FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

bluepolo Well, I do like this kind of movie.The good: the 3D is really quite good, though a little inconsistent. Sometimes lots of the scene is in focus, other times less of it, for no real reason. I think that the scenes with really good 3D were maybe CGI as well?The so-so: The plot was hard to follow, with cross, double cross and triple cross, and the impostor characters. Also the female character with the tattoos on her face, every time she spoke the subtitles said (tartar), whatever that meantThe bad: so much CGI. CGI ships, landscapes, clouds, sand. Hard to know what was filmed in the real world.Summary: you have to be a real fan to buy this.Funny thing: I gave this a 7 before starting to type the review, but I've talked myself into reducing it to a 6

lasttimeisaw Raymond Lee is credited as the director of one of my favourite Hong Kong Wuxia film NEW DRAGON GATE INN (1992, a 9/10), but the real puppeteer is the producer Hark Tsui, the godfather figure in the heyday of Hong Kong Kung Fu sensation during 80s and 90s. So nearly 20 years later, when he decided to make a sequel of the original film, with a pristine cast (top- billed by Jet Li, Xun Zhou, Kun Chen and an assemblage of domestic celebrities from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), my expectation was quite high (as I rarely watch any Chinese films now), also Tsui's previous detective-action big-budgeted vehicle DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME (2010, a 7/10) has somewhat rescued him from his career ennui since the millennium, so god forgives me if I hadn't prepared for the worst, and this film is an utter disaster. The storyline has never been at least fluent enough to let the audience know what is happening and the reactions ignited by various plots are beyond any possible interrelations, so at most 45 minutes later, I cannot care less about the story and I believe I am not the only one. The cast is quite awful, Jet Li is too old to resurrect Tony Leung Ka Fai's original role and Li is literally only 5 years younger, so basically it's just a strategy for the sake of the action part, and every earth man knows Li is not a talented actor besides his Chinese Kung Fu. So as gifted as Xun Zhou, their emotional interaction is for naught. The only saving grace if one must pick is Kun Chen, who has two different roles (including the unexplained doppelgänger in the dramatis personae), at least leaves some vague impression in the shattered hotchpotch of direly fake CGI effects in the desert, a treasure-hunting chicanery and many other ridiculous and incoherent twists.Gosh, I have already dwindled my quota of Chinese films each year to the maximum of 5, and this megalomaniac film could have successfully grabbed tons of money in the box office during the Spring Festival season does baffle me so much, is the market really so parched that poor audience would simply take anything would quench their thirst no matter how illogically laughable the quality. I feel so worried and upset towards the future of Chinese film ground, the scale of cinemas is enlarging day by day but basically is where tasteless garbages consecutively reside.

DICK STEEL The Flying Swords of Dragon Inn expands upon the mythos created in the earlier two films, and throws in a lot more formidable characters as well as their respective selfish objectives and missions, starting with the lead character of Zhou Huai'an (Jet Li), a vigilante in the Ming Dynasty responsible for a spate of killings of corrupt court officials. With the King forming the East and West Bureaus in the same fashion as the FBI and CIA respectively, an incredible set action piece that serves as a prologue has Zhou dispatching the head of the East Bureau in a special appearance by the legendary Gordon Liu, to make the case of how powerful Zhou is with his lightning quick reflexes and special moves that we don't see much of, and gets that special effects boost as well.You see, Zhou disappears for about more than half the movie, which is a pity since Jet Li's star billing is used everywhere. Like a wandering swordsman who pops up every now and then to help the poor and the weak, the damsel in distress here is a palace handmaiden (Mavis Fan) who is on the run for carrying what would be the Dragon baby, impregnated by a naturally lecherous Emperor whose concubine sets the entire plot in motion for wanting any female with the possibility of producing a bloodline to the throne terminated. With Yu Hua Tian (Chen Kun), the head of the West Bureau her pillow partner, the game is afoot when the handmaiden gets rescued by Ling Lanqiu (Zhou Xun), the female equivalent of Zhou Huai'an whose brooding demeanour hints at a past romantic liaison with Zhou, and who harbours some secrets of the infamous Dragon Inn which is now populated by rag tag characters, There are subplots galore in the film, whose screenplay is also written by Tsui Hark, that will call for your utmost attention in order to keep pace and make sense of it all, some properly developed while others relying on your past knowledge of the Dragon Inn mythos as foundation in which this retelling is based on, allowing you to connect the dots why certain events are done the way they are now. For instance, in Hu's original film, there are bloodlines on the run which get congregated at Dragon Inn, and this one loosely follows that rationale. And for once, we know why various groups descend upon this inn in the middle of nowhere, if not for the very ordinary reason of having treasure buried somewhere in the midst of the vast wasteland, and to hunt for it meant to exploit the tunnels beneath the inn, make sense of some inscribed couplets, and depending on 1 in 60 years (not 1 in 50 years ponding in Singapore mind you) geographic events to allow all the cards to fall into place.However, like all great martial arts epic, the fun always lies with the villains, and Flying Swords boasts a memorable number of them. Chen Kun's Yu Hua Tian has in possession the title Flying Swords that brings back the hey days where gimmicky weapons are the order of the day in swordfighting films, and is himself an adversary who knows no mercy. His double role here makes this almost like a Chen Kun starrer, and a well deserved one for the performance put in as characters on either side of the fence. His cronies too are as bad as bad can be, and are exponents in their own right, with Fan Siu Wong as the masked Ma Jing Liang, and the Western Bureau second in command Tan Lu Zi (Sheng Jian) who unfortunately gets outfoxed most of the time.As a martial arts film, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate has enough variance in its fighting stances and styles, and to exploit 3D, naturally has stocked up on its flying dagger numbers to provide for those throw-toward-the-screen moments. It's quite hit and miss here, as some effects were wondrously too rich and too artificial that takes you out of the movie and may look more in place in a science fiction film instead, while others are done just right to blend in with the period surroundings. With a number of Chinese films these days just slapping on special effects like it was butter on bread (Culprits being films like Legendary Amazons, The Sorcerer and White Snake which also starred Jet Li, and just about every period flick coming out in the last year or two), this one may have to convince those who are turned off by the earlier shoddy productions. Tsui Hark continues to reinvent himself with each technological leap, with his Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain (1983, not the 2001 monstrosity), the Once Upon a Time in China series, and now with Detective Dee leading the charge and sealing the deal for his comeback, Flying Swords may just be that magic ticket Tsui Hark needs to re-establish himself as one of the greats in Asian cinema after a woeful past decade. It may not be an instant classic, but Flying Swords does have the necessary ingredients to make it amongst the game changing tent- poles of the genre.

webmaster-3017 Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is exactly how to make use of 3D technology. Apart from James Cameron's Avatar, the use of 3D has been mostly disappointing. Innovative director Tsui Harks does it again and exceeds all expectations in delivering not only a great movie, but uses 3D to maximum effect. In a reunion of sorts, Jet Li teams up with Tsui Hark for the first time since the Once Upon a Time in China days. After the staggeringly excellent Detective Dee's last year, Hark continues his great form by bringing the audience into his imaginary world with 3 times the realism and some stunning special effects. Every inch of the budget seems to be perfectly used and the action direction is top class. The use of daggers, flying swords and martial arts display are all perfectly aided by the 3D effects. It is rare that a remake/re-imagination of an all time classic New Dragon Gate (1991) can be out-dux, but Hark achieves the impossible by delivering the most impressive and creative Hong Kong movie of the year. Although Jet Li seems wasted in a role that is far too limited for both his acting and martial arts abilities, Zhou Xun impresses in a role that requires little, but crucial to the movie. Chen Kun once again impresses in a duo role and Taiwanese Kwai Lun-mei adds some flair and style. However, if there is one big flaw in the film, it is the lack of chemistry between Li and Zhou. Then again, it is probably truism by now that Li rarely strikes up chemistry with co-stars and with Rosamund Kwan (Once Upon a Time in China series) out of the game, it is hard to see which actress can bring down his romantic defenses.Still, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is more than a stellar effort and qualifies as true Asian Blockbuster of the year. It is the kind of movie that will bring the people back to the cinemas. All in all, it is probably an understatement to call Tsui Hark a genius, but just when all his Hollywood count parts fails to understand 3D technology, Hark steps up and above his peers and deliver a sucker punch of a movie. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is not just a good movie, but it is a great movie on all levels. It is what you call a unique movie experience that brings in the world of Wuxia to the maximum effect. I am proud of Tsui Hark's achievements and after watching Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, he too should be proud of himself. Simply the film to beat in 2011… Neo rates it 9.5/10