I've seen bits and pieces of this movie over my life, but had yet to sit down and watch the entire thing.

I remember when I was a kid my parents had some Chinese friends over to watch it. I was watching along with them, captivated by the action sequences. But I had done something to one of my siblings earlier that day that resulted in my being banished to the 阳台 and was unable to finish the rest of the movie.

Then in high school I also got to watch the first bit of the movie in Chinese class, but once again never got to finish it.

When I saw it listed on Max, I was worried that it might be an English dub, but thankfully it had the original Mandarin audio with English subtitles. Amusingly, I had to turn off the second set of subtitles in the app so that they wouldn't double up with the in-movie subtitles.

Watching it as an adult, I was able to actually follow and get invested in the plot.

The action sequences—especially those towards the beginning of the movie—were just as I remember them: tight martial arts combat and fanciful acrobatics. The camera work during these fight scenes is phenomenal and really lends to the action.

In the downtime between fights I found myself getting immersed in the world, aided by the elaborate set pieces and shots of beautiful landscapes. You really feel transported back to ancient China.

I think the movie has held up very well for being 24 years old, at this point. The wire fu might seem a bit cheesy to someone unfamilar with 武俠 media, but it took me right back to the glimpses of 武俠 TV shows that I've seen over the years.