I have to say i enjoyed Ang Lee's Mythical,expectation-confounding Chinese adventure immensely.Some thought the gravity-defying roof-top and tree-top sequences preposterous,(they do require suspension of disbelief but no more so than many Hollywood action movies where the hero narrowly avoids a multitude of bullets and bombs,defeating evil single-handedly),while some martial arts purists wanting a Bruce-Lee style demonstration may be disappointed.Crouching Tiger is not merely a martial arts movie;it's a slice of rich,magical romantic escapism,set in motion by the theft of a legendary sword.It brings together 2 of Asia's finest,Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh,both extremely engaging and suitably noble in their opposition to scheming witchcraft.The film opens out beautifully into the spectacular Chinese landscapes which have long inspired my imagination.Special effects,cinematography and camerawork are first-rate,while vivacious young Zhang Yiyi is a revelation.The distinguished British critic Gilbert Adair signed off his Sunday newspaper column,having fallen in love with her!I was glad to see such strong female characters in leading roles.The film pushed all the right buttons for me(if not for everyone):though i've seen numerous better or more meaningful foreign language films,the Oscar success was deserved.Anyone whose appetite for such martial arts adventures has been whetted may want to check out King Hu's extraordinary A Touch of Zen(1969),which fellow Taiwanese Ang Lee,among others,admires enormously.Of Far-Eastern films in general,i'd most strongly recommend the trio of quite awesome Japanese masterpieces,Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi),Seven Samurai(Kurosawa)and Tokyo Story (Ozu).