The Legend of Condor Heroes

Legend of Condor Heroes (She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan)

Cast
Guo Jing: Li YaPeng
Huang Rong: Zhou Xun
Yang Kang: Zhou Jie
Mu Nian Ci: Shui Ling(Jiang Qin Qin)

For pictures and more cast information, please visit http://www.spcnet.tv/china_lochintro.shtml

Introduction

Legend of Condor Heroes is the second mega-budget Mainland production of a Jin Yong novel. As a huge fan of the novel, I had been eagerly waiting for this adaptation. Now that I've seen it though, I can definitely say that it is the best serial I have ever seen. I loved it so much that I’ve decided to write a review on it.

The following is my fairly spoiler-free review.

Story

Those who have read the novel should absolutely love the storyline. This adaptation is incredibly accurate to the book. In fact, it's probably the most faithful Jin Yong adaptation I have ever seen (and that's quite a lot). As someone who has seen way too many inaccurate adaptations, it felt extra good to see the novel being brought to life, instead of being re-written.

However, being faithful to the novel means that it’s NOT faithful to the 83 adaptation (starring Felix Wong and Barbara Yung). This is very important, because I’m sure many people have seen the earlier adaptation but have not read the book. If you are one of them, you really need to keep this in mind while you watch. Don’t be surprised if many events are portrayed differently.

For those who do not know the story yet, you can read about it in other Legend of Condor Heroes reviews here, or simply watch the series to find out. I suggest the latter, because I don’t like to be spoiled myself.

Acting

Guo Jing (played by Li YaPeng): The main character of the story. An atypical hero, Guo Jing is neither smart nor handsome. He's slow to understand and is very naive. However, he is very brave, a man with a strong conviction, and has a kind heart. I find Li YaPeng's look a bit lacking. I’m glad Li YaPeng isn’t very handsome, or he would look weird. But growing up in Mongolia, Guo Jing is a pretty bulky and strong person. One you would expect in a warrior. Yet Li YaPeng looks like a scholar next to his peers with Genghis Khan. This becomes a lot less noticeable when he's not in Mongolia, though.

Another problem is the voice. I’ve heard many people complain that it seems fake. I personally don't find that to be true. His voice sounds like how Guo Jing should sound to me. However, as I mentioned earlier, Li YaPeng does not "look like" Guo Jing. So his voice does sound out of place. Voice and look aside, Li YaPeng's performance is very good. He also has great chemistry with Zhou Xun, which is incredibly important.

Huang Rong (played by Zhou Xun): Huang Rong is Guo Jing's love interest in Legend of Condor Heroes. In addition to being very beautiful, Huang Rong is very clever, knowledgeable, and a quick-thinker. However, she's also spoiled and selfish. Basically, she's the exact opposite of Guo Jing. Huang Rong met Guo Jing in a chance encounter, where she was deeply moved by his excessive kindness. And the rest, as they say, is history. Zhou Xun, for the most part, played this part very well. She certainly has the look, and her expressions are quite on the money. Her unconditional love for Guo Jing is very apparent. Zhou Xun’s only problem is her voice. Her voice here is low and husky, while Huang Rong should sound like the hyperactive sixteen year-old that she is. At first, I was deeply irritated by her voice. But I did eventually get used to her voice, so it wasn't nearly as bothersome. In fact, she sounds quite fine while talking seriously. But it seems out of place when she jokes around.

Yang Kang (played by Zhou Jie): Yang Kang is a young prince of the Jin empire, and he certainly acts like one. Yang Kang is a spoiled kid who enjoys money and power. He is also incredibly smart and handsome. Zhou Jie, unfortunately, is not very handsome. Otherwise, it's hard to pick on his portrayal. Zhou Jie conveyed a wide variety of emotions very realistically. He does tend to exaggerate a bit sometimes, but that's nitpicking. His chemistry with Shui Ling is definitely there. Overall, an excellent performance, without the right look.

Mu Nian Ci (played by Shui Ling): The foster daughter of Yang Kang's dad, Mu Nian Ci fell in love with Yang Kang after a duel. She is very set in her ideals, even though she is very docile on the outside. Personally, I just could not find any fault with Shui Ling's portrayal. Her look and acting are both flawless. Definitely the best performance in the series.

Supporting Characters: As is typical of Jin Yong's works, there are many, many important but minor characters in Legend of Condor Heroes. Unfortunately, it would take forever to comment on their performances individually. But collectively, this is the best performance I have ever seen from a supporting cast. Plus, most also had the right 'look'. I especially found Oh Yang Ke, the 7 Freaks, Quan Zhen Qi Zi, Bao Xi Ruo, Tie Mu Zhen, and Zhe Bie memorable.

Presentation

Scenery: As one can expect from a mega-budget production, the scenery here is absolutely breathtaking. I found myself easily immersed into this ancient world, on the plains of Mongolia, on the manor by Tai Lake, on the island filled with peach flowers, on the temple high in the mountains… Everything is realistic. The production value here simply cannot be matched by any other wuxia adaptation, except perhaps CCTV’s Xiao Ao Jiang Hu. The scenes in Mongolia are especially amazing, for I have never been to the vast plains there.

Music: Depending on your tastes, you may find the music in this series to be anywhere from crap to excellent. The in-story music tends to be on the quieter side, staying in the background. This is very different from old TVB adaptations, where the music is very loud and very much a part of the conversation. Also, the pieces are mainly old, classical tunes played on traditional instruments. If you don’t like this sort of music, you’ll likely be disappointed. I personally found the music to be very appropriate, then again I like traditional instruments.

The opening, Heaven and Earth in My Heart, is remarkably apt for the story. A great Er Hu solo leads off while we see Guo Jing in the famous ‘One Arrow Two Condor’ scene. The song then changes to be more up-beat. Perfectly portraying both the conquest of Genghis Khan and of a young boy starting on his remarkable adventure. The majestic nature of this Jin Yong story is fully conveyed here. I didn’t like the ending duet, which has too much of a romantic touch.

Fighting Sequences: How much you enjoy the fighting cinematography basically depends on your standard. After watching CCTV’s Xiao Ao Jiang Hu, I had high expectations for this series. While some fights were excellent, others annoyed me. The overuse of computer animation in some fights really turned me off. Let’s face it. The 18 Dragon Palms (Guo Jing’s best kung fu) is quite strong and bullish in nature, but hardly powerful enough for Guo Jing to shoot out a dragon that blows away the opposition. When the fight scenes stay with just fighting and no cheap stuff, they’re very good. Overall, the fighting scenes are much better than most other serials around. But disappointing if you compare them to how Jin Yong described the fights. If you like animations, though, then you should love the fights.

Other Stuff: First, costumes. Most of the costumes used here are very good, both accurate and pretty. Unfortunately, the designers apparently want to take some liberty with Guo Jing and Huang Rong’s costumes. So some of them will look extremely out of place. If you pay attention to what everyone wears, you might raise your eyebrows at a few of the outfits.

Also, this series is presented in wide-screen format. I like this modification. With a wider screen, fight and battle scenes look much more splendid. Scenic shots are much more beautiful. Many more people can talk(in group conversations) without switching camera angles. These things might seem minor, but they do add to the overall quality of the series. The negative, of course, is that part of your TV screen gets cut off(unless you have a wide-screen TV).

Finally, I must point out the attention to detail in the series. This isn’t something one can really quantify. But still something you’ll really appreciate while watching.

Conclusion

At first, I wanted to give this series a four-star rating. It’s not perfect. I named quite a few problems in this review, and there are more. However, thinking back to all the wuxia series I’ve seen, I couldn’t find another one that I enjoyed more. The positives far outweigh the negatives. So in this regard, I fully believe that it deserves five stars.

Just because it’s five stars doesn’t mean I think everyone will enjoy it. This is not a series that would suit everyone’s tastes. For one thing, this is a mainland production. So it ‘feels’ vastly different from a Hong Kong or Taiwan production. After all, it’s a different culture. If you almost never watch mainland productions, you’ll likely need some time to adjust to it. If you have a strong dislike for Mainland productions, then this series might not be right for you.

Another problem is comparing this adaptation to the 83 adaptation. I thoroughly enjoyed Legend of Condor Heroes 83. Felix Wong, Barbara Yung, and Miu Kui Wai’s performances were all memorable. Nonetheless, I felt no special attachment to the old adaptation. For this reason, I never consciously made any comparisons while watching. This is fairly obvious from the review. And the few instances I did find myself thinking back to Legend of Condor Heroes 83 were short-lived. Yet just because I didn’t make the comparisons doesn’t mean you won’t. If you thought Legend of Condor Heroes 83 was the best thing since sliced bread, then you may want to consider staying away from this adaptation. The famous Chinese saying, Xian Ru Wei Zhu (First one in becomes major), is quite appropriate in this situation. This adaptation has a different story, different cast, different scenery, different music… So one should watch and treat it as such. If you have a hard time accepting this, you’ll be thoroughly disappointed.

Screenshots from Sina