King Hu’s ‘Come Drink with Me’ was not the director’s first, nor his best film, but it could be argued that it would be the film of his that had the most impact on cinema. The Shaw Brothers produced Wuxia epic from 1966, basically kickstarted Shaw Brothers studios run of martial arts films, and basically the HK martial arts film scene that would takeover for the next 30 years. Not only is this film hugely impactful, it’s also hugely entertaining.

Come Drink With Me kicks off with an attack by a bunch of raiders on a government group. They take the governor’s son hostage, and demand a hefty ransom. Their plans begin to be undone when a swordsman named the Golden Swallow ends up on their trail. They at first think they will take the Golden Swallow down, but find out that she is a formidable opponent. She is eventually overtaken, but eventually pairs up with a great drunken warrior to take down the group with his mystical powers combined with Golden Swallow.

This is seriously just a fantastic action film. It’s not as over the top and action packed as some of the stuff Shaw Bros. Studios would go on to do, yet the pacing is pitch perfect, and when the action does go off, it’s timed perfect. The choreography is EXCELLENT, and it’s easy to see the influence this one would go on to have. King Hu’s direction is excellent as well, and keeps things looking stylish, and flowing well from moment to moment. The performances across the board are excellent.

Arrow presents Come Drink with Me in a 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that for the most part looks fine. It’s as good as I’ve seen it, but there are some age related issues probably with the materials having gone to fade. That being said the colors can be bright in spot, detail is excellent and aside from minor issues like that I had no major complains.

Audio is handled with DTS-HD tracks in English and Mandarin both sounded fine with obvious issues. Extras include a commentary by Tony Rayns, multiple archival and new interviews, a 50 minute interview on Swordfighting, trailers, and an image gallery. RECOMMENDED.