Return of the Condor Heroes 98

[Dagger Lee]

Currently watching this, with the first 3 episodes already finished. So far, it is decent. Fight scenes can be a real headache though, with all that swinging around and such.

[Cliffjumper]

Mediacorp drama productions are disappointing nowadays - the return of the condor heroes 98 series were a decade ago to the 90s when the company wanted to make big budget drama series / invite HK/TW artistes to star in their series.
anyway this is still a record - the first drama production of the "The Condor Trilogy" by Jin Yong outside of "Greater China"

reckon SG version has the best-looking Huang Rong ( actress from china too ), but she's def better than HK Louis Koo 95 version or the recent mainland 2006 version.
Both TVB 95 and Mainland 06 feature a Huang Rong who's a bit too old, too auntie type ( mainland version still sweet enough but TVB version really cannot make you imagine the once young spunky HR ) SG was right to cast a younger actresses for that role.

SG's Guo Xiang was good too, better than TVB 95 also but mainland 06 Guo Xiang was just too cute and win hands down on this section.

read in earlier threads - SG Guo Jing look like a baddie, No - it is TVB 95 who really feature a evil looking Guo Jing.

SG ending had Yang Guo sparing the Mongolian army commander's life and then the full retreat of Mongol Army.
Both TVB and Mainland version had Yang Guo killing the Mongolian army commander and that result in the full retreat of Mongol Army.
which is the true Jin Yong version?
if SG change the ending, why? I thought it would be easier to follow the last part exact to the novel to avoid criticism / it doesn't save budget anyway

[crimson18]

about singapore guo xiang, i agree with u on this that china 06 version is better and furthermore, yvonne lim is always playing repetitive roles (in wisely and lotus lantern her roles r similar) that i dont know whether to find her adorable or not.

what abt 96 tw HR? only that shes a bit luo suo.. hehe..but shes not that old looking anyway..but there guo jing is old..

i watched both sg and china version.. i remembered i like sg's version of guo fu.. shes not entirely mean and hateful towards yang guo unlike china version.. and she had a cute aura abt her.. in china version guo fu was more arrogant and "annoying".. the fault of the script..

[berHc.]

I'd certainly find the Sg's version better than the recently concluded Mainland version by many times better.

Well, I really dont knw whats so great about their martial skills and all that~

[darknight123]

I'd certainly find the Sg's version better than the recently concluded Mainland version by many times better.

Well, I really dont knw whats so great about their martial skills and all that~

I've agreed w/ u there berHc., i think the singapore version is much better than the recently Mainland's. Because I think Christopher Lee's YG is much much much better than HXM's. I personally believe Chris' protrayal of YG is much more real, professional. Not like the HXM's fake and overacting. HXM is a big disappointed one.

[JamesG]

Just started watching this series last night and tonight and am enjoying it. [My first SG series] Don't like the stuff that got missed or changed so far, [episode 5] but ROCH 06 was just as bad up to this point. Here's yet another case where a teenage actor should have played the teen-aged YG. Here again [like the 06 version] the first meeting of Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang got trimmed down to a few short scenes.

[akayami djiho]

i think Christopher was quite good as Yg but Fann Wong is first not pretty enough to play XLn and second not cold- looking. i´ve watched this series quite a long time ago but it still can remember that she cried a lot (maybe she´s supposed to act like that)

[JamesG]

I think we blame actors for their performances when it really is the directors fault. They choose what they expect from the actors, and that includes miss-casting.

[Leonidas]

I think we blame actors for their performances when it really is the directors fault. They choose what they expect from the actors, and that includes miss-casting.

Well said.

I think I remember hearing at that time that the producers of this adaptation deliberately deviated from previous interpretations of the story.

[sniffles]

Just started watching this series last night and tonight and am enjoying it. [My first SG series] Don't like the stuff that got missed or changed so far, [episode 5] but ROCH 06 was just as bad up to this point. Here's yet another case where a teenage actor should have played the teen-aged YG. Here again [like the 06 version] the first meeting of Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang got trimmed down to a few short scenes.

This series was my first introduction to ROCH. At the time I originally saw it I liked it a lot, but after reading the novel and seeing the '06 version I'm not so fond of it anymore. I like Christopher Lee as Yang Guo, but most of the other casting was rather disappointing, and they cut out or altered even more of the characters than the '06 version did.

[JamesG]

This series was my first introduction to ROCH. At the time I originally saw it I liked it a lot, but after reading the novel and seeing the '06 version I'm not so fond of it anymore. I like Christopher Lee as Yang Guo, but most of the other casting was rather disappointing, and they cut out or altered even more of the characters than the '06 version did.

One thing that really grates is seeing the subtitle calling the 'Dog Beating Stick' skill called the 'Dog-Whacking' skill.
Got up to episode 12 tonight, but it locks-up at the 1/3 portion of the episode.
I've begun to recognise enough spoken Chinese words to know when the subtitles get off-base.

[sniffles]

One thing that really grates is seeing the subtitle calling the 'Dog Beating Stick' skill called the 'Dog-Whacking' skill.
Got up to episode 12 tonight, but it locks-up at the 1/3 portion of the episode.
I've begun to recognise enough spoken Chinese words to know when the subtitles get off-base.

Me, too. I don't know if you're watching the same subtitled version I saw, but I thought the subtitles were pretty good on this series.

I didn't like the way they eliminated a bunch of characters. I guess I was spoiled by the huge cast in the ZJZ series. And everybody was too young (except for Christopher Lee being too old when playing the teenaged YG).

At the time I first saw the series I thought the costuming was really nice, but after seeing other shows to compare it against everything looks sort of cheap and tacky now. Their location shooting was all in such desolate places, too. To my great disappointment episode 26, where the wedding of YG and XLN takes place, was corrupted and I didn't get to see it.

[JamesG]

Me, too. I don't know if you're watching the same subtitled version I saw, but I thought the subtitles were pretty good on this series.

I didn't like the way they eliminated a bunch of characters. I guess I was spoiled by the huge cast in the ZJZ series. And everybody was too young (except for Christopher Lee being too old when playing the teenaged YG).

At the time I first saw the series I thought the costuming was really nice, but after seeing other shows to compare it against everything looks sort of cheap and tacky now. Their location shooting was all in such desolate places, too. To my great disappointment episode 26, where the wedding of YG and XLN takes place, was corrupted and I didn't get to see it.

Watch episode 26 here:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-111...pisode-26.html

[sniffles]

Watch episode 26 here:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-111...pisode-26.html

Thanks!

[Guo Xiang]

Me, too. I don't know if you're watching the same subtitled version I saw, but I thought the subtitles were pretty good on this series.

I didn't like the way they eliminated a bunch of characters. I guess I was spoiled by the huge cast in the ZJZ series. And everybody was too young (except for Christopher Lee being too old when playing the teenaged YG).

At the time I first saw the series I thought the costuming was really nice, but after seeing other shows to compare it against everything looks sort of cheap and tacky now. Their location shooting was all in such desolate places, too. To my great disappointment episode 26, where the wedding of YG and XLN takes place, was corrupted and I didn't get to see it.

We were no good at ancient period dramas. Even the camera screen looks out-of-place with the setting. I think that's why Mediacorp has completely stopped the production of such series unless it's a collaboration with Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

[Leonidas]

The big problem for Mediacorp in shooting period costume dramas is the lack of suitable locations (Update: This line has been revised for clarity). If you watch ROCH 98 closely, you'll notice some of the scenes were shot in what was obviously a tropical jungle.

We should count outselves lucky we didn't have to see Christopher Lee/Yang Guo carry an umbrella.

[sniffles]

The big problem for Mediacorp in shooting period costume dramas is location. If you watch ROCH 98 closely, you'll notice some of the scenes were shot in what was obviously a tropical jungle.

We should count outselves lucky we didn't have to see Christopher Lee/Yang Guo carry an umbrella.

But other scenes were shot in some really barren desert-like place, which was really odd in contrast with the jungle. Everything seemed really underpopulated, too. I guess the massive quantities of extras available in China has spoiled me and now I expect every ancient series to have a huge number of people walking around.

I originally saw this series in around 2000 when it was run with Vietnamese dubbing on the International Channel (which doesn't even exist anymore). I went back to watch it again recently after seeing ROCH 2006 and found that it looked a lot better in my memory than it did on the screen.

But at least it has the distinction of having introduced me to ancient wuxia drama and getting me interested in Jin Yong stories. If not for this series I might not have discovered all the other JY adaptations that I now love to watch.

[JamesG]

We were no good at ancient period dramas. Even the camera screen looks out-of-place with the setting. I think that's why Mediacorp has completely stopped the production of such series unless it's a collaboration with Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

Many of the scenes are shot with a single camera on the location. Sort of limits what the action can depict.

[Pharaoh]

I like Christopher Lee as Yang Guo, but most of the other casting was rather disappointing,

I agreed with you , sniffles . I likes Christopher Lee as Yang Guo too, he acts really good, he protrayed the mischief side of the YG character well. Christopher Lee acts the young YG much better than HXM's young YG.

I see the actress played Ly Mach Sau in this version is very pretty, she even prettier than Fan Wong's XLN.

[Leonidas]

But other scenes were shot in some really barren desert-like place...

Which reinforces my point: they just couldn't afford to be picky with locations (PS: I've revised my original post to make the intended point clear).

In contrast, ZJZ had access to some really great-looking locations for the '06 version. The sceneries made all the other versions look so visually bland in comparison.

The downside to the great visuals was that in his apparent eagerness to show off those locations, I think he lingered too long over some of the scenes, making parts of the show unnecessarily draggy.

Perhaps this has something to do with him ending up cutting so many scenes from the '06 version (and here I tend to disagree with what you said earlier; I think the '06 version omitted more characters and scenes than the '98 version, although the latter probably had more changes to the characters and scenes that it did show).

I went back to watch it again recently after seeing ROCH 2006 and found that it looked a lot better in my memory than it did on the screen.

You may have made your original assessment based on the standard of the day. It's quite understandable that after watching the '06 version, our standards would have been recalibrated.

I see the actress played Ly Mach Sau in this version is very pretty...

I presume Ly Mach Sau is Li Mochou. If so, I'd agree. In fact, in my opinion, she (Pan Ling Ling) is the prettiest Li Mochou of all.