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Come Drink with Me – 88 Films (4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1966
Director: King Hu
Writers: King Hu, Ting Shan-hsi
Cast: Cheng Pei-pei, Yueh Hua, Chan Hung-lit, Lee Wan-chung, Yeung Chi-hing, Wong Chung, Shum Lo, Wang Ruo-Ping, Han Ying-chieh, Yuen Siu-tien, Ku Feng, Ting Shan-hsi, Hao Li-jen, Cheung Hei, Ching Siu-tung, Angela Pan

Release Date: August 25th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 58 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 Dolby Vision
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Mandarin, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £25.00 (UK)

"A fearless heroine... a kung-fu master in hiding... a seemingly invincible villain... and a film that's universally regarded as one of the greatest ever made in Hong Kong. The heroine is Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei – Painted Faces; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – in a star-making turn). She's been dispatched by her powerful father to rescue her brother, who's been taken hostage by bandits. The kung-fu master is Fan Da-pei (Heroes Shed No Tears; Rumble in the Bronx); he may look like a drunken beggar, but he's one of the best fighters around. Trouble is, the only man who can beat him is helping the bandits..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4.25/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand New 4k Remaster From The Original Negatives."

Come Drink with Me comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.3 GB

Feature: 59.4 GB

This new transfer from 88 Films is a marked improvement over Arrow Video’s 2022 Blu-ray, which used an ancient source. Areas of greatest improvement are image clarity, contrast, and black levels, and colors look more robust. Another area where 88 Films' transfer greatly differs from Arrow Video’s is that everything looks brighter. That said, there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Come Drink with Me comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.6 GB

Feature: 27.5 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Mandarin), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Mandarin and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. That said, the Mandarin language track sounds more robust than its English language counterpart. Included are removable English subtitles for the Mandarin language track and removable English subtitles for Mandarin songs and text when watching with the English language track.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a stills gallery with music from the film playing in the background, a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with removable English subtitles), an archival audio commentary with genre cinema expert Samm Deighan, and an audio commentary with NY Asian Film Festival’s Frank Djeng.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a stills gallery with music from the film playing in the background, a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor Yueh Hua titled Return of the Drunken Master (17 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actress Cheng Pei-Pe titled Come Speak With Me (16 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with filmmaker Tsui Hark who remembers King Hu titled The King And I (13 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Chen Hung-Lieh, filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine (43 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Cantonese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Yueh Hua, filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine (30 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles for Mandarin film clips), an archival interview with Cheng Pei-Pei, filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine (51 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Cantonese with removable English subtitles), an interview with stuntman Mars Cheung who discusses Come Drink With Me (5 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Cantonese with removable English subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Samm Deighan, and an audio commentary with Frank Djeng.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a double-sided fold-out poster (limited to the first pressing), and an O-ring slipcase (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Come Drink with Me is a landmark film; it is widely considered one of the best Wuxia films ever made. Come Drink with Me was also the breakout film for its director, King Hu, and its leading lady, Cheng Pei-pei. Come Drink with Me’s success would lead to a sequel titled Golden Swallow, which also starred Cheng Pei-pei.

The narrative brings together three separate stories. The first of these revolves around a gang of bandits led by Jade-Faced Tiger. The second of these revolves around a character named Fan Da-pei, aka Drunken Cat, whose path with the other two stories becomes intertwined when he assists Golden Swallow. The third of these revolves around Golden Swallow; her father, the governor, has sent her to rescue her brother from the bandits.

Two of the most memorable moments are action sequences, which also introduce characters. In the first of these, bandits led by Jade-Faced Tiger slaughter the guards protecting a prisoner and kidnap the governor's son. In the other Golden Swallow, the governor’s daughter, an accomplished martial artist, is ambushed in an inn by assassins sent by Jade-Faced Tiger. Both of these exemplary action sequences not only serve as outstanding character introductions, but they also perfectly flesh out everything you need to know about the main players.

All around, all of the cast are excellent in their roles, especially Cheng Pei-pei’s (Lady Hermit) portrayal of Golden Swallow, an archetypical character for all of the Wuxia heroines that followed. She delivers a remarkable performance where she more than holds her own with her male counterparts. Another notable cast member is Yueh Hua (Killer Clans) in the role of a drunken master named Fan Da-pei, and Chan Hung-lit’s (The Winged Tiger) sinister portrayal of Jade-Faced Tiger.

From a production standpoint, there’s not an area where Come Drink with Me does not excel. The narrative is flawlessly executed; it does a phenomenal job balancing exposition and action, and there is never an issue with pacing. The action sequences are exemplary; Come Drink with Me saves its bloodiest sequences for its opening and closing moments. King Hu’s (Dragon Inn) direction is solid, the action set pieces are exhilarating, and the locations are beautifully photographed. Ultimately, Come Drink with Me is a solid Wuxia film that fans of this genre are sure to thoroughly enjoy.

88 Films gives Come Drink with Me its best home media release to date; highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

4K UHD Screenshots.