A beautiful girl, swords, spectacular fights, and much defying of gravity.
How can you beat it?
A clean green mono-chromatic image for perhaps my favorite popcorn flick of the last twenty years. Great depth and symmetry. That intricate Asian patterned background. And at the center, you just can’t go wrong with the perfect face of Ziyi Zhang. Bare shoulders. Forehead cross thingie.
This brighter, more colorful variation really pops as well.
Unfortunately, this modern Wushu classic has yet to get the remastered Blu-ray release it deserves. The original film negative is reported to be terribly damaged, but I have to believe there’s a way they can save it somehow and recapture the beauty of this film in HD.
One of the most amazing visual cinematic feasts I’ve ever seen – exhilarating stuff.
Criterion, are you listening?