I saw this movie on the movie channel when I was a child, but I was just walking around. Only the human meat buns and white bones left a deep impression on my childhood. Watching this classic again after many years, there are many new experiences.
"In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were in power." As soon as the narration came out, I burst into laughter—I always felt a bit rotten and cliché, but then I thought about it, this is an old movie from more than 20 years ago, and then I let it go. After the yellow sand, horses, and a fancy archery killing game, the biggest villain in the film, the supervisor of the East Factory, made his debut. Donnie Yen has long had a solid impression in my heart. Maybe his Ip Man series is too popular. For the first time, I saw his righteous image of a muscular tough guy. The appearance of eyeliner, this image contrast makes me feel very fresh, but it seems that there are few such attempts in his subsequent works. In a sense, is the play path narrowed?
Another one that amazes me is Maggie Cheung. She plays the black shop proprietress, who is sultry and charming, with exquisite appearance and martial arts skills. She solves the male N number with three strokes and two strokes. In just a few minutes, she quickly builds up a vivid character image. She and Qingxia's dragging rivalry reminded me of Tsui Hark's "Green Snake". Hong Kong films are known to have the setting of two heroes, and this kind of double heroine is also a hormonal explosion.
There is also a scene of Qingxia drinking with her neck up in tears, which is different from Dongfang Invincible's arrogance. Here, it shows a woman's heartache when she thinks her lover has changed her heart, but she has to take the overall situation into consideration and endure it.
Most of the scenes in the film are in the boundless desert and simple inns, and the colors are also dim, as if with rough yellow sand and grassy atmosphere. The remarkable part of the film is also reflected in the sound, such as the sound of swords piercing the air, the sound of weapons when they are connected, the sound of horses' hooves outside the Great Wall, and musical instruments such as zither and drums, which contributed to the tension in the atmosphere.
As a martial arts movie, the movie must convey the love in the rivers and lakes it builds, which is also the point that the movie touched me. First of all, a group of knights rescued the orphans. "Seeing the injustice on the road, draw the sword to help" and "violate the ban by force" are the righteousness. During the fight between the four of them in the desert, what I saw was the spirit of sacrifice that was willing to block arrows for the person I loved. This was love. In the film, Jin Xiangyu, who started killing people and making a living, finally burned down the inn, "leaving this ruthless and unjust place", which is quite happy and vindictive and the free and easy of people in all corners of the world.
Martial arts is a unique culture in the Chinese world, and martial arts movies are an important part of the magnificent picture of Hong Kong films that cannot be ignored. Although the current special effects technology is becoming more and more sophisticated, there are few works that can stand the test of time. The so-called martial arts spirit is only superficial. I think this is why many fans prefer to watch old martial arts movies.
View more about Dragon Inn reviews
