phenomenal. phenomenal. phenomenal. words cannot do justice to this movie. i could end this post right here, for there is simply no way to convey how good this movie is. first, let me inform you that it is not being shown in all theaters. you have to find it. that said, i'll cue you in to this tidbit: in movies, when rating their success, you have a "per screen average" - in other words - the amount of $$ a movie brings in for each theater. this movie, which just opened in the US a few days ago, has DOUBLED the highest amount of per screen average. just last week, before it opened in the US, it was #6 in the world for revenues. pardon me if i don't get into the absolute details of the film, for it would never do it justice. Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and director Ang Lee ('the Wedding Banquet,' 'Eat Drink Man Woman,' 'Sense and Sensibility,' 'The Ice Storm,' 'Ride with the Devil', all do a superb job. it is a martial arts film with aerial shots never before seen. for those who are martial arts fans, you CANNOT appreciate the dexterity, flexibility and reaction time necessary until you see it from an aerial viewpoint. it is breathtaking. at the theater, after the first fight scene - THE CROWD ACTUALLY GAVE AN OVATION! i have never experienced that in my life, nor heard of it. this was 15 minutes into the movie. it only got better. and no, this was not a movie where you lived from one fight scene to the next. the storyline was just as engaging. the plot, one which can only be described (albeit inadequately described) as a love story/destiny-fulfilled/martial arts drama, was well developed, yet able to be followed. the subtitles were never obtrusive, rather adding a necessary character to the film. 3 Golden Globe Award Nominations Best Director Best Original Score Best Foreign Language Film i am so hyped on this movie, that i'm going back to see it again. i'm so hyped that i can't even express it. truthfully, guys, i won't tell you the story, because words just won't do it justice. it is, to films, what shakespeare was to the english language. i don't know too much about the people who frequent this site, and their interests (other than the rox). but has anyone else been blessed with seeing this film? p.s. here's some reviews: Joel Siegel, GOOD MORNING AMERICA: "This isn't just one of the best movies of the year, it's one of the greatest movies ever made!" Eric Harrison, HOUSTON CHRONICLE: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an astonishing movie" 4 Stars (highest rating) from: USA TODAY, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, US WEEKLY, NEW YORK POST, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, JOURNAL NEWS, NEWARK STAR LEDGER, BOSTON GLOBE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, CHICAGO SUN TIMES. from Roger Ebert & Michael Wilmington: "Ang Lee's splendind soaringly ambitious Chinese period fantasy is set in the Ching Dynasty of the 18th century and deals with two sets of lovers - one middle-aged, one young - and the villainess who poisons their lives. It is poetic and moving - one of the most ravishing and pulsepounding movies of the year" - Wilmington "The most exhilariting martial arts movie I have seen. Ang Lee ("The Ice Storm") stages magnificent actrion sequences, including a sword fight with two characters clinging to treetops, and combines them with an unusually moody story involving unspoken love and a young woman who wants to break loose from her rigidly controlled life. Not about violence but more about grace and control" - Ebert **** (Four Stars) I was there opening night. And I'll be there again. And again. Trust me. Go See It! [This message has been edited by verse (edited January 13, 2001).]
yeah, and i heard "dude, where's my car" and "species" were great. form your own opinions, please. not to say those people are stupid or ignorant or anything of the sort (tho' they may be), but different people look for different things in a movie. for instance, i have a friend who i would NEVER recommend this movie for, because for him, there's not enough "direct killing" (i.e. showing the sword pierce the heart with blood splattering til the tip of the sword exits the shoulderblade with internal organds dangling). i can't fault his likes. that's for him. it's: what's for you? not what's for them. ------------------ [This message has been edited by verse (edited January 13, 2001).]
It is great! Especially if you have a fetish for being slapped and kicked by women. verse, did you hear that in exit surveys 20% of the people said it wasn't subtitled! That is always a good indication of people being absorbed by a movie. Diva, Wings of Desire and Delicatessan are three others with subtitles, yet you felt like you could understand every word. I'm going to see the Coen brothers' movie today. Can't wait!
bobrek: not very difficult at all. in fact, it's funny how after a few minutes, you don't even realize whether or not you're reading them. you just "get it". know what i mean? for example: "The Red Violin"
heyp: ain't that a b!tch!!! i was thinking the same thing afterwards (the part about being smacked around by a woman [woohooooo!]) . seriously though, after a while it could have been in swahili. it wouldn't have mattered. i (along with others) were so keyed into that movie that we knew exactly what the characters were saying and exactly what they felt. the great thing about letting an actor speak a natural "native" language, is it allows them to express that feeling in the way it was intended. you can read on their face the passion in their heart and mind. english is such a dry, morose language. but that's another topic.... ps: i'm going to check out diva sometime this week... fadeaway: really, you should go and see this film. it has something for everyone. everything from "Cider House Rules" to "The Matrix". if you're in school, you get a discount. if you're not in school...damnit you can afford it!!!! [This message has been edited by verse (edited January 13, 2001).]
yeah...get Diva. BUT, don't watch it unless you can hook up your VCR/TV to a stereo. You must see this in stereo! A big screen is essential, too, but not as much as the stereo speakers. After you watch it, tell me what you think about the telephone booth scene. That is when I stopped watching the subtitles and just listened and watched her lips.
This movie was awesome!! The thing that I found cool about it was that it was a good movie -- good characters, good plot development, etc. That by itself was excellent. But then throw in the action scenes . . . personally, I thought it made Matrix look bad . . . ------------------ "Any answer that can't be questioned is no answer at all. It's gibberish. It's the jabbering of startled monkeys flinging dung at the moon" -- Scott Christensen -- www.ewav.com
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! say it ain't so, heyp! say ain't so!!! i hate dubbed versions of movies give me subtitles, or give me brendan fraser! (just as bad as death) ewav: i agree. and i liked matrix. it was a movie with a very simple, but "enlightened" message. tho, this movie made matrix "child's play" (pun intended). btw, ...reading your site right now. was anyone that has seen the movie bothered in the least by the flying scenes? they received some criticism from the experts, but i thought it fit nicely. it was something that you had to buy into from the beginning. besides, ancient chinese legend holds that the old masters indeed possessed the ability to fly. given what i have seen shao-lin monks do, i WOULD NOT DOUBT IT. [This message has been edited by verse (edited January 13, 2001).]
As far as the flying is concerned: <blockquote>I know some people think the fighting style in CT is complete BS or a mere "Matrix mimic" after seeing the movie. That is not true, the very fighting style in CT has been fictionalized by many chinese novelists for decades, specificly the legendary writer Kim Um. In his novels, the martial artists are able to jump over roofs, puncture walls and perform many superhuman maneuvers through the manipulation of chi inside their body. Now I know that is a bit far fetched but that is fiction. My point is while it may seen hard to comprehend for many people, for those who had ever read a piece of Kim's novel (which is like the ENTIRE chinese race)they would feel right at home. It's like the pages in Kim's novel brought to life. -- ribbon 86</blockquote> saw that on <a href="http://www.shlonglor.com">shlonglor's site</a> a few weeks ago and thought it was an interesting insight. ------------------ "Any answer that can't be questioned is no answer at all. It's gibberish. It's the jabbering of startled monkeys flinging dung at the moon" -- Scott Christensen -- www.ewav.com
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a GREAT movie! The story-line is well-developed and the fight scenes are un-believe-able. "They were kung-fu fighting...those cats were fast as lightning..." ------------------ "Breaking up is hard to do...[with] everyone trying to make it a parting befitting all the professionalism that came before. Trying to find that Olajuwon graceful fade one more time." Scott Howard-Cooper (Sacramento Bee, ESPN.com)
I love the old kung Fu movies 5 DEADLY VENONS Etc I'll Check this movie Rocket River who doesn't think english is drab, bored, or anything Language is what ya make it ------------------
The movie was simply brilliant -- Chow Yun Fat especially on top of his game. The highlight of the film for me. The guy who played Lo was also fantastic. I could even understand some of the film!!! 2 1/2 years of Chinese finally paying off!!! I only wish I could have seen it under the same circumstances as you, verse. Many of the people didn't seem to realize the film was in chinese -- half left after the movie started. The rest heckled and mocked the characters -- it was really sad. There were maybe 6 people in the theatre actually trying to watch the film. ------------------ It doesn't matter if I have a signature!
Calm down, bucko. T'was just a joke. I'll explain: After reading your mini-essay on how great it was, I thought it would be funny to follow up with a short, unsubstantiated complaint. Sort of a "humor from contrast" type of deal. I never even heard of the damn movie. Guess I should have added a smilie, eh? Seriously, though, from what you guys have said, I probably would enjoy it. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy. [This message has been edited by fadeaway (edited January 13, 2001).]
gotta agree, amazing stuff. The Matrix comparisons will continue, but this movie stands on its own. ------------------
fadeaway: m'bad! m'bad! you didn't know i had royalties on the movie did'ya? if you do get a chance, though, i hope you enjoy it. if not....at least you got pseudo-butter-expensive-popcorn out of it.
I'll be renting it as soon as it comes out on video. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy.
I saw the movie last night. It was a good movie. IT did have some funny parts that I don't think were intended to be funny. It was an Above average movie . . but not quite the TOUR DE FORCE I expected. I did not like the contrived *ss ending. Lot of things in the movie were kinda obvious . . . [The whole Lo thing came out of left field] and Master Bo was funny But then again I may have said too much Rocket River quite an entertaining evening maybe we need a spoiler thread to discuss. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Rocket River (edited January 15, 2001).]
