Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Overall, the Dolby Vision image looked good.
Most of the film offered excellent delineation, but a smattering of night shots could look a little soft. Those weren’t a significant concern, though, so the vast majority of the film appeared accurate and well-defined.
Neither moiré effects nor jaggies appeared, and edge haloes failed to become a factor. Print flaws also remained absent, and a generous heaping of grain implied no use of noise reduction.
In terms of palette, Dragon opted for a mix of blues and ambers. Within those parameters, the hues appeared full and dynamic, and HDR added heft and emphasis to the tones.
Blacks seemed deep and firm, while low-light shots displayed nice clarity and smoothness. HDR brought power to whites and contrast. Only the smattering of soft shots turned this usually fine image into a “B+”.
I found the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack – which downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 on my system – to work fairly well. With its many outdoors locations, various natural elements added involvement to the mix.
The occasional “action moments” conveyed a good sense of events. The various channels brought out the material in a reasonably good manner that created a fine feeling for place.
That said, I thought the mix could seem restrained given the film’s martial arts orientation. Even when the movie emphasized combat, it felt like it didn’t kick into higher gear. The soundscape contributed a nice sense of the material but it didn’t become as involving as I’d expect.
Audio quality satisfied. Music was full and rich, while speech appeared natural and distinctive.
Effects came across as accurate and dynamic, with good range and punch. Though good overall, the soundtrack lacked the sizzle to become better than a “B”.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2016? Both came with identical Atmos audio.
As for the 4K’s Dolby Vision image, it proved more accurate and also displayed brighter colors and deeper blacks. This turned into a nice upgrade over the Blu-ray.
Note than Dragon originally received a 4K UHD release in October 2016. This 2022 disc offers an update that gives the movie the Dolby Vision treatment. Unfortunately, I never saw the 2016 4K UHD so I couldn’t compare.
The 4K UHD brings us an array of extras, and we find two separate audio commentaries. The first involves director Ang Lee and co-writer James Schamus, both of whom sit together for their running, screen-specific discussion of story, characters and editing, sound design and music, cast and performances, sets and locations, costumes, stunts and action, effects, and related areas.
For the most part, Schamus does little more than crack jokes, so that leaves the weight on Lee to create an informative commentary. Though the director throws out occasional nuggets, he doesn’t give us a great look at the film. Lee touches on basics but the track feels less substantial than I’d like.
For the second commentary, we hear from cinematographer Peter Pao. He delivers his own running, screen-specific chat that emphasizes cinematography but also looks at sets/locations, cast and performances, effects, design and working with Ang Lee.
Despite the track's semi-limited focus, Pao offers a good conversation. He demonstrates an open, engaging personality as he discusses his craft as well as other production domains. This easily becomes the better of the two commentaries.
An Anniversary Edition Introduction from Lee spans all of 52 seconds. He gives us an overview of the 2016 release and hopes we like the set. Yawn.
Six Deleted Scenes fill a total of seven minutes, 49 seconds. These tend to add exposition, especially in terms of characters.
Some of these focus on the leads while others look at supporting roles. A couple of them seem useful but most come across as superfluous.
Under A Retrospective, we get three components and an intro (0:32). These break down into three “In Conversation” pieces; “Ang Lee” (29:58), “Tim Squyres” (25:11) and “James Schamus” (25:59).
Overall, the conversations work pretty well. The piece with Squyres becomes most interesting mainly because we didn’t hear from him earlier, but both Lee and Schamus seem more focused and informative than they did during their commentary.
One annoyance: interviewer Tasha R. Robinson constantly interjects “hmm” and “huh” during the sessions. I get that she wants to demonstrate an invested personality during the chats, but her vocalizations become a real distraction. Despite that factor, the interviews offer good information.
Next comes The Making Of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It runs 19 minutes, two seconds and features Lee, visual effects supervisor Rob Hodgson, senior compositor Travis Baumann, and actors Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chow Yun Fat.
The show looks at story/characters, cast and performances, stunts and martial arts, and visual effects. A smattering of useful facts emerge but “Making” usually endorses hyperbole and praise.
A Conversation with Michelle Yeoh lasts 13 minutes, 49 seconds, as the actor discusses aspects of her work on the film. Though fairly promotional in nature, Yeoh produces a decent number of insights.
Two Music Videos appear, both for “A Love Before Time”. Singer CoCo Lee does both, but one offers Mandarin lyrics while the other uses English words. Both are pretty terrible.
In addition to the film’s US traiiler. the set concludes with a Photo Gallery. This shows a running six-minute, 50-second montage of shots that covers pics from the set, movie images and publicity stills.
I’m not wild about the format. Also, because no one reformatted the photos for 4K UHD, they suffer from degraded quality.
When I first saw it in 2001, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon left me cold, and I didn’t find myself more enchanted by it in 2022. Although the movie occasionally shows signs of life, too much of it comes across as slow and dull. The 4K UHD presents generally strong picture and audio along with a reasonably positive set of supplements. Perhaps someday I’ll join the film’s legions of fans, but it won’t be today.
Note that as of November 2022, this 4K UHD disc of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon appears solely via an 11-film “Sony Picture Classics 30th Anniversary” box. It also includes Orlando, Celluloid Closet, City of Lost Children, Run Lola Run, SLC Punk, The Devil’s Backbone, Volver, Synecdoche, New York, Still Alice and Call Me By Your Name.
As mentioned in the body of the review, Dragon got a 4K UHD release in October 2016. However, this 2022 disc offers Dolby Vision and does not stand as the same version.
To rate this film, visit the prior review of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
