Crouching Dragon—The Tiger Lily Cut

Like the title says, this is a Tiger Lily version, which means it's all about funny subtitles putting a totally different spin on the original. Here SSJ unleashes his sly and inventive humor on an unsuspecting martial arts historical epic. The idea starts strong and the gags are witty, snarky, absurd, clever, or any and all combinations of those. I enjoyed the pairing of words to on-screen emotions. Even though the gags are operating in a completely different universe, they jibe with the expressions and intonations of the actors. And the alternate universe SSJ builds is delightful, a mashup of Middle Earth, Cheech and Chong, Iron Chef, and many other threads.

The concept continues to be convincing in the desert sequence, where the two romantic leads bicker like air-headed loft-dwelling metrosexuals who really need to get out more often. In the latter part of the movie the gags are a little forced and the freshness of the concept flags a little.

All of the fight scenes are uncut so you can enjoy the top notch acrobatics all over again. There's one chunk cut from the middle of the movie which isn't missed, although there isn't much explanation for why Jen Yu is suddenly on the road. There are a few hints of a plot, something about an egg, but it's almost a throwaway. For enjoyment I give the first part of the movie a 10 and the conclusion a 7.5, for an overall 9 stars.

Also, don't miss the supplemental clip. It's a press conference with Michelle Yeoh that gets the same Tiger Lily treatment as the movie and is equally as funny.

Pros: I can't remember the last time I've watched a film that made me laugh so hard. Most of the new dialogue is just brilliant; its simply absurd, however the author did a great job of choosing where and when to say what. The subtitles are never too long or too short for the amount of words being spoken. Also, the context of the dialogue is always properly reflected by the characters' facial expressions and behaviors. That being said, the ridiculous dialogue becomes 10x funnier by how naturally the characters appear to be speaking it, with the straightest of faces. I don't think a live-shot English spoken version of this fanedit could ever exist, because I can't imagine anyone actually speaking this dialogue without busting a gut, or bare minimum cracking a smile.

Cons: I didn't find some of the plot/subplots really too entertaining, but they are certainly necessary to at least keep some seriousness alive (which I already said, makes the punchlines hit that much harder). All the talk of the orcs, dragon eggs, wyverns (not the zombie pandas- who doesn't love that?) started to get old for me, but I don't know what could fill that void without accomplishing the greatness reached in this fanedit.

Great work SSJ!

I quickly realized what I was in for with this edit after the first subtitle appears on the screen. It set the tone. This edit is flat out funny. Now that's no guarantee that everyone will like it. People have different senses of humor etc. But there are some genius moments in this edit. I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. Props to ssj for some clever "phonetic translations" of the spoken words in a few spots in the movie. And there were some great subtitles for some of the written stuff as well.

This edit is not simply a series on one liners either, not just a case of "hmmm let me make all the subtitles funny". That would have been too easy and would have resulted in a far inferior edit IMO. ssj weaves a coherent (and very entertaining) plot

So if it's been awhile since you've watched Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or your tired of seeing it in its theatrical form, I say to you:

Grab some goat cheese and boozemilk. Seat thy ass! And watch this edit.

This is a slightly-modified version of the review by which I approved this edit.

It has been a pleasure to watch and review ssj's unusual edit of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Video: The video quality of the SD MP4 is acceptable, given the file-size.

Audio: The quality of the stereo audio was fine. There was one slightly rough transition, but overall the sound was good.

Editing: While the actual editing was minimal – the changes are largely a result of the completely-rewritten subtitles – the cuts that there were made were done well. An inherent problem with comedy edits is the fact that they can seem to run out of steam if they go on too long, so I was pleased with the ninety-minute running time, which is about right. Nonetheless, I did feel that some of the fight scenes, especially those near the end, might have been shortened, because in my opinion they did not add much to the new storyline and felt a little too much like watching the original again, so it would have been nice to see a little more ambitious editing here.


Presentation: There is basic cover and disc art, created by the faneditor. Well done!
Extras: An amusing featurette and trailer are included in the download.
Entertainment: A new wacky plot is implemented competently, driven by clear, well-written subtitles that obviously took a great deal of work. The subtitles range being from absolutely hilarious to slightly crass, but never fail to entertain. A notable achievement of the edit is that the editor managed to sustain his creative rewriting of the subtitles throughout several long scenes with extended dialogue, and avoided the temptation to make numerous cuts. This stops the edit from feeling choppy in the way that other comedy edits often do.

Overall: 8 out of 10

This very promising firstling comes highly recommended.

ssj is a sick, sick man. And I love him for it.