Dragon Inn (1967) :
Brief Review -
King Hu's another great Chinese Wuxia film. Hu inaugurated a new generation of Wuxia films in the 60s, and Dragon Inn has to be one of the most important films (after Come Drink With Me) to be responsible for this. If you think Come Drink With Me was short and low on action, then don't worry, Dragon Inn will fulfill your wishes. There is plenty of action and enough drama to hold you for 110 minutes. One of the major highlights of the film has to be the villain. Though he was old, it needed four swordsmen to defeat him. Actually, five. Can you believe that? Wuxia is one such action theme where you don't need a muscular villain to show his strength. He can be powerful at old age too with his martial arts skills. This film is a living and shining example of the same. Dragon Inn sees a master swordsman, Xiao, entering an inn that has been captured by powerful eunuch's men. They are after General Yu's family members, and one of Yu's lieutenants owns this inn. This Yu is a dear friend of Xiao who has called him to save General Yu's family, and they are joined by martial arts expert brother and sister's duo in this mission. Unaware of eunuch Tsao's powers, they manage to defeat his gang members, but in the end, they have to face mighty Tsao. Will they be able to defeat this old Tsao? The plot smartly moves as characters start getting involved with each other and form a nice timeline before your eyes. You get to see one action-packed sequence almost every 15 minutes, so there are no moments to take your eyes off. The film has a fantastic screenplay and fine cinematography that make it a gripping and gorgeous action saga. Hu's heroic presentation and overwhelming villain are worth every single moment of your watch time. Some of you might be aware of such films from the 50s in other genres like western and samurai, so hop on to it and you will have another great ride to remember.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
