DRAGON INN (Masters of Cinema) BLU-RAY

Dragon Inn is a movie I hadn't heard of until very recently. I saw the release A Touch of Zen and knew of its reputation. I felt like adding more to my movie collection so I picked up this movie too. I really wasn't disappointed.This beautiful piece of cinematic history was made in Thailand and features the kind of gorgeous landscapes we've come to expect from a country on that side of the world. It was written and directed by King Hu, was produced by LS Chang, features music by Lan-Ping Chow and wonderful cinematography by Hui-Ying Hua. The film stars the beautiful Lingfeng Shangguan, Chun Shih, Chien Tsao and more. It was released through Union Film Company all the way back in 1967.The plot of the movie is pretty basic and is very easy to follow. The bad guy, who goes by the name of Tsao. Well, this bloke is the emperor's first eunuch and he bested his political opposition, this hairy dude called General Yu. Because of this victory, Yu was beheaded and his children were exiled from China. Tsao sets in motion a plan for the children to be murdered on their way out of the country. Whilst holed up in the Dragon Gate Inn, Tsao's secret police end up in a confrontation with a number of skilled swordsman. These include the children of Yu's lieutenant, a former lieutenant to the General called Wu Ning and a martial arts expert. This situation causes a high amount of tension and eventually boils over into some great action sequences.As a movie, it's clearly very dated but highly enjoyable. The plot is nice and simple, I thought it was easy to follow and flowed reasonably well. The action sequences were surprisingly good for their time. Sword fighting in movies tends to look a bit limp in older films, but this film seems to be reasonably well choreographed and holds up rather well. The use of bows and arrows in the film is a bit laughable. Half of the arrows barely take flight and end up crashing into the ground. You can see the odd cut of someone taking a handful of arrows and lobbing them past the camera. It's about as deadly looking as a litter of puppies. You still can't deny the influence this film clearly has had on the film industry. There's a lot of tropes in this movie that are very much common place in modern Chinese cinema and have held up well.This print of the movie from Eureka! and Masters of Cinema looks really good, in my opinion. I thought the picture quality was nice and sharp for the majority of the film. The details in the clothing, sets, landscapes etc were absolutely spot on. The colour had a bit of a yellow tint to it, but this seems to be a common occurrence with films from a certain generation. It didn't take anything away from the nice use of colours and didn't distract at all. I saw very little damage to the print and would say that this version of the movie (though I've never seen it until now), it should please fans.Dragon Inn is a very good movie. It's got a nice bit of tension and a lot of action. It's a bit lengthy (just under two hours) but goes by rather quickly. If you're a fan of Wuxia (I believe it's called), I can't see you complaining at all. This is a great copy of this movie and I'm glad I picked it up.

Absolute classic of martial arts cinema. Visually stunning, incredible set pieces and a superb cast. This restoration is the best I have ever seen this film look. Don't expect the flash bang wallop of modern films but appreciate the choreography of fight scenes.

DRAGON INN is the quintessential Hu historical action drama. It had a profound influence on the entire Chinese wuxia genre for the decades to come. COME DRINK WITH ME (1966) and A TOUCH OF ZEN (1971) are two interesting companions to explore. Hopefully, ZEN will come to HD video in the near future.

Exellent

I bought this Blu ray disc but cannot watch. It is meant for Region 2. What do to with it? It was not mentioned on the Amazon web!

The Best King Hu film.

Already having seen 'A Touch of Zen' in the cinema and via DVD, I was somewhat prepared for this King Hu release. Well worth its 5 star rating.

A classic and beautifully restored