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Ranking Ang Lee Films

Ang Lee is a fascinating filmmaker. This is a man who’s made some unforgettable classics, but also a bunch of mediocre, messy flicks, leading to a very polarizing career. Regardless of the success of his projects, he’s always done something unique with his films. He’s tackled so many different genres by now – western, spy movie, science fiction, adventure, historical drama, wuxia to name a few – and throughout all these efforts, his directing remained authentic and bold no matter what. Here is my ranking of all the movies that he’s made by now.

14. Gemini Man

Of all the movies that Ang Lee has directed so far, Gemini Man clearly has to be his absolute bottom of the barrel. It’s not terrible as it is well acted and well shot in its action scenes, but it is pretty bad in every single aspect besides those two. Not only are the characters weak and the plot very silly, but the emotional sequences are even more ridiculous and laughable whereas the VFX can be quite garish to the eyes. Lee likes to push himself technologically in the same vein as Cameron, but when there is no heart and/or brain to back it up, it’s a waste of time.

13. Taking Woodstock

Taking Woodstock is this very odd 2009 dramedy that is all about the titular event without being particularly cinematic nor really documentarian. I don’t know what Lee was thinking with this particular project as it sounds as if it was doomed from the beginning. Yes, his usual knack at recreating a time period through meticulous detail is on full display here, but other than that element the movie is very boring, badly paced and it’s about insufferable hippies, so there was never a way that this story could have been great.

12. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

This one is odd and not just in its title. This is where Lee tackled soldiers and PTSD stemming from wars, but he did not give us enough fresh insight into these issues. The character study approach only worked to a degree because the characters are very weakly developed, though the acting performances are uniformly strong. It’s a strange movie that is also structurally problematic and filled with way too many flashbacks and bad editing choices. It just did not work.

11. Ride with the Devil

Ride with the Devil was the director’s first (and only?) foray into western filmmaking and it was not a successful one by any metric out there. Set in the American Civil War, this is another painstakingly crafted and detailed period piece with great performances across the board, but the pacing is awfully slow and the movie never really decides if it wants to be populist or more character-driven. The action is overwhelming, but so is the dialogue. Everything here was overdone, leading to an overly crowded, densely plotted mess.

10. Hulk

Ang Lee’s Hulk was definitely an admirably dramatic, different take on the character. The dialogue and more serious storytelling and themes worked very well here. However, the pacing dragged, the runtime was overlong and the action was problematic along with the weak VFX. All of these issues led to it being quite a boring watch, though it is a more accomplished and at least more innovative movie than the MCU version of the character. This was Lee’s only superhero flick, but one has to wonder how much better him doing this genre now would be.

9. The Ice Storm

The Ice Storm is a drama that follows two dysfunctional upper-class families who are trying to deal with tumultuous social changes of the early 1970s, and their escapism through alcohol, adultery, and sexual experimentation. This might be a controversial placement, but I find this film highly overrated. Yes, it’s tremendously well acted and very well shot and atmospheric, but it’s also tedious, not really all that thematically rich and rather unsubtle in its visual metaphors. And it’s also about the seventies, the worst decade for film, so this is why it didn’t appeal to me.

8. Sense and Sensibility

Ang Lee has always been great at historical fiction, but Sense and Sensibility is his rare attempt at the so-called “woman’s picture”. It was and still is acclaimed by critics, but to somebody like me who isn’t a fan of Austen, it’s a chore to sit through. The costumes and sets are gorgeous and the acting is superb from its great cast with Emma Thompson stealing the show expectedly so, but the movie doesn’t elevate its material unfortunately and its indecisive tone made the movie both old-fashioned and modern, but not in a good way.

7. Pushing Hands

1991 was the year when the world first came to know the greatness of Ang Lee and right from the start he showed a lot of promise. The cultural crash and generational gap are themes that he would go on to explore more forcefully in future movies, but those were still well handled in Pushing Hands, a movie that is very well acted, though rarely holding much entertainment value as most classic Lee movies do. But it does represent his highly personal Asian-American streak in the early nineties fairly well.

6. Eat Drink Man Woman

The second entry in the “Father Knows Best” trilogy that Lee directed in the early nineties, Eat Drink Man Woman is more forceful than the above entry, thus it gets the higher spot on this list. But most of the issues that I pinpointed above also apply here with the addition of an overly long character count. The modernity versus tradition is beautifully explored here while the entire movie is culturally unique, albeit not particularly engaging.

5. Lust, Caution

Lust, Caution is the most risqué movie from Ang Lee as it features explosive, graphic sex sequences that take up quite a lot of screen time. The fact that Lee made such a graphic film containing so many different sex positions and even BDSM is wild to me. That central dynamic between the two main characters was fantastic, intense and complex while the performances from Tang Wai and Tony Leung were incredible. It’s a shame that the movie is otherwise overlong, way too slow in pace and dull in its padding first half, but memorable it surely is.

4. The Wedding Banquet

To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand. Exploring the clash between the cultures of East and West but also the clash between modernity and traditionalism, this film has a simple, but powerful message about the reconciliation of the two and that it is actually possible despite all seemingly insurmountable odds. It functions both as an underrated LGBT classic and the first truly great Ang Lee picture.

3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Ang Lee has tackled blockbuster filmmaking a couple of times, but rarely so successfully as with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This story is remembered as one of the finest wuxia movies for many great reasons. Not only is it visually arresting and just a pure spectacle of technical craftsmanship, but it also features iconic action scenes, a very well crafted story and incredible characterization. Its protagonist is among the best in this genre. It also remains one of the boldest and greatest foreign Oscar winners.

2. Life of Pi

2012’s Life of Pi was everything that Gemini Man hoped to be, but never became. This is a truly groundbreaking movie in its astonishing VFX and beautiful cinematography. It was one of the rare 3D movies that blew me away on the big screen. But for all its inventiveness and spectacle, it wouldn’t have been twice as amazing had it not been for its impactful, emotional storytelling that asks many important philosophical questions. It’s an unforgettable adventure that is both moving and thought-provoking and a true testament to Lee’s masterful skills as a storyteller first and foremost.

1. Brokeback Mountain

And the obvious number one pick belongs to the one and only Brokeback Mountain. A timeless gay love story and the very best LGBT movie ever made, it just doesn’t get better than this when it comes to romances. It’s an elegantly crafted, gorgeous-looking movie that features a beautiful score and superb acting performances with Heath Ledger in particular being electrifying. It deals with some important themes, but in such a subtle manner that made it a truly elegant, cinematic experience. Its ending still gets me to this day as it’s so heartbreaking, but earned in its high emotions. Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain truly is one of the best and most beautiful movies of all time.