Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Theatrical Release Date: 2000 12 08 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 043396059900

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Questionable for Children, Suitable for Teens]

Summary: Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee took a break from making Western period dramas to fashion this wild and woolly martial arts spectacular featuring special effects and action sequences courtesy of the choreographer of The Matrix (1999), Yuen Woo Ping. In the early 19th century, martial arts master Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) is about to retire and enter a life of meditation, though he quietly longs to avenge the death of his master, who was killed by Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei). He gives his sword, a fabled 400-year-old weapon known as Green Destiny, to his friend, fellow martial arts wizard and secret love Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), so that she may deliver it to Sir Te (Sihung Lung). Upon arrival in Peking, Yu happens upon Jen (Zhang Ziyi), a vivacious, willful politician's daughter. That night, a mysterious masked thief swipes Green Destiny, with Yu in hot pursuit -- resulting in the first of several martial arts action set pieces during the film. Li arrives in Beijing and eventually discovers that Jen is not only the masked thief but is also in cahoots with the evil Jade. In spite of this, Li sees great talent in Jen as a fighter and offers to school her in the finer points of martial arts and selflessness, an offer that Jen promptly rebukes. This film was first screened to much acclaim at the 2000 Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals and became a favorite when Academy Awards nominations were announced in 2001: Tiger snagged ten nods and later secured four wins for Best Cinematography, Score, Art Direction, and Foreign Language Film. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Category: Adventure

Awards: People's Choice Award – Toronto International Film Festival Best Foreign Language Film – null Best Director – null Best Original Score – null Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Director – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Supporting Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Music – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Foreign Language Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Cinematography – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Production Design – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Costume Design – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Editing – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Sound – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Visual Effects – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Makeup and Hair – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Picture – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Cinematography – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Music Score – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Production Design – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Foreign Film – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture – Hong Kong Film Awards Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Foreign Language Film – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Foreign Film – National Board of Review Best Picture – Independent Spirit Awards Best Director – Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Actress – Independent Spirit Awards Best Picture – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Actress - Runner-up – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Director [Runner-up] – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Foreign Film – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Original Score – Chicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Actress – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography – American Society of Cinematographers Best Cinematography – New York Film Critics Circle Film Presented – Telluride Film Festival Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Foreign Language Film – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video
Ang Lee and James Schamus commentary
Bravo making-of special: "Unleashing the Dragon"
Conversation with Michelle Yeoh featurette
Photo montage
Link to website
Filmographies
Animated menus
Production notes
Scene selections

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/05/2001

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 120 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Selections
1. Start [:52]
2. Li Mu Bai [5:27]
3. Sir Te [2:01]
4. Jen [3:24]
5. Governor Yu [3:37]
6. Sword thief [2:36]
7. To catch a thief [4:03]
8. Flyers [1:47]
9. Calligraphy [5:36]
10. Police Inspector Tsai [1:08]
11. What Shu discovered [2:30]
12. Yellow Hill: Midnight [2:32]
13. Li vs. Jade Fox [1:31]
14. Jade Fox's disciple [5:55]
15. "Give yourself up." [3:06]
16. Home late [2:55]
17. "The sword is back." [3:00]
18. Dark Cloud [1:33]
19. "Come with me!" [19:40]
20. Young Master Long [3:08]
21. Seeking a lesson [3:41]
22. Invincible Sword Goddess [3:12]
23. Sisterly advice [2:27]
24. Jen vs. Shu [1:51]
25. Li vs. Jen [2:15]
26. "And so you die!" [5:20]
27. One breath left [8:36]
28. Wudan Mountain [3:43]

Jonathan Crow

Billed as Sense and Sensibility with kung fu, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the wildest and most entertaining films to come down the pike in a long, long time. Ang Lee manages to spin stunning martial arts set pieces around a compelling and believable coming-of-age story. From Seven Samurai to the The Terminator, the key to a really good action movie is not the size of the gun or the variety of objects exploded, but the depth of characters; in Crouching Tiger, the players are given the same fine shading that Lee lent to The Ice Storm and other intimate character pieces. International superstars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh give perhaps the best performances of their careers as a couple bonded by the perils of war and an intense, yet unfulfilled, love. Despite the magnitude of their star power, Chow and Yeoh are all but upstaged by Zhang Ziyi as the impetuous Jen Yu. Gorgeous, graceful, and possessing a near-lethal high kick, she dominates the film. In one show-stopping sequence, this lithe young lass cleans the floor with a room full of thick-necked guys toting blunt weapons. In another she almost takes out a band of Mongol marauders in a wild Gobi Desert melee. There she meets and eventually falls in love with bandit king Lo (Chang Chen). Lee deftly structures much of the film like a Shakespearean romantic comedy -- the fiery passion of Jen and Lo are contrasted with the quieter, deeper love of Li and Shu Lien. The fervid romance of the young couple makes the sense of loss and repression in the older duo all the more poignant. The action is startlingly fresh: Drawn from conventions in popular Chinese Wuxia kung fu literature, the heroes are such masters of martial arts that they literally, and quite believably, fly. The first confrontation between Yeoh and Zhang -- a dizzying chase over the tiled roofs of a rich man's estate, in which the two adversaries literally bounce off the walls and sail over buildings -- simply has to be seen to be believed. Romantic, haunting, and sublimely entertaining, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon should not be missed. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Cast and Crew: James Schamus  Executive Producer 
James Schamus  Screenwriter 
Ang Lee  Director 
Ang Lee  Producer 
Wang Hui-Ling  Screenwriter 
David Linde  Executive Producer 
Hsu Li-kong  Producer 
Tan Dun  Composer (Music Score) 
Tsai Kuo-Jung  Screenwriter 
Bill Kong  Producer 
Chow Yun-Fat  Actor 
Michelle Yeoh  Actor 
Zhang Ziyi  Actor 
Chang Chen  Actor 
Sihung Lung  Actor 
Cheng Pei-Pei  Actor 

Country: China,Hong Kong,USA,Taiwan