The 90's series are probably not going to get the credit they deserve as growing up many people rated the 80's drama as the 'golden era'. But TVB did make four really good drama series during the 90's. This includes The Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994, The Condor Heroes 1995, State of Divinity 1996, and this series, Demi Gods and Semi Devils 1997. Why do I rate these dramas highly? Because they have been the most faithful adaptations of their respective Jin Yong novels. Most of the action you're seeing on screen and the dialogue between the characters are lifted straight from the novel. So for me this makes it a more enjoyable series than have TV Directors come up with their useless extra materials to fill up time. I used to think that this series is long at 45 episodes, until I had to sit through 66 episodes of The Legend of Fuyao, LOL. The 45 episodes are pretty fast and actioned packed. Felix Wong plays the lead as Kiu Fung. Whilst he may not be as handsome as the novel describes him to be and he looks rugged in the costume they choose for him, Felix stands up pretty well with his heroic stature. He speaks heroically as well. Duen Yu is meant to be a more straight forward character but Benny Chan made the character look comical at times. But this is okay. Louis Fan played the monk, Hui Juk, pretty well. I actually liked his portrayal of Hui Juk the most out of all the versions I've seen to date. I absolutely loved Carmen Lee after The Condor Heroes 1995 so am a bit biased when I say I loved her acting as Wong Yu Yan in this series. The rest of the cast did their jobs without being brilliant. What I did miss is the top notch songs for the 1982 version which added to the feel of the drama. I did not like the opening song for Demi Gods and Semi Devils 1997 at all... Hated it to be honest. But I did like the sad tunes they played during the drama. The costumes were okay. It is what it is for a 90's drama. Plain and simple. But sometimes simple is best. The new remakes have the advantage of better special effects and breath taking scenery. But they lack heroic looking actors, good acting, and also are less faithful to the novel. I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good drama.
Wow, I'm a new member here and cannot believe that I am the first to write a review of the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994. It's a most underrated series that I must have watched over 50 times. If you've read the novel by Jin Yong then you should like this series as its the most accurate adaptation of all the ones I've seen. There's no fluff and draggy scenes. 35 episodes worth of storyline pretty straight out of the novel. Some of the dialogue between the characters were from the novel too. Looking back, Athena Chu did a pretty good job in the lead role as Wong Yung. For me Athena has played the role better than other actresses that I have seen other than Barbara Yung in the 1983 series. Young, pretty, smart and devious. Julian Cheung as Kwok Jing and Gallen Lo as Yeung Hong were respectable male leads. Julian looks heroic and handsome. Gallen looks sly. Suitable for the roles. The costumes I didn't mind. Although putting Kwok Jing in a pink costume at the start was weird... It is what it is for a 90's drama I guess. The ending song by Julian Cheung really ranks up there with some of the best songs in wuxia drama series. Overall it was a well made series. Jin Yong adaptations these days may have breath taking views, slow mo/stop freeze computer generated special effects fighting etc but the storylines just don't cut it. Sometimes simple is best. Also they seem to select weak (sissy) looking male leads that don't look heroic at all... I give this series 9.5 out of 10 and I've consistently watched it again and again in stints. It's 35 episodes so easy to re-watch.
This series was made in 1982 and is 59 episodes long. 38 years on, many people will consider this series a classic still. It didn't follow the novel closely and they added plenty of extra bits. But the cast, music, and acting was pretty awesome and stands the test of time. Most people will focus on Barbara Yung as Wong Yung. Her acting in the lead role has yet to be beaten to date. She then tragically died many years later and hence became immortalized and this was by far her best acting in a drama series. Then there's the handsome Michael Miu as Yeung Hong. Honestly, no one has come close to pulling off Yeung Hong since Michael Miu played the role. Then there's Felix Wong as Kwok Jing played to perfection. Sharon Yeung as Muk Nim-chi. The four leads were pretty strong. The supporting cast was also fantastic. There's no special effects or breath taking views in the 1980's dramas. So they had to rely on superior acting and wonderful story telling to draw the audience in. I've watched the series since I was a kid. So I regularly pull it out and watch now and again. There's always something lacking in the remakes I found.
The Condor Heroes 1995 is the best adaptation of the Jin Yong novel in my mind. It is also the most accurate adaptation and follows on neatly from the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994 with many of the supporting cast returning to provide continuity to the series. 32 episodes is also the right length for the series providing non-stop action straight from the pages of the Jin Yong novel. You can't go wrong when some of the dialogue jumps straight out of the pages of the novel. Louis Koo played the role of Yeung Gor really well. He was cunning, devious, and playful at the start. After having his arm chopped off his character developed to a darker person. This is perfect. Some adaptations I've seen, Yeung Gor is still smiling an laughing after he looses an arm... Umm, yep!!! Carmen Lee was pretty perfect as Siu Long Niu. Beautiful, cold and distant. The chemistry between Louis and Carmen was great throughout the series. Gigi Fu is a bit underrated in her role as Kwok Fu. I loved the supporting actresses who played the cousins Lok Mo Seung and Cheung Ying. In fact Cheung Ying was one of my favorite characters and her costume suited her personality well. the green dress and gold mask - just fantastic. The costumes I didn't mind. It is what it is for a 90's drama I guess. The music was the disappointing thing about this series. No great songs like the 1983 version. That would have scored a 10/10 from me as it is I rate this series 9.5/10 because overall it was a well made series. As I said in my review of the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994, the problem with Jin Yong adaptations these days is that they may have breath taking views, slow mo/stop freeze computer generated special effects fighting etc but the storylines just don't cut it. Too much fluff and draggy bits added. Things added that don't make sense. Sometimes simple is best. I've lost count of the amount of times I've watched The Condor Heroes 1995 and I have seen all the adaptations to date including the Andy Lau 1983 version. That's saying a lot...
I grew up watching the old TVB series staring the Hong Kong actors like Felix Wong, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, and Miu Kiu Wai and Kent Tong. They were the golden ages of drama series but strangely, the Sword Stained with Royal Blood 1984 didn't really stick in my mind despite having a great cast. Felix Wong starred as Yuan Cheng Zhi and Lawrence Ng starred as General Li Yan in that one. So I came into this remake with 0 expectations. I haven't read the Jin Yong novel so can't tell you how truthful to the novel this series is. But based on watching previous adaptations, it seemed to miss some parts at the start. At 30 episodes long, the series is light on (compared to other Chinese drama marathons that stretch over 60 episodes) and flows well. It's easy to watch from beginning to end. Bobby Dou looks like a rough and rugged version of Yuan Cheng Zhi. Not the noble and scholar type. Actually looks a bit uneducated and slow in the initial costume and wig design... They fixed this costume up t the end. Bobby has a manly and heroic feel about him. My gripe with a lot of the Jin Yong remakes is how they cast weak (sissy) looking males into lead roles. So it was refreshing to see an actor like Bobby. I really liked Eva Huang as Qing Qing. There was a playfulness and cheeky way in which she played her role. She was my favorite actress in the series and my favorite Qing Qing to date. Sun Fei Fei plays a more independent and stronger version of A'Jiu (the Princess). She was not weak or hateful like how I've seen how this character has been portrayed in the past. General Li Yan hardly appears in the series unlike the 1984 version, To a large degree the supporting cast was excellent. A shout out to Vincent Jiao who performed well as the Golden Snake Warrior. The costumes were pretty good and went back to the old wuxia style look, not the cartoon look I have seen in some dramas. The fighting sequences were old school wuxia and didn't go overboard with special effects. The music was okay without being great. I really loved the 80's songs that went with the wuixa series. Something I didn't like was the dialogue between some characters, especially between Yuan Cheng Zhi and A'Jiu. The dialogue was clumsy and awkward at times. The conversation starts pretty much with 'Miss A'Jiu' and then the rest of the sentence. I mean for Christ sake we know who she is without her name being mentioned 10 times in the same conversation... Overall I give this series a 6.5/10. It was good but not great. It is worth watching if you're a Jin Yong and/or traditional wuxia fan.
The Black Sabre 1989 is an adaptation of a Gu Long novel titled 'Bordertown Wanderer'. I didn't really like this series when I watched it as a kid. Later on I skimmed through the novel and when I watched it as an adult I really liked it. Let's open with saying its really hard to adapt Gu Long novels because its so complicated and many characters are involved. Some come in and drop out at will. Also the dialogue between characters is hard to translate to a long conversation suitable for TV dramas. Hence Gu Long adaptations are better in film then they are TV series. Okay, so why did I not like Black Sabre as a kid but liked the series as an adult? Firstly, as a kid I didn't like how the character of Fu Hong Xue (played by Hugo Ng) poorly treats Cui Nong (played by Tse Ning). But after skimming through the novel and watching it with 'adult eyes' I now understand the complexity of that relationship. Hugo did really well as Fu Hong Xue. He looks handsome and cold like how he is supposed to be. I also liked the fact he limped around and had brain seizures, as this is in keeping with the character as described in the novel. Other adaptations don't have this, which I find takes away from Fu Hong Xue's unique character. I also liked Tse Ning as Cui Nong. She was one of the prettiest actresses back in the late 80's. Eddie Cheung as Ye Kai and Margie Tsang as Ding Ling Lin also made the series worthwhile watching. This series is actually also more true to the Gu Long novel than the recent modern adaptations which really went off the rails.
Return of the Condor Heroes 1984 followed on from the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1983. There was great continuation between the two series as most of the supporting cast returned to reprise their roles. It was up to Andy Lau who played Yeung Gor and Idy Chan who played Siu Long Nui to continue the magic of the drama series since Felix Wong, Barbara Yung, and Michael Miu did such a fantastic job in Legend of the Condor Heroes. At the time they did not disappoint as this series drew rave reviews. Andy Lau is one of the best leads to have ever played Yeung Gor. His portrayal of the character was top notch, Idy Chan also put in a great effort as Siu Long Nui. Many still consider the 1984 version to be the best version ever. Even author Jin Yong cited this series as the one he most enjoyed watching. This is due to the series being pretty close to the novel. Although they did add some extra scenes for some support characters because star actors played those roles. For example, the odd choice of having Kent Tong (a superstar at the time) play Mongolia Prince, Fok Do (a relatively minor character) and Simon Yam play Yer Lut Chai as examples. Lisa Lui is an honorable mention as Lee Mok Sau and Susanna Au Yeung did well as Wong Yung. The songs for this series are classic. Some of the best songs I've heard for a wuixa drama. The only remake I think that bettered this version was the 1995 one starring Louis Koo and Carmen Lee, only because that drama was sort and more true to the novel. The acting and cast for that was just as good. More recent remakes fail in the acting department or for its cast or for being unfaithful to the novel. Which is a shame as they have good special effects and breath taking views. If you love the Jin Yong novel, my tip is you either watch The Condor Heroes 1995 or this version, Return of the Condor Heroes 1984.
The Two Most Honourable knights 1988 is an adaptation of the Gu Long novel more commonly referred to as 'Handsome Siblings'. I have to admit that I really liked this series growing up and have found recent modern adaptations to be a bit lacking when compared to this classic. Firstly, you have the dashing Michael Miu as Kong Fung and the lovely Jamie Chik as Fa Yuet No kicking off the series. Has there been a more handsome Kong Fung than Michael Miu? The answer is 'no'. Then you have Tony Leung as Siu Yu Yee. Just an outstanding performance from Tony Leung. He was well complimented by Hugo Ng as Fa Mo-kuet. The series also has Kitty Lai as Tit Sum-lan and Tse Ning, one of my favourite actresses in the 80's as Su Ying. I have only skimmed through the Gu Long novel and didn't read the end, but from what I read, bits of this drama series at the start did follow the novel. As I have said before, adapting Gu Long novels into TV series is a pretty complex process given the intriguing plots, the mysterious dialogue between characters, and many characters coming in and out of the story. I think this series did pretty well. At 20 episodes it is a light watch and you can watch the series over and over again. Modern adaptations now have the advantage of breath taking scenery, special affects and better stages and set ups. What they lack is quality acting and being true to the novel. So I still like and recommend these 1980's dramas like this one. It is worth the watch.
The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre 1986, as it was titled, completes the trilogy which started with the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1983 (starring Felix Wong, Barbara Yung, and Michael Miu) and Return of the Condor Heroes 1984 (starring Andy Lau, Idy Chan and Kent Tong). These 3 series I watched as a kid and I have all 149 episodes of the dramas on my laptop. You will notice that all 5 of the '5 Tigers' of the TVB golden generation of actors took part in the series one way or another. I have lost count of the times I've re watched the series. There's great continuation with references in the story back to the Legend of the Condor Heroes and Return of the Condor Heroes. Modern remakes just touch on these references. For example, the 1986 version makes clear the origins of the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, also on the fate of Kwok Jing and Wong Yung, also has Kwok Seung looking for Yeung Gor at the start of the story and you are made aware that the girl in yellow is a descendant of Yeung Gor and Siu Long Nui. I love these touches in the 1986 version. It also follows the novel pretty closely, well parts of the novel they chose to adapt. As for the leads, Tony Leung for me is still the best to play Cheung Mo-Kei. He looks handsome and has an aura that convinces you that many girls will chase after him. Some of the guys in the remakes look weak (sissy looking) that you question how they can win the hearts of so many girls. Notwithstanding that Tony Leung is great actor as well. Sheren Tang as Chow Chi Yeuk and Kitty Lai as Chiu Man also makes this series worth watching. I have yet to find two female co-leads who have played these roles better. Both pretty girls and great actresses. The series was also well led by Simon Yam as Cheung Tsui San and Carol Cheung as Yan So So. In fact I found the supporting cast to be really good. The songs for this series are also something to behold. A hallmark of the 1980's drams are great acting, well told stories and fantastic songs. I still rate this series highly and would recommend it to others. The only remake I have enjoyed to date other than the 1986 version is the 2009 version.
State of Divinity 1996 is a pretty underrated series. Apart from the opening scenes of the series and some added material at the end for Yue Ling Shan, it was a pretty faithful adaptation to the Smiling Proud Wanderer novel by Jin Yong. It's actually the most accurate adaptation to date. I loved how they took some of the dialogue straight from the book. It's 43 episodes long so is pretty easy to watch. When its faithful to the novel the series does not lag. I hated the additional scenes they created and added for Yue Ling Shan at the end. So draggy... Jacky Lui played the character of Linghu Chong to perfection I thought. A pretty carefree lad with a heroic heart. Wong Wai put in a stunning effort as Yue Bu Qun. The rest of the cast were suitable without standing out. I actually liked that each Sect had its own unique costume as it help differentiate between a person of one Sect versus another. This is important which such a huge cast and variety of characters. It is what it is for a 90's series. I really wished the 90's series had the songs and music of the old 80's version. It adds greatly to the feel of the series. I didn't think much of the opening song... This series is a hidden gem and I've watched it many times because its faithful to the novel. I don't like the newer adaptations of the Smiling Proud Wanderer because they stray too far from the novel. New Jin Yong adaptations feel too 'modern' for me. I cant put my finger on why this is.
The Warriors or the alternate title 'Musa: The Warrior' is one of the better sword films I've seen out of Korea. It is a very high budget production. What I like most about the series is the amazing soundtrack. As the storyline goes, it is not unique. A group go through some kind of journey and during it some characters developed and one by one people die off. I've said this about many Korean sword films, the heroes often seem to make bad choices or bad decisions that lead to other's deaths or their own deaths, when better alternatives are available... This movie is no different, LOL. I also liked the colour and cinematography of the movie. Watching it was like watching a piece of art unfold. I thought Joo Jin Mo played General Choi Jung pretty well. I also liked Jung Woo Sung as Yeo Sol. Zhang Ziyi played the Chinese Princess Bu Yong well. Would I recommend others watch this film? The answer is yes. Just turn off the lights, switch off the brain, and have a bottle of red wine with pizza and/or popcorn. Relax and enjoy.
Bichunmoo is the second ever Korean sword flick I have watched. I was also attracted to the film as I heard it was based on a popular comic. I'll try to do this review without spoilers. What I loved about this film is the vibrant cinematography, colours and action sequences. The soundtrack is also pretty good. Compliments the movie well. I found the storyline pretty average though. Jin Ha and Su Lie are childhood friends that get separated through a series of circumstances. Many year later the kind Jin Ha turns up as an assassin... The story and the ending has my head scratching. Something I have felt at the end of most Korean sword movies that I've watched to date. It's like the heroes deliberately go out of their way to make poor decisions that lead to sad endings, LOL. At the end of the movie, I could have cited many different choices that our heroes could have made... I'm repeating myself here in other reviews too, but this is a common feature in Korean sword flicks it seems... I'll leave it at that. Is it worth a watch? definitely yes due to it's awesome soundtrack and the way the movie is presented. Is it the best movie ever? Nope...
The Legend of Chusen (also Noble Aspirations) is one of the very first true wuixa drama series I've watched since a 17 odd year hiatus away from Asian dramas. I have to say that I am totally impressed after watching 55 episodes of Season 1 and all 18 episodes of Season 2. No regrets whatsoever. I am pretty fresh returning to watch dramas so I didn't find the series draggy at all. Perhaps because I was fully invested in all the characters. I also skimmed through bits of the novel as well. I found my love for Yang Zi in this series. Oh my god, so beautiful!! So cold and unwavering. Her costume was also very fitting. I loved both Yang Zi and her character of Lu Xueqi the most. Both actress and the character kept me going in the series. I also didn't mind Li Yi Feng as Zhang Xiao Fan. It was the first time seeing him in a drama as with the rest of the cast, I found him to be pretty good. I love the bond between the characters of Zhang Xiao Fan, Lu Xueqi, Lin Jing Yu and Ceng Zhu Zhu after the martial arts tournament. Zanilla Zhao played Bi Yao and seemed to have good chemistry with Li Yi Feng. But I wasn't cheering for Bi Yao in this drama, LOL. The cast and characters I found to be very interesting from Jin Ping Er to Qin Wu Man. The theme throughout is what is good and what is evil. A traditional wuxia theme and many characters discussed this in depth during the drama. I was actually shocked by the ending at episode 55 to be honest. But it's something new I guess. I loved the costumes which looking more traditional wuxia. My gripe against some dramas is they make cartoon or anime looking costumes. I then marched onto Season 2 which also had an interesting ending... Despite being incomplete I'd still recommend the series as one to watch. I can't see Season 3 happening with the same cast though. Which will be unfortunate. Like I said before, Yang Zi as Lu Xueqi really made this series interesting for me. I'd be really upset if she didn't return for Season 3 to complete the drama.
I remember when I first watched this series as a kid, I was pretty annoyed by the ending. This is because I liked the character of Hung Yu. For once good didn't really trump evil. So I brood over it for weeks. I've only recently re-watched this series with adult eyes and after studying some of the history during the warring period between the Chu and Han Kingdoms. This is where the story line bugged me for a bit. It was very loosely based on the Chu and Han war and the events leading up to that. The drama could have been so much more epic if they chose to follow the historical events more closely. The cast was pretty good after all. Instead you have the first 10 episodes of the character of Lau Bong, essentially stuffing around and speaking in a real slow voice (dumb sounding). This was really boring. Barbara Yung came and left in a quick cameo role. She did die around this time so I always wonder if she was slated for a bigger role than she played. Idy Chan who played Consort Yu popped in around episode 9 and you have another 10 episodes of a boring love triangle. The drama wasn't really exciting until 20 episodes in... That's a long time to wait... In the end, the soundtrack and the costumes were about the only thing I loved about this series.
I watched this series because I was bored and due to COVD-19 had plenty of time to watch drama series. The Land of Condors was made in 1992 when TVB had a pay dispute with the actors and actresses. Hence why there are no real big names in this drama outside of Kitty Lai. Frances Ng gets a rare leading role. I also didn't mind the female actress who played Su Su. This story was loosely based off a Gu Long novel of similar name. And I mean loosely... It could have been a fanfic. After you get over the fact that it didn't follow the novel, you had to switch off the brain and just try and enjoy the show. But it was an 'okay' story at best. I really enjoyed Kitty Lai's acting and she had to play a good person and her twin sister being a baddie. Also didn't mind Francis Ng in a lead role for a change. He's always played cameo's or in a support role to this point. Is it worth a watch. I found it fun. It's not the greatest series ever, but will keep you amused.
