From world-renowned producer Tsui Hark, who pioneered such visionary classics as "Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain" and "Once Upon A Time In China", comes New Dragon Gate Inn, an atmospherically tense action-drama packed to the brim with amazing fight sequences, awe-inspiring cinematography, and nail-biting drama. The final fight sequence, shot in the Gobi desert, is an adrenaline-pumping masterpiece, which is undoubtedly one of the most memorable scenes in any Hong Kong movie. Fans of Jet Li's "Swordsman 2" will love it!

During a tulmultious time in China's history, it is the eunuchs (court adivsors) who held the most power. A group known as the "East Corridor" led by the vicious Tsao (Donnie Yen) begins killing high-ranking officials in order to make a bid for the emperor's throne. To bring out one of the top officials, Chow Wai-On (Tony Leung), Tsao kills another official and uses his two orphaned children as bait. Chow realizes saving the children is a trap, and so sends a group of mercenaries led by his lover Yau Mo-Yan (Brigette Lin). The mercenaries rescue the children and attempt to make their getaway through the desert, but inclement weather forces them to stay at the Dragon Inn, a crossroads for thieves at the edge of civilization run by the wily Jade King (Maggie Cheung). Soon, the weather isolates both the mercenaries and Tsao's troops at the Inn, and it is only a matter of time before the two groups clash.

Dragon Inn -- a loose remake of King Hu's classic Dragon Gate Inn -- is just a great movie from beginning to end. It is one of those rare films where not one single scene, or even a single moment, seems wasted. Every scene, every line brings the story forward, fills in information about the characters and interests the viewer. A lot of recent movies could take a few lessons from this film on the importance of scriptwriting and editing. At around 100 minutes, it is one of the shorter wuxia films I have seen, but it is undeniably one of the most powerful. From the first sequence where Tsao is testing new weapons on a group of unlucky prisoners to the final clash in the desert between Tsao, Chow, Yau, Jade King and a cannibalistic chef (did I forget to mention him? Yes, there's also quite a bit of horror and gore in this movie as well), Dragon Inn not only attracts the viewer's attention, it commands it. Everything is intergrated seamlessly here; the cinematography, editing and musical score making the techincal side solid as a rock, and an all-star cast delivering great performances along with some stunning action sequences courtesy of Ching Siu-Tung and Yuen Bun (probably two of the most under-rated personalities in the Hong Kong film industry) filling in things nicely on the other side of the (filmic) coin.

So why doesn't Dragon Inn warrant a perfect 10? Unfortunately, it is a case of your intrepid reviewer's weak understanding of Cantonese. The subtitles on most video versions are horrible -- the VCD I watched was no exception -- and there was many times I was reconsitiuting the subtitles into something legible in my head rather than concentrating on the movie proper. Perhaps over time, I will raise the rating and it will join that upper echelon -- it certainly has the goods to do so. At any rate, if you consider yourself a martial arts/swordsplay fan and haven't seen this movie, do so now. It's better than a lot of recent over-hyped films and is well worth your time.

Beautifully filmed, with an all star cast and an excellent music score. The acting is suberb and the swordplay is fantastic. The story is an expertly crafted and intricately woven tale of honor, loyalty, deception, and betrayal, and the desert setting serves to reflect the desolation and impending doom of all the players. The only thing that spoils the film is the incredible final fight scene in the desert against Donnie Yen which goes from exhilarating to preposterous (but not nearly enough to ruin the film). A highly recommended film for anyone who appreciates the classic swordplay genre.

Dragon Inn (1992) is a popular Hong Kong film from that genre (and the even more specific genre of "inn" films) that incorporates a lot of these elements: Incredible physical feats, ancient intrigue, and stunning costumes and sets. Unlike Crouching Tiger, which added to the equation a sensual, romantic atmosphere, Dragon Inn is filled with broad characters and violent, manic plot twists. Dragon Inn concerns kidnapped kids, a desert hideout (the inn of the title), an assortment of bad guys, and some seriously nasty spicy meat buns. Those buns are cooked up by my favorite character in the film, a crazed gibberish-spouting chef whose knife work plays a key role in the film's sickening climax, which takes the action from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The fights that lead up to that climax vary in excitement. Whenever there are too many warriors the screen is so filled with chaotic movement that it becomes a little hard to understand or care about what is happening, but whenever the battles are one-on-one the viewer is able to take in every back-flip and twirl. It is truly masterful stunt-work. The actors don't perform many of their own stunts, so the fights seem a little anonymous (there isn't the same thrill as there is in watching Jackie Chan dangle from a helicopter or Chow Yun Fat swinging his sword) but, still, there is enough excitement in most of the action scenes to dazzle any audience.

Dragon Inn stars a number of Hong Kong luminaries: Donny Yuen makes a creepy power-mad eunuch. He appears sporadically but makes a strong impression. Hong Kong superstars Brigette Lin and Maggie Chung are effective as a fierce but secretive female bandit and as the scheming innkeeper, respectively. Tony Leung is also good as a quiet, intelligent bandit. The huge cast of assorted sidemen is also excellent. In fact, all of the acting transcends the film's genre roots. There are moments when Lin's quiet yearning is as poignant as Michelle Yeoh's was in Crouching Tiger. In fact, the relationship between Lin and Leung has parallels in the latter film.

For all the silliness and lunacy there is a heart at the center of Dragon Inn, and that is what helps this film work on so many levels.

VIDEO:
The letterboxed image on Dragon Inn is a little disappointing. While it could be worse, there is a large amount of dirt and scratches on the print. It looks pretty worn, which given the age of the film, is understandable but regrettable. The packaging claims the picture was recently remastered from the original negative, which, if it is true, shows that techniques of negative storage need improvement.

AUDIO:
The film is available in Cantonese and Madarin (both Dolby Digital 1.0) and English (2.0). Strangely, the mono soundtracks are much more dynamic than the stereo English track. There are also English subtitles, which can lead to a fun game: Watching the film in English with English subtitles and noticing how the dialog is often translated in two unique ways that dramatically changes the meaning of what the characters are saying. Also, notably absent are the Chinese subtitles, which are usually included on Chinese films since both Mandarin and Cantonese are written the same.

EXTRAS:
This edition of Dragon Inn is billed as the director's cut with additional footage, although I don't know what the extra footage is.

A commentary track from "Inside Kung Fu" magazine contributor Ric Meyers is informative and entertaining. He points out some factors in the filming that aren't really apparent to the casual viewer, like the fact that these Hong Kong films are usually shot silent since they will ultimately need to be dubbed into so many different languages to play in the Asian market.

The disc also contains Chinese and English trailers, filmographies and biographies.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Fans of Crouching Tiger and The Matrix should definitely give Dragon Inn a chance. Even though it shares (or really, inspired) the acrobatic action in those films, the tone and characterization are totally different, and different ain't bad. As for fans of Hong Kong zaniness, the decision is already made. Dragon Inn is a perfect example of its genre.