The Film
Ang Lee wasn't much of a name - at least not in The United States - before he made a splash with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This film proved that Chinese action cinema wasn't just for those who frequented the old "Kung Fu" movie stores where fans bought lousy VHS copies of low budget films. On the contrary, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - with its fairytale inspired story of love, loss and redemption - earned four Academy Awards and satisfied both the art house as well as the grind house audiences. A decade later, the film remains a modern classic, and gets the full-blown treatment it deserves on Blu-ray Disc.
The Picture
Cinematographer Peter Pau won an Oscar for his work on this film, and the 1080p 2.40:1 presentation on Blu-ray really shows why. This film has lush scenery, beautiful sets and mind-blowing wire work with some incredible action sequences, all of which really pop in this presentation. That said this disc looks just about the same as it did in the box set with Curse of the Golden Flower and House of Flying Daggers - so if you already bought that set this one won't bring anything new visually.
The Sound
Apologies in advance for the generalization, but I find that many foreign language films aren't exactly showcases of exciting audio. There are plenty of exceptions and this is actually one of those. While the subtitles may let you understand what is being said, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 channel soundtrack creates a soundscape that will transport you to another world. This is notable as the swords and other weapons clash together, and as the characters fly through the air. The Blu-ray also includes the original Chinese Mandarin audio, with English language dubbing in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, with the latter not losing any of the glorious audio as a result of the remixing.
The Extras
One of the big complaints of the three disc box set was that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was light on extras, and other than a new commentary with Peter Pau, this package contains pretty much the same supplements as that previous release. This does include an additional commentary track with Ang Lee and producer James Schamus, as well as a making-of featurette and a conversation with Michelle Yeoh plus a photo gallery.
Final Thoughts
Many fans voiced their anger that Sony Pictures didn't include a stand-alone version of the film on Blu-ray Disc, and now the studio has followed through with a very basic version of the film - but fittingly at a reasonable price. If you held out waiting for the deluxe edition you'll have to continue to wait, but if you simply wanted to enjoy this Oscar nominated film and weren't looking for two other (completely unrelated) Chinese action films, you have gotten your wish.
Product Details
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