Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

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.

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.

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.