This is not a Black Belt Theater movie

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2001)

I find it funny that most of the negative reviews on this board come from people exclaiming that CTHD is worse than the countless other kung-fu movies they have seen. That is where the comparison is flawed. CTHD is not a kung-fu black belt theater film. It has on its surface, kung-fu fight scenes and swordplay and magical powers, but on a deeper level, this epic is a much more complex story. It tells of hidden feelings and search for truth in one's journey of life. It tells of wrong choices made in life and the yearning for freedom and independence. CTHD contains thoughts of societal pressures and the guilt one experiences when trying to please others and not one's self. Of dual indentity, both symbolically as well as literally.

Sure, the fight scenes are spectacular, but the interplay between the characters and the troubled emotions displayed as they relate and hold back their inner conflict is priceless. CTHD was the best film of 2000.