2001-01-21 16:14:26+00 by ebradway 7 comments
I drove up to Knoxville Friday to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (or Wo hu zang long for those purists). All I can say is you must see this movie even if you aren't a Kung Fu fan. It's easily one of the best movies I've seen in quite a while. I can't wait to see it again so I don't have to read the subtitles and can pay closer attention to the visuals.
[ related topics: Interactive Drama ]
comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:57+00 by: Dan Lyke
Yeah, what Eric said. Gorgeous movie, fantastic acting. Yes, the wire-work wasn't up to par, but the rest of it was incredible. Y'all know how I am about movies, but I want to go see this one again in the theatre.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:58+00 by: ebradway
I thought the wire work was quite reasonable, especially the fight scenes in the bamboo forest. I'm sure if they spent a few $10M on CG effects they could have had much more 'believable' action scenes. But there's only just so much faith you can put into the Chinese martial arts fables.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:58+00 by: Dan Lyke
There was one particularly egregious shot in the bamboo forest where she lands kind-of on the bamboo, then scrambles around while hanging there before getting her footing. Rather than the image of this incredibly fleet footed light person, the illusion completely broke and it looked like she was suspended. I can't believe that they couldn't retake that shot because of budget issues. There were a couple of other places where they swung rather than floated, but that one shot really hurt the believability of how the "flight" worked in their physics, and since that's important to the ending I think spending a bit more on it would've helped. But the rest of the movie makes up for that.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:58+00 by: ebradway
You were probably paying closer attention to the action while I was reading the subtitles. But I thought a big part of the bamboo scene was how Li Mu Bai was more experienced in the bamboo forest (near his home) and was demonstrating Jen Yu's inexperience. Basically, in the bamboo forest Jen Yu should have been scrambling to keep her footing. But even if the scenes were executed worse the movie would be worth seeing. The story itself is wonderful and the acting is great. I suspect we might see at least an Oscar nomination for this one.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:58+00 by: ebradway
There as really good review at CNN.com
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:58+00 by: ebradway
OK. I wasn't paying attention. Crouching Tiger received three nominations and won two: Best Director and Best Foreign Language film. I thought it was a much better film than Gladiator, which won Best Motion Pitcure, but I'm more a fan of plot that gratuitious pan shots.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:58+00 by: TC
<nods> best film I've seen in some time. Any enlightened company would take their people put them on bart and truck on down to the Metreon and see this movie. Anyone leaving the cinema with dry eyes gets a pink slip...