Ancient Virtues of Harmony

[ming808]

Hi-

I notice that there is a lot of talk and discussion on the modern version of Virtues of Harmony, but I am having a hard time finding reviews of the ancient version. Can you direct me to some fair, constructive reviews? Even better, can you give me your opinion?

Thanks.

[MetalAZNWarrior]

Weird... there used to be a thread called "Funniest scenes in VOH I" and there were quite some good opinions on the ancient version there.... Oh well, no matter, I can just give a quick review of it here. Although I'm known as the #1 VOH fan, I'll try to be fair in this review.

When I first started to watch the ancient version, I thought it was pretty mediocre and wasn't that funny. It was kinda 'blah.' It wasn't until the entire family was introduced and everyone started to live together that I started to enjoy the series more and more.

The moment that hooked me on the series was the storyline of Ling Gong Gong (a gay eunuch) and his crush on Kam Nin (Frankie Lam). These episodes were HILARIOUS. Seriously, I never cracked up so much watching a series before. After this storyline, the comedy just got even better and wittier. I found myself loving the series more and more. And now I'm addicted.

Definitely watch the ancient version before venturing into the modern version. VOH I sets the stage on the storyline, every character is in the series, and no one in the casts leaves. It's incredibly hysterical with beautiful costumes and some very quirky and witty stuff.

Bad things:

The beginning is really slow. Give it time to become good. The beginning of the palace episodes are also a bore and rather tiring. But don't worry, it gets much better again.

Some things are very unrealistic and exaggerated. Expect a little too much dreams sometimes. It can be a little daft here and there.

Unanswered questions and a rushed ending.

Very slow paced and very long (if you like concise and to-the-point series, I suggest that you don't even try it). However, it covers a lot of different storylines and there are a lot of characters as well.

If you're a comedy lover, you must watch VOH! It's such a heartwarming and hilarious satire. To me, the ancient version satirizes ancient society (and our misconceptions and thoughts about it). It's also funny because they dress in ancient costumes but have modern dialect/thoughts/ideas. Some of the spoofs are also quite funny. You will also find yourself falling in love with the casts. It does have a great set of diverse characterizations. The good guys, the villians, the greedy... they're all funny. I do think that VOH is one of TVB's classic series and will be remembered for years to come.

Anyways, hope you give it a try. Feel free to visit my VOH sites for more info. (I also posted a full review on VOH I, but it's terribly biased, so I don't suggest you read that.)

[ming808]

Thanks for trying to be as objective as possible and giving me such a thorough answer. As a follow-up question, can you recommend any places to buy it for a decent price? I've found it at myChineseVCD.com for $25-35 a season...

[ming808]

I forgot to also ask...I understand that there are three "seasons" of the ancient version...are they all good (most series get worse, but are still sometimes pretty good for at least the second season)...

[joaniemaloney]

Oooh! I remember that whole issue with the eunuch and frankie Lam! Those were a couple of HILARIOUS episodes. About the whole series in general, I can't really give much of an opinion because I haven't watched the second or the third one, just the first one, and it was a long time ago. I really enjoyed the first one though..

[MetalAZNWarrior]

Well, I watched VOH as 1 continuous series. I suppose they broke it down into "seasons" on the DVDs because it's too long to release it as a continuous series DVD set. Like I said before, the beginning of "season 1" and "season 2" (start of the palace episodes) were rather slow. To me, the show gets better as it progresses.

I've also seen VOH for sale here...

http://www.layoyo.com/cgi-bin/ncomme...AGE=1&curr=USD

It's around $11 per DVD set.

[cherrie]

i totally love ling gong gong here! can't get the scene when ling gong gong sang that court song out of my head!

[xiaoshan]

Haven't watch the modern one though... ancient one is funny especially Nancy Sit. I like all the characters... tink the modern one will be as great.