Pour Another Round: Come Drink with Me (1966) Review Update

Similar to my updated review for King Boxer, I have spent a considerable amount of time in my career singing the praises of Come Drink with Me as a cornerstone to martial arts cinema - and in my opinion, all of action cinema. Enough so, that I assume I sound like Drunk Cat, the mysterious vagabond in the film, when he sings for the bar in an attempt collect some tips. I'm just singing the praises of martial arts cinema classics. 

 

There is already a full review for the film here on the website that you can read at the following LINK which I wrote some seven years ago. more recently I included the film in an article about King Hu’s Inn Trilogy - a piece that can be found HERE. So, yes, I have been spending some time already writing about this film. Yet, with the latest Arrow Video Blu Ray due to hit shelves this month, I felt inclined to pipe up once again with my warblin' singing voice.

 

Legend of the Mountain (1979)

Director: King Hu

Notable Cast: Shih Chun, Hsu Feng, Syliva Chang, Tung Lam, Tien Feng, Chen Hui-Lou, Rainbow Hsu, Wu Jiaxiang, Ng Ming Tsui, Sun Yueh

Legend of the Mountain remains a rather unique cinematic experience for a variety of reasons. As one of the overlooked films in King Hu’s filmography, particularly compared to his famous wuxia films like Come Drink with Me, Dragon Inn, and his artistic pinnacle A Touch of Zen, it’s truly a wonder that this film finally finds itself with a proper release in the US via our friends at Kino Lorber. It’s not a film for everyone, thanks to Hu’s enigmatic narrative and almost-too-much-of-a-good-thing visual and auditory approach to the film, but for those that are seemingly up for the 3+ hour leap into realms of magic, love, and just a hint of horror, it’s a film that embraces its cinematic experience in full.

Dragon Inn (1967)

Director: King Hu
Notable Cast: Lingfeng Shangguan, Chun Shih, Ying Bai, Chien Tsao

Since my interest in more art house films started to increase greatly over the last couple of years, I sort of let my 1st love of cinema sit on the back burner, which is the martial arts genre. I love any type of martial arts movie: old, and new; more grounded realism, or wu xia style, wire-work heavy films. That being said, I have also become a stickler for quality when watching said movies, so the ones I enjoy become fewer and fewer. At some point, last year, Eureka Entertainment said they would be releasing two of King Hu's Taiwanese wu xia films: Dragon Inn, and A Touch of Zen (which just came out as I write this). Having a recent interest in Taiwanese cinema, and the fact that Taiwan has been working on a ton of restoration of their classic films, I jumped at the chance to see them, and with Dragon Inn, I am very, very glad I did.

Come Drink with Me (1966)

Director: King Hu

Notable Cast: Cheng Pei-Pei, Yueh Hua, Chan Hung-lit, Lee Wan-Chung, Ku Feng

In the early years of the Shaw Brothers company, the studio struggled to really find their own voice and style in movie making. With the help of some visionary directors and brilliant actor signings though, they quickly found their path. One of the first films to establish Shaw Brothers in the direction is the iconic Come Drink with Me. The first and only film that King Hu produced for Shaw Brothers, this martial arts film is both grounded and epic, delivering insightful characters with focused and detailed visuals. It is easily one of the best martial arts movies ever delivered.