Product Description

In the ming dynasty (1368-1644 a.D.) the secret police-like eunuches are the true leaders. The evil eunuch tsao had vowed to eliminate the rebels led by chow and his lover yau who retreated to the desolate dragon inn run by the seductive double-crossing jade. Studio: Tai Seng Entertainment Release Date: 08/23/2005 Starring: Brigitte Lin Tony Leung Ka-fai Run time: 103 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Raymond Lee

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55150 in DVD
• Brand: Dragon
• Released on: 2001-03-13
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Color, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Chinese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
The young director Raymond Lee (Rebel from China) deserves some credit for daring to remake one of the great King Hu's most impressive movies. The 1967 original looked like a vintage Technicolor Western, and it had more sweep and panache than any other movie of its kind. Filming in Taiwan, Hu relished the possibilities offered by a shrewdly limited situation. The plots of the two versions are identical: Among the guests at a remote inn in dusty Northern China are representatives of the eunuch-controlled secret police that secretly runs the imperial Ming government, and a group of staunch rebels who have sworn to overthrow them. The story line could be described as an excuse for the sword fights, between as many combinations of antagonists as possible. But when the result was so intoxicating, who could complain? In 1992 Lee updated the basic conception with some winking sexual innuendo and snagged an all-star cast: Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (Song of the Exile), Tony Leung Kar-fei (The Lover), and Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (Peking Opera Blues). But his staging of action feels mechanical, and the movie never comes to life. You may find yourself nodding out over the endless whirlwind swordplay. --David Chute

Customer Reviews

Inns, Deserts, and Kung Fu!
I purchased Dragon Inn because I liked Brigette Lin's performnace in The Bride with White Hair. She does an excellent job in this film too.

Dragon Inn follows the plight of a group of freedom fighters trying to rescue the fugitive children of an executed official. The childeren are really nothing more than bait to lure Brigette Lin and her band into a trap where a power hungry unich (Donnie Yen) tries to kill them. When the ambush fails the group escapes to the dry desert where they stop at Maggie Chun's Inn. While at the Inn there are several power struggles between the freedom fighters and the evil unichs until the finale. Maggie Chun plays the opportunistic owner of the Inn and puts an interesting twist into the story. I don't want to give the whole story away, but I will say that there is both kung fu and swordplay in this film. Both are done well.

All in all Dragon Inn is an excellent balance between action and a good story line. The action scenes actually have purpose and make sense to the story.

I'd also like to mention that the English dubbed version on the DVD in done well, if you don't like subtitles, and there's also a Mandrian and Cantonese audio version. Ric Meyers also includes an audio commentay which sheds some interesting light on the satire of the film. Apparently most of the characters and situations were a partial satire on the pre mainland China take over of Hong Kong. If you listen to the commentary you'll see what I mean.

Dragon Inn is one of the best Kung Fu films available on DVD. If you're a martial arts fan, or you just want to expirement, add Dragon Inn to your collection. Everyone who's watched my copy has enjoyed it so far, including my wife.

Jaw-Dropping! Heart-Stopping!
I highly anticipated this DVD version (all-region) for nearly a year. I couldn't wait to watch it, knowing it was a highly acclaimed film in HK. My first reaction to this movie was "unsure"...there were scenes that simply made my mouth drop, and the plot was not what I quite expected. Yet, it left me astounded with an urge "to want" to watch it again...as I did, it turns out to be a wonderful film full of drama and charming effects.

Its a brilliant fable of heroic swordsmen, evil officials, and heart-stopping drama, where chaos among other things center within the "Dragon Inn". Brigitte Lin is captivating as usual; beautiful, mysterious, and portrays such inner/outer strength in her character. Maggie Cheung plays the promiscuous bar owner of "Dragon Inn"; she's great, spunky, and strong minded. Tony Leung play a cool and collected swordsman; great expressions. And Donnie Yen, well he was maked-up in something I'm not accustomed to seeing him in, nevertheless, he brings out all the intense action in the end with his evil eunuch presence and remarkable martial arts skills.

*Another DVD Plus: English Audio is an option!! And there's also a Comentary option by Ric Meyers, which I personally enjoyed; very informative and insightful.

Classic
Dragon Inn is under the background of the Ming dynasty, when the eunuches dominated in the state affairs. The opposing vassals were purged and the reign was corrupt. After a loyal vassal, who was to eliminate the interference of the eunuches, was persecuted by the eunuches, his underlings (played by Tony Leung and Brigitte Lin) tried to preserve his heirs. But the eunuches' secret police are everywhere within the pale, therefore they had to take the children towards the west deep into the desert, beyond the eunuches' reach. Before they could go through the last pass at the border, they stayed in the dragon inn to seek the help from the inn keeper to get through the pass while the enouches were pursuing. The keeper, Jin Xiang Yu (played by Maggie Cheung) was an opportunist woman, killing the lodgers and after the money, but able to get information and having close connections with both local officals and gangs. While the fugitives were waiting in the inn, the van of the eunouches arrived. The desert storm arrived to prevent anyone from leaving the inn, the strengths of both sides are equal and held with each other tightly with intrigue psychological battles. The tension here is extremely well portraited within the lonely inn in the stormy night of the desolate desert. When the main force of the eunuches came and thrashed the inn, the keeper decided to help the fugitives to escape......

This movie is no doubt a classic with so much to commend. The peerless cinematography set in the broad desert is just desolately charming. Maggie Cheung's performance as the inn keeper with multi-dimensional character is absolutely exquisite. The love between Tony Leung and Brigitte Lin, who became fugitives to protect the children, though not the main theme of the movie, was just touching.

I am a big fan of this type of movies and I am sure dragon is among the finest in its genre. I usually do not want to push others to watch a movie, but with an exception this time, I would like to heartfully recommend this movie to everyone.