VIDEO 'TIGER' BY THE TALE ANG LEE'S MARTIAL ARTS MASTERPIECE COMES HOME ON DVD.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to watch ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' dubbed into English, an option on the DVD that came out earlier this week.

It's just that the Oscar-winning best foreign film this year is a gem in its original form - a cinematic treat. Directed by Ang Lee (``Sense and Sensibility''), ``Crouching Tiger'' takes the flash of a Hong Kong martial arts film and brilliantly mixes it with the thoughtfulness of Jane Austen. Like Austen's work, the story deals with social stations and manners.

It is really three interwoven stories - a thriller and two love stories. The thriller involves Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), a master martial artist who is tracking the murderer of his master. He is in love with Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), a master herself. She was engaged once, but her fiance died; now decorum prevents them from expressing their true feeings for each other. (Though never married, Yu is considered essentially a widow.) Meanwhile, their passions burn under the surface, seen in small gestures and in their eyes.

The second love story involves Jen (Zhang Ziyi), the spoiled daughter of the governor of the province who is being married off by her father in order to cement a political relationship. Though demure in the daytime, by night Jen is a masked thief and martial arts expert, out to steal the Green Destiny, a fabulous sword entrusted to Li.

On the eve of the ceremony, Jen flees from her restricted life, eventually ending up in the high desert where she is confronted by a gang of bandits. The fierce Jen confronts their young leader, Jade Fox (Pei-pei Chang) and, after they battle, falls in love. In contrast to Li and Yu, these youthful lovers are all passion and sensuality.

While the love stories are told with an intelligence and elegance that we come to expect from Lee, it is the balletic fight scenes that leave audiences breathless. Many people saw martial arts choreographer wizard Yuen Wo-Ping's amazing work in high-tech action thriller ``The Matrix''; his work in ``Crouching Tiger'' is more graceful but no less stunning.

By the way, none of the work in ``Crouching Tiger'' is computer- generated. All those amazing fight scenes on rooftops and in trees are actors suspended on wires. Which reminds us: Hong Kong martial arts films work within their own reality, and that's how ``Crouching Tiger'' should be taken. Within its fantasy world, Lee, along with producer/screenwriter James Shamus, has created an intricate engaging story - a fairy tale for sophisticated adults, with enough high-flying action to satisfy ``Matrix'' fans.

Adding weight to this are the presences of Yeoh and Fat, two actors that command the screen. Yeoh, whom American fans know from her martial-arts films, is a revelation: a woman of action (and she has plenty of chances to show that aspect off) who is yet achingly compelling as the inwardly suffering Yu. Fat, who has done plenty of action films but never a martial arts film, is as cool as they come. He's got that old-fashioned hero quality - tough but fair.

And Zhang displays an intensity that makes her someone to watch; she'll be seen this summer in ``Rush Hour 2.''

Topping off this sumptuous film is a compelling score by Tan Dun, who won the Oscar, with haunting cello solos by Yo Yo Ma.

If there is any quibble about the DVD is that it could have used a separate featurette on the wire-action sequences, an intriguing process that is only glimpsed at in the making-of documentary. But it really doesn't matter. This is a film you want to see. Hey, turn off the subtitles if they bother you. Even if the characters are speaking Chinese, you'll still get the picture.

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (Sony) is for rent on VHS (with English subtitles) and is $27.96 on DVD and includes an English-dubbed version, commentary by Ang Lee and James Schamus, the documentary ``The Making of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,'' a conversation with Michelle Yeoh featurette and music videos - CoCo Lee ``A Love Before Time'' in Mandarin and English.

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Michelle Yeoh stars as a martial arts master restricted by convention in Ang Lee's ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.''