Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

"A timeless story of strength, secrets and two warriors who would never surrender."

2000 2h 0m ZH

👍

7.4

SOLID

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 3,739🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●94Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 293,086

AdventureDramaAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

“A timeless story of strength, secrets and two warriors who would never surrender.”

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Cast

Chow Yun-Fat
Li Mu Bai
Michelle Yeoh
Yu Shu Lien
Zhang Ziyi
Jen
Chang Chen
Lo
Lung Sihung
Sir Te
Cheng Pei-pei
Jade Fox
Li Fazeng
Governor Yu
Gao Xian
Bo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ang Lee
Writers: Tsai Kuo-Jung, Wang Huiling, James Schamus
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States of America, China

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $214M — a 12.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States of America, China.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

214+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ang Lee, shot by Peter Pau Tak-Hai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tan Dun. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tim Squyres shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ang Lee directs. Peter Pau Tak-Hai behind the camera. Tan Dun scores. Tim Squyres cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States of America, China. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $214M — a 12.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
226 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 4 countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States of America, China.
4Part of the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5214+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Ang Lee, shot by Peter Pau Tak-Hai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Tan Dun. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Tim Squyres shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A timeless story of strength, secrets and two warriors who would never surrender.".
11IMDB entry: tt0190332 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 20 themes, including "martial arts", "kung fu", "based on novel or book", "sword".
13Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Pau Tak-Hai
Original score: Tan Dun
Editing: Tim Squyres
Production design: Timothy Yip Gam-Tim
Costume design: Timothy Yip Gam-Tim
Makeup / hair: Chau Siu-Mui
VFX supervisor: Rob Hodgson
Sound: Robert Fernandez
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $17,000,000
Box office: $213,978,518
Return: 1259% of budget
Original language: ZH
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 94/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 293,086 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Won 4 Oscars. 102 wins & 132 nominations total

Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Golden Globe Award for Best Non-English Language Film
Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure Film
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Film
Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Collection

A martial-arts film series based on wuxia novels by Wang Dulu and features the famed legendary sword of Li Mu Bai, the Green Destiny.

Also by

Ang Lee

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-05-15
★ 10/10
Easily my favourite of Lee's films, plus this was a no-brainer for me to watch, since I love martial arts films and the three stars. Peter Pau's cinematography and Dun Tan's soundtrack deservedly won two of the four Oscars, amidst its ten nominations, but even though the production values and story were the reason that this, rather than more significant martial arts classics, such as 'The 36th Chamber of Shaolin' and other Shaw Brothers' masterpieces of the genre is that it stepped outside the box and became mandatory viewing for both genders and all cultures with its love story, in the same way that 'Rocky' isn't simply a boxing movie. Still fascinating watching today, and the scene in which the restaurant is destroyed is one of the most fascinating set-pieces I have yet seen.
CinemaSerf2023-04-13
★ 7/10
"Master Li" (Chow Yun-Fat) asks his lifelong friend "Yu Shu Lien" (Michelle Yeoh) to take his legendary sword "Green Destiny" and deliver it to "Sir Te" (Sihung Lung) at the Imperial court. Turns out, though, that security there isn't so hot and the sword is stolen by a very able and nimble thief who only just escapes the pursuit of "Shu Lien" - who reckons she really knows whom the thief is. A visit to "Jen" (Ziyi Zhang) and the swift return of the sword seem to confirm her suspicions but then the sword is stolen again and aside from narking "Sir Te" this sets up a series of adventures for "Li", "Shu Lien" and "Jen" as we discover there may be a connection to the former man's nemesis "Jade Fox" (Pei-Pei Cheng). There is room, gradually, for a little romance but for the most part this is a quickly paced adventure that builds well on some beautiful cinematography with a solid story underpinned by some magical mythology and plenty of swordplay. Unlike many of the genre, the combat scenes are naturally choreographed and do not drag on interminably and repetitively. This has a more characterful narrative that involves us in the mystery, the vendetta - even the slowly simmering love story. For my money, this is easily the best film as yet made by Ang Lee and is well worth seeing on a big screen if you can find one.