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This movie was excellent...

Great cinematography, and some really tight cello by Yo yo ma. The fighting is also good, you just have to remember 'mind over matter'

Oh yeah, it's finally out "everywhere" now right? I saw it when it was limited release. I think they kinda did the flying scenes wrong, like even though it's suppose to be a Fantasy Chinese Kung Fu film, I think the legends and stuff didn't picture them quite like that.

I liked it!!!!!
A little far fetched on the fantasy Kung Fu(but it is fantasy). Decent acting compared to the traditional flics we westerners get! Loved the wire work and KUNG FU action! I kinda liked the subtitle idea cause english dialogs always reck a chinese movie! All in all it was worth it!

Total opposite end of the opinion spectrum here. I thought it sucked. It had its moments certainly, and it had alot of potential, but the extreme over use of Wire-fu wrecked the entire movie for me. Stuff like the Matrix employed, i.e. running briefly up walls and long jumps I don't have a problem with, as it was well done and kept small. This is important for effects like this.

Unfortunately, overuse of this type of effect is what ruined Tiger. They would be having this unbelievably AWESOME fight scene, only to turn around and totally ruin it by having the characters run up a 30 foot wall, and jump nearly across the entire town in 3 or 4 steps. Maybe some of you liked it, but for me, it was just too much. Otherwise it was a good movie, no qualms there. Story, dialogue, setting, etc. All good. Just too much of the 'flying' crap.

I thought it was an OK movie for the action elements and an OK story, the "flying" didn't turn me off too much altho it was kinda cheesy, but some parts of the story were just too slow for me. Is it a martial arts movie or a tragic love story? Combining both didn't really do it for me. I didn't like the ending either.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I didn't like it, but I doubt I'd watch it again. I don't think it deserved the hype, and it has nothing on The Matrix, IMHO...

(btw, it's Crouching Tiger - HIDDEN Dragon)

[Edited by tunis5000 on 02-20-2001 at 04:36 PM]

Oops.

Meebe wee taw did

HEHE, sleeping dragon. THe movie is actually quite old. I saw it way back so for todays standards it's pretty good.

Also, they don't fly. If they could fly they wouldn't have to use there feet to hold onto the trees in the running tree scenes or grab onto walls and jump from wall to wall.

It's like running and jumping with more power, speed, and finesse. That's how most of those types of chinese movies are made, martial artists in these movies have more skill and concentration than normal people so they have special abilities. In these types of movies they can jump farther and land more softly.

Also the time setting for those movies are like way back, and supposedly in these types of movies martial artists are more powerful than this time period of martial artists. I guess it sounds kinda silly though. If you remember the main character was the strongest martial artists and the girl that stole the sword was weak in comparison. SO in the tree seen where they were both standing on the same tree, the main character was stable but the girl was trying her best to stay on the tree.

I guess since you guys don't watch as many chinese movies as me your not used to those kind of effects. As for how I liked the movie, I would say it's one of the best chinese movies in that type that I have ever watched.

I remember when I went to see it in theaters right at the beginning of the movie someone saw subtitles and said "ohhh f*ck" which was pretty funny. I was a little offended, not to be racist or anything, when a white lady said "that is so ridiculous" when they were flying. I was just thinking people love superman and other super heroes that fly but when an asian person does it's ridiculous ??

Kazer, I totally agree with you on this one. These folks here aren't used to the Hong Kong style of movies. Me and you have seen enough of it to have an appreciation for it. I on the otherhand, find *The Matrix* an OK movie, but don't like the effects one bit. In these days, there's too much computerized stuff going on. The meaning of "the making of a movie" has changed, especially over here in NA. WAY too overdone. I rather see more character interaction, stunts, something that really shows quality in a movie. Lets stick with the traditional physical hard work and lay off the computerized slack. Use it sparingly. Same goes for wires, but I'm used to that kinda crapola since kidney-garden

For us, seeing wires all over the place is the norm. For these folks, seeing guns blasting away, high flying explosions, and sickening computerized stuff is the norm.

Being exposed to the various means is a good experience. You're not just stuck in a black box, you get exposure to what is being done and how they are done in other parts of the world. Sit back and learn. The whole going to a movie is a part of the learning experience. Not all of us just go in there for the drink and the popcorn ya know :lol

You don't have to appreciate of a method or technique, but if you're going to watch the movie, at least give it some respect and give the actors/actresses/produces/etc. some respect. Don't just blurb out and say its stupid or its rediculous, cause that's simply rude.

And yes, the heroes w/deep kung-fu backgrounds have special abilities to jump leaps and bounds.

A movie can be thought of as an experiment. There's always going to be new things true tried and tested, while other things fail miserably. But that's part of the excitement of going to the theatre, you want to be surprised, you're curious and want to find out....

Whatever was the original dialogue and whatever the translation doesn't matter so long as you understand the movie and the message its trying to convey.

Character development is very crucial in any movie. In our chinese movies, character development follows the story. As the movie progresses you know more than just his name, what he does, and where he lives. The purpose of such extensible character development is to have the audience attached to the movie by attaching to the character(s). Character development is more than simply answering who, what, when, where, why in a a few dialogues. The producers WANT to make a good movie, they have to take the audience as laypersons, not fools mesmorized @ the television tubes.
Its sad to say, but yes, in HK for the buck lots of half-ass movies are made that's all about nothin'.

We're not, well at least I, accustomed to movies as short as 2 hrs. I want more in a movie than can fit on a 2hr tape. I'm accustomed to movies that are 20/30/40 all the way up to 100 chapters long (yes, for us a movie may be divided into many multiple chapters), spanning anywhere from 12-72hrs+. Why do we have such formats? Audience's attachment to the story line, the multi-climatics, the many characters which they've come to see and love, and hate, and sympathesize with. 2 Hr movies? Bah! For us, a movie can cost anywhere up to $200 (depending on quality and length). And believe me, at that price, you'd better figure out what's crap shoot and what's quality entertainment...

Well, I have to be considerate here. The demand is different, therefore the style and format is different, and the techniques are different.

Lets just say we have our differences

For heat of the moments, a 2Hr flick settles me down. But when I've really got the craving, I don't go to the theatre or blockbuster, I bring home a dozen or so video tapes

ABC tape 1
ABC tape 2
ABC tape 3
...
....
ABC tape 12

Well, you get my point. Or do I just sound like a rambling fool? hehe

That's how most of those types of chinese movies are made, martial artists in these movies have more skill and concentration than normal people so they have special abilities. In these types of movies they can jump farther and land more softly.

Hey that is cool. I have no problem with that idea at all. But if that is how you are going to portray the characters, at least make the abilities somewhat humanly possible.

No matter where in the world the movies are made, the background in that kind of movie, etc, in order for people to suspend thier disbelief enough to enjoy said scenes, the stunts must be semi-realistic. When I see a guy (regardless of race/nation ) jump 40 feet between two rooftops, I lost all sense of....realistic belief for lack of a better term. It is just too impossible. Yes, in The Matrix Morpheus jumped longer than that across the rooftops, but in that case, the world they were in was laid out as a fictional world, where stuff like that is possible. In CTHD, the movie was based in our own world, and it was just too much.

Don't get me wrong though: the rest of the movie was great. The actors did a fantasic job with the scenes, the fight scenes (sans flying of course) were spectacular, and the story was well conceived. Hell, even the subtitles didn't bother me. But the flying ruined it all for me. It was just too much.

IMHO

the movie was based in our own world

Who's to say it is?


Like the Matrix, chinese films such as this are based on the mind. What you see in terms of a physical struggle isn't really important. The physical part is only representative of the intellectual part.


BTW I can't imagine watching a 72 hour movie. I could watch 36 block-buster films in the same time...

You're absolutely right. No one says it is bit, but neither do they say otherwise. What I meant about the Matrix' different world is that they actively tell you that the 'world' is not real. It is the whole theme of the movie actually. CTHD never says anything of that sort to indicate that the movie takes place in some form of alternate reality. Generally, that tends to encourage the belief that said film takes place in our own world, albiet the past.

Hehe. I know what I mean, it's the rest of you who are nuts :tongue

bitSLAP, those movies aren't exactly 72 hours long... they show about 1 hour a day, 5 days a week(monday to friday), so it take approx. 1-2months for the whole story/show to come to an ending. I think it's similiar to "All my Children"... except "All my Children" is like the never ending story...

But I do believe that those "jump 40 feet" kung fu to be true in the past, they are just lost... perhaps similiar to "witch craft" of the western people. Right?

CTHD is a cool movie IMO, it deserves the attention

No Coco, those are movies, not television shows. Its not aired at all. You wanna see it you buy the dough. No free lunch. Even if they give me free money I would NEVER watch any of those soap operas. Movies they are not, at least not to my standards. In our place, we literally call that garbage. Quality work shows. Sorry if I'm a bit extreme in trying to get my point across No offense intended.

What Soap Operas work for you folks, 40feet sky flying heroes does for us And yes, its *mind over matter* and *feet over water* Its a movie, they can put whatever crapola they want in there and still call it a movie, right? RIGHT? *confused*

I'm VERY picky when it comes to movies. I'll watch the ocassional ancient-style movie but the story line is usually the same old same old, nothing surprising, nothing unpredictable. Computerized stuff is ok if its used sparingly. I really like the hands on traditional style of movie making goodness. You can really tell if its done well and how much effort has been put into production.

Big budget doesn't always mean quality product either.


BTW, is this CTHD movie available in NA or just overseas? Is it theatre only as of the moment or can we get it on DVD now too?

I like Jet Li movies in general...

Now now, what's a story w/o some kind of love story eh And no, I don't mean hardcore porn! :lol

LOL Plucky. I read your first paragraph 3 times, and I still don't understand what you're saying...

As far as I know it's still only in theaters here in NA.

I could name a million good movies without a love story. But you're right...love plots are perhaps overused.

just ignore me fellas, I'm just a babbling bafoon! :lol

Love stories work well if its tightly integrated into the movie, and doesn't like kinda sorta develop on its own tangent. It can do wonders to spice up a movie if its done right. Of course, the male/female actors chosen for the job should seem well fitted, not like trying to jab a square into a circle Well, you get what I mean...*gulp* or don't you and I'm just acting like a babbling fool again?!! :tongue hehe