Nine-Ring Golden Dagger tells a fictional story set during the Northern Expedition of Yongxi in the early Song Dynasty. Ten years after General Yang Ye is killed in battle, his two daughters, Yang Baba (Zhang Xin Tong, A Man Called Hero) and Yang Jiumei (Liu Xinlei) set out to restore the glory of the Great Song Dynasty by reclaiming their father’s golden sword, the Nine-Ring Golden Dagger. which was taken by the leader of the Northern Liao province. While they manage to retrieve the blade, they now find themselves pursued by Liao soldiers. The women make their way to the Yangui Inn at the Song-Liao Border, owned by proprietor Jiao Guangpu (Song Tian Shuo, Cliff Walkers). Guangpu is a former solider under Yang Ye, who has been trapped in the Liao territory for the past decade and is eager to finally go back home to the Song territory. He finally managed to obtain a travel pass, and was about to close up shop and make his way across the border, and aggress to help escort the women back to the Song territory. However, the inn soon comes under attack, and the trio, along with the assistance of the inn’s chef and waiter, must fend off several ambushes by folks looking for the blade, the women, or both.

Nine-Ring Golden Dagger is a Wuxia historical drama that blends a lot of excellent fight choreography and action with some humor to fill a thoroughly entertaining 90 minutes. With sword play, arrows, spears, kicking and fighting, and people seemingly floating across the room. No matter how big the army that shows up at the inn, Guangpu and the others seem prepared to take them on. The fight scenes are well-choreographed organized chaos, will all kinds of things happening at once. Much of the film takes place in the inn, which makes a great set, allowing for several levels of action, on balconies and stairs, swinging on ropes and wires, and in a big open area on the ground floor. Each wave of attackers brings a western saloon brawl-meets-Sinners or From Dusk Till Dawn feel—but without the vampires or supernatural beings. There is also a lot of humor and comic relief in the film. This often comes from the bumbling sidekicks, the inn’s chef and waiter, as well as one of the inn’s guests, the Imperial Censor of Liao, Xiao Pusage, who likes to tell everyone he meets that the Empress is his aunt, even if they never asked.

The film is very creatively shot, with overhead views of what’s happening in the inn, odd camera angles, and a mix of tight and wide shots to showcase both the beautiful set as well as the action. While I found the film to be nearly non-stop action, there was only one slow point in the movie. When the women first arrive, they are dressed as Liao soldiers, and so Jiao Guangpu thinks they are the enemy. There is this scene where everything slows down and pauses for this more stylized dance fight between them, which feels a bit odd and out of place.

Nine-Ring Golden Dagger is presented in Mandarin with English subtitles. At times I wish there was an English dub option so that I could just listen and enjoy the action instead of constantly reading. But the translation is generally well written.

Nine-Ring Golden Dagger is now streaming on Hi-YAH!, available on Digital at all major retailers, as well as on Blu-ray & DVD exclusively through Amazon. Normally in my reviews, I would comment on the audio and video presentation of the release, but since I watched this film via a watermarked screener, I’m not sure how it compares to the final quality of the consumer product. The release does not appear to include any bonus material, however, the film is worth checking out for fans of this type of fun action film.

What’s Included:

Digital specs may vary by platform/retailer.

Film: (1:34:58)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English

Extras:

No bonus material included.

Final Thoughts:

Nine-Ring Golden Dagger is an entertaining film with lots of great action and fight scenes as well as some humor thrown in. It primarily takes place in one location, which I thought worked really well, to add to the excitement and western feel as this trio and their helpers must defend the inn from wave after wave of attackers. The film is worth a look for action fans and fans of Wuxia historical dramas.