Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011)

Sorry but I was very disappointed with this movie. I do like Jet Li and I think he is an excellent Martial Artist, but you wouldn't know it from this film. Set three years after Dragon Inn, the innkeeper Jade has disappeared and a new inn has risen from the ashes but occupied by marauders, who hope to find lost city and treasure buried in the desert somewhere.

The way the film was directed made it overly confusing to follow and as others have said the film relies much to much on CGI. The fight sequences were over long and at times ridiculous.

I know some Chinese films over use wire work and CGI but this one took it even further to show the characters flying through the air having and having amazing powers so that a flick of the hand could cause inanimate objects to do whatever they wanted. Yes despite these amazing powers they were in the end killed by relatively simple means. The sword fights were also ridiculous with a never ending stream of knives appearing from nowhere.

This is NOT a Martial Arts film but rather a fantasy more like watching a Video game than a movie.

It is a shame because there were some good actors in this film, but the director seems to have let things go to his head and lost the plot.

This is one DVD for the bargain basket I am afraid.

Fmovies: 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.

a movie not to be missed because of the action sequences, slick editing means no gap in the action, not too many dialogs to keep u bored kept me engrossed, didn't touch the fast forward button even once, forgot to even eat my ice cream, a surprise ending which took me completely off guard because i never expected it at the climax stage, a captivating storyline with enough characters thrown in to confuse yet not let you down with there involvement towards the theme of the movie, the fight scene in the dust storm is a treat to see, in any case watching jet li do his stuff is good enough but in here the girls were good with the action as was the villain dude and his second in command, the extra wide scenery captured of desert and water flow at the same time was awesome. all in all a film worth commenting on and reviewing- which is a first for me.

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate fmovies. 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 2011Â…

Neo rates it 9.5/10

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.

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.