In your review of the Xena DVD [The Broken Clock, March], your writer suggests that the Xena series paved the way for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon type films. I am writing to remind you that wirework fight scenes involving women and men have been utilized in Hong Kong cinema far before Xena existed. And while Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger may not be a direct product of the Hong Kong film industry, it and the other films like it (i.e. The Matrix) owe their influence more to the Hong Kong action genre than Xena. There has been relatively little attention to the fact that Xena’s creators ripped off Hong Kong action cinema.
Bao Phi
Minneapolis/St. Paul
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