Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

It was one of Ang Lee's longtime dreams to make a wuxia movie. With a foot firmly planted in the idiom but also written and filmed to appeal to western audiences as well we get two immortal, timeless love stories and some of the best wuxia ever filmed on a movie screen. It started a wuxia craze in the global and western movie market for more than a decade. If anyone remembers classics like "A touch of Zen" that came decades before you'll appreciate the homage here in this fine film. There is a nice presence of the Tao and Buddhist philosophies without getting in too deep. As with almost all Ang Lee films we get a strong sense of suppressed emotions and truths always hidden. In fact, the fight scenes here, as really beautifully choregraphed as they are, become physical extensions of the deep inner conflicts, unrequited love, jealousy and the struggle to forge one's own path in life. There is almost a sorrowful atmosphere that falls when the characters fight. The cast is stellar with then newcomer Zhang Ziyi dominating much of the film and launching quite a career for the last couple of decades. Long time action star veteran Michelle Yeoh solidly anchors the story line and adds much depth to her troubled relationships with both co-stars. And a very surprising excellent turn as a wuxia master from Hong Kong gangster film star Chow Yun-fat.This fantastic remaster 4K HDR10 disc gives a nice tight, light grain with great detail. Colors are vivid but still realistic. The roof top night scenes are nice and gloomy but without black crush. There is just a solid cinematic feel to the image here. The Atmos audio is excellent with great envelopment, dynamics and very clear Mandarin dialog. Subtitles are white with a slightly larger font to enhance the ease of reading.I can think of no reason to hesitate to add this to your collection. Especially as a strong contender of the best wuxia of all time.

Crouching Tiger is a very good film with a lot going for it. The recreation of mid-evil China, the cinematography, the gorgeous fight choreograpy, a sweeping story and its focus on the role of women in society and the cultural expectations that are placed on them all add up to a fine film. But above all else it is the film's acting that makes it stand apart from the crowd, particularly the performances of its two leading ladies.Michelle Yeoh is amazing in this movie. Loyal and hard edged, Yeoh's character is the ultimate example of internal conflict, torn between a friendship and the truth, and between a deep respect and an even deeper love. There are several scenes where the subleties of her facial expressions say more than most actors manage in their entire careers with actual dialogue.As good as Yeoh is, its newcommer (at the time this film was made) Zhang Ziyi that steals the show. Never mind that a good argument could be made for her as the most beautiful actress alive today, Ziyi manages to portray Jen as a complex duality of fragility and power, of nobleman's daughter and thief. At times bratty and spoiled, at other times indigent, self-assured and cocky, and at all times someone who will, in the end, do what she pleases to do, cultural expectations, protocol, laws and even common decency be damned. Jen wants the world, but she'll only accept it on her own terms.Even though the DVD defaults to english, I recommend watching the film first in its native Mandarin with the english subtitles turned on, as the film was presented during its theatrical release. Too much of the subleties of these great performances are lost when the english audio is dubbed in. At the same time, it is worth watching later with the english audio, as the spoken english words are more elaborate and convey more than the much briefer subtitles can.I would also like to briefly comment on the use of wirework in the movie and the widespread criticism it has received for making the movie unrealistic.First, please realise that the movie is meant as a fairy tale / fantasy. It was not intended to be fully realistic. If you realise this, and allow yourself to enjoy the movie, you will. Just as we allow ourselves to enjoy films like Kill Bill, Rambo, and James Bond, even though they too have fight scenes that are completely unrealistic and would in reality leave the participants chalk full of bullet holes or beaten to bloody pulps.Second, there is something of a point as to why the characters can fly. Yeoh hits the nail on the head in the accompanying documentary on the DVD when she points out that the flying is meant to be symbolic of the character's relative freedom from social obligation. Yeoh's character, who runs a business and cannot speak her love for Li Mu Bai due to social standing, is also the least adept flyer of the major characters and often struggles to do so, weighed down by her obligations. Jen certainly has social expectations placed upon her, but has escaped most of them through her secret life. She is able to take flight far more easily than Yeoh's character. Finally, Li Mu Bai is a warrior who is at peace with who he is - he flies most effortlessly of all three of them.

No problem hearing it in English.

Película se ve genial en 4k, algunos indican problemas en la calidad de pantalla, la verdad, ningún problema, incluso en escenas obscuras, se ve muy claro y nítido. De más está decir de la película, que es maravillosa.Trae Bluray y 4k, idioma y subtítulos en español latino, excelente

H.J.J. van der Haar: Wat ik toch wel erg jammer vind is dat er vele talen staan waarmee deze editie werkt maar geen Nederlandse (of Duitse of Scandinavische) ondertiteling of nasynchronisatie. Nederlandse ondertiteling zou al voldoende zijn geweest. Bestaat dat überhaupt niet voor deze film? Voor de makers: er zijn zeker 100 miljoen Duitstalingen ter wereld (Duitsland, Oostenrijk, Zwitserland (de grootste groep spreekt Zwitserduits en geen Frans, Italiaans of Retroromaans) & er zijn 55 miljoen Nederlandstaligen in de wereld (bron: de religieuze mensen in Salt Lake City die al die geboortebewijzen verzamelen). En de Scandinavische landen behoren tot de rijkste landen ter wereld. Dus een markt van 150 mensen en meer laat men op deze manier links liggen. Dat is toch zonde, vindt men niet?

Reçu et testé. Un réel plaisir que de redécouvrir ce chef d’œuvre avec cette qualité. Testé uniquement en blu-ray et pas en ultra HD pour le moment (pas de lecteur encore) mais la qualité est là. C’est beau, c’est propre et ça fait plaisir. J’avais peur concernant la VF (oui il y’a des films que je préfère regarder en VF et celui-ci en fait partie) et c’est bien celle de la version DVD que je vais ranger précieusement. Le mixage sonore est de bonne qualité également et la musique ne parlons pas. Livraison un peu longue mais ça vaut le coup. Si vous aimez ce film, n’hésitez pas à acheter cette version qui le sublime vraiment.

First off, its not the film. I love this film, and wanted to upgrade from my dvd version. The the quality of the 4K transfer is so bad, its unwatchable. Where there are areas of solid colour, especially backgrounds slightly out of focus like a wall, there is so much grain or noise on the image, and the noise actually slightly changes colour, so appears to shimmer. This even happen on characters faces, it is so bad. The only saving grace is the blue ray version, which doesn't suffer this to any dramatic effect and is very much watchable. Don't buy the 4k version, stick to the bluray!