Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Blu-ray Review

[admin]

Filled with gorgeous outdoor sets featuring wildly varying Chinese terrain lay a mythic story that seems torn from the pages of a half remembered fairy tale. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Ang Lee explores traditional Chinese cultural mores, unrequited love, class division, empowered women in a patriarchal society - and of course some of the best Wuxia martial arts action ever put to film! An unforgettable journey is brought to crisp, high definition life through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on Blu-ray.

Discuss "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Blu-ray Review" here. Read the article.

 

[j_garcia]

Picking this one up tomorrow for sure.

 

[lsiberian]

It's my favorite film period. It's so beautiful with fantastic music, but make sure you play the mandarin track with subtitles because the English track isn't that good. The best fight scene is the one where Michelle Yeoh and Zhu Ziyi fight in a room. It's simply amazing. The musical score is also fantastic.

 

[j_garcia]

I have only ever seen it with the Mandarin track because the Superbit DVD doesn't include an English dub It has been out for a while on BD, just not by itself and I already own the other movies that come in the pack so I have been waiting for the individual release.

 

[Wayde Robson]

I did some switching on the Blu-ray between the Mandarin and the English, both are TrueHD soundtracks. I could hear no appreciable difference.

It definitely sounded like the gain was set a little higher on the Mandarin soundtrack, I don't know if this makes it 'better', but it's definitely louder if you don't adjust your system for it.

 

[lsiberian]

I did some switching on the Blu-ray between the Mandarin and the English, both are TrueHD soundtracks. I could hear no appreciable difference.

It definitely sounded like the gain was set a little higher on the Mandarin soundtrack, I don't know if this makes it 'better', but it's definitely louder if you don't adjust your system for it.

It's not the sound itself. The way the English is spoken just doesn't jive with the movie.

 

[Wayde Robson]

It's not the sound itself. The way the English is spoken just doesn't jive with the movie.

I hear what you're saying.

I looked for that too between the English spoken and the subtitles. I watched a few of the early scenes in Mandarin and read it, then watched some of the English w/ English subtitles to see the difference in what was being communicated.

I don't speak any Mandarin. But I could see differences in complexity of what was being expressed intermittently switching between the text and the English voices. Sometimes the text seemed to gloss over spoken details, sometimes the other way around.

There's no way for me to experience any Mandarin. I appreciate watching a subtitled foreign film, seeing emotion and cadence of the original language. It’s easier for me with French films because I can speak and understand some French.

With Mandarin I’m disconnected from sentence structure, I really don’t know where the punctuation or noun/verb relationship is when I hear it.

I’m comfortable listening to the English, although I’ve watched it in on DVD in Mandarin too. I don’t see that I’ve missed anything, but it’s just my opinion. If it makes anyone feel a great authenticity watching it in Mandarin – more power to you.

 

[nickboros]

Wayde,

I'm not really sure why you say that Crouching Tiger can't be purchased alone when it has been available that way for quite a while.

http://www.amazon.com/Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon-Blu-ray/dp/B00198X0UY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1280253176&sr=8-1

Anyways, I agree that it is ridiculous for movie studios to only offer films together in a set and not separately. The best examples of this type of thing has been on DVD. For a very long time you could only get the Alien films and Godfather films all together in a boxset and not separately. Many people don't like the Godfather part 3, which is why the studio forced you to buy it so that they can raise the sales of that title. The same goes for the 3rd and 4th Alien sequels.

 

[Wayde Robson]

Thanks for the info, I hope this helps someone who is interested in buying.

I was going by the documentation from Sony enclosed with the disc. I was send just CTHD, not the other two anyway, so I haven't seen this package myself yet. But SPHE said that's how they were distributing it.

Hopefully retailers themselves are being more flexible.

 

[darien87]

Wayde,

I'm not really sure why you say that Crouching Tiger can't be purchased alone when it has been available that way for quite a while.

http://www.amazon.com/Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon-Blu-ray/dp/B00198X0UY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1280253176&sr=8-1

Anyways, I agree that it is ridiculous for movie studios to only offer films together in a set and not separately. The best examples of this type of thing has been on DVD. For a very long time you could only get the Alien films and Godfather films all together in a boxset and not separately. Many people don't like the Godfather part 3, which is why the studio forced you to buy it so that they can raise the sales of that title. The same goes for the 3rd and 4th Alien sequels.

CTHD has not been available separately for "quite a while". It just came out by itself today.

I went and picked up my copy.

And as for the people that watch foreign movies dubbed, I think you're crazy. Watch a movie like The Warlords or just about ANY Japanese movie. The English voice actors NEVER convey the emotion that comes across in the native languages. For f'in sake, all the English voice actors that dubbed The Warlords spoke with a British accent! What the hell is that about? Is it supposed to help get across the "old-timey" historical vibe that the film is supposed to have?

Lame, lame, lame.

Native language is ALWAYS better.

 

[zhimbo]

Native language is ALWAYS better.

I agree with this 99% of the time.

1. I have found - occasionally - that some films that have quite a bit of dialogue AND also begged to be appreciated visually sometimes benefit from switching to the dubbed track. "Metropolis" (the anime film from 2001, NOT the silent film from 1927) comes to mind. I first saw it with subtitles, but I sometimes got lost because I was too busy gawking at the visuals ("Holy cow! Look at that enormous fish in the tank! That's amazing!...Wait a minute, what are they talking about?").

Actually, this is probably best handled by a second viewing where you already know the story.

2. Sometimes the quality of the subtitles can be really bad. There was quite the kerfluffle over the subtitles included with the initial DVD release of "Let the Right One In", which were apparently a badly butchered job quite different from the theatrical subtitles.

 

[j_garcia]

Wayde,

I'm not really sure why you say that Crouching Tiger can't be purchased alone when it has been available that way for quite a while.

http://www.amazon.com/Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon-Blu-ray/dp/B00198X0UY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1280253176&sr=8-1

I'm not sure what you are talking about there? As I already said in my other post, the movie has been available for a while, but not BY ITSELF. It was released in a stand alone version yesterday. Prior to that, it was only available in this set in the US. It was available stand alone in other areas, but it was not a region free release. The reason you were able to find it yesterday is because that is when it was released....

Anyway, I threw it in and watched a few scenes last night. The video quality is better than House of Flying daggers, but it isn't the huge step up from the Superbit DVD that I was hoping for, but that isn't a bad thing since this was already one of the best looking DVDs ever. The audio is excellent as ever. Will get around to watching the whole thing soon hopefully.

Let the Right One In was still a very enjoyable film, even if the subtitles were off. I own that one on Blu and it is an unusual and solid film. I prefer native language with subs 99% of the time as well, but there are certain times when I don't feel like reading or, as in the case of a movie like District B13, I want to want to pay attention to the action not read, and since there isn't really much of a story, it is OK. Something like La Femme Nikita though, needs to be watched in French, period. The English dub is awful.

 

[nickboros]

CTHD has not been available separately for "quite a while". It just came out by itself today.

I went and picked up my copy.

And as for the people that watch foreign movies dubbed, I think you're crazy. Watch a movie like The Warlords or just about ANY Japanese movie. The English voice actors NEVER convey the emotion that comes across in the native languages. For f'in sake, all the English voice actors that dubbed The Warlords spoke with a British accent! What the hell is that about? Is it supposed to help get across the "old-timey" historical vibe that the film is supposed to have?

Lame, lame, lame.

Native language is ALWAYS better.

My mistake, it was the UK version of this that I guess I was thinking of http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0026R7BNY/ref=s9_simh_gw_p74_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=020TSGVDFDNQT2WBXQD3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294 . I frequently look at new releases on both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk and sometimes forget which release comes out where first.

 

[darien87]

Anyway, I threw it in and watched a few scenes last night. The video quality is better than House of Flying daggers, but it isn't the huge step up from the Superbit DVD that I was hoping for, but that isn't a bad thing since this was already one of the best looking DVDs ever. The audio is excellent as ever. Will get around to watching the whole thing soon hopefully.

I hear ya John. I popped the BD in last night and watched a few scenes and wasn't blown away. I watched the same scenes from the DVD and was surprised how good the DVD looked. I went back to the BD and then was better able to see the difference. The BD was indeed better, but not by a huge margin.

 

[darien87]

I agree with this 99% of the time.

1. I have found - occasionally - that some films that have quite a bit of dialogue AND also begged to be appreciated visually sometimes benefit from switching to the dubbed track. "Metropolis" (the anime film from 2001, NOT the silent film from 1927) comes to mind. I first saw it with subtitles, but I sometimes got lost because I was too busy gawking at the visuals ("Holy cow! Look at that enormous fish in the tank! That's amazing!...Wait a minute, what are they talking about?").

Actually, this is probably best handled by a second viewing where you already know the story.

2. Sometimes the quality of the subtitles can be really bad. There was quite the kerfluffle over the subtitles included with the initial DVD release of "Let the Right One In", which were apparently a badly butchered job quite different from the theatrical subtitles.

Honestly, I think the guy that's pointing out all those issues with subtitles for Let the Right One In is being a little silly. I've only seen the American BD, and I honestly don't remember the lines, but I still thought it was a very good movie, so obviously the subtitles don't ruin it. Even if that were the case, most of the time, the dubbed track just parrots what is being said in the subtitles, so in this case it would be twice as bad. You'd have bad voice actors speaking stupid lines.

 

[lsiberian]

There's no way for me to experience any Mandarin. I appreciate watching a subtitled foreign film, seeing emotion and cadence of the original language.
I’m comfortable listening to the English, although I’ve watched it in on DVD in Mandarin too. I don’t see that I’ve missed anything, but it’s just my opinion. If it makes anyone feel a great authenticity watching it in Mandarin – more power to you.

I think many people can pick up on the tone of what is being said and really grasp it more. Even not knowing the language. I've watched it both ways and really prefer the subtitles. Mandarin is to me a very elegant language while English tends to be more brutal. Either way I will be picking up this movie. Have they ported Lawrence of Arabia yet?

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I am honestly not a fan of this movie. I think that "House of Flying Daggers" is superior in every way cinematically. Cinematography in Tiger does not even come close to that in Daggers.

 

[Wayde Robson]

“The way the English is spoken just doesn't jive with the movie.” ~ Isiberian

“Native language is ALWAYS better.” ~ darien87

Conventional wisdom is to watch a movie in its native language. I agree that’s the way to see what the director intended and that’s generally good enough for me.

But I don’t think of CTHD as a pure Chinese/Mandarin movie. It was more popular in the west than Asia. Apparently one of the criticisms is that it was too western.

Chow Yun Fat is a native Cantonese speaker and Michelle Yeoh is a native English speaker and I don’t believe she even speaks Mandarin, at least she has never spoken Mandarin in any movie I’ve heard of. Don’t they dub themselves in English?

I don’t shy away from subtitles in any movie. But I don’t simply follow along that something is lost every dub simply because it’s conventional wisdom that it should.

If something is lost in the dub, I’d be interested in knowing specifically what it is in what scene?

Or is it just a personal thing that watching a dub is just… icky? I feel that with any movie directed by Jeunet or Malle, I couldn’t watch an English dub. But if that’s the only way to get someone unfamiliar with foreign movies to give one a try, I’d say try it.

Then try the subtitles.

 

[jostenmeat]

I agree with this 99% of the time.

1. I have found - occasionally - that some films that have quite a bit of dialogue AND also begged to be appreciated visually sometimes benefit from switching to the dubbed track. "Metropolis" (the anime film from 2001, NOT the silent film from 1927) comes to mind. I first saw it with subtitles, but I sometimes got lost because I was too busy gawking at the visuals ("Holy cow! Look at that enormous fish in the tank! That's amazing!...Wait a minute, what are they talking about?").

Actually, this is probably best handled by a second viewing where you already know the story.

Good point. While I will never willingly put on a dubbed version, it was pretty tough at times with a movie like Red Cliff 1/2, or certain animations like Tekkon Kinkreet.

“The way the English is spoken just doesn't jive with the movie.” ~ Isiberian

“Native language is ALWAYS better.” ~ darien87

Conventional wisdom is to watch a movie in its native language. I agree that’s the way to see what the director intended and that’s generally good enough for me.

But I don’t think of CTHD as a pure Chinese/Mandarin movie. It was more popular in the west than Asia. Apparently one of the criticisms is that it was too western.

Chow Yun Fat is a native Cantonese speaker and Michelle Yeoh is a native English speaker and I don’t believe she even speaks Mandarin, at least she has never spoken Mandarin in any movie I’ve heard of. Don’t they dub themselves in English?

I don’t shy away from subtitles in any movie. But I don’t simply follow along that something is lost every dub simply because it’s conventional wisdom that it should.

If something is lost in the dub, I’d be interested in knowing specifically what it is in what scene ? . . .

I read something pretty interesting when checking out some comparative screenshots between superbit and BD. It was stated that Ang Lee and the English language screenwriter spent a tremendous amount of time on the translation to the subtitles. There is at least one person who is wondering if they changed these original subtitles to the "dubbed" subtitles. Crazy, eh? Someone stated that they spent so much time on the translation to get it all right, that it took more time than the screenplay itself.

So there are TWO translations, the dubbed and the subtitles. I think there are some people that demand that if this movie is to be dubbed, that it should be done with the "subtitle" version, as that will be the most accurate.

Don't ask me which one is currently being used! I hope to view this in the relatively near future.

OK, nevermind, it is said that this bluray is using a dumbed down version of subtitles, thanks to Sony. Watch the DVD if you want the theatrical subtitles!

 

[jostenmeat]

Next is to research foreign versions for a BD that keeps the theatrical dubs. If anyone knows, please send PM, thanks.