Come Drink With Me Themes

Perhaps one of the most legendary titles in the genre, King Hu's legendary martial arts epic Come Drink with Me was a revelation when it first premiered in the mid-60s. Being one of the first films to adapt a stylish bent to the martial arts scenes while still keeping its' artistic touch, the film essentially launched Shaw Brothers as a studio for adrenaline-charged, hard-hitting action films.

In the middle of the countryside, a group of bandits take the imperial envoy Chang hostage in order to demand the return of their leader. Although she is really a girl, the renowned fighter Golden Swallow (Pei-Pei Cheng, from "The Thundering Sword") who claims to be Chang’s brother, arrives to secure his release. Tracking them down, she takes on the bandits in their hideout at a Buddhist temple, massacring dozens before she

The simplistic story is a minor annoyance to be sure. This one is setup in the first ten minutes and charges forward from there, letting no doubt emerge as to what's going on as ironically, the films that emerged afterward have spoiled this one. Too many later kung-fu films have taken the concepts and themes initated here for themselves, leaving 'Come Drink with Me' to feel like one of the numerous followers rather than the leader. Likewise, the deliberate pacing might prove troublesome for more modern viewers. This doesn't go for full-on, nonstop fighting and brawling throughout here, it's more slow-paced than expected which keeps this one struggling along at times with a dreary tempo in between the vigorous and lively action. Finally, it's also rather curious what the point of Golden Swallow masquerading as a man was supposed to mean. Everyone she meets treats her as a man before the ruse, then once it's revealed midway through she's a woman everyone treats her as a woman, an event that should've been a huge surprise to all. That it's dropped and never brought back into play is a big telling