A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
- Won 4 Oscars
- 101 wins & 132 nominations total
Chow Yun-Fat
- Master Li Mu Bai
- (as Chow Yun Fat)
Ziyi Zhang
- Jen
- (as Zhang Ziyi)
Pei-Pei Cheng
- Jade Fox
- (as Cheng Pei-Pei)
Deming Wang
- Tsai
- (as Wang De Ming)
Suying Huang
- Auntie Wu
- (as Huang Su Ying)
Jinting Zhang
- De Lu
- (as Zhang Jin Ting)
Jianhua Feng
- Gou Jun Sinung
- (as Feng Jian Hua)
Zhenxi Du
- Shop Owner
- (as Du Zhen Xi)
Cheng Lin Xu
- Captain
- (as Xu Cheng Lin)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe actors almost invariably performed their own stunts. CGI was used to remove the wires holding them up.
- Goofs(at around 1h 30 mins) During the fight between Yu Shu Lien and Xiou Long, many floor tiles are smashed by Shu Lien. After Shu Lien discards her heavy metal weapon and continues to fight, the tiles appear intact.
- Crazy creditsThe opening title appears in Chinese and English.
- Alternate versionsAn English dubbed version was created for the home video market.
- SoundtracksA Love Before Time
Music Composed by Jorge Calandrelli, Dun Tan
Lyrics by James Schamus, Elaine Chow (Translation)
Performed by Coco Lee featuring Cello Solo by Yo-Yo Ma
Coco Lee appears courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (Holland) B.V.
Featured review
I'm not sure if I'm going to see better wuxia movies
There are two movies in the martial art fiction genre that are competing against each other for my no. 1 wuxia movie: Hero (by Yimou Zhang) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Now, tbh, the score is so tied that I'll choose the first one I saw and therefore had more time to grow inside my heart, namely Hero, BUT... that isn't to say there is one movie better than the other. If I saw this one first, it would have been my favorite.
It's true that Hero succeeds this movie and I'm not sure if Zhang hasn't drawn inspiration from Ang Lee's movie but I think Hero tackles some themes that one rarely sees being explored whereas Crouching Tiger feels a bit more ''western'' in its approach, especially with that mystery subplot. That makes it a bit easier to watch and doesn't require that much patience (though I, as an Eastern European, had a hard time at the beginning distinguishing people, maybe because I'm not yet used to that Manchurian queue hairstyle).
I've found the cinematography exquisite. There was one scene when Jen knelt down in water in the middle of a cave and looked up to the dark sky while the rain was washing her from her previous sins, baptizing her in the name of good. It was just splendid. Another magnificent scene happened in the pine forest but I can't describe in into words, you have to see it with your own eyes.
I've already adored Ziyi Zhang from Memoirs of a Geisha but now I think I'm falling in love with her :)) . Michelle Yeoh was a well-received presence, as always. Her character brought a balance between the more romantic, juvenile world of youth where family and society hinders relationships and the more mature world of adults where you are so often your own hurdle, not allowing yourself to move further and express your true feelings.
A 9,4 out of 10 from me.
It's true that Hero succeeds this movie and I'm not sure if Zhang hasn't drawn inspiration from Ang Lee's movie but I think Hero tackles some themes that one rarely sees being explored whereas Crouching Tiger feels a bit more ''western'' in its approach, especially with that mystery subplot. That makes it a bit easier to watch and doesn't require that much patience (though I, as an Eastern European, had a hard time at the beginning distinguishing people, maybe because I'm not yet used to that Manchurian queue hairstyle).
I've found the cinematography exquisite. There was one scene when Jen knelt down in water in the middle of a cave and looked up to the dark sky while the rain was washing her from her previous sins, baptizing her in the name of good. It was just splendid. Another magnificent scene happened in the pine forest but I can't describe in into words, you have to see it with your own eyes.
I've already adored Ziyi Zhang from Memoirs of a Geisha but now I think I'm falling in love with her :)) . Michelle Yeoh was a well-received presence, as always. Her character brought a balance between the more romantic, juvenile world of youth where family and society hinders relationships and the more mature world of adults where you are so often your own hurdle, not allowing yourself to move further and express your true feelings.
A 9,4 out of 10 from me.
helpful•90
- AlbertCinefilu
- Jan 17, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ngọa Hổ Tàng Long
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $17,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $128,530,421
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $663,205
- Dec 10, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $213,978,518
- Runtime2 hours
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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