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"The early 1990s wuxia wave hit its apex with this Tsui Hark-produced remake of King Hu's Dragon Gate Inn. Maggie Cheung sasses up the screen as an innkeeper with a thrifty way of both dealing with unruly customers and keeping meat on the table at the same time. Unruly customers abound when her desert establishment becomes the scene for a face-off between a disguised pair of royal-children-rescuing warriors (Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung Ka-Fai) and a posse of evil eunuchs and their vast army (lead by Donnie Yen). A sandstorm locks everyone in together and a tense and inventive duel of swords and cunning begins.
"Dragon Inn boasts choreographer Ching Sui Tung's trademark aerial acrobatics and hyper kinetic swordplay, with a final whirling fight scene in the desert so good that Lucas ripped it blind for Episode One (not to mention a striptease duel between Maggie and Brigitte in which modesty determines the victor, but Lucas left that one alone). Outstanding characters, cracking script, an all-star cast and gorgeous visuals prove that Tsui Hark was the inheritor of King Hu's mantle as the king of the fu film."—Mark Morrison