The film tells the story of Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-Pei), a woman trying to save her kidnapped brother from a group of bandits, who are trying to use him as leverage to gain the release of their leader from prison. Even though Swallow has formidable kung fu skills, her abilities still can't overcome the might of the bandits. After befriending a mysterious beggar named Drunken Knight (Yueh Hua) who decides to help with her problem, the stage is set for a final confrontation.

While that might sound like a very basic plot -- and when it's boiled down to the bare essentials, it really is. But King Hu, along with co-writer Yi Cheung, manage to create some compelling sub-plots that manage to actually enrich the film, instead of simply overwhelming the viewer. With a running time of 104 minutes, Come Drink With Me packs in a lot of story in a very lean package. A lot of modern film-makers would do good to take note at Hu's economic use of each and every scene.

Of course, a kung fu movie is nothing without solid fight sequences, and Come Drink With Me does not disappoint at all. Yes, there might not be wall-to-wall action here, but what is presented is absolutely top-notch. Action director Han Ying-Chieh (with some help from a young Sammo Hung) broke from the norms of the time, which favored static and stagey fight scenes highly derivative of Chinese opera, for fluid and dynamic portrayals of kung fu that are punctuated by flashes of ultra-violence via blood spurts and severed limbs. Those weaned on modern computer-fu films might find the action here a bit slow, but this particular reviewer really appreciated the effort that went into creating the fight scenes.

Some note must also be made of how gorgeous Come Drink With Me looks. Unlike many Shaw Brothers productions that were primarily filmed on generic sets in the "Shaw Town" studios, a lot of effort was made here to film on location, which pays off in spades in the visual department. Even the scenes shot on closed sets still pop out from the screen. It's the icing on one of the most wonderful cakes ever created in the realm of kung fu movies. If you're a fan of the genre and haven't seen Come Drink With Me yet, then you are truly missing out on one of the best viewing experiences you'll ever have.

I've never been a big fan of heroine kung fu movies; in fact, I've tried to stay away from them every chance I got. Could you blame me for being a male chauvinist pig when it came to genuine ass kicking? Of course not. With Come Drink With Me, I'm forced to say that Cheng Pei Pei (who plays Golden Swallow, the film's protagonist) is the real deal; for the first time in kung fu movie history, I actually enjoyed seeing a woman beat the hell out of the bad guys. I'm not sure what it exactly is about her, but she pulls off a believable kung fu fighting babe and does a much better job portraying one than Angela Mao, Michelle Yeoh and Moon Lee COMBINED... and I'm not talking in a fight-choreography sense; I'm talking in terms of how she carries herself with her no-nonsense charisma. And who knows, maybe some of the credit could be given to director King Hu? Frankly, I haven't seen enough of his or Cheng Pei Pei's work to give a valid opinion.

As it stands, Come Drink With Me is one entertaining film. I've heard both good and bad things about it... it's "boring", there's "too much talk", it's a "classic", it's "influential"... I'm shooting for the more positive remarks. It has a plot that's solid and simple. It's probably not as graphic and action packed as your average Chang Cheh film, but you do get the occasional blood-in-the-face shots, dismembered body parts and even some mystical shit for you fantasy fucks (and the visual effects were done pretty damn well, especially for the time). Even the villains are colorful and have a lot more character than the majority of baddies in an average kung fu film. And you have to love Golden Swallow's semi-sidekick, Drunken Cat, played by Yueh Hua.

King Hu's direction is top notch. The cinematography is beautiful. The sets are visually lavish. For the most part, the fight choreography may seem bland when compared to today's standards; but to even up the odds, they bare less edits and camera tricks. To sum it all up, Come Drink With Me is a film that I appreciate and its innovation and influence reflects many popular martial arts movies of today. Sounds like a classic to me.

And now, my eyes are drooling over Golden Swallow (the Chang Cheh-directed sequel to Come Drink With Me) and the One Armed Swordsman series.

COME DRINK WITH ME opens with a group of bandits capturing a Governor's son in hopes of having their leader released from prison. The Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei Pei who you may recognize as Jade Fox from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) is dispatched to either negotiate a return of the son, or rescue him, whichever is needed. Golden Swallow finds this task is slightly more difficult than she expected. She begrudgingly befriends a drunken beggar who has his own reason for fighting the bandits, and the Monk who assists them.

If you are only familiar with more recent Kung Fu movies, than the fights in COME DRINK WITH ME may seem slow. There is also some wire work and you will notice that many of the editing techniques used for the fights are still used today. You have to remember that if it wasn't for movies like COME DRINK WITH ME paving the way, movies would be very different now. I just wanted to mention this because sometimes expectations are raised too high. COME DRINK WITH ME is definitely a classic and continues to influence movies made today.

Celestial gives a decent but not perfect release of COME DRINK WITH ME. After viewing THE HEROIC ONES, I am slightly disappointed with this DVD.

The picture quality is pretty good even though dark scenes are sometimes a little too dark. The colors overall are very rich and vibrant. The transfer shows off the famous Shaw Bros. cinematography seen here in it's original aspect ratio. The condition of the film print that is used is free of specs and damage and looks incredible for its age. Unlike THE HEROIC ONES, I didn't see any of the distortion in the picture during quick camera pans. The image holds up well on the 47 inch TV but it would have been wonderful if it was anamorphic.

The sound mix, is a 5.1 remix and the original mono track is not included. There is an option for the Mandarin soundtrack as well as one with a commentary by Bey Logan, Cheng Pei Pei, and her daughter. The Mandarin track is mixed well. The dialogue is never drowned out by music or sound effects. The soundtrack is very clean for a movie of this age. No hiss or pops anywhere. The commentary could have been mixed much better. Cheng Pei Pei's voice is a little low while her daughter is much louder. Logan's voice is a good volume but in order to hear everybody, you need to put the sound up a bit. The problem with this is that you have to lower the volume every time Cheng Pei Pei's daughter laughs because it's very loud.

The subtitles while readable and just about free of grammatical and spelling errors, they have a unique problem. Lines of text repeat every so often. This does not seem to be player dependent and It appears that these duplicate lines replace what should have been appearing next. Once or twice this would be forgivable but it happens several times. The problem is tolerable but annoying. Occasionally the characters "!K" appear in the text but it's not too distracting.

There are a lot of extras on this DVD. The commentary is interesting and it's great to have somebody who was actually in the movie be involved for a change! Logan as usual gives good insight into the movie. He seems to learn as much from Cheng Pei Pei as I did! There are also interviews that are sometimes pretty lengthy and a lot more interesting than I would have imagined. There are also two trailers. One is old and the other is a new one that shows what a difference the restoration made on the presentation of the film.

COME DRINK WITH ME is a classic movie and I would hesitantly recommend this DVD only because some may have a lower level of tolerance for those subtitles than I do. Much has been said on the various DVD forums about replaced sound effects and music on some of the Celestial Shaw Bros. movies. I did not notice that to be the case hear. The sound effects did not seem out of place. These are just some things to keep in mind if you are considering a purchase. Also, like all the Celestial Bros. DVD's, COME DRINK WITH ME is coded for Region 3.

REVIEW:
Come Drink With Me rates as one of, if not the greatest martial arts film of all time thanks to a combination of King Hu's meticulous direction, Shaw Brothers' ample resources, and Cheng Pei Pei's mesmerizing performance. This film really revolutionized the martial arts film genre at the time of its release by boosting the production standards and level of action. Although Shaw Brothers produced the film and went on to create dozens of outstanding martial arts films themselves with the likes of director Chang Cheh, King Hu gets full credit for this masterpiece.

The story doesn't have as much punch today as it might have in 1966 since elements of it have resurfaced over and over again, but effectively casting a female in the lead is actually less common today then in the '50 and '60's era of Hong Kong. A 19-year old Cheng Pei Pei was cast by Hu to play Golden Swallow, the twin short sword-wielding protagonist who is sent to free her brother, a government official, from the grasp of ruthless bandits. Their aim is to have their leader freed in exchange, but Pei Pei lets them know, in a famous teahouse fight, that its not going to be played that way. The opening battle is actually the film's most memorable one. In a moment that has since been repeated in countless genre films, Pei Pei arrogantly displays her skills to a group of the bandits through several acts of supernatural ability. But, we soon learn that even her incredible skill is shadowed by an even greater hero who passes himself as a drunken beggar as played by Yueh Hua.

Despite Hua's subsequent success as a martial arts star, he may have been miscast as the wizened drunkard. This was only his second film after Monkey Goes West (1966) and even Pei Pei admits that the character was meant to be played by an older man. But, Hu managed to get the best performance out of him. Two bottles of wine before each scene and another actor's voice dubbing him helped to give the character more substance. Hua becomes Pei Pei's mentor and like so many films afterwards, she is drawn into a struggle between her master and a former associate with superior skills. The government's attempt to stop the bandits becomes secondary to Pei Pei's growth as a fighter and her mostly platonic relationship with the beggar.

In contrast to Hua, Pei Pei anchors the film with her performance. Her dancing experience, which helped win the role also contributed to her fighting scenes. They are nothing short of spectacular. Hu makes a point of pulling back the camera to show completely unedited movements that are fluid and graceful. Pei Pei's arresting beauty and solid acting performance clinches the role. Her distinctive costumes deserve mention as they help to define the character. According to Pei Pei, Hu dressed her in long gowns and large hats to make up for disproportionately long legs and a small head. For whatever reason, she is stunning and easily ranks as one of the best dressed heroes in martial arts cinema.

Hu's eye for detail extended not only to action and wardrobe, but also to set design and cinematography. The film's exterior scenes were shot in Hong Kong's New Territories, much of it wilderness and on SB's lots where they constructed an entire temple for the film. Interior sets were used for some outdoor locations, but they an artistic quality to them that makes up for any loss of realism. The most noticeable aspect of the film visually is that distinctive Shaw color. The film is vibrant and in restored condition, almost looks like a new production. Hu would go on to feature stunning outdoor cinematography to greater effect in independent films like A Touch of Zen (1971) and Legend of the Mountain (1979), but the camera movements, reminiscent of classical Japanese or Hollywood cinema are in full use.

Another interesting aspect of the film are the nods to Chinese Opera that is often apparent in Hong Kong period films. The inclusion of several songs that Yueh Hua supposedly sings are not only entertaining, but critical to defining Hua's character and moving the story forward. The soundtrack incorporates a lot of percussion along with orchestral music, further hinting at older musical traditions. Since so many subsequent films of the '70's used stock music or stolen clips from Western films, while modern films used synthesized scores, hearing an original orchestral score from this era on a Hong Kong film is quite refreshing. Some of the other elements such as Chen Hung Lieh's painted face and the mostly ballet-like action are more subtle examples of theater. Given more freedom away from SB, Hu developed his keen sense of staid theatrics even further.

In essence, Come Drink With Me is a very theatrical production, one that contrasts sharply with the direction that Hong Kong took their action films after Bruce Lee and his realistic fighting became popular in the early '70's. Yet, with an industry grounded so firmly in operatic roots, it wasn't long before filmmakers like Tsui Hark and Ang Lee looked back on this King Hu classic for inspiration as evidenced in most of the swordplay films of the early '90's and beyond. But, what is so intriguing is how beautiful this film remains, alongside overblown CGI films like The Duel (2000). For its level of influence and overall quality, this is the most significant swordplay film in history and it must be seen if you count yourself a fan of the genre.