English subtitles)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Ang Lee. 120 min

Relevant Links:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (IMDb.com)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (RottenTomatoes.com)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wikipedia.org)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Metacritic.com)