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Thread: Battle of the Mainland Series Costume Drama Directors: Zhang Ji Zhong VS. Li Guo Li

  1. #1
    Senior Member redfirefly124's Avatar
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    Default Battle of the Mainland Series Costume Drama Directors: Zhang Ji Zhong VS. Li Guo Li

    Yes, I know it sounds weird....I don't even know if I put this in the right section, but...
    Anyways, I'd say the two most popular mainland directors are Zhang Ji Zhong and Li Guo Li. ZJZ makes practically all the mainland wuxia adaptions, and Li Guo Li does various other highly anticipated series. Some of their works:

    Zhang Ji Zhong

    Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2001 (Li Ya Peng, Xu Qing, Li Jie, Miao Yi Yi, Wei Zi)
    Legend of the Condor Heroes/She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan 2003 (Li Ya Peng, Zhou Xun, Zhou Jie, Jiang Qin Qin/Shui Ling)
    Tian Long Ba Bu/Demi Gods and Semi Devils 2003 (Hu Jun, Jimmy Lin Zhi Ying, Gao Hu, Liu Yi Fei, Liu Tao, Chen Hao)
    Return of the Condor Heroes/Shen Diao Xiao Lv 2006 (Huang Xiao Ming, Liu Yi Fei)
    Bi Xue Jian/Crimson Sabre 2006 (Bobby Dou Zhi Kong, Eva Huang Shen Yi, Sun Fei Fei)
    Lu Ding Ji/Duke of Mount Deer (upcoming) (Huang Xiao Ming, Shu Chang)

    Li Guo Li
    Book And Sword/Shu Jian En Chou Lv 2002 (Zhao Wen Zhou, Ray Lui, Sun Li,
    Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan/Chinese Paladin (Hu Ge, Liu Yi Fei, Ady An Yi Xuan, Eddie Peng, Esther Liu)
    Tian Wai Fei Xian/Fairy From Wonderland (Hu Ge, Ariel Lin Yi Chen, TAE, Bobby Dou Zhi Kong, Lv Yi, Han Xue)
    Shao Nian Yang Jia Jiang (Hu Ge, Eddie Peng, Yuan Hong, Liu Shi Shi, Peter Ho)
    Liao Zhai (Hu Ge, Jimmy Lin Zhi Ying, Yang Mi, Li Bing Bing, Rainie Yang, Yuan Hong, Huang Xiao Ming, Hu Ke, TAE)
    Liao Zhai Qi Nv Zi (upcoming) (TAE, Liu Shi Shi, Fann Wong, Li Qian, Lin Jia Yu)
    Legend of the Condor Heroes/She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan 2007 (upcoming) (Hu Ge, Ariel Lin Yi Chen, Yuan Hong, Liu Shi Shi, Xie Na)

    So...who do you like better?
    Please post your comments!
    hu ge, yang mi, yuan hong, liu shishi.
    wang luodan, li guangjie.

  2. #2
    Senior Member redfirefly124's Avatar
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    Can't add a poll......sorry........
    Is anyone going to reply? Well...if not, I'll just talk to myself then.....

    I think ZJZ's style is more serious and grand while LGL's is more happy, cute, fairytale like.
    Personally, I think I like LGL better by just a tiny bit....
    ~red
    hu ge, yang mi, yuan hong, liu shishi.
    wang luodan, li guangjie.

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    Junior Member redders's Avatar
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    Let's see... for ZJZ production mentioned above, i've already watched all of them except BXJ, and i can tell that those series were awesome, especially in scenery and visual effects (well.. except LOCH which was very poor in VE). But, among those series, i like XAJH and LOCH the most.

    As for LGL, i found that SNYJJ was a great one. I love this series so much. Chinese Paladdin seemed great too.. but i havent watched this one. TWFX.. i dont like it.. maybe the story not really my fave. Now, i'm looking fwd to see the latest LOCH... i think that'll be a great one, since i know that Hu Ge and Ariel LYC are greats.

    As for which one i like most.. i think it'll be ZJZ but it is just because i'm more familiar with the stories.

    One question, Fox Volant of Snowy Mountain, production 2006... who is the director ?

  4. #4
    Senior Member convoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by redders View Post
    One question, Fox Volant of Snowy Mountain, production 2006... who is the director ?
    Wong Jing


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    Senior Member GuGu's Avatar
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    ZJZ, no matter how much messed up his cutting and editing was, it still felt like a wuxia film.

    LGL's work doesn't have that wuxia feeling.

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    Senior Member munianci's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuGu View Post
    ZJZ, no matter how much messed up his cutting and editing was, it still felt like a wuxia film.

    LGL's work doesn't have that wuxia feeling.
    Both have their strengths. LGL knows how to tell a story better and make the characters come alive. ZJZ has better scenery and cinematography, but his stories and characters don't seem to be as 3D.

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    Senior Member xiaolong's Avatar
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    Was Zhang Ji Zhong was named by Zhang Yu in the 2006 China entertainment industry sex scandal case?
    Last edited by xiaolong; 07-25-10 at 11:38 PM.

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    Senior Member Dragon Heiress's Avatar
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    ^I don't think he was named in the sex scandal. Huang Jianzhong was named and ZJZ commented negatively on Zhang Yu. Then Zhang Yu sued him for damaging her reputation but the case was closed.

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    Senior Member xiaolong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragon Heiress View Post
    ^I don't think he was named in the sex scandal. Huang Jianzhong was named and ZJZ commented negatively on Zhang Yu. Then Zhang Yu sued him for damaging her reputation but the case was closed.
    Oh, OK. I was reading an interview with Zhang Yu where she shot out all sorts of allegations against every director in the industry.

    Anyway a **** like her can't face up to the fact that she's not pretty enough to get good roles.

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    Senior Member Dragon Heiress's Avatar
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    ^Yeah, some people are just so desperate...

    With all respect LGL's work, it's a little bit too fantasy for my taste, and IMO it fits too well the Asian drama stereotype, with fluffy cotton candy(metaphorically), tragic endings, high and whiny voices, etc. Because of this, I prefer ZJZ. That's my personal taste, of course.

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    Senior Member xiaolong's Avatar
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    Hmmm...I actually find ZJZ more fantasy-like than LGL, e.g. ROCH 2006 -LYF with flowers on her head on a swing amid opera-like surrounding music and foggy atmosphere. His style is more artsy - kinda reminds me of a more innocent version of Chen Kaige.

    LGL's style is more like 1980s TVB - cutesy and happy. But of course, LGL was from TVB before.

    I did read comments in Baidu that ZJZ's productions have more beautiful actresses and LGL's have hunkier actors.

    But there's one problem I have with ZJZ - why does he take forever to edit? News on ROCH was out in 2003 and I had to wait till 2006 to see it.
    Last edited by xiaolong; 07-26-10 at 02:16 AM.

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    Senior Member Melanie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xiaolong View Post
    I did read comments in Baidu that ZJZ's productions have more beautiful actresses and LGL's have hunkier actors.
    Well that settles it then! I will watch all the LGL productions; I go where all the hunky actors go.

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    Senior Member Dragon Heiress's Avatar
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    But there's one problem I have with ZJZ - why does he take forever to edit? News on ROCH was out in 2003 and I had to wait till 2006 to see it.
    He does take quite a while to edit, but I'm pretty sure they did filming for ROCH in the winter of 2004-2005, which means that editing was less than a year. At least it's a lot quicker than Hollywood movies, which take more than half a year to edit 2 hours of film.

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    Member GeShiYuan's Avatar
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    And even with the long editing, it's still terrible

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    Senior Member Dragon Heiress's Avatar
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    ^ By that, do you mean ZJZ or Hollywood movies?

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    Quote Originally Posted by xiaolong View Post
    I did read comments in Baidu that ZJZ's productions have more beautiful actresses and LGL's have hunkier actors.
    Hehe that was what I was going to say when I saw this thread! LGL definitely knows how to choose his leading men. XD

    Both are fantasy-like in different ways but I like that feel. Can't say which one I prefer (like others mentioned ZJZ has a more "grand/epic" feel while LGL's series are more "fairytale-like"...I guess I'd give LGL a slight edge).

    Hard to say which one I prefer overall. The only series they have in "common" is LOCH, and I far preferred the plot/characters/overall story of the ZJZ version. (Only thing I liked better in the LGL LOCH was the much hotter GJ & YK. )

    Actually come to think of LOCH is the only ZJZ series I've watched in full. I've seen parts of ROCH & TLBB, but neither were good enough to make me desperate to finish them (still intend to, but they're not on my "high-priority" list).

    Meanwhile, I've seen much more of LGL's series. I absolutely LOVED Yang Warriors and really liked what I've seen of Liao Zhai (haven't got around to all the mini-stories yet). TWFX was pretty good too but not on my favourites list. On the other hand, I couldn't sit through CP1, and I didn't really like CP3 or LOCH. I also don't like how all his series seem to start off super happy then halfway through turn super tragic. It kinda makes me less invested in the story/characters since I know they'll end up sad.

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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    ZJZ edges slightly ahead because I tend to only watch JY and GL serials, and the only exception was Chinese Paladin 1 and 2, of which I couldn't stand CP 1 (didn't even complete it after disc 2 or something), although I did enjoy CP 2. LGL tends to have more plot changes as well, and I tend to be quite critical of those unless they really result in improvements.

    Who did Alec Su's HSDS and Adam Cheng's Book and Sword, by the way? Alec's HSDS was very LGL-ish (light, not so epic, but very watchable with good character development and chemistry), but I really liked it.

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    Senior Member xiaolong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Liew View Post
    ZJZ edges slightly ahead because I tend to only watch JY and GL serials, and the only exception was Chinese Paladin 1 and 2, of which I couldn't stand CP 1 (didn't even complete it after disc 2 or something), although I did enjoy CP 2. LGL tends to have more plot changes as well, and I tend to be quite critical of those unless they really result in improvements.

    Who did Alec Su's HSDS and Adam Cheng's Book and Sword, by the way? Alec's HSDS was very LGL-ish (light, not so epic, but very watchable with good character development and chemistry), but I really liked it.
    LGL directed Book and Sword 2002 starring Adam Cheng. HSDS 2003 was a China-Taiwan-Singapore joint production, but not sure who directed it - wasn't LGL for sure. But Tangren (the company LGL is in) has close ties with Singapore's Mediacorp so hence the similar style?

    For CP1, I thought LGL stuck quite close to the game, but he made drastic storyline changes in CP3 which got game purists up in arms.
    Last edited by xiaolong; 08-10-10 at 03:33 PM.

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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xiaolong View Post
    For CP1, I thought LGL stuck quite close to the game, but he made drastic storyline changes in CP3 which got game purists up in arms.
    That probably explains why I didn't like CP1 and enjoyed CP3, as I've never played the games, and the sequel probably was changed to make more of a flowing story for the screen.

    Did you mean that LGL directed B&S 2002 starring Vincent Zhao, or B&S 2009 starring Adam Cheng? It's weird that he would make both.

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    Senior Member xiaolong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Liew View Post
    That probably explains why I didn't like CP1 and enjoyed CP3, as I've never played the games, and the sequel probably was changed to make more of a flowing story for the screen.

    Did you mean that LGL directed B&S 2002 starring Vincent Zhao, or B&S 2009 starring Adam Cheng? It's weird that he would make both.
    Sorry about that. Just checked my DVD - LGL directed B&S 2002 starring Vincent Zhao, which is again a China-Taiwan-Singapore production.

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