In the opening scene of Come Drink With Me we witness a roving clan of thieves laying waste to a government convoy and the kidnapping of an important political officer. The reasoning behind their actions is that they intend to use their captive friend as a bargaining chip so that they can force the government to release their leader who has recently been locked up for his criminal activity.

In order to free the hostage without having to give up their prisoner, the local officials decide to send in Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei Pei of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame), a brilliant swordswoman disguised as a male, to take on the bandits and save the day. She soon, by chance, meets a likeminded individual named Drunken Cat (Yueh Hua of The Iron Bodyguard) who teams up with her to help stop the thugs in their tracks. Though at first he appears to be nothing more than a local small town drunk, everyone is soon surprised to find out about his martial arts skills.

Plenty of killer fight choreography and some great swordplay and a cold, calculating performance from the female lead make Come Drink With Me a prime example of just how good vintage martial arts films can be. Cheng Pei Pei is smart, cunning and just pretty enough even when posing as a man to make for a fantastic heroin and the carries the film with ease. She moves quickly and gracefully with a steely gaze and the precision of a master swordswoman in this film, lending an air of class to the proceedings.

Directed with loads of style by the late King Hu, the film does a great job of focusing on the fluid movements of the combatants on screen and directing the film with some deliberate pacing and interesting plot twists. The interplay between Drunken Cat and Golden Swallow might seem a little cliché by today's standards, but it works really well and provides for a lot of fun throughout the film. Though they work together for a similar cause, they couldn't be more different and at the same time, they're more alike than either one of them truly realizes.

Of course, like any good martial arts film, Come Drink With Me builds up to a final showdown in which the hero must overcome insurmountable odds to save the day. In this film, Golden Swallow squares off against a small army of men in a scene which gives Cheng Pei Pei ample opportunity to show off her unique fighting style and sword skills. While the film isn't the bloodbath that many of Chang Cheh's films made around the same time period would turn out to be, there's still plenty of violence on display here and the movie hardly shies away from bloodshed, as evidenced in the opening scene when a man has his hand cut off in a sword fight.

While Come Drink With Me isn't the best or most original martial arts film of its day, it's certainly one of the most influential. The care and detail in the cinematography and fight choreography raised the bar for competing directors and studios, and it's at least partially because of this film that the later entries from the Shaw Bros. studio looked as good as they did. This film made the fights artistic, and it is because of this that the movie has some serious historical significance.

Video:

Celestial's 2.35.1 transfer looks great and, aside from the glaring omission of anamorphic enhancement, really leaves very little to complain about. The colors are bright and bold and the reds don't bleed at all. Black levels remain strong and deep and flesh tones look lifelike and quite natural. There are no problems with mpeg compression and while there are a few instances we're you're going to notice some edge enhancement, thankfully those instances are few and far between and when they do occur, they are quite minor.