Who saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"?

My lord, I HATED that movie. Honestly don't see what got the critics all hot and bothered. The acting was stilted and corny, the plot made no sense, and things were just STRANGE.

For instance, did you notice how, in the beginning of the movie, there was at least a passing reference to gravity as they leapt about and flipped around (ok, so its a kung-fu movie, what do I expect, right?).

By the end, people were just flying around. There is no reference to magic, mysticism, etc to explain it away. Apparently, people in medieval china weren't bound by gravity. Flying about was apparently an everyday occurence, since nobody appears to notice. Ridiculous.


Also, the whole "sitting in treetops dueling while being swayed around by the wind" thing made absolutely no sense. First of all, as anyone who has ever swung a blade will attest to (I test L4 Broadsword, myself, and anjoy main gauche style combat - wooden weapons, of course), you need LEVERAGE and stability to fight effectively. Besides which, if they could all fly, why did they need the damned trees!!?

I came out of this one literally physically ill, the friends I saw it with call it the "flying faerie movie". I'm sure the new one will win an academy award too .

Sigh.

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If YOU saw anything at all worthwhile about this film, please, enlighten my poor benighted self

I saw it on video. I liked one fight scene. But all in all I did not like it. I highly suggest "Iron Monkey"

You have to admit, it was different from many other action films; I thought it was really good. And the fight scenes were pretty impressive.

Juz' my opionion.

Two words: Zhang Ziyi!!

Iron Monkey is a great film. It's like CTHD without all the artsy stuff.

Biscuit,

After your reply to Jeff and his thoughts on The One, I sort of explained about what all that flying busines was about, if you care to go there... but I don't think it will make you like the movie more!

It was a Chinese FAIRY TALE. That's why they could fly. Just like Cinderella's godmother could turn a pumpkin into a coach.

I didn't like it either.

Strelnikov

I actually enjoyed the film. I think that the main thing that you have to realize about the film is that it really isn't a martial arts film, but more a dramatic film that takes place in an environment where martial arts is prevelent.

As far as the flying goes. I once had a girlfriend that was from Singapore, and she used to tell me about the martial arts films that she grew up with. She would tell me that flying was considered natural in the films. Or, if the actors weren't flying, they would throw their swords in the air and the swords would fly and battle based on the directions of their owners.

I posted a response to this in the Tickling Discussion forum before I saw this here. I'll just briefly repeat that I can see where if you're not familiar with the genre, you'd have trouble with it, but me, I loved it despite some minor problems.

And I would have rather and lots rather seen it as Best Picture last year than the pretty but soulless Gladiator.

I never got the point of martial arts films where little of the martial arts is real... I don't think I could get into this movie.

Give me Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon any day. Now THAT'S real martial arts!

Acting?

You mean Russell Crowe's amazing ability to keep the same sullen glower on his face for two hours?

As for realism ... a slave gladiator who gave the real Roman emperor that kind of static would have had himself a serious, probably fatal accident within a few days. No matter how popular he was. At least CT, HD made no pretense at being realistic.

And I thought the CGI tiger looked silly, but I've been tired of Hollywood's overreliance on CGI for a long time now. If I wanted to watch a cartoon, I'd watch Toy Story 2, thanks.

if anyone saw IRON MONKEY i suggest you go to blockbuster and get ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA with JET LI it`s much better

What Makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a great movie

I admit, when I first saw the flying scenes in the previews, it was a turn off, as I am a fan of reality fighting events.

But here are a few things that greatly distinguish this film from the rest of the martial arts genre:

1. The three leading characters were actors first and martial artists second. For example: Chow Yun Fat is impressive in non-martial arts films (i.e. Anna and the King). This sets the movie apart from films by Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, or most any martial arts film.
2. The sound effects had class. There were no deafening WAPS and BANGS every time there was a punch or a kick. They opted for a kind of whispering that cloth makes when it moves fast. Fast martial artists really make this sound and can snap the air with their fist and clothing.
3. It had an Oscar winning score, the music was great
4. It had a beautiful epic story that was morally complex.
5. It was consistent within it’s own pretense.
6. Its main character was always noble and never silly. He was both a warrior and a healer and was not tempted by fame, riches, or even lust.
7. Keep in mind that not everyone could fly in the movie. Only the most accomplished masters who had read a secret text could fly. Even in the real world, the more we learn, the more we find that we don’t know the limits of what human beings are capable of.
8. The effects were big budget effects, not your average Hong Kong affair.
9. It was a beautiful romance, actually two romances, involving love both forbidden and denied. For perhaps the first time it successfully involved females on a grand scale in an epic martial arts film. The movie had soul.
10. It had impeccable production and costume design, and grand cinematography
11. It was a fusion effort between West and East from start to finish.
12. The action scenes were virtually poetic in their grace.
13. The film is magnificently nonchalant about its magic

It made me feel like I could fly much more than Superman, or the Matrix. I actually did fly up eight flights of stairs afterward.

Anyway, yes it wasn’t necessarily realistic, but it had class virtually unseen in the genre.

MB