The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on the book of the same title written by Lo Guan Zhong. It is one of the most favourite historical books ever written. (It is said that Romance of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo Yan Yi) is a very popular book that even top politicians all around the world read and learn from it).

The series consisted of 84 long episodes and in the beginning, the story might be a little boring for those who do not like history. Nevertheless, this series offers something to those who do not like history as it contains a lot of things other than just history. The film making was colossal (I heard that it took 3 years to make the film): breathtaking outdoor vistas, great casting, and also; the indoor setting, costumes, house models, etc. were made according to the period.

The story itself is about the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty, the foundation of the three kingdoms, and the unification of the three kingdoms. Since this series is based on historical records, one may find one's favourite hero dying in a battle in a tragic way, or even an unhappy ending at the end of story. The accuracy of its storyline makes it a good guide to Chinese History. Also, with thousands of actors and horses involved in the making of this film, the battle scenes looked very realistic. Somehow, the one-to-one battle scenes were very short. I recalled that there was only one long battle scene (the battle between Lu Bu against the three sworn brothers, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei).

The song lyrics are representative of the story. Those who understand Chinese will appreciate these poetic songs and series even more.

The casting was also well done. The portrayal of Guan Yu was very close to what people usually thought of. The smart, kind and intellectual Zhuge Liang, the dumb hero Lu Bu, the wicked yet smart Zhao Zhao, the kind but indecisive Liu Bei, and other characters were all well played by the actors.

Rating:
I give 4.5 stars for the series. The serial would have been a perfect five if not for the substitute characters (like Zhao Yun and Sima Yi) who made it a little confusing.

Recommendation:
This series is worth a watch, especially if you love history. But if you don't, you can still learn about Chinese history without getting bored. Probably after you learn the strategies presented in this series, you can be a tougher and smarter person like Zhuge Liang or Sima Yi.