Excellent

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2001)

This was a very excellent film which not only showcases Chinese language (Mandarin), culture, and scenery but also adds an element of lyrical mysticism and magic to the martial arts film genre. I enjoyed "Crouching Tiger hidden Dragon" immensely and did not find the subtitles distracting at all. However, Western audiences may not be prepared for such a tragic ending, as one typically expects of a Chinese film; crouching tiger also offers far more storyline, plot, and character development than the average martial arts flick. Ang Lee's tasteful direction can be thanked for that. I give the film a *10/10*, with a note that filmgoers expecting meaningless staged fights and badly dubbed dialogue, a happy romantic ending or intermittent comedic interludes will be disappointed. Personally, I thought the film was fantastic.