Dragon Inn (1992) User Reviews

Very Good

[hengir · 8/10 · 20 November 2005]

This film is beautiful to look at with lots of furious sword fighting and spectacle and colour that sometimes takes the breath away. Mainly set in the Dragon Inn where plot and counterplot keep the story moving, a simple enough tale of two fleeing children and their protectors. There is humour as well as drama.

The acting is first class. Maggie Cheung as the inn keeper is great, one of her best film performances surely. Spirited and sly and sympathetic she is the centre of the film. She is a survivor. Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung are good too as the children's main protectors who in contrast to Cheung play it quiet and steadfast. They have a mission. Mix these together with a gallery of interesting supporting characters and you have a fascinating film.

As well as the action there are other great scenes. The scene between Lin and Cheung that starts off with one having no clothes on and the other fully dressed develops in a humorous but charming way. The last fight scene is shocking but gripping. There is also a lovely moment when Lin and Leung, by arrangement, meet up at the Inn. She looks at him and he looks at her, then he touches her cheek. In one brief moment of quietness volumes are spoken. You know their history. This subtlety is quite alien to Hollywood.

If you like this kind of film it's a treat.

Typical Hong Kong movie

[WatchedAllMovies · 6/10 · 9 March 2012]

It's a fairly typical HK swords fight movie -- not too bad, not too good. The plot is, the bad guy (Donnie Yen character) wants to eliminate one of his adversary and used two children as bait to lure out his adversary so he can be eliminated.

The romance between the Brigitte Lin character and the Tony Leung character could be more convincing if they use actress and actor of the same age.

There is one surprise hilarious moment near the end during the final battle. I wasn't expecting that because there is no other funny stuff in this movie. However, I think they should add more funny scenes like that.

At the end, there is a big plot hole: the whole army disappeared, only the main bad guy went and fight the good guys.

Uneven, but great fun all the same.

[kurtisroth · 7/10 · 22 August 2002]

DRAGON INN exibits the same great production values of every Tsui Hark film. It's a good movie all around, with some truly enjoyable performances by a stellar cast.

What both makes and breaks it is the shaky balance between the bulk of the film and its climax. The first 95% is rock solid. The last 5% goes off the deep end, in a crazy, supernatural gorefest fight between Donnie Yen and the varied protagonists. Film school diehards will want their money back. HK film fanatics will sit there in astonishment for a few moments -- then start laughing and cheering. It's truly insane, and I love it.

My only knock: not enough Donnie Yen.

But there are other films for that.

A re-make of the King Hu classic

[abentenjo · 14 April 2002]

Superb reworking on the 1966 King Hu classic that pays greater homage to the old-fashioned swashbuckling epics of Hong Kong's yesteryear rather than a cash-in on the new wave crop: this is meatier than its contemporaries and offers expert choreography and top-notch performances throughout. Tsui Hark produces this historical affair, a costume drama detailing the plight of resistance fighter Zhou Huaian (Leung) and partner Qiu Moyan (Lin), relentlessly headhunted by evil eunuch Cao Shao-qiu (Yen), a powerful so-and-so and hottest contender for supreme control of the Imperial court. Zhou is his latest obstacle that deserves elimination and so he lures his orphan children into a trap, which summarily backfires and the resistance take up refuge at the isolated Dragon Gate Inn, situated in the middle of the desert. Cheung plays the delightful innkeeper in a light hearted and flirtatious manner, and truly shines in the role, however there are few comedic touches: the movie is dark and sinister due to its restrictions to the Inn, yet the action is lavish and radical, culminating in that legendary Gobi desert finale that'll just blow your socks clean off.

An Interesting Remake of the King Hu Classic

[chinesefan · 7/10 · 10 August 2005]

Some people may get this movie confused with the highly acclaimed 1966 original of the same title by the legendary King Hu(Come Drink With Me, A Touch of Zen). Although not as good as the original, this one has more action to appeal for younger audience and the additional character of the inn lady played by Maggie Cheung is great fun. And there was the immortal Brigitte Lin. Unfortunately, the plot and script(reportedly) suffered due to an eye injury caused on Brigitte's eye during shooting and the producers need to rush the film's completion for the festival time's screening.

Not as successful in the box-office as Swordsman 2, not as good as the highly acclaimed and artistic Ashes of Time, and not a cult success like White Hair Bride, this movie is still fun to watch. (Incidently, all 4 starred Brigitte Lin, around the same time and I consider them the most successful of the 90's Wuxia)

The Greatest Martial Arts Movie Ever Made

[lu9603 · 10/10 · 19 February 2003]

Everybody loves "Crouching Tiger", but this movie made more than 10 years ago is a much better martial arts movie. Instead of trying to be everything like "Crouching Tiger" did, it was just designed and implemented as a martial arts movie, and nothing else. This focus made it great to begin with.

In addition to a stellar cast, great action scenes, its plot is solid and intriguing. The final fight is one of the greatest martial arts scenes ever made, especially to those who grew up reading Chinese martial arts novels.

It is interesting that those who have a problem with the imagination of Chinese martial arts movies do not have any issue with that of "Matrix". In fact, the logic is very similar. "Matrix": with hi-tech, everything is possible, including dodging bullets; Chinese martial arts movies: with kongfu, everything is possible, including running on the roof.

Having said that, I understand that those who have never read Chinese martial arts novels may have trouble with some of the scenes, especially if you are trying to find medical evidence to verify the possibility of some moves. However, this is just a movie based on a novel, so why don't you just relax and enjoy?

Decent 90s Wuxia Pian but pales compared to the original

[amarcordian · 6/10 · 16 July 2008]

Having seen the original masterpiece that this is a remake of (King Hu's Dragon Inn, possibly Hong Kong's biggest hit of 1967) I was bound to be disappointed. It doesn't match the original's cinematography or epic feel, but if you are interested in early 90s wuxia pian, this is worth a look.

It has an all star cast: Brigitte Lin (been a fan since Swordsman 2), Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung and Donnie Yen - some of THE biggest names in 90s era Hong Kong. Brigitte and Tony play unrequited lovers and rebels who are trying to protect the children from their father's killer, the evil eunuch (played by Donnie Yen) who runs the East Chamber, sort of the KGB of the era and the real power behind the throne. They are hiding at the Dragon Inn, which is located out in the desert, on the border with Mongolia. Maggie Cheung plays the disreputable innkeeper who appears to be playing both sides for maximum profit, but, to add complications, she falls in love with Tony Leung's character.

Some other reviewers have described this film as being more "serious" than most kung fu flicks from the early 90s, but there is still a few silly and bizarre elements, especially concerning the lusty innkeeper and her Mongolian butcher boy (hint: there is not a lot of livestock in the desert). However, the way in which the butcher boy comes in handy in the final fight against the evil eunuch should bring out some surprised guffaws.

Tour de force

[CoolLeather · 10/10 · 4 July 2001]

This is definitely the DVD to own...(being completely disappointed and disgusted with "Ashes of Time" by Kar-wai Wong), "Dragon Inn" a film credited to Hark Tsui has restored my faith in action/martial arts fantasy films. Stunning cinematography, interesting and engaging storyline, and something that most other movies seem to lack and that is a general depth and interest for the characters. In "Dragon Inn" we actually feel and care about the protagonist and his love, and the third pawn, the beautiful owner of the Dragon Inn.

The sword fighting scene is spectacular. Every movement is "balletic" in the sense of being graceful and streaming. The inclusion of "traditional period-piece music" in the scenes was euphonic. The special effects were dazzling. The cast is indeed talented, how many people out there can actually do both acting and being athletic. The triangular aura between Brigitte, Maggie and Tony ignites a spark all on its own whether its Brigitte and Tony or Maggie and Tony or even Brigitte with Maggie...its almost Freudian. Lots of action films lose their audience because the ending becomes all too predictable. The action in Dragon Inn does not disappoint and doesn't lose any integrity with the audience from the beginning to the finale. Furthermore, the power of the Dragon Inn is that suddenly we realize that we are connected...Wow...

A Nutshell Review: Dragon Inn (DVD)

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 14 January 2008]

The revival of the martial arts genre in the 1990s saw many movies spring out, some good, some entertaining, and some quite boring. Unfortunately, this remake of the King Hu movie in 1966 turned out to be the latter. There seemed to be a certain appealing factor missing, despite it's A-list cast of Brigitte Lin, Donny Yen, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, and loads of martial arts sequences. While it's not directed by Tsui Hark, who only produced it, there certainly are plenty of hints that he probably got his fingers all over this one.

As the story goes, set in the Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs are growing in power, and one of them, Tsao Siu Yan (Donnie Yen) takes control over the Eastern Chamber, and founded his own militia, the Black Arrow Troops. The introduction had us witness the prowess of this gang with their mean and thorny design of their arrows, and the almost magical way that it can turn around corners to hunt its prey. It set out Tsao as the one with the biggest, erm, attitude, ordering the murder of political rivals such as military secretary Yang, and in true Chinese fashion, giving the order to wipe out his entire lineage.

In comes our heroes Chow Wai-on (Tony Leung) and Yau Mo-yan (Brigitte Lin) who save the children and try to smuggle them to safety at the frontier. However, the long journey sees them stopping at the titular Dragon Inn in the middle of a desert, run by sultry innkeeper Jade (Maggie Cheung) who forms a rivalry with Yau for Chow's affections. It's only at the inn that things start to pick up, but I thought it seemed more like an extended everybody-get- together scene where our heroes congregate with their enemies at the lobby of the inn, each not wanting to commit in making the first move to eradicate the other. One looking for a means to escape, while the other group stalling them until the main troops can arrive. At times, they exhibit a battle of wits, something like scene in Swordsman where each group tried to get a leg up on the other.

In the movie, I thought Maggie Cheung had a field day with her character, and steals the thunder from Brigitte Lin. Her Jade flip flops from side to side, depending on who's giving her current advantage, and with her shifting loyalties, you just didn't know who's side she's on, when you realize that she's actually acting on her own interests in preserving the way of her life - conning lecherous folks, killing them for money and then removing the evidence by serving their bodies as meat buns. Tony Leung's Chow is somewhat similar to Chow Yun- Fat's Li Mu Bai, except that here his martial arts skills aren't that really great, and has to rely on cunning and charm to save his troupe.

The two weakest characters here belong to Donnie Yen, whom we don't really see much of except for the finale fight, but the most disappointing one was Brigitte's role as Yau, which is somewhat an uninteresting character in being there just to act as a proxy, and love interest, contrary to the notion that she might be a very skilled swordswoman, given her top billing on the poster / DVD sleeve. I guess after seeing her as Invincible Asia in Swordsman II, anything less would seem like a disaster.

Nonetheless, for martial arts genre fans who love it for the swordsplay and kungfu, then you can count on the action choreography of Chng Siu-Tung and Yuen Tak to deliver the goods. While it's usually more of the same type of choreography (creative clanging of swords), there's a single scene at the climatic battle that on one hand drew laughter (of the serves you right kind), and on the other, just make you marvel at the audacity of it all, as you almost definitely won't see it coming, nor develop in such a manner, and when it does, just puts a smile on your face.

Having not seen the original version by King Hu, I am interested now to see how his vision contrasted with the more standard fare that we're used to from Hong Kong, especially from Tsui Hark. Don't keep your hopes up too high when you're watching this version, and for Brigitte Lin fans, I think another round of Swordsman II might be more satisfying.

True cinema magic

[winner55 · 10/10 · 2 September 2007]

One of the most beautiful of Hong Kong's 'New wave' sword-fight films, "Dragon Inn" has virtually nothing wrong to be said for it. A dark Romantic tragedy over-layered with a romantic comedy almost as dark, and filled with living breathing characters brilliantly portrayed by an excellent cast; still, the film's primary asset is its breathtaking imagery and carefully subdued (given the material) editing. You never have any doubt as to where your eye should light, nor are you ever disappointed.

After viewing any narrative film, we have the right to ask ourselves, "did I go any interesting places here? did I meet any interesting people? did I see anything I could not have seen otherwise?" The answers for this film are: "yes, yes, and again yes" Although this is not a 'magic kung fu' film, yet there is magic in virtually every frame. It takes us to another world and introduces us to interesting people, and then, when the end comes, it simply says 'adieu' and the film closes and we are home again - but far better informed on the nature of the world, and of the human heart, than we would be other wise.

True cinema magic, and certainly one of the best of its kind - perhaps one of the best of any kind.

Great stars deliver disappointing Wuxia movie.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 19 May 2006]

Cao, a power-hungry eunuch, is attempting to create his own evil regime beyond the gaze of the Emporor. When Minister of Defence Yang threatens to reveal Cao's plans, he is executed; his two children are spared so that they can be used as bait to lure Yang's allies into a trap.

A band of brave rebels manage to rescue the children, and ride out to The Dragon Gate Inn, a refuge in the desert which is run by brigands. Here they plan their next move, aware that Cao and his followers are hot on their trail...

Having seen some clips of this film on TV and been impressed with the sheer craziness of what I had witnessed, I laid down my hard earned cash for what I hoped would be a prime slice of mad Wuxia action; with Donnie Yen, Maggie Cheung and Brigitte Lin all starring in this Tsui Hark produced epic, I figured this was going to be something special. But an hour in and I was starting to wonder if I had got the wrong film.

Fight fans will be sorely disappointed since the martial arts scenes are so poorly edited that they become confusing and once the characters reach the inn there is next to no action for quite a while; in the meantime we get to watch some rubbish about visitors to the inn being turned into pork buns (a la The Untold Story) and Maggie Cheung unsuccessfully tries it on with Tony Leung.

The crazy action eventually kicks in when Cao's army arrive at the inn. There is a brief fight in the inn which results in a nice bit where someone gets crushed between two mill stones and a gratuitously gory battle in the desert in which everyone gets injured or killed. If the whole affair had been as deliriously barmy as the final 20 minutes then Dragon Gate Inn would have been a classic rather than just another average kung-fu movie.

Almost perfect

[eddax · 9/10 · 16 February 2010]

I hadn't watched this in years but this was always one of the more memorable HK movies for me, if only that it featured the two luminous actresses Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung in swordfighting roles. Well- choreographed swordfighting is poetry in motion and with graceful actresses as these, it's just mesmerizing.

With this recent revisit though, I've come to realize what else I like and dislike about the movie. Most of it is set at the titular Dragon Gate Inn, and it's a fun setting - a shadowy building made of adobe bricks in the middle of the desert. In there, three different parties covertly play cat and mouse while overtly bantering and taunting each other. There's much wit, even if it often borders on silly.

The biggest letdown is unfortunately the climactic battle scene. It starts off great, with the four leads fighting in a desert storm - glorious cinematography - but ends with the stupidest cop-out that is hardly befitting of what could've been an epic period movie. Pity.

Dont be mislead by any other review on this site about this film

[luke_bale · 7/10 · 17 May 2003]

Unlike the other idiots who wrote reviews of this I actually took the time to watch the film instead of just reading the back cover. Great sets, good storyline, not bad acting, now were finished with the positive points lets talk about the so called well coreographed action. The eratic constant change of camera angles makes the fight scenes near impossible to enjoy and much more confusing than it needs to be. There is some great kicks unfortunately all you get to see of most of them is a foot from one side of the screen make contact with someone. These reviews are also misleading in the way they make such a big deal about the average fight scene at the end which is apparently spectacular, firstly it is nothing special or new to this type of film and also becomes so rediculous I felt sick that I had paid for it. I love a bit of wire action but this is such a dissapointment. Please watch the film before deciding to buy it and avoid making the same mistake I did due to some rediculous, drug taking, review writers who went on and on about how good this film is.

A frenzied mess

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 3 September 2016]

I'm not really a big fan of the new wave of period kung fu films that filled Hong Kong cinemas throughout the 1990s. Of the ones I've watched, I like maybe a few, including the first couple of ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINAs and MOON WARRIORS; the rest I can take or leave. NEW DRAGON GATE INN belongs to the latter category. It's not that it's a particularly bad film, because it isn't; it's just that the overly-complex storyline is so routine and sketchy that long periods of the film go by that are pretty boring. I can't help feeling that the rating I've given it is a bit harsh, but then I rate for enjoyment over accomplishment. Sure, there is talent involved; Tsui Hark makes his presence felt as producer, and all of the actors were or are famous at one time or another in their native country.

It's simply that there's not really anything going on here that I liked. The story of different groups of people holed up in a single location trying to discover each other's identity and kill each other has been done to death so there was no interest there. The action scenes are wire work heavy, something I'm not particularly fond of, and watching people simply spinning or flying through the air is not something that I call martial arts; it's not about skill, but show. On the plus side, some of them are nicely imaginative, with gory flourishes and a clever fight-cum-strip-show between Lin and Yeung. The ending in particular is bloody marvellous as skin is flayed off and blood spurts all over, but it's too little, too late.

The direction seems a bit faceless and confused and the quality of the print is poor – in the sand fight climax, the scene often faded to white for long stretches which surely can't have been intentional? More like we couldn't see what was happening...another negative is that I didn't like many of the performances. Leung always seems to be uninteresting, even bored, to me, and Yeung gives what is surely one of her most irritating turns as an impish young woman. Lin is good, old-school quality and Yen is typically fantastic in what amounts to little more than an extended cameo, but for the most part NEW DRAGON GATE INN is a frenzied and dull mess.

The no. 1 in HK martial arts movies.

[wtdchan · 5 December 2004]

I saw this movie once as a 15 year old kid during a holiday in Hong Kong. Still, I will never forget the feeling I had then: absolutely stunning, the guys at school should see this, the best I've ever seen, there's nothing in the world that can beat this one. And after all these years, I haven't seen anything that reached the level of New Dragon Inn and gave me that wonderful, heart pounding feeling. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero are okay, but absolutely not comparable with this real Hong Kong martial arts classic. New Dragon Inn is absolutely on the list the next time I go to Hong Kong (I only want the original Cantonese version). There are a lot of people who won't understand the feeling a good martial arts movie can give you, but that doesn't matter. I know it's Hong Kong's no. 1 in the kung fu category. Absolutely.

Rather enjoyable...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 19 March 2021]

Granted, I've never actually seen the original 1967 "Dragon Inn" movie, so I have nothing to compare this 1992 remake with. So to me, this 1992 "New Dragon Inn" (aka "San lung moon hak chan") is my introduction to these movies.

Initially I stumbled upon this 1992 movie during my teenage years, probably around the mid 1990s, given the fact that Maggie Cheung is in it. I am a huge fan of her, hence I managed to acquire a copy of imported VHS version of the movie. I watched it back then, and then got a DVD version of the movie later on. And I returned to watch the movie again in 2021, as I wanted to watch it again after all these years.

"New Dragon Inn" is still an enjoyable movie in 2021, and it is a movie that has aged well enough, as it is a rather timeless movie.

The storyline told in "New Dragon Inn" is enjoyable, however I would believe that you definitely need to have an interest in Chinese movies in order to fully enjoy and appreciate this movie from writers Tan Cheung, Xiaohe Lü and Hark Tsui. In the movie you have action, martial arts, drama and a bit of comedy as well. So it is a movie that has a lot of variation to it.

There is a good visual presentation to the movie from the sets and props, to the make-up and costumes. The movie feels very whole in this manner, and it seems like the production crew really put a lot of effort into bringing the atmosphere to life.

The movie has a good ensemble of casted performers, which includes the likes of Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Tony Ka Fai Leung and Donnie Yen. For me, it is Maggie Cheung that carries the movie unquestionable with her character and her performance.

My rating of "New Dragon Inn" is six out of ten stars. If you enjoy Wuxia movies then "New Dragon Inn" is a movie that you definitely have to sit down to watch. It is, for me, one of the classics.

Better than Crouching Tiger

[Rampaging Hulk · 10/10 · 26 February 2002]

Where to start? This is an absolutely phenomenal martial arts movie. It is difficult to escape making comparisons with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, so I won't bother. This film is much better. The martial arts are absolutely stunning. Donnie Yen as the big bad eunuch is unbelievably solid - watching the film it is difficult not to laugh at times because everybody is so ridiculously hard, but that's why we watch kung fu, right? Unlike Crouching Tiger this film focuses slightly more on ground work and less on the fly-by-wire kung fu that we see so much of in recent Hong Kong cinema, which is essentially a good thing because the martial arts are more realistic - however, the feats performed by the characters in this film are far from believable. I digress....... Kung Fu movies are not ALL about the fighting, though, and this film delivers the goods in all other departments as well. It is superbly directed (not just in the fight scenes), and actually has a compelling plot (very rare in kung fu) and superb performances from the actors, especially Maggie Cheung, of 'Police Story' fame. 'The New Dragon Gate Inn' has a great storyline, centred around rebel fighters trapped in an inn with evil officials in the room next door, and manages to switch from great intensity to comedy without missing a beat. Probably the best new school kung fu movie I have seen. The final fight scene is ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Watch it now.

The film that Crouching Tiger wants to be

[Fox in Socks · 10/10 · 13 February 2002]

'scuse me while I go off on one.

I watched this last night and realised something. Any martial artist should be able to tell you about "soft" and "hard" arts. Hard arts are all about immediate impact, force, visible effect. Soft arts affect you internally and subtly in ways you are not immediately aware of.

New Dragon Gate Inn has finally shown me that there are soft and hard martial arts movies. It's a visual treat with stunning set pieces, but I didn't realise the effect it was having on me until it was over.

It's difficult now to discuss any historic/fantasy MA film without referring to CTHD, because good or bad, it's become the standard. Well, I thought it was overrated, had it's moments, but wasn't as inspiring as people seem to make out, compared to Iron Monkey, Once Upon A Time In China etc. Well, I'm getting from this film what everybody else is getting out of CTHD, so now I'm happy.

Oh yeah.. kung hei fat choi!

a classic

[brucely-02696 · 10/10 · 19 January 2020]

1.Dragon inn is a ruthless,heartless place , desert too. dragon inn scene extended to desert. Donnie Yen best movie is New Dragon Gate Inn 1992 . acted as eunuch tsao from east factory

2.Chivalry spirit on ipman n new dragon inn. Chivalry spirit as martial artist always Helps others with righteousness, generosity, and fights for injustices. China's legal system is not complete, and many vulnerable groups in society cannot receive timely assistance.The image of "Chivalry spirit" came into being. "Chivalry spirit" is not a challenge or overthrow of the existing social system or legal judgement, but a remedy for the folk power after the gap in the state system. A single "chivalry spirit" is reflected in the rescue of difficult groups, while the enlarged "chivalry spirit" is a responsibility and attitude of folk forces and voices to the country and society. The so-called great Chivalry spirit: "For the country and the people, the hero of the chivalry!" The concept of "chivalry" evolved into the insistence of independent personality. This is an echo of against slavery and free spirit. The chivalrous person became the embodiment of a new ideal personality.

Genuine Martial Arts Movie

[y-26698 · 8/10 · 13 May 2020]

All the characters are remarkable, and the movie is really a classic.

Enter at your own risk

[buddybhupender · 5/10 · 7 March 2011]

Most of us try many things in our lives at the suggestions of others because we value their opinions or we want to play safe. First part is good but the latter part sometimes backfires on us. Same happened with this flick. I am a great fan of HK martial arts movies especially with the historical background. I saw the ratings on IMDb and saw couple of reviews who praised the movie and i decided to watch it.

And it backfired on me. This movie is based on Wire Works. To present things in new style all the main fighting sequences are full of wire stunts. Nothing original and it does not co-relates with laws of physics. The story is though original like many other Chinese Legends we have witnessed in the past or present but the screenplay tries to attempt a lots of things differently or way too entertaining from the directors point of view that nothing sticks with a viewer with his head on his shoulders. My dear director wire works with a logical explanation works but too much dependency on them during fighting sequences is not a proof of your creativity. Your story might work but it is a action cinema where real martial arts has disappeared and it is a total failure.

For me it doesn't deliver what other users are suggesting. A total waste of time. An average flick which we will forget (regret) as soon as we finish watching it.

Enjoyable but not as great as the reviews here suggest

[bob the moo · 26 May 2003]

Large swathes of China are falling under the despotic rule of Cao Shao-qin as he and his merciless Black Flag riders slaughter Government officials and anyone who threatens his rule. When Cao captures the children of a murdered Lord, Zhou Huai-an mounts a rescue mission led by Qiu Moy-an. With the children and her men, Qiu meets Zhou at the Dragon Inn, owed by the outlaw Jin Xiangyu – who is only out for what she can make for herself. With the pass shut, some of Cao's men arrive at the inn sparking a stand-off between the two groups with the money-grabbing Jin in the middle. As the days pass, bad weather keep the groups in the inn while Cao and the Black Riders close in.

I borrowed this film from a friend with no prior knowledge of it, so I checked out the reviews on imdb to get a taste for what it would be like. I was immediately dubious when people, who had clearly only experienced this genre by seeing `Crouching Tiger' in their multiplex, were calling it the greatest HK film ever made and other such absurd claims. Also the way in which many users have compared this to `Crouching Tiger' also suggests that that is the only benchmark they have. However I settled to watch it.

For the most part I enjoyed it. The plot worked quite well in miniature and only got weak in the final 10 minutes where it just seemed to collapse into an illogical confrontation. The story is laced with humour which mostly works and has some nice touches (the teasing striptease-come-fight between Jin and Qiu was fun) but I did have a nasty taste due to some of the strong language and crudity which seemed out of place.

What didn't work as well for me were the selfsame scenes that other reviewers have been raving about – the fights. In some of the scenes there are touches of clever choreography but often it is a swirling mix of arms and legs that is lost in editing that is far too quick at times to allow us to fully appreciate the moves. The final fight (which again some users have called one of the greatest fights ever filmed!) is OK but not as acrobatic or inspiring as I'd have liked – also it's gore spoils the actual action to the point where it is laughable rather than exciting. This is not to say that the fights are without merits (most of them are pretty good) but they are quite ordinary at times and lack a real imagination. They are still exciting but don't be sucked in by the gushing praise from these pages.

The cast are all pretty good with some exceptions. Leung is quite sturdy and delivers a character without too much flair but prevents him from being too wooden. Donnie Yen was a disappointment for me. His role consisted mostly of two cameos – one at the start where he sit passively and the other at the end in an overly-gory fight scene which was so lost in a sand storm that his skills were not fully displayed. The two women really made the film for me –they both had different characters but also mixed it up and delivered the comedy. Maggie Cheung probably shaded it as she had the most interesting character but Lin was also very good.

Overall I enjoyed the film and am not suggesting that it is a bad film – only a bit too gory for my tastes. It is lightly funny and there is plenty of swordplay but it certainly never reaches the cinematic heights of ecstasy that are alluded to by some of the reviews here.

Poor example of Tsui Hark

[kraziken · 4/10 · 17 April 2001]

I am a big fan of Swordplay, and Hong Kong movies. My friend bought this movie after checking this database.

I can say that I was very disappointed in this movie and don't quite understand how it received such a high rating.

The movie story is difficult to follow and the action scenes are for the most part, nothing spectacular. There are moments that are nice, but for the most part the silliness of the story just left the a bad taste in my mouth for the whole film.

The final fight scene is good for a few laughs, and I suppose that was the best part as I had to rewind and watch again. It is quite humorous.

Save yourself the time and watch Warriors from Zu Mountain if you want fantasy and if your in the mood to watch a Good Tsui Hark production. Or if you want good swordplay, see Duel to the Death. This movie does not deserve the praise it has received.

fun wuxia flick

[DanStarkey · 11 February 2004]

Even as Hong Kong wuxia movies go, this one is wild, replete with a Hotel California in the middle of the northern Chinese desert, a marauding crew of arrow wielding horsemen, the evil eunuch from Butterfly and Sword, a lovable midget barbarian, the beautiful Maggie Cheung, and the gender bending immortal Brigitte Lin. Maggie Cheung carries the movie with hilarious style. Donnie Yen sweeps into the end of the movie looking like Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The final battle scene culminates in a sudden surprise so ludicrous that I laughed out loud, even though I was alone. The film's only disappointment is the wooden love interest Tony Leung (KF, not the much better CW) - why would Maggie fall for such a stiff? Dragon Inn is simply a fun film, and comparing it to the pretentious and boring Crouching Tiger, as other reviewers do, does it a disservice.

Good Action, Bad Plot

[mindless_junk · 5/10 · 22 February 2003]

It's hard for me to write a good review of this movie. On one hand, I love the martial art fighting scenes, they are very well choreographed, and I have seen a lot of Hong Kong martial art movies circa 1990. On the other hand, the plot is very weak.

The movie feels like a bump absorber. The martial art scenes spice it up, then it drags on and on and gets bored, only to spice up again with the next fighting scene...

The final fighting scene is one of the best I have seen. However, having the meat cleaver in the final moment feels more an inapt insertion than a fight enhancer.

I still prefer the Swordsman series over Dragon Inn.