After CTHD, you'll have no excuse to watch The Matrix ever again. This is kung fu, that was kung phooey.)
The thing is, pointing out such trivia means missing the boat on the film. The entire course of Chinese history encompasses so many different paths, dreams, talents, and futures. By gathering collaborators from all across the globe, Ang Lee has made a declarative statement for Chinese cinema, one that stands as a glorious culmination and celebration of 5,000 years of Chinese culture. Sure, "CTHD" is a movie with clanging swords, but it's not just about the fight scenes. By the time Jen says, "Make a wish, Lo," you´ll have gone through one of the most extraordinary silver screen journeys in years.
"CTHD" is not only the best film of 2000, it is also one of the finest films ever made.
Video:
Sony's Columbia handles "CTHD's" DVD release, so I expected an excellent transfer of the video elements. Imagine my surprise, then, to find less-than-perfect video on display on my TV. The anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) print looks solid, smooth, and even gorgeous at times (it IS a recent film, after all), but are digital specks that pop up repeatedly throughout the feature. Film grain has been kept to a minimum, and the colors are always strong, vibrant, and "alive" (the Gobi desert sequence). However, those specks will jump out at you constantly, and the transfer is simply not as good as it could've been.
Audio:
The audio options on the disc include Dolby Digital 5.1 Mandarin Chinese, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 surround English, and Dolby Digital 2.0 surround French. I've listened to good dubs ("Das Boot," "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040"), and I've listened to bad dubs. The English dub is among the worst that I've heard--the voice actors affect these atrocious accents, and I find the English tracks to be rather offensive. The key to doing dubs is to have the actors speak accent-less, like on the FRENCH dub of this film. The French voices don't try to sound "Asian," resulting in a cleaner presentation of the spoken material.
Aside from the language issue, the soundtracks, especially the 5.1s, are immersive and explosive. While there are no earth-shaking explosions, the percussive orchestral score by Tan Dun (an Oscar-winner, deservedly so) gives your subwoofer quite a workout. As there are many things flying around in the film, the audio effects do some flying of their own, hitting the rear channels quite often. The sound design is not as subtle as some other elegant films, but what you get here is far above average.
There are defeatable English and French subtitles, with the subtitles appearing in the black bar beneath the picture (they will intrude slightly into the picture on 16x9 monitors). I was sorely disappointed that Sony did not include their usual smattering of Chinese, Korean, Thai, Spanish, and Portugese subtitles on this release, especially considering the fact that many Chinese-speaking consumers will buy this disc. Once again, allow me to use this review as an opportunity to reiterate the need for studios to have the courtesy of including subtitles for EVERY language track.
Extras:
Ang Lee and James Schamus (he co-wrote the screenplay, co-wrote the song "A Love Before Time," and co-executive produced the film) contribute a commentary track. Longtime friends, Lee and Schamus have a playful time remniscing about the film's production and their motivations. However, as the two have such fun, the don't get too insightful or informative, and Yuen Wo Ping's contributions in choreographing the film's action sequences seems a bit lost amidst the jolly banter.
Cable channel Bravo scheduled a "making of" featurette on TV around the time of the film's release, and that short piece, "Unleashing the Dragon," is on the disc. The piece is comprised mainly of talking-heads-interviews, and I enjoyed hearing the informative (and informed) anecdotes of Chow Yun-fat and Ang Lee. However, as these shows are wont to be, the featurette is a fluff piece designed to get audiences into movie theaters. Look, if someone went through the trouble of buying or renting the disc, they don't need to be sold on the film repeatedly.
Much better is the "Conversation with Michelle Yeoh" featurette. Miss Yeoh talks at length about her experiences while making "CTHD," and she explains much of the film's philosophies as well as how she approaches her craft. This is a good interview, and I wish that they had included something longer along the lines of the Criterion "Spartacus" and its 1992 interview with Peter Ustinov.
To round out the disc, there are two trailers as well as a photo montage set to the film's music. I wish that Sony had included more trailers and some TV spots to give viewers a feel for how the marketing of a film evolves during the course of its pre-release and release periods.
DVD-ROM users are given the option of linking to the film's website upon insertion of the disc, but that's it as far as DVD-ROM content goes.
Entertainment Value:
I think that Sony/Columbia got a little lazy with this release of "CHTD." The disc was rushed out for Asian markets as early as six months before the release of the American version, and the Region 1 DVD's selection of extras has not been beefed up despite the film's extraordinary success at the Oscars in March. I mean, even the "Filmographies" section is not as up-to-date as it should be. They even dropped the Coco Lee music video(s) for the song "A Time Before Love." Finally, through and through, Zhang Ziyi is the star of the film, yet she gets the shaft when it comes to the disc's extras (the photo montage is a lame substitute for an interview with this rising star).
While the DVD is not that spectacular, the film itself certainly is. "CTHD" won four Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Score (pundits had predicted that the latter three would go to "Gladiator"). In all honesty, I think that the Academy Awards race was tighter than it should've been ("Gladiator," "CTHD," and "Traffic" went 5-4-4). "CTHD" is clearly a superior achievement in art. Along with last year's "Yi Yi" and the films of mainland China's Zhang Yimou, "CTHD" is a signifier of the glory of Chinese cinema.
"CTHD" is not only the best film of 2000, it is also one of the finest films ever made.
Video:
Sony's Columbia handles "CTHD's" DVD release, so I expected an excellent transfer of the video elements. Imagine my surprise, then, to find less-than-perfect video on display on my TV. The anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) print looks solid, smooth, and even gorgeous at times (it IS a recent film, after all), but are digital specks that pop up repeatedly throughout the feature. Film grain has been kept to a minimum, and the colors are always strong, vibrant, and "alive" (the Gobi desert sequence). However, those specks will jump out at you constantly, and the transfer is simply not as good as it could've been.
Audio:
The audio options on the disc include Dolby Digital 5.1 Mandarin Chinese, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 surround English, and Dolby Digital 2.0 surround French. I've listened to good dubs ("Das Boot," "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040"), and I've listened to bad dubs. The English dub is among the worst that I've heard--the voice actors affect these atrocious accents, and I find the English tracks to be rather offensive. The key to doing dubs is to have the actors speak accent-less, like on the FRENCH dub of this film. The French voices don't try to sound "Asian," resulting in a cleaner presentation of the spoken material.
Aside from the language issue, the soundtracks, especially the 5.1s, are immersive and explosive. While there are no earth-shaking explosions, the percussive orchestral score by Tan Dun (an Oscar-winner, deservedly so) gives your subwoofer quite a workout. As there are many things flying around in the film, the audio effects do some flying of their own, hitting the rear channels quite often. The sound design is not as subtle as some other elegant films, but what you get here is far above average.
There are defeatable English and French subtitles, with the subtitles appearing in the black bar beneath the picture (they will intrude slightly into the picture on 16x9 monitors). I was sorely disappointed that Sony did not include their usual smattering of Chinese, Korean, Thai, Spanish, and Portugese subtitles on this release, especially considering the fact that many Chinese-speaking consumers will buy this disc. Once again, allow me to use this review as an opportunity to reiterate the need for studios to have the courtesy of including subtitles for EVERY language track.
Extras:
Ang Lee and James Schamus (he co-wrote the screenplay, co-wrote the song "A Love Before Time," and co-executive produced the film) contribute a commentary track. Longtime friends, Lee and Schamus have a playful time remniscing about the film's production and their motivations. However, as the two have such fun, the don't get too insightful or informative, and Yuen Wo Ping's contributions in choreographing the film's action sequences seems a bit lost amidst the jolly banter.
Cable channel Bravo scheduled a "making of" featurette on TV around the time of the film's release, and that short piece, "Unleashing the Dragon," is on the disc. The piece is comprised mainly of talking-heads-interviews, and I enjoyed hearing the informative (and informed) anecdotes of Chow Yun-fat and Ang Lee. However, as these shows are wont to be, the featurette is a fluff piece designed to get audiences into movie theaters. Look, if someone went through the trouble of buying or renting the disc, they don't need to be sold on the film repeatedly.
Much better is the "Conversation with Michelle Yeoh" featurette. Miss Yeoh talks at length about her experiences while making "CTHD," and she explains much of the film's philosophies as well as how she approaches her craft. This is a good interview, and I wish that they had included something longer along the lines of the Criterion "Spartacus" and its 1992 interview with Peter Ustinov.
To round out the disc, there are two trailers as well as a photo montage set to the film's music. I wish that Sony had included more trailers and some TV spots to give viewers a feel for how the marketing of a film evolves during the course of its pre-release and release periods.
DVD-ROM users are given the option of linking to the film's website upon insertion of the disc, but that's it as far as DVD-ROM content goes.
Entertainment Value:
I think that Sony/Columbia got a little lazy with this release of "CHTD." The disc was rushed out for Asian markets as early as six months before the release of the American version, and the Region 1 DVD's selection of extras has not been beefed up despite the film's extraordinary success at the Oscars in March. I mean, even the "Filmographies" section is not as up-to-date as it should be. They even dropped the Coco Lee music video(s) for the song "A Time Before Love." Finally, through and through, Zhang Ziyi is the star of the film, yet she gets the shaft when it comes to the disc's extras (the photo montage is a lame substitute for an interview with this rising star).
While the DVD is not that spectacular, the film itself certainly is. "CTHD" won four Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Score (pundits had predicted that the latter three would go to "Gladiator"). In all honesty, I think that the Academy Awards race was tighter than it should've been ("Gladiator," "CTHD," and "Traffic" went 5-4-4). "CTHD" is clearly a superior achievement in art. Along with last year's "Yi Yi" and the films of mainland China's Zhang Yimou, "CTHD" is a signifier of the glory of Chinese cinema.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]8298[/release]