Author: Director: Ang Lee, Writer: Du Lu Wang (book), Hui-Ling Wang
Category: movie
Company/Publisher: Producers: Po Ch Chui, Ping Dong, Li-Kong Hsu, William Kong, Ang Lee, Phillip Lee, David Linde, James Schamus, Quangang Zheng
Line: n/a
Capsule Review by Gunnar Örn Stefánsson on 11/17/00.
Genre tags: Fantasy Historical Asian/Far East

I'm not sure whether this movie review belongs in RPGnet, but I've never left a theatre with the same "I have to run a game based on this"-feeling rushing through my veins, so decided to submit this.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese movie, the latest work of noted director Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm). It's set in historical China (actually early 19th century, but could be centuries earlier for that matter), and the plot concerns a fighting monk trying to retire, his magical(?) sword, his mercenary love interest, his master's killer and her disciple and is a wonderful blend of intrigue and action. I won't give away details, but I will say the setting is vivid, has lots of memorable characters and extras, and is role-playing fodder from the first scene onward. The acting is also excellent, the main characters are played by Chow Yun-Fat (The Killer, Hard-Boiled, The Replacement Killers - who shows here that he can act), Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies), Ziyi Zhang and Chen Chang.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon succesfully blends historical drama with Hong Kong kung-fu in a manner that I have never seen before. Now, I enjoy Hong Kong movies, but I make certain allowances for incredibly melodramatic scripts and bad acting - that's just the way those movies are. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has taken the best elements of that style (stunning fight scenes, dramatic tension) and wedded them to a directorial vision that has wider intentions than to get your adrenaline pumping. The cinematography in particular is awe-provoking, showing many many natural locations in China in their absolute best light, from the deserts of Inner Mongolia to the bamboo forests of China proper. And 19th century Beijing is recreated somewhat like Imperial Rome in Gladiator (though not in as much detail).

In short, I didn't find any weak spots and wholeheartedly recommend this movie to anyone. And I do mean anyone.

Roleplaying potential? The plot and characters are enough to inspire several adventures at least, but more than that the setting is one that I can imagine playing in for years. I had just read "Blood & Silk", the White Wolf supplement for Vampire: the Dark Ages/Kindred of the East games when I saw the movie and it seemed like just the glove to fit this particular hand.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)