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I was introduced to wuxia world in the early 80's. I was in primary school when my dad bought a VHS player. It was considered a luxury item back then since not many people could afford even a color television let alone a VHS player. My dad began renting a lot of wuxia series from our local video rental store (we referred to it as kung fu series or kung fu dramas. I didn't know the genre was actually called wuxia). We are not Chinese but Chinese movies and TV series (mainly wuxia) were already quite popular in my country. Long story short, one thing for sure, I was hooked! I watched so many that I can't remember most of them. Then I lost touch with this genre when I was in middle school until about 4 or 5 years ago due to studies, work, etc. Yup, it was such a long gap, over 30 years. Suddenly I had a hankering to watch wuxia series again about 5 years ago., what with YouTube, and other streaming services, And the series that came to my mind was Legend of the Condor Heroes 1983. It's probably one of the few wuxia series that stuck in my mind. I had watched it more than once.
When I watched it for the first time in early 80's. It was on VHS and was dubbed in English with subtitle in my language. When I re-watched 5 years ago, I got to hear the actors' real voices and language. It was marvelous! So let's talk about this version of LOCH. What more can I say, this series is a gem! It has managed to stick in my mind for so long . It's iconic,; the actors, the story, the music are nearly irreplaceable. So let's start with what I love (which is plenty!) and end what I don't (which is almost none).
What I love:
CASTING: I think the actors who played main roles and supporting roles did an amazing job. And Barbara Yung's interpretation of Huang Rong is impeccable. It's important to note that I haven't read the book since it's in Chinese so my idea of what Huang Rong should be like is just from LOCH 83. She brought so much joy to the role. As the only daughter of Eastern Heretic, she certainly inherits her father's eccentricity. Barbara's Huang Rong displays a wide range of characteristics and emotions. She can be ruthless, fearsome, and behaves like a spoiled brat (she's an only child after all), throwing tantrum. But on other occasions she can be such a sweetheart and generous I can't help but loving her Huang Rong. Watching her is such a joy. Whenever she pulls a trick on someone, be it her enemy or her own teacher, Hong Qigong, Barbara's Huang Rong never stops to amaze me. Such a mesmerizing performance. In my opinion, no one has pulled off the role of Huang Rong as brilliantly as Barbara. I can't help comparing other actresses who played Huang Rong in the later adaptations with hers.
Felix Wong's Guo Jing is also still my favorite until now. His Guo Jing was innocent and naive. But he can be funny too sometimes. I love his interactions with his teacher Hong Qigong and Zhou Botong. So hilarious! He and Barbara are some of the reasons why I keep coming back and watch this series. And let's not forget Michael Miu and Sharon Yeung. The scene where Mu Nianci comes to see Yang Kang when he's badly poisoned. I always cry watching this scene. What powerful performance by both actors.
Of course Guo Jing and Huang Rong are some of my favorite characters in the story as well as in wuxia genre in general. But my numero uno is Hong Qigong. He's just like Gandalf. Someone who is (in my opinion) the wisest, the calmest, peaceful, and has a great sense of humor. His humor and wit never stop to spark even when he nearly loses his life. Just the best character. And I'm really happy that the actor (Lau Dan) who played Hong Qigong did a great job. His Hong Qigong is still my favorite to this date.
KUNG FU choreography: It was amazing. Beautiful and powerful. I know those actors were not real martial artists. But I bet they had trained very hard to execute awesome movements. Love it!! I believed that they were actual martial artists. Of course later on I knew that they were not. But boy, they really did a great job doing the martial arts!
STORY: From what I have read, this version of LOCH doesn't follow exactly the story line in the novel. But I think the subplots don't affect the main plot. Instead, they make the story more enjoyable and entertaining, not boring and muddled. Also I get to observe each important character and their tribulations.
MUSIC: The music is amazing. It's able to convey different nuances, be it patriotic as well as melancholic. In short, the music is iconic. It's an earworm. Even after 30 years of not having watched it, I still remembered it vividly.
COSTUME: The costume was great! For movies or TV series in the 80's I thought that the costume worn by each character speak about the personalities of each character. For example, Huang Rong wears clothes that looked more costly than Mu Nianci. After all, Huang Rong is the daughter of one of the Five Greats, upper class. Surely she has the wealth. Mu Nianci wears modest and simple. She's an adopted daughter. It shows that great consideration was put into making these outfits.
What bothers me (little):
The setting and location. When I was a child, I certainly couldn't tell where they had shot the scenes. Now I can see that these scenes were most likely shot in a studio. But I can forgive this aspect. I mean, it's in the 80's. Technology wise for example, it wasn't like today with CGI and stuff. Plus the budget and resources were probably limited.
All in all, LOCH 83 has always been my standard of what a great wuxia series should be or must be. Great story line, amazing performance by the actors, great kung fu choreography, and memorable music. This is my number 1 wuxia series to date.
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The plot/storyline is the same as other LOCH, but the acting and the cast is SUPERB here. It is/was pretty much the all-star cast of TVB at the time, all the actors from the main characters to minor roles are familiar faces. I also believe the chemistry between our leads were so well acted out. If you can get past the low-quality (c'mon we have HD TVs now), and the older quality CGI, this is a great version of LOCH.
Besides the acting the martial arts in here is amazing. I believe that many of the actors back in the famous HK day dramas, were required to learn some type of martial arts, so the the martial arts you see is on point.
To this day, this will always be my favorite drama. I wish I had easy access to this drama on the internet, but I'll always rewatch on DVD!
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Jin Yong was not Gu Long. His writing was less about the individual psychology and more about the many facets of society and people. Jin Yong adaptations should always have a great ensemble cast and cast chemistry. The director was smart enough to understand that and didn't shortchange the supporting cast in favor of making the leads shine. Felix Wong and Barbara Yung were excellent, but even when they're not on screen the other actors still held my interest.
There were many memorable performances here, but my favorite had to be Kenneth Tsang as Wong Yeuk Si. The man was a wuxia rockstar. He walked in on Wong Yung throwing a tantrum. He didn't try to comfort her, he didn't even ask. He just helped her smash the room to pieces. And when they were done, they just looked at each other and laughed like mad. No words were needed. That scene alone showed you all you need to know about this epic father-daughter relationship. It was a great example of show-and-not-tell in film making, and there were many little gems like it throughout the series.
There's a lot to appreciate about an older series like this one. It didn't coast on pretty costumes, elaborate sets, and CGIs. It focused more on moving the plot and the characters forward. The fight scenes were short but effective (don't miss out on the Kwok Jing vs. Yeung Hong duel). It's refreshing to watch compared to the drawn out wirefu scenes these days.
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