Sun lung moon hak chan
Tags: violence

Plot synopsis:
This is a period film set during the Ming Dynasty in the desert region of China.
Tsao Siu-yan is a power-crazed eunuch who rules his sector of China as if he were the Emperor and not a mere official. He is the leader of the Emperor's ruthless security agency known as the Eastern Depot (東廠 Dong Chang). He has built up an elite army of skilled archers and horsemen who receive intensive training and powerful weapons.
When elements of his administration plot against him and his despotic rule, Tsao comes down ruthlessly. One such plotter is defence minister Yang Yu-xuan, who is executed along with his family. Tsao does spare two of the younger children and instead sentences them to exile in order to lure Yang's subordinate general Chow Wai-on into a trap.
Escorted by a couple of rather poorly East Factory soldiers, the children are sent out into the desert. Rebels, led by Chow's lover, swordswoman Yau Mo-yan, arrive to free them, but are attacked by East Factory troops. Tsao later calls off the attack when he realises that Chow is not among the fighters, and instead orders his troops to pursue them to find where they will be meeting with Chow. The rebels and the children then proceed to the Dragon Gate Pass through which they will cross the border.
They reach the Dragon Gate Inn, which is a meeting place run by brigands. The innkeeper, the lively Jade, runs a sideline in which she seduces and murders her guests. Jade also keeps whatever money the customer has, then drops them down a chute to the kitchen and have them served as the meat in buns. The cutting up is done by her cook Dao, an expert at stripping meat to the bones.
Mo-yan and her followers arrive at the inn. She is disguised as a man, but Jade is not fooled, claiming that only a woman would pass her without so much as a glance. That night she confronts Mo-yan and the pair engage in a lively acrobatic fight with both women trying to remain clothed, while stripping the other.
Rebel leader Chow arrives and is re-united with Mo-yan. They plan to cross the border with the children but the bad weather delays their departure. Furthermore, Jade takes a liking to Chow and resolves to get him for herself, also has in mind the reward offered for his capture. Things are made even more complicated when East Factory officials led by Cha arrive at the inn posing as merchants.
The scene is set for a vicious battle of bodies and wits between both sides, with Jade trying to keep the peace and getting every advantage, monetary or otherwise, that she can get out of it. Meanwhile, the bulk of the East Factory forces, led by eunuch Tsao himself, are on their way to the inn.
Chow believes that, like most den of thieves, the inn has a secret passage through which his comrades can escape. Jade agrees to show them the passage if Chow will sleep with her. He agrees if they marry first. Jade, a practical girl, is rather surprised at having to marry for a one-night stand but proceeds anyway, with Cha acting as host for the wedding. The heart-broken Mo-yan drowns her sorrows in drink.
The growing tension inside the inn breaks out into open battle when Cha and his men realise that the rebels want to use the secret passage to escape. The fight that follows results in the deaths of all the Dong Chang at the inn and most of the rebels and brigand hosts. Mo-yan herself is seriously injured.
Tsao and his army arrives and lays siege to the inn. Inside there is only a handful of survivors: Jade, Chow, Mo-yan, Dao the cook, and the children. They escape through the passage, but a loose ribbon gives them away and Tsao himself sets off in pursuit.
A vicious one-on-three battle amidst a desert storm as Tsao fights Jade, Chow and Mo-yan. Weakened by her wounds, Mo-yan perishes in quicksand. Just as Tsao is about to finish off Jade and Chow, Dao suddenly appears and takes him on with his carving knife. He carves away at Tsao, leaving the warlord with a skeletal arm and leg. Chow then moves in for the kill and Tsao is finished.
Chow and the children make their way to the border. Realising how much Chow meant to her, Jade and Dao decide to follow Chow after burning down the infamous inn.

Review: 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..
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero are okay, but absolutely not comparable with this real Hong Kong martial arts classic.
New Dragon Inn is absolutely on the list the next time I go to Hong Kong (I only want the original Cantonese version).
There are a lot of people who won't understand the feeling a good martial arts movie can give you, but that doesn't matter.
Everybody loves "Crouching Tiger", but this movie made more than 10 years ago is a much better martial arts movie.
Instead of trying to be everything like "Crouching Tiger" did, it was just designed and implemented as a martial arts movie, and nothing else.
It is interesting that those who have a problem with the imagination of Chinese martial arts movies do not have any issue with that of "Matrix".
Having said that, I understand that those who have never read Chinese martial arts novels may have trouble with some of the scenes, especially if you are trying to find medical evidence to verify the possibility of some moves.
This is definitely the DVD to own...(being completely disappointed and disgusted with "Ashes of Time" by Kar-wai Wong), "Dragon Inn" a film credited to Hark Tsui has restored my faith in action/martial arts fantasy films.
The action in Dragon Inn does not disappoint and doesn't lose any integrity with the audience from the beginning to the finale.
As the days pass, bad weather keep the groups in the inn while Cao and the Black Riders close in.I borrowed this film from a friend with no prior knowledge of it, so I checked out the reviews on imdb to get a taste for what it would be like.
The story is laced with humour which mostly works and has some nice touches (the teasing striptease-come-fight between Jin and Qiu was fun) but I did have a nasty taste due to some of the strong language and crudity which seemed out of place.What didn't work as well for me were the selfsame scenes that other reviewers have been raving about  the fights.
The final fight (which again some users have called one of the greatest fights ever filmed!) is OK but not as acrobatic or inspiring as I'd have liked  also it's gore spoils the actual action to the point where it is laughable rather than exciting.
His role consisted mostly of two cameos  one at the start where he sit passively and the other at the end in an overly-gory fight scene which was so lost in a sand storm that his skills were not fully displayed.
Maggie Cheung probably shaded it as she had the most interesting character but Lin was also very good.Overall I enjoyed the film and am not suggesting that it is a bad film  only a bit too gory for my tastes.
Even as Hong Kong wuxia movies go, this one is wild, replete with a Hotel California in the middle of the northern Chinese desert, a marauding crew of arrow wielding horsemen, the evil eunuch from Butterfly and Sword, a lovable midget barbarian, the beautiful Maggie Cheung, and the gender bending immortal Brigitte Lin.
Donnie Yen sweeps into the end of the movie looking like Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
The film's only disappointment is the wooden love interest Tony Leung (KF, not the much better CW) - why would Maggie fall for such a stiff?
Dragon Inn is simply a fun film, and comparing it to the pretentious and boring Crouching Tiger, as other reviewers do, does it a disservice..
One of the most beautiful of Hong Kong's 'New wave' sword-fight films, "Dragon Inn" has virtually nothing wrong to be said for it.
It takes us to another world and introduces us to interesting people, and then, when the end comes, it simply says 'adieu' and the film closes and we are home again - but far better informed on the nature of the world, and of the human heart, than we would be other wise.True cinema magic, and certainly one of the best of its kind - perhaps one of the best of any kind..
Although not as good as the original, this one has more action to appeal for younger audience and the additional character of the inn lady played by Maggie Cheung is great fun.
And there was the immortal Brigitte Lin. Unfortunately, the plot and script(reportedly) suffered due to an eye injury caused on Brigitte's eye during shooting and the producers need to rush the film's completion for the festival time's screening.Not as successful in the box-office as Swordsman 2, not as good as the highly acclaimed and artistic Ashes of Time, and not a cult success like White Hair Bride, this movie is still fun to watch.
I am a great fan of HK martial arts movies especially with the historical background.
Your story might work but it is a action cinema where real martial arts has disappeared and it is a total failure.For me it doesn't deliver what other users are suggesting.
DRAGON INN exibits the same great production values of every Tsui Hark film.
It's a good movie all around, with some truly enjoyable performances by a stellar cast.What both makes and breaks it is the shaky balance between the bulk of the film and its climax.
This is an absolutely phenomenal martial arts movie.
Donnie Yen as the big bad eunuch is unbelievably solid - watching the film it is difficult not to laugh at times because everybody is so ridiculously hard, but that's why we watch kung fu, right?
Unlike Crouching Tiger this film focuses slightly more on ground work and less on the fly-by-wire kung fu that we see so much of in recent Hong Kong cinema, which is essentially a good thing because the martial arts are more realistic - however, the feats performed by the characters in this film are far from believable.
Kung Fu movies are not ALL about the fighting, though, and this film delivers the goods in all other departments as well.
It is superbly directed (not just in the fight scenes), and actually has a compelling plot (very rare in kung fu) and superb performances from the actors, especially Maggie Cheung, of 'Police Story' fame.
On one hand, I love the martial art fighting scenes, they are very well choreographed, and I have seen a lot of Hong Kong martial art movies circa 1990.
However, having the meat cleaver in the final moment feels more an inapt insertion than a fight enhancer.I still prefer the Swordsman series over Dragon Inn..
The revival of the martial arts genre in the 1990s saw many movies spring out, some good, some entertaining, and some quite boring.
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.
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.
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.
Soft arts affect you internally and subtly in ways you are not immediately aware of.New Dragon Gate Inn has finally shown me that there are soft and hard martial arts movies.
It's a visual treat with stunning set pieces, but I didn't realise the effect it was having on me until it was over.It's difficult now to discuss any historic/fantasy MA film without referring to CTHD, because good or bad, it's become the standard.
Great stars deliver disappointing Wuxia movie..
Here they plan their next move, aware that Cao and his followers are hot on their trail...Having seen some clips of this film on TV and been impressed with the sheer craziness of what I had witnessed, I laid down my hard earned cash for what I hoped would be a prime slice of mad Wuxia action; with Donnie Yen, Maggie Cheung and Brigitte Lin all starring in this Tsui Hark produced epic, I figured this was going to be something special.
But an hour in and I was starting to wonder if I had got the wrong film.Fight fans will be sorely disappointed since the martial arts scenes are so poorly edited that they become confusing and once the characters reach the inn there is next to no action for quite a while; in the meantime we get to watch some rubbish about visitors to the inn being turned into pork buns (a la The Untold Story) and Maggie Cheung unsuccessfully tries it on with Tony Leung.The crazy action eventually kicks in when Cao's army arrive at the inn.
If the whole affair had been as deliriously barmy as the final 20 minutes then Dragon Gate Inn would have been a classic rather than just another average kung-fu movie..
I am a big fan of Swordplay, and Hong Kong movies.
There are moments that are nice, but for the most part the silliness of the story just left the a bad taste in my mouth for the whole film.The final fight scene is good for a few laughs, and I suppose that was the best part as I had to rewind and watch again.
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.
So Bad. I can't believe anyone could actually like this rubbish.Picture and sound quality make it look like a 1930's b-movie and that goes for the acting as well.The story such as it is could have been written be a scriptwriter from the teletubbies and going by the dialogue it was.The fight scenes move so quick you don't know whats going on half the time and the sound effects of the swords sound like someone pulling a zip up and down and as for the final 10 minutes were it turns into a comedy horror,well the least said the better.A truly awful movie..
Nice martial arts movie.
I was slightly disappointed   that Donnie Yen wasn't in this movie much, apart from start and the rather bizarre fight scene towards the end of the movie.Overall, New Dragon Gate Inn is a great movie, but there are better martial arts movies out there.8/10.
Last of few good Fantasy Martial Movies.
"Dragon Inn", or "New Dragon Gate Inn", was last of the few good fantasy martial movies in which wire works are minimal.
Swordman II, a better known movie in which Brigitte Lin was in, had such wire works in inappropriate places.
Dragon Inn showed off martial skills of Brigitten Lin and Tony Leung in ways that you can't believe.
I like that kind of wire works.I enjoy climatic battles and Dragon Inn delivered it with excellence.
Maggie Cheung as the inn keeper is great, one of her best film performances surely.
Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung are good too as the children's main protectors who in contrast to Cheung play it quiet and steadfast.
Mix these together with a gallery of interesting supporting characters and you have a fascinating film.As well as the action there are other great scenes.
The scene between Lin and Cheung that starts off with one having no clothes on and the other fully dressed develops in a humorous but charming way.
I hadn't watched this in years but this was always one of the more memorable HK movies for me, if only that it featured the two luminous actresses Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung in swordfighting roles.
It starts off great, with the four leads fighting in a desert storm - glorious cinematography - but ends with the stupidest cop-out that is hardly befitting of what could've been an epic period movie.
I'm not really a big fan of the new wave of period kung fu films that filled Hong Kong cinemas throughout the 1990s.
NEW DRAGON GATE INN belongs to the latter category.
The action scenes are wire work heavy, something I'm not particularly fond of, and watching people simply spinning or flying through the air is not something that I call martial arts; it's not about skill, but show.
Lin is good, old-school quality and Yen is typically fantastic in what amounts to little more than an extended cameo, but for the most part NEW DRAGON GATE INN is a frenzied and dull mess..
It's a fairly typical HK swords fight movie -- not too bad, not too good.
The plot is, the bad guy (Donnie Yen character) wants to eliminate one of his adversary and used two children as bait to lure out his adversary so he can be eliminated.The romance between the Brigitte Lin character and the Tony Leung character could be more convincing if they use actress and actor of the same age.There is one surprise hilarious moment near the end during the final battle.
However, I think they should add more funny scenes like that.At the end, there is a big plot hole: the whole army disappeared, only the main bad guy went and fight the good guys..
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.
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).