The first time a character dashes up a wall as if it were a staircase you could hear jaws dropping all through out the theater. These sequences are not created with the extensive use of camera tricks. These sequences are not done with stuntmen. The only computer effects are the simple removal of wires. There is a scene where two characters engage in a sword fight at the top of a bamboo forest.
Live bamboo is very tall and very flexible, swaying significantly in the breeze.
Yet we see both of them, dancing across these narrow trees, somehow not plummeting instantly to the ground. I said the main story was the love between Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien. That's not entirely true. There is also a love story between Jen and the bandit Lo. There is an extended flashback that details how they meet and fall in love.