Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu zang long)

Released 2000
Stars Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Cheng Pei-pei
Directed by Ang Lee
 
The critically celebrated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an epic martial arts film that combines incredible action sequences with elements of romantic melodrama and superhero derring-do. As visually stunning as it is inventive, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is sure to gain an immediate following. It has a reserved slot on many critics' Top Ten lists and, if U.S. distributor Sony Pictures Classics has its way, it will make a splash both at the box office and when the Academy Award nominations are announced. 

Taking place during the era of the Qing dynasty, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon gives us a trio of larger-than-life characters: the great martial arts master, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat), whose near-invincibility makes him the Superman of his day; the love of his life (for whom he has never openly acknowledged his feelings), female warrior Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh); and the powerful-but-innocent Jen (Zhang Ziyi), who is wandering down a path towards evil. The story hinges on Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien's attempts to retrieve the legendary sword Green Destiny, which has been stolen from its rightful owner, and the manner in which that quest places Li Mu Bai into conflict with his old adversary Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei), the woman who killed his master.

Summary by James Berardinelli