New Dragon Gate Inn
New Dragon Gate Inn
新龍門客棧
Overview
"During the Ming Dynasty, ruthless eunuch assassins plot to ambush a dissenting general's children at a remote desert tavern. A righteous swordsman and his lover arrive to protect the children, turning the ramshackle Dragon Gate Inn into a tense battleground of deception, secret identities, and bloody combat before the eunuchs' army arrives."
Iconic Tracked Scenes
- ▶
Jade, the seductive innkeeper, playfully but lethally fights swordsman Zhou Huai'an on the roof of the inn, ending with them tearing completely through the roof.
"maggie cheung innkeeper""roof sword fight" - ▶
Tense, confined skirmishes break out inside the tiny dining room as the heroic protectors and the disguised eunuch assassins try to sound each other out.
"fighting inside the tavern""eunuchs at the inn" - ▶
During a blinding sandstorm in the desert, the heroes battle the invincible head eunuch, who is ultimately defeated when the inn's cook utilizes a chef's blade to carve the flesh from his leg bone.
"sandstorm final fight""cook carving the leg"
Why It's Remembered
- ★The intensely claustrophobic duels in the narrow hallways and staircases of the tavern.
- ★The innkeeper Jade slicing off the clothes of an opponent with lightning speed during a playful but deadly confrontation.
- ★The horrific finale in the desert sandstorm, featuring a cook who uses a carving knife with terrifying anatomical precision.
Cultural Context
- ◈A remake of King Hu's 1967 classic 'Dragon Gate Inn', heavily updated with the frenetic editing and wirework style of 90s producer Tsui Hark.
- ◈Maggie Cheung's performance as the calculating, seductive, and morally ambiguous innkeeper who sells human meat in her buns is a highlight.
- ◈A masterpiece of single-location tension, essentially a 'western' set in the desert of Ming Dynasty China.
About the Action Elements
New Dragon Gate Inn is widely celebrated among martial arts cinema fans for sequences involving roof fight, innkeeper, flirtatious, seduction, swords. One of the most memorable sequences features Tony Leung Ka-fai naturally executing maggie cheung innkeeper, where the choreography and unique set pieces become the unexpected highlight of the film.