# Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (龙门飞甲)

**Flying Swords of Dragon Gate** (龍門飛甲; also known as *Long Men Fei Jia*) is a 2011 3D wuxia (martial arts) film directed and written by [Tsui Hark](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsui-hark), starring [Jet Li](https://www.edgepedia.org/jet-li), Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Gwei Lun-Mei, Li Yuchun, and Mavis Fan<sup>[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/)</sup>. Set three years after the events of *New Dragon Gate Inn* (1992), it follows swordsmen, fugitives, and imperial agents who converge on a desert inn that sits above a buried treasure city<sup>[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/)</sup>. It was the first Chinese film shot entirely in 3D and the first Chinese-language feature released in the IMAX 3D format<sup>[2](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-to-be-released-in-61-imax-theatres-across-china-december-15-135497643.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)</sup>.

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Tsui Hark (徐克)<sup>[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/)</sup> |
| Release | 15 December 2011 (China); 22 December 2011 (Hong Kong and Singapore)<sup>[4](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/info/)</sup> |
| Format | First Chinese film shot entirely in 3D (Red cameras); first Chinese-language IMAX 3D release, on 61 IMAX screens in China<sup>[3](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-to-be-released-in-61-imax-theatres-across-china-december-15-135497643.html)</sup>  |
| Budget | US$35 million, financed by Bona Film Group, China Film Group, SMG, Beijing Shinshow, and Beijing Liangzi<sup>[3](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)</sup> |
| China box office | 539 million yuan (5.39亿元)<sup>[4](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/info/)</sup> |
| Critical scores | 68% on Rotten Tomatoes (28 reviews), Metascore 57, IMDb 5.9/10<sup>[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/)</sup>  |
| Awards | Won best visual effects at the 2012 Golden Horse Awards; five wins at the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards including action choreography, visual effects, and editing<sup>[6](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/730)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.4rfv.co.uk/industrynews/144602/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate_3d_sweeps_afas)</sup>  |

## Spoilers

### Story and setting

The film is set during the Chenghua reign of the [Ming dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ming-dynasty), when eunuchs dominated the court and the emperor maintained the [Eastern Depot](https://www.edgepedia.org/eastern-depot) (東廠) and [Western Depot](https://www.edgepedia.org/western-depot) (西廠) secret services to spy on officials<sup>[6](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/730)</sup>. The swordsman Zhao Huai'an (Jet Li) kills the Eastern Depot chief while rescuing loyal officials, enraging the Western Depot's commander Yu Huatian (Chen Kun), who issues a kill order that draws fighters from across the martial world back to the Dragon Gate Inn<sup>[6](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/730)</sup>.

The inn itself is the rumored site of a lost city buried under the desert, whose hidden treasure is revealed only by a mighty storm that comes once every sixty years<sup>[8](https://tv.apple.com/au/movie/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate/umc.cmc.339x8xcr3bzsu1tx7wlaneojd)</sup>. A pregnant palace concubine fleeing the Western Depot is rescued by the masked swordswoman Ling Yanqiu ([Zhou Xun](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhou-xun)), and the two take refuge at the inn as Imperial Assassins close in<sup>[8](https://tv.apple.com/au/movie/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate/umc.cmc.339x8xcr3bzsu1tx7wlaneojd)</sup>. [Chen Kun](https://www.edgepedia.org/chen-kun) plays a double role as the sinister Yu Huatian and the roguish drifter Feng Lidao (Blade in the Wind)<sup>[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/fullcredits)</sup>.

## Relationship to earlier films

*Flying Swords of Dragon Gate* continues the story of *New Dragon Gate Inn* (1992), which Tsui Hark produced, and that film in turn reimagined King Hu's 1967 classic *Dragon Gate Inn*<sup>[10](https://howardchiang.faculty.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/710/2021/09/34-Sinoglossia-Incarnate-121316-1.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-3d-review/lbk730uhl)</sup>. Tsui Hark described the new film as a reimagining rather than a remake: the plot takes place three years after Jade burned down the inn, and the story is different from the 1992 version, built around two camps, the scheming eunuchs and the patriotic heroes, with disputes even among the heroes themselves<sup>[12](https://incinemas.sg/mobile/article-details.aspx?id=660)</sup>.

## Production and 3D technology

Shooting began on 10 October 2010 in Beijing, with Jet Li reuniting with Tsui Hark fourteen years after their Wong Fei Hung collaboration<sup>[3](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)</sup>. Yuen Bun, action director of the 1992 film, returned in the same role, and Choi Sung-fai handled cinematography<sup>[3](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)</sup>.

**Building a 3D pipeline.** After *Avatar* (2009), Tsui Hark searched for experienced 3D technicians in the United States, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong and found no mature, complete 3D production teams anywhere<sup>[13](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2023/1026/c405057-40104085.html)</sup>. He recruited Chuck Comisky, a visual effects stereography director on *Avatar*, as stereography director, and assembled a mixed team of 3D specialists from Europe, North America, and Asia<sup>[3](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2023/1026/c405057-40104085.html)</sup>. Before principal photography the team shot a test film, *Zhua Hou* (Catching Monkeys), over several weeks, creating the production's own 3D workflow<sup>[14](https://old.lifeweek.com.cn/2012/0105/36162_2.shtml)</sup>.

The finished film contained 1,058 special effects shots, handled by eleven effects companies working in parallel because the schedule did not allow a single pipeline<sup>[15](https://en.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/2012springfestival/2012-02/07/content_429282.htm)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[16](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2011/12-20/3545885.shtml)</sup>. Tsui said the production was three to four times larger than his normal scale<sup>[17](https://www.1905.com/news/20111118/481512.shtml)</sup>.

**Rethinking action for 3D.** Traditional Hong Kong wuxia action is fast and clipped, which does not read well in stereo; the filmmakers found that each action needed long takes of roughly six to eight seconds so audiences could follow the movement's continuity<sup>[18](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2011-12-21/142323670051_3.shtml)</sup>. Jet Li reported that fight scenes had to be broken down and reshot many times to satisfy the 3D blocking requirements, and that the stereo effect made the action feel as if it were happening one meter away<sup>[19](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/feature/)</sup>.

## Release and box office

The film debuted in the Chinese mainland on 15 December 2011, released in IMAX 3D on 61 digital IMAX screens across China, where throughout its run it was the only native Chinese film playing in the IMAX network<sup>[2](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-to-be-released-in-61-imax-theatres-across-china-december-15-135497643.html)</sup>. It opened against [Zhang Yimou](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhang-yimou)'s *[The Flowers of War](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-flowers-of-war)* in the year-end holiday season, and its opening-day takings of about 23 million yuan edged out that film's 19 million<sup>[20](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/news/NF1112219665/)</sup>. By 27 December 2011 it had earned more than 346 million yuan (US$54.9 million) domestically<sup>[15](https://en.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/2012springfestival/2012-02/07/content_429282.htm)</sup>, and its final mainland gross was 539 million yuan<sup>[4](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/info/)</sup>.

The IMAX 3D release later reached North America in September 2012; earnings from China's 61 IMAX screens were about US$10.6 million, at the time a record for a Chinese-language IMAX film<sup>[21](https://news.cntv.cn/20120509/104297.shtml)</sup>. In the United States the film grossed about $127,700 in limited release<sup>[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate)</sup>.

## Reception

Critical response was mixed. The film holds 68% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 28 reviews, with a Metascore of 57 and an IMDb user rating of 5.9/10 from about 9,000 votes<sup>[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/)</sup>. Philip French of *The Guardian* found the plot overcomplex and wordy but called the action sequences violent and truly spectacular in a hallucinatory way<sup>[22](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/21/flying-swords-dragon-gate-review)</sup>. Some Chinese viewers criticized uneven 3D quality across the film, and Tsui attributed the inconsistencies to splitting post-production among eleven companies under a tight schedule<sup>[16](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2011/12-20/3545885.shtml)</sup>.

**Awards.** At the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards the film received nominations including best director and won in five technical categories: action choreography, art direction, editing, visual effects, and sound effects<sup>[7](https://www.4rfv.co.uk/industrynews/144602/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate_3d_sweeps_afas)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/info/)</sup>. It won best visual effects at the 2012 Golden Horse Awards, with nominations for best art design and action design<sup>[6](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/730)</sup>. Zhou Xun won best actress honors at the Beijing Student Film Festival and from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society<sup>[4](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/info/)</sup>.

## Significance in Chinese cinema

Before *Flying Swords of Dragon Gate*, domestic Chinese 3D films of 2009 to 2011 had consistently lost money, and the film became the year's box-office runner-up in China while raising domestic 3D production to a new standard<sup>[23](https://news.sohu.com/20120103/n331048333.shtml)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[24](https://www.chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20190925/201909250109072901.pdf)</sup>. It was the first Chinese-language feature presented in IMAX 3D<sup>[2](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-to-be-released-in-61-imax-theatres-across-china-december-15-135497643.html)</sup>, and it was Tsui Hark's first venture in 3D, a technology he carried into his later *Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon* (2013)<sup>[25](https://www.hkadc.org.hk/media/files/aboutus/publications/hkada_souvenir_book/HKADA2014_SouvenirBook.pdf)</sup>. The special-effects team built around the film later formed the basis of the D+ Company, a 3D services firm co-founded by Tsui Hark<sup>[26](https://research-portal.uu.nl/files/12370234/zhang.pdf)</sup>.

## References

1. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/)
2. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate to be Released in 61 IMAX Theatres Across China December 15, PR Newswire / IMAX Corporation](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-to-be-released-in-61-imax-theatres-across-china-december-15-135497643.html)
3. [Tsui Hark's 3D Flying Swords of Dragon Gate starts shooting, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/tsui-harks-3d-flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-starts-shooting/5019200.article)
4. [龙门飞甲 详细资料, 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/info/)
5. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate)
6. [龍門飛甲, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival archive](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/730)
7. [The Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate 3D Sweeps AFAs, 4RFV Broadcast News](https://www.4rfv.co.uk/industrynews/144602/the_flying_swords_of_dragon_gate_3d_sweeps_afas)
8. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Apple TV (Australia)](https://tv.apple.com/au/movie/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate/umc.cmc.339x8xcr3bzsu1tx7wlaneojd)
9. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686784/fullcredits)
10. [Howard Chiang, Sinoglossia Incarnate: The Entanglements of Castration (chapter PDF)](https://howardchiang.faculty.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/710/2021/09/34-Sinoglossia-Incarnate-121316-1.pdf)
11. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D Review, SBS](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-3d-review/lbk730uhl)
12. [InC-terview with Flying Swords of Dragon Gate director Tsui Hark, InCinemas Singapore](https://incinemas.sg/mobile/article-details.aspx?id=660)
13. [徐克：我一直在往前走, 中国作家网](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2023/1026/c405057-40104085.html)
14. [《龙门飞甲》，徐克的3D武侠电影（2）, 三联生活周刊](https://old.lifeweek.com.cn/2012/0105/36162_2.shtml)
15. [3D Dreams Come True with New Martial Arts Film, China Culture (Ecns.cn)](https://en.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/2012springfestival/2012-02/07/content_429282.htm)
16. [网友指责《龙门飞甲》"伪3D":效果前后不一致, 中新网/南方日报](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2011/12-20/3545885.shtml)
17. [《龙门飞甲》首曝幕后花絮 两亿打造3D武侠世界, 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/news/20111118/481512.shtml)
18. [徐克：旧情怀和新技术, 新浪新闻](https://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2011-12-21/142323670051_3.shtml)
19. [龙门飞甲 幕后花絮, 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2091930/feature/)
20. [《龍門飛甲》大陸票房大戰開紅盤, 開眼電影網](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/news/NF1112219665/)
21. [博纳影片《龙门飞甲》9月登陆北美IMAX影院, 中国网络电视台](https://news.cntv.cn/20120509/104297.shtml)
22. [Flying Swords of Dragon Gate – review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/21/flying-swords-dragon-gate-review)
23. [2011年中国票房约130亿 国外3D电影贡献超45亿, 搜狐新闻](https://news.sohu.com/20120103/n331048333.shtml)
24. [中国电影报 (2019-09-25) on the history of Chinese 3D cinema](https://www.chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20190925/201909250109072901.pdf)
25. [Hong Kong Art Development Awards 2014 Souvenir Book (on Tsui Hark's 3D work)](https://www.hkadc.org.hk/media/files/aboutus/publications/hkada_souvenir_book/HKADA2014_SouvenirBook.pdf)
26. [Junting Zhang (2015), Utrecht University research portal](https://research-portal.uu.nl/files/12370234/zhang.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Martial arts films › Released 1986 to 2026*

*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license