Outstanding!

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2001)

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is truly aesthetic from multiple perspectives, genuinely deserving of a 10/10 rating. I can rave about the fight scenes, the cast, the love stories, the cinematography, the music, etc., but i'll only be repeating what so many have already iterated here in their posts. I shall therefore only state those parts of the movie that I enjoyed.
SPOILER ALERT***
First, am I the only one here who loved the character, Jade Fox? Masterfully portrayed by Cheng Pei Pei, I felt she was the richest, most intriguing character in the movie. She is wicked, feared, manipulative, flawed, fierce yet cowardly at times, and a great fighter that is also not above resorting to anything to win. She is not invincible like Li Mu Bai, noble like Shu Lien, or breathtakingly beautiful like Jiao Long (Jen). In other words, she is the most "down to earth" warrior of the four. I was thrilled by her first fight scene where we get a glimpse of her past and her motivations. I would have liked to see a longer final conflict between her and Li Mu Bai in the end, but I felt it was appropriately short, given that they were not the main two characters and that their conflict was not the main plot. I have to add, I just loved her facial expressions!
I was moved by the final love scene (if you can call dying a love scene) when Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien actually embrace. I am usually not a big fan of I-love-you, I-love-you-too moments. However, I felt this scene had just the right touch to express the deep love and passion between the two, without crossing over into the realm of nauseating, sappy, drawn-out, or over-acting.
Despite the superficial rantings of others about the "flying," I felt it was a necessary element in this movie to reflect the fact that this is a folk-lore told in the spirit of bards that so often exaggerate the abilities of the heroes. Get over it people!
I also enjoyed Jen's relentless pursuit of her comb as a display of her overwhelming ego and inability to admit defeat. She always has to have the last word, and will never let anyone get the upper hand.
The restaurant scene was a terrific parody of the traditional kung-fu movies that so often had fighters with long-winded names, bizarre and imaginative weapons, and inexplicable desires to start fights for little reason. Of course, there was the kung-fu monk, the monk! I was thrilled to no end to see Jen giving them all a sound beating - a delightful way for this movie to trounce the old kung-fu flicks.
Finally, the ending was perfect. I would have been furious if Jen had arrived with the antidote in time to save Li Mu Bai, and they all lived happily ever after....