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.

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.

I can't believe anyone could actually like this rubbish.Picture and sound quality make it look like a 1930's b-movie and that goes for the acting as well.The story such as it is could have been written be a scriptwriter from the teletubbies and going by the dialogue it was.The fight scenes move so quick you don't know whats going on half the time and the sound effects of the swords sound like someone pulling a zip up and down and as for the final 10 minutes were it turns into a comedy horror,well the least said the better.A truly awful movie.

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)