Come Drink With Me.

King Hu's 1966 martial arts spectacle Come Drink With Me "turned the genre away from the supernatural vagaries and clanging swordplay that had dominated it and moved the action into the relatively realistic, hand-to-hand combat and clean, well-defined spaces of the contemporary kung fu movie," writes Dave Kehr in the New York Times.

"After taking the reins, in 1965, of a World War II drama called Sons of the Good Earth, Hu infused his sophomore directorial outing, Come Drink With Me, with a personal vision that was absent from much of Shaw's assembly-line filmmaking," writes Bruce Bennett in the New York Sun. "He had studied Chinese history and design, and his attention to period detail in costumes, settings, and lighting were a marvel. From the rough-hewn, Ming Dynasty-era rural tavern in which the first half of the film primarily takes place, to the set-bound fairy-tale wonder world in which it climaxes, Come Drink With Me is a visual feast."

"The film soars on a lyrical mix of scruffy singing heroes, cross-dressing heroines, narcissistic villains and fantastical action choreographed like dance," writes Sean Axmaker at MSN.

"In a word - WOW," exclaims DVD Beaver Gary W Tooze.

Related: "There have been rumours before, but this time it appears that the godfather of all ageing media moguls, 100-year-old Sir Run Run Shaw, may finally be parting with the last piece of his Asian media empire," reports the Economist.

Posted by dwhudson at May 27, 2008 10:10 AM