Flying Swords of Dragon Gate

I watched this in 3-D and have to say it was worth it. There are some amazing effects on display here. Something even the critics will not deny the movie. What they will say of course is, that the movie is a bit of a mess when it comes to the plot/story department. And that accusation is not wrong. It's the visuals Tsui Hark is most concerned about. Which means you get more than a handful beautiful staged and choreographed scenes and sequences.

But the story isn't that bad and though bumpy, still easy to follow. Not many will criticize Michael Bay or any other Hollywood director for their focus on the technical aspect rather than the development of plot and character. This still is superior in the character department, even though it has some major flaws there too.

Still, if you want a good time with an enjoyable Eastern you could pick worse movies.

I find this film much better than the original. In the original the fights were too weak and fake. Here the fights have more power, although the one in the Cyclone was weakened by not so good special effects. Still I must completely disagree with a reviewer who almost destroyed this movie with his comment about too many special effects. "Thanks" to him I was imagining something terrible and I am glad to have watched the film! I think who saw the "New Dragon Inn" will enjoy this film more, because he will know some of the story, and of the Characters. There are better films of course, but this is a good movie and absolutely deserves to be watched, if you like intrigue and martial arts. Characters are good, the plot is not great but IMO better than in the original, and the style of fights, even if not the best, is for me better than in the original, because more appropriate to what I started to like since when I watched Hero. I would give it 7.5 if I could.

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate must be watched in stereoscopic 3D to be properly appreciated. Its abundant visual spectacle is so clearly tuned for 3D that watching the film in anything less would mean you're not watching the real film at all. In 2D, the CGI backgrounds & objects are distractingly bad, robbing many scenes of their drama and gravitas. But in 3D, somehow it all works and you're transported into a vibrant, gorgeous world delivered with maximum visual panache.

If can watch this film in 3D (it's not hard -- Your smartphone & a Google Cardboard VR headset will give you full brightness 3D that's brighter than the cinema's 3D!), then this is a must see. If you can't, then don't even bother with this film.

I have to say I was a disappointed in this movie. If you are going to have Jet Li as the main character, why CGI so much of the martial arts? Almost none of the martial arts scenes were live action, and those that were live action were sadly lacking in clarity, the director preferring quick cuts and flash over substance.

The story itself wasn't bad. It is a bit more complicated than the average kung-fu movie, which explains the two hour run time of the movie. Sadly, much of the depth in the movie felt added on, as if they took a chunk from several movies and added them together.

Also, I have to say, the opening sequence reminded me of something your would see at the beginning of a video game, rather than an actual movie.

I would wait to see this one on video.

Following Dragon Inn this film takes visual effects so freaking far that they overshadow and ruin the majority of all fights scenes in the movie. I love movies like House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and classics like Enter the Dragon. This has none of the redeeming qualities of those movies. I watched this mainly because of Jet Li's presence in the cast, and sadly that didn't help. His fights are also injected with too much CGI, and over done wire effects. I would have hoped he would pick a better film to make his return into wushu epics. I will go watch Hero or Fearless now to wipe my mind of this general bs. Overall 5/10 and I will, sad to say, not be buying this on bluray or DVD. What a disappointment.