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Reviews by Matt Heffernan <matt@filmhead.com>
This week my picks are
Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
(2000 - 
) and
The Empire Strikes Back
(1980 - ).
This weekly feature has become somewhat less than weekly
over the last couple months because of my tight schedule,
but I couldn't allow this week's first pick go by. Ang
Lee's brilliant Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has
arrived on video, after the most successful run in history
for a subtitled film and four
Academy Awards. It
stars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh as a couple of Chinese
warriors who attempt to train a wayward heiress
(bright newcomer Zhang Ziyi) who stole a magic sword.
I've said so much about how wonderful this film is, and
now you can finally enjoy it at home. I just hope you have a really
big TV to show it properly.
Full review from December 12, 2000
In my first review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I compared it to Star Wars in both thematic terms and its cultural impact (as I had predicted it at the time). Having already used that film for a video pick, I turn to its superior sequel for this week's second pick. In fact, one can find an even greater similarity with Empire's more poetic, humanistic touch. While the original Star Wars was a brilliant exercise in pulp space opera, this film gets deeper into the myth and the characters, thus standing out among the (so far) four films as the true masterpiece. Of course, there's also Yoda. Need I say more?
For more information, visit the Internet Movie Database:
Wo hu cang long (2000)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Here's some merchandise for sale at
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - English subtitles | -- VHS |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - dubbed in English | -- VHS |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) | -- DVD |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of Ang Lee's Epic Film | -- Hardcover |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of Ang Lee's Epic Film | -- Paperback |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Soundtrack | -- Compact Disc |
| The Empire Strikes Back - Special Edition (1980) | -- VHS |
| The Empire Strikes Back: The Illustrated Screenplay, by Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, and Irvin Kershner | -- Paperback |
| The Empire Strikes Back: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | -- Compact Disc |
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