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I agree that the cgi was very poor. It was like a very amatuer photoshop job with psychedelic fx. Wanted to puke. None would have been better.
I agree that YPP's HSDS was very enjoyable although there were changes and too many tears. I also think there is more suspense if they reveal the culprit of Snake Island & secrets of the swords afterwards unlike the China version.
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Contrary to a fair amount of audience opinion, I quite like YPP's works. I thought her adaptation of HSDS to be insightful and an interesting difference in perspective. Many are apalled at her blatant changes to the plot, but honestly, after seeing this version of HSDS and reading the novel, I prefer YPP's 'alternate' HSDS.
I agree. In terms of film direction, YPP's HSDS is hands-down the best HSDS ever made. Even Jin Yong himself commented that YPP's 94' version of HSDS is his favorite. I was so hooked into that version when I first saw it...got so excited over it that I brag about it to almost everyone I know. I thought it was the best wuxia film made at that time. It's unfortunate though that YPP could have continued the trend of making awesome film adaptation of Jin Yong's novels, but instead she decided to butcher Jin Yong's other two great masterpieces when she made ROCH and State of Divinity in 1998 and 2000, respectively.
Ditto.Quote:
I thought it was the best wuxia film made at that time.
The downfall was mainly in the leads. In YPP's HSDS, she made an excellent choice of Ye Tung (she paid enough for her!) and Ma Jing Tao (despite his overacting). For her ROCH and SOD, she choose Richie Yam...terrible mistake. I have nothing against Richie, but I really don't think he should ever try period dramas again.Quote:
instead she decided to butcher Jin Yong's other two great masterpieces when she made ROCH and State of Divinity in 1998 and 2000, respectively
In ROCH tried to go into into the psychology of Wun Zhi Ping's actions...which is silly because you simply cannot justify what he did. I quite liked the attempts of 'redeeming' West Poison. Though I was mighty annoyed at the 'joining' of West Poison and the comical Chow Bai Tung characters. Richie was terrible, Jacqueline was terrible.
I must say, Anita Yuen saved some of YPP's SOD. She brought class and a cool ruthlessness to her character. Music was pretty good too. I also loved the relationship Anita had with Jiang Da Wei...it was very touching. I didn't feel there was any relationship whatsoever between Richie and Anita. It was like Richie only tolerated Anita because he had no one left.
YPP has done quite well with Yu Lai Shen Zhang though. Bit draggy at times, terrible costume, but Chilam and Athena are adorable.
I actually think HSDS2003 followed the novel pretty closely. Of course, some parts here and there are a little modified, but judging for novel-accuracy, HSDS03 wins without competition. I haven't seen HSDS'79 with Adam Cheng... but I heard Zhou Zhiruo goes crazy in the end... otherwise I've seen every other adaptation of HSDS, since Yi Tian Tu Long Ji is my favorite novel of Jin Yong's.
Regarding the YPP discussions, I never really liked her, and I don't think I ever will. Very few of her productions impressed me. For a period of time, all I watched was YPP... and she disgusted me more and more with her series. I especially dislike how she picked Richie Ren to be the three most handsome/popular heroes in all of wuxia: Yang Guo, Linghu Chong, and Chu Liu Xiang. Unfortunately, Richie, to put it bluntly, sucked at all three. I do agree that Anita saved SOD quite a bit; I started to become a big fan of Anita after watching SOD.
Some other YPP shows I watched were HSDS'94, Ru Lai Shen Zhang, Fei Dao You Jian Fei Dao (Flying Daggers with Chilam and Ruby Lin), and I'm not sure if this is a YPP production, but Hua Mulan back in the late 90's with Anita Yuen and Zhao Wenzhuo. And another show that I watched SO long ago (almost 10 years?), called Xin Long Men Ke Zhan (New Dragon Inn). And again, not sure if that's by YPP either.. but vaguely remember so.
I surprisingly enjoyed Ru Lai Shen Zhang a lot, mainly due to the strong casting. Chilam and Athena had always been my favorites since LOCH94. Also good actors and actresses from Singapore such as Christopher Lee and Phyllis Quek. Other than the casting, the storyline is a typical wuxia story. Flying Daggers with Chilam and Ruby Lin was boring... the costumes were nice though.
As for HSDS94, let's just say I was never a Ma Jingtao fan. Honestly, he is better off playing in those Qiong Yao shows. Cecelia Yip is a widely acclaimed good actress, and I definitely agree. However, I don't think she looked pretty enough to be Zhao Min. And the butchering of personalities of the characters by YPP didn't help me like the show. My liking/disliking for the show depends on how loyal it remains with the novel. Cecelia Yip's Zhao Min was just too mature and forgiving. I did like Kathy Chow's Zhou Zhiruo very much though. :thumbsup:
Anyways, I feel like I have to say something about HSDS2003, since this IS a HSDS03 thread. :D ALL the girls in HSDS03 are very, very, very pretty. ALL of 'em. Even the girls you see walking around in the background are pretty. I guess this proves the claim that China really is full of pretty girls.
at least the yang xiao in 2003 has better acting than the yang xiao in 1994. sucky actor!! ji xiao fu didnt like him one bit in 1994.
I disagree with this comment. Quite the contrary, IMHO. Suen Hsing was critically acclaimed and made big news for his role as Yang Xiao in YPP's 94' HSDS. I remembered my uncle asking me who Suen Hsing was at the time because he had read somewhere in some newspaper articels that Suen Hsing was highly praised for his portrayal of Yang Xiao, and so he wanted to watch that series just because of that.Quote:
at least the yang xiao in 2003 has better acting than the yang xiao in 1994. sucky actor!! ji xiao fu didnt like him one bit in 1994.
Ji Xiao Fu did love him a lot in 1994 version, even though she was in denial and despite having been raped by him. I'm not sure if the rape was mentioned in the novel, but thought that it was a very good idea for it to be included in the 94' version, only because it added more meaning and metaphors to the story when Yang Xiao found out that Xiao Fu named their daughter "Yang Bu Hwei" (which basically tells everyone, esp Yang Xiao in particular, that she does not regret having this child with Yang Xiao out of wedlock and in spite of the sexual assault). See...this is why the YPP's version of HSDS is sooo good. There are a lot of metaphors and mature, solid script writing that attempts to explain pretty much everything that happened in the story. This allowed for great character development, in my opinion.
Actually Ma Jing Tao wasn't YPP's first choice for the role of Zhang Wu Ji. YPP wanted Aaron Kwok at the time, but seeing how famous Aaron was that time, of course he wasn't going to star in a tv series when he could make more money doing other things. So it was like reaching for the stars...Quote:
The downfall was mainly in the leads. In YPP's HSDS, she made an excellent choice of Ye Tung (she paid enough for her!) and Ma Jing Tao (despite his overacting). For her ROCH and SOD, she choose Richie Yam...terrible mistake. I have nothing against Richie, but I really don't think he should ever try period dramas again.
And as for the casting of YPP's ROCH, initially YPP wanted Nicky Wu and Charlie Yang for the lead roles, the famous couple in Tsui Hark's movie "Liang Xiong" (liang shan buo and zhu ying tai/ The Butterfly Lovers?). Again, she was reaching for the stars....
And as for the casting of YPP's SOD, initially YPP wanted Michelle Reis for the role of "Ren Ying Ying" and Anita Yuen for "Yue Ling Shan", but apparently that fell through as well. So then Anita Yuen ended up as Ren Ying Ying, and supposedly Ruby Lin was signed on as Yue Ling Shan but backed out at the last minute due to her busy shedule (which resulted in a major conflict between Ruby and YPP).
Just a tidbit of info for those who don't already know...
Wha!! That jelly belly Cheung Ti Lin compared to the Greek God that was Suen Hing as YX? Suen Hing put so much character into YX...though sometimes he was quite the manipulator and rather despicable in the later part of the series. That first scene with him sitting on the rock nonchalantly drinking wine as his enemies surrounded him...so dashing and cool. Given Cheung Ti Lin didn't have much of chance to develop his character; he had something like 2 episodes and a bit before he was shunted into a 'background role'. How can you say Cheung Ti Lin was the better performer? He definitely isn't a Chen Dao Ming or Peter O'Toole...people who can still make an impression with minimal screen time.Quote:
at least the yang xiao in 2003 has better acting than the yang xiao in 1994
Couldn't have put it better myself :thumbsup:Quote:
Ji Xiao Fu did love him a lot in 1994 version, even though she was in denial and despite having been raped by him. I'm not sure if the rape was mentioned in the novel, but thought that it was a very good idea for it to be included in the 94' version, only because it added more meaning and metaphors to the story when Yang Xiao found out that Xiao Fu named their daughter "Yang Bu Hwei" (which basically tells everyone, esp Yang Xiao in particular, that she does not regret having this child with Yang Xiao out of wedlock and in spite of the sexual assault). See...this is why the YPP's version of HSDS is sooo good. There are a lot of metaphors and mature, solid script writing that attempts to explain pretty much everything that happened in the story. This allowed for great character development, in my opinion.
I don't think so. Ji Xiao Fu looked too old. IMO she certainly wasn't attractive or particularly good at her performance, but once again as in CTL's case, she had little screen time to develop her character.Quote:
ALL the girls in HSDS03 are very, very, very pretty
I know that Chen Sha Sha looks pretty, but in HSDS 2003, her image was rather plain. If you want a better comparisan, go check out the New White Snake thread
http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthre...3&page=1&pp=20
CSS looks very sprucy in that series, in fact, better than the female lead.
Even Alyssa Chia didn't look her best at times...this could be due to the costume. Colours looked fake.
I do admit though that most, not all, of the guys inclined towards the handsome :D
DASHING? Isnt he fat?Quote:
That first scene with him sitting on the rock nonchalantly drinking wine as his enemies surrounded him...so dashing and cool.
Zhang Tie Lin has more acting experience than Sun Xing, who definitely has so few fans..don u remember his (Sun's) character in Hua Mu Lan? ughhh..
Have you actually seen Sun Hing as YX in 94' HDSD?Quote:
DASHING? Isnt he fat?
When Sun Hing played YX he was very lean and well built...he won a male beauty contest before the start of his acting career in Taiwan. Sun Hing's character in Hua Mu Lan was supposed to be comical, not some dashing hero...didn't mean he was in anyway obese though. In fact, in the shows he has been in so far (mostly YPP's), Sun Hing has gone no where near the 'paunchy' side. He was recently in Yu Lai Shen Zhang...he had a flashback scene where he had his chest and abdomen bare...definitely a six pack.
Zhang Tie Lin was a 'fat' YX. Although I have heard that he has lost a bit of weight more recently.
It's not a matter of acting experience. The plain fact was, that ZTL didn't have a chance to develop his role as YX. Sun Hing had that opportunity...YPP almost created a whole sub-plot on YX. And even if ZTL has more acting experience than SH, it doesn't automatically mean ZTL did better than SH. Having more fans also doesn't make one a better actor either. Ye Tung doesn't have many fans but she is a way superior actress compared to Lin Xin Yu (who has legions of fans).Quote:
Zhang Tie Lin has more acting experience than Sun Xing, who definitely has so few fans..don u remember his (Sun's) character in Hua Mu Lan? ughhh..
I must agree with Kikyo here. Zhang Tielin as Yang Xiao was not impressive to me at all. He didn't have that "Xiao Yao" attitude that I perceived from Yang Xiao while reading the novel.
Sun Xing on the other hand, did very well as Yang Xiao. He gave a really heartfelt performance and I applaud YPP for creating more scenes for Yang Xiao, since he is one of my favorite characters in HSDS.
I am no fan of Sun Xing but he was superb as Yang Xiao. In Mulan i wanted to put him through a mincer but that was due to his character. However, even given such a crap character his acting skills still showed through.
Zhang Tie Lin is great in many roles like his usual Emperor roles but as Yang Xiao he was nothing special.
i juz don like how he is cast with zwz's cousin, the actress who played Wang Nan Gu in Yi Tian Du Long Ji. In actuality, that actress is about 20+ (born in 1982), so they have about 10yrs+ difference,and they don really match
i ve seen sunxing as yangxiao but it was a long time ago,when my fren showed me her indonesian-dubbed serial videos at her house..
I just finished watching this again :) It always leaves me with a happy sigh. I love to watch the build-up between Zhao Min and Zhang Wuji, and I really love the chemistry between the two of them. I always wish there were more episodes that had them interacting together as much as they did in the earlier part of the series, with the whole sequence of them on Snake Island where you could really sense Wuji falling for Zhao Min, and vice versa. I felt it tapered off a bit too quickly after that during the misunderstandings, perhaps to make room for the rest of the plot. As a result, Episode 40, though extremely gratifying because you have Wuji declaring his love for Zhao Min, always felt a bit hurried to me. Just in Episode 39, Zhao Min is hurt that Wuji wants to be with her only out of gratitude, which suddenly switches into full-out love in Episode 40. If it was leading up to that, then I feel that by Episode 39, there should have been no doubt in his mind already, and it shouldn't even have occurred to him that he was grateful for everything Zhao Min had done and sacrificed for him.
Still, it remains one of my favourite series of all time, and I'll probably rewatch it again :)
resurrecting old thread...
I just finished rewatching this. HSDS is my fave novel of JY, and I really like Alec Su here. I love especially his chemistry with ZM, and caught myself repeatedly sighed or giggling when both of them shared the screen.
Quite surprise to see how unpopular this version here, though....
I liked this version a lot also. I thought ZWJ (Alec Su) and ZM (Alyssa Chia) made a great couple here and had a lot of chemistry. (ZZR not so much.) I also particularly liked the ending theme song. (It was pretty interesting that the three leads came back for Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 2013.)
I kinda like this version too. The casts are pretty good, the girls are all likeable (ZZR is cool and classy here, no wonder SQS falls madly in love with her), and the changes in the storyline is still enjoyable. For example is how they showed ZM had been spying on the martial world's events since the fighting at the Bright Peak. I think that additional part is quite interesting. My complaints are the CGI. Sometimes it was just too much. I also dont really like alec as ZCS, since he looked too young. Then again, overall, this version is enjoyable
Agreed :).Quote:
Originally Posted by wuxiafan123
Hi WK and A-T have recently said that in this version of Yi Tian Tu Long Ji 2003, Zhao Min princess have already made first appearance either before or little bit after brightness peak battle of which perhaps they are still unsure of when Zhao Min princess actually made the appearance.....
So with that said, I am now watching from episode ten up to a few more episodes however. I haven't seen Zhao Min princess made appearance yet or perhaps I didn't fully watch it so if anyone could look more into this, I would love to know the detail about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHtFex8xIvE
Just wondering which actress do you guys like best as Zhao Min princess?
Somehow, I still like the 1986 Kitty Lai ZM the best.
I am tied between the 2019 Yukee Chen ZM (because she acted very well; on the other hand, she does not look good in male outfit) and 2003 Alyssa Chia ZM (she look good in male outfit but I prefer GYY's ZZR more in this series).