The Legend of Condor Heroes

Cast:

Li Ya Peng- Guo Jing
Zhou Xun- Huang Rong
Zhou Jie- Yang Kang
Shui Ling- Mu Nian Ci
Cao Pei Chang- Huang Yao Shi
You Yong- Ouyang Feng
Sun Hai Ying- Hong Qi Gong
Zhao Liang- Zhou Bo Tong
Zhou Hao Dong- Qiu Chu Ji
Yang Li Ping- Mei Chao Feng
Bao Da Zhi- Wanyan Hong Lie
He Qing- Bao Xi Ruo
Lu Li Ping- Li Ping
Xiu Qing- Ouyang Ke
Liu Li Wei- Ke Zhen-E
A-Siru- Hua Zhen

Director: Zhang Ji Zhong

Comments:

I believe most people are already familiar with this Jin Yong classic, which is the very first of the condor heroes’ trilogy, so I shall just skip the summary. I’ve never watch any previous adaptations of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" before, except a little of TVB’s 1994 remake starring Julian Cheung as
Guo Jing and Athena Chu as Huang Rong, so there isn’t any base for comparison for me.

Overall, I think Zhang Ji Zhong did a good adaptation of this as compared to that of "Tian Long Ba Bu". I’ve glanced through the actual novel and the series does follow the original text pretty closely; they even had exact character lines taken straight out from the novel at times. The obvious advantage Mainland series have over TVB ones is their budget, which I thought was worth it, given the breath-taking sceneries and awesome fighting scenes. The early scenes filmed in the grasslands of Mongolia depicted a realistic picture and I especially loved the scenes where the herd of wild horses dashed down into the shallow waters, great chorography! The subsequent episodes also had wonderful background sceneries, especially those when the 7 freaks of Jiang Nan first battle with Qiu Chu Ji, when Guo Jing first travels to the central plains, the peach blossom island, the part where Huang Rong first reveals that she’s a girl, Ying Gu’s hut, when Ying Gu confronts Reverend Yi Deng, who’s now a monk and one of the intensive climax fights between the 4 greats and the 7 sons of Quan Zhen as well as many more.

Being that this is a typical wuxia series, I was glad that they put in a lot of effort for the fighting scenes. One thing I loved and thought was extremely creative of the series was the different depiction of Mei Chao Feng and the way she executed her deadly skill, the 9 yin white bone claws, which adapted ballet and graceful dance moves yet with a swift and vicious attack. The fighting chorography for the other characters were also good, especially that of Qiu Chu Ji and his other Quan Zhen brothers, Zhou Bo Tong and Ying Gu.

However, I was somewhat disappointed with the 18 subduing dragon palms and the dog beating stick technique, which are supposed to be the highlights amongst all the other skills. The 18 subduing dragon palms depended too much on CGIs and was not impressive and they did not concentrate on showing the dog beating stick technique. I was expecting a wonderful scene showing Hong Qi Gong passing the skill on to Huang Rong, but to my disappointment, they just did away with that part. One more thing was the somewhat anti-climax ending for the Hua Shan tournament, which I thought had the worse fight scenes in the entire series since all I saw were CGIs. I was also rather disappointed with one of the climax scenes where Guo Jing first fought with Mei Chao Feng, the dragon CGI and Mei’s humungous claws were just dreadful. However, I still enjoyed the other climax fighting scenes especially those with Mei Chao Feng in it, Ying Gu and Zhou Bo Tong with Ouyang Feng on the ship.

Another thing I couldn’t help but take notice was the rather inappropriate costumes for some of the characters. I don’t know where Guo Jing’s leather coat and Huang Rong’s halter-top came from. However, I thought Huang Rong’s dressing was rather cute and in tune with her character, especially for the scene she was trapped on the island with Hong Qi Gong and Ouyang Ke and Mu Nian Ci’s black veil was a brilliant idea. The series was rather slow moving at some parts especially those with Yang Kang and his adopted father and with Mu Nian Ci as well as the Mongolia scenes, though overall I still liked the style of filming which tended to adopt the use of darker lighting with more pale shades and colours.

Another good factor were the opening and ending themes which I found really appropriate since the opening one is a fast and exciting theme which sets the wuxia mood and the ending one, which is a beautiful love song was soothing and showed the various couples in the series. The background music used for various scenes was beautiful and totally tied in with the mood for the particular scene. My favourites include the beautiful theme for Huang Rong and Guo Jing and the poignant one for Mei Chao Feng.

Characters:

Guo Jing- Li Yapeng

He did an average job as the kind and courageous Guo Jing and in my opinion was outshined by Zhou Xun. His fighting scenes were alright and his height and built was suitable for Guo Jing. He did however exaggerate a little too much on Guo Jing’s naivety with his plentiful blank looks which looked unnatural at times and as much as he tried, I think his put on voice to enhance Guo Jing’s blur character was just overdone. It would have been better if he did not try so hard to portray Guo Jing’s naivety and tone it down to make Guo Jing a simple guy. He should have also focus more on Guo Jing’s
other characteristics such as his courage, determination, stubbornness and rashness. However, he did well to portray that care and love he had for Huang Rong, the part when he was anxious when Huang Rong was injured was well done and thus showed the kind and sensitive side of Guo Jing.

Huang Rong- Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun was the highlight of the series and did a wonderful portrayal of Huang Rong. I was actually hesitant to watch this series when I first saw that they had cast a plain and average-looking actress as my favourite character, who is supposed to be the most beautiful female character in the novel, while Shui Ling’s Mu Nian Ci looked tons prettier than her. Her husky voice only served to make me dislike her even more when she first appeared as a little
beggar in disguise. However, Zhou Xun slowly made me accept her as Huang Rong.

During the scene when she was stranded on the island, I started to like her and I loved her as the series progressed. Zhou Xun, though lacking the good looks and cute, gentle voice, made up for it with her excellent acting skills. She was absolutely natural and convincing in almost all the emotions and expressions Huang Rong was supposed to have. You can see the contrast of her actions when she’s brutally dealing with a baddie like Ouyang Ke as compared to her beloved Guo Jing, the cheeky and mischievous side of her when she’s with Zhou Bo Tong, the spoilt behaviour with her father, the respect she has for Hong Qi Gong, the sadness and dejection in her when Guo Jing misunderstands her, and the clever devices she uses to deal with Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang. Her youthful looks were also convincing for the role of a hyper 16-year-old.

Yang Kang- Zhou Jie

Like Li Yapeng, he was an average Yang Kang. He lacked the looks for the handsome Jin Prince and did not evoke the charm Yang Kang supposedly had. One thing I found irritating about Zhou Jie in here was the way he acted when he outbid another person in terms of wits, especially in the beginning, which I found really girlish. The way he smirked and shook his shoulders was just unbearable for me. He was convincing though when he found out the truth of his birth and his state of confusion and depression was good. However, I still
find that there’s something about Zhou Jie that does not fit with this character and he looks a little out of place as the cunning Yang Kang.

Mu Nian Ci- Shui Ling

Personally, I can’t really find flaws in Shui Ling’s portrayal of Mu Nian Ci since she acted accordingly. As long as you know how to cry, which Shui Ling is excellent in by the way, act soft, confused, naive and forgiving, it is pretty impossible to go wrong since Mu Nian Ci is a very flat and boring character by nature. I thought it was good that Shui Ling also tried to act somewhat insistent when she tried to instill her character’s morals and attitudes on Yang Kang, since Mu Nian Ci though docile, holds her moral values in high regard. I also liked that tint of fear and shyness she shows when she first duels with Yang Kang and her stubbornness when Yang Kang tries to woo her at first. She has that very soft and vulnerable charm and her costumes, especially the straw hat with the black veil looked very good on her.

Supporting Characters:

Some of the other actors did well in their supporting roles especially that of Mei Chao Feng whom Yang Liping made so beautiful and poignant, such that despite all her cruel acts, I still feel so much for her and the love, respect and guilt she had towards her teacher, Huang Yao Shi was well portrayed. Zhou Hao Dong was a good Qiu Chu Ji, the typical stubborn and morally upright Taoist priest and Zhao Liang was a great Zhou Bo Tong, hilarious, playful and childish at the same time. However, I wasn’t that impressed with the acting by those playing the 4 or rather 3 greats. With the exception of Cao Pei Chang, who was a convincing Huang Yao Shi with that cool, stern and aloof attitude, the actors playing Ouyang Feng and Hong Qi Gong failed to impress, especially Sun Hai Ying, whom I thought was a total miscast for the role of the jolly and influential beggar sect leader. He had zero presence and charm as Hong Qi Gong, and looked more aloof than friendly, his constipated voice served only to irritate me further. You Yang, who plays Ouyang Feng had pretty much the same expression throughout and totally lacked the cunning
presence of a villain; his hair and costumes were horrible too.

Conclusion:

To sum up, the series has a somewhat average lead cast with the exception of Zhou Xun and a rather weak supporting cast, with the exception of a few. In my opinion, the style of filming, sceneries and fighting ruled the series and made up for the lack of strong acting. Overall, it’s a good, if not great Jin Yong adaptation if you just ignore the weak portrayals of some of the
characters.