Green Snake
Green Snake
NR | 09 September 1994 (USA)
Green Snake Trailers

A mischievous snake who assumes human form interferes with the romance between her reptilian sister and a hapless man.

Reviews
ada

the leading man is my tpye

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Redwarmin

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

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ShangLuda

Admirable film.

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Tymon Sutton

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

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Adam k (cromm-2)

I was very much entertained, then touched and finally saddened by the movie. It was very beautiful, despite some technical shortcomings and lack of good fights. Definitely the CG and magic could seem funny and outdated, they are not important though and do not detract from the overall quality and value. The music seems very good as well, at least to my not very discerning ear, I liked it a lot.The movie was very interesting to watch for a few reasons. Obviously, the two actresses were very pretty and there were many really pleasant scenes in the movie involving them taking the clothes off. There are enough silly and funny scenes as well.I would not say this is a martial-arts or Kung Fu movie, definitely not a typical one. There is litte going for the martial arts and the movie concentrates on the love life of the two heroines and their naive teacher, with some interruptions from a crazy blind taoist monk ghost-hunter. For me it was deep enough to think about and entertaining at the same time, with an unfortunate but (maybe)typical pessimistic ending.What is important in the movie, is the moral story of Buddhist improvement and the circle of life and death. Two snake spirits, sisters most likely, are training to become humans to be able to advance their spiritual position, the way I understand it, in order to achieve nirvana? Or maybe because they think the emotions of humans are very important and beautiful, it is difficult for me to say. I did definitely find this story touching. One of the sisters, the white snake (wifey says white is the color of wisdom), has been training twice as long as the Green (Blue) Snake and is very powerful. She gets herself a man and they fall in love. Part of the movie is about her falling in love with him, with the sister being doubtful if human emotions are worth it. This is indeed a very light and beautiful part of the movie, I did love it. The Blue is trying to understand the emotions, but she is a bit lazy and likes being a snake so is not training hard enough. Additionally, she is an erotic dancer, to add a bit spice to the movie, the initial scene where the two appear is worth watching for sure. She is also trying to get the man of her sister, maybe out of jealousy, were it not too human a feeling.After the first part of the movie, there is the second where the sisters live together with the man, who starts noticing that they are a bit strange and suspects they are indeed "evil" snake spirits. In fact, he is absolutely terrified, the more noble to be later when, despite terror, he refuses to poison them. He obviously loves both of them and cannot help the monk who is after themThe Monk... I really truly despise this persona. He did seem noble, besides incredibly powerful. He is a Buddhist monk, living his belief 110%, holier than thou. He seemed to understand that the spirits are not all to be hunted. However he has a terrible fault in his character, a typical universal, trans-cultural "hamartia" where he cannot see that he has human emotions and that he is a man who cannot escape desire. He is fighting those feelings and though the refusal to accepts them, develops hatred, pettiness, vengefulness, PRIDE , and forgets about mercy and compassion. He does realize it at the end but it is too late for some of the main characters... I hate when it happens.It is too much to describe the movie in its totality. However, it is difficult to stop writing about this movie too. I need to finish saying that the last part of the movie is spent despising the proud monk and hoping he realizes the mistake. In other words, the hallmarks of good tragedy. Beautiful but sad, with the lasting feeling that by changing a minute of the ending, we would be able to finish with a more positive and heartwarming outcome. I understand this would not be as cathartic but catharsis is often and overpriced commodity.If you are inclined this way, you could consider the ending more positive, with some characters having a chance to meet in future lives, having achieved the humanity they sought, others realizing the mistakes and being burdened with the feelings and unwelcome pain.Hated the ending and loved the movie.

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JoeB131

Not being a Chinese cinema fetishist like many of the posters here, I can't see what the attraction is...The movie is this bizarre about two snake demons who try to find love with human men. This brings them into conflict with a Bhuddist Monk and a Taoist priest. (Is there some weird interplay between Bhuddism and Daoism I am missing here...) The movie acts as though there is real power behind these faiths, and the Demons are real as well...but the holy men seem to be cast as the bad guys. Imagine The Exorcist told from Pazuzu's point of view...The two actresses are hot, particularly in the early scenes, but beyond that, everything seems quite repetitive and slow moving.

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BA_Harrison

Tsui Hark's magical fantasy Green Snake is such a tour de force of stunning visuals and expertly crafted moments of cinema magic that one can easily forgive the occasional dodgy special effect or lapse in narrative cohesion.Maggie Cheung plays the beautiful titular character, one of a pair of benign female snake demons who have mastered the ability to transform themselves into humans. Her companion, White Snake (Joey Wang), is far more experienced than Green at altering her appearance, and has also managed to acquire human emotions, falling in love with a young scholar Hsui Xien (who is quite unaware that his girl is actually a scaly serpent in disguise).Desperate to experience the same feelings as White, but unable to control her desires, Green also attempts to seduce Hsui Xien (the lucky old so-and-so), and even tries to seduce a powerful monk, Faat Hoi, whose mission it is to trap demons; this naturally causes all kinds of problems which eventually result in Hsui Xien discovering White's secret.For the majority of its running time, the lyrical beauty of Hark's tale is more than enough to retain one's attention; even when there isn't much happening story-wise, the film is shot with such style that it is totally captivating. For example, the scene in which Green gatecrashes a Bollywood dance routine while a rain-drenched White slithers off to spy on the scholar might not add much to the plot, but with its lush colours, amazing soundtrack, and Cheung's impossibly sexy performance, it's one of the most memorable cinematic sequences that I've seen.Towards the end of the film, events do start to become slightly wearisome, and perhaps the film is a little too long for its own good; some viewers may find Hark's leisurely pace a little too slow, whilst others might laugh at the sometimes less-than-effective special effects (the CGI magic crane is certainly very weak). However, the film's positives far outweigh its negatives, and fans of Asian fantasy should definitely seek it out.

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cyberwinds

It is a really good movie. Both teal snake and white snake are charming and deadly attractive. Xu Xian is a everyday Joe male character. No man won't envy his good luck with beautiful women! ;) The monk--Fa Hai--is stubborn and prejudiced in his attitude towards human and non-humans. In the end, he seems to regret what he has done to the snake sisters. The story stresses the sexual desire of human beings. ;) Even the monk, who has reached the prestige of human-buddie, cannot deprive himself of sexual imagination and impulse.The pace of the story telling is fast; the structure of the story plots is compact; the special visual effect of magic casting and fighting is eye catching; and the music and singing is touching and resonant with the progress of the story.

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