Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre 2009 《倚天屠龙记》 - Deng Chao, Ady An, Liu Jing

[ChineseChik525]

Among his Jin Yong adaptation productions, ZJZ had only chief-directed himself once, and that is for Bie Xue Jian (Sword Stained with Royal Blood). [FYI, the directors for Xiao Ao Jiang Hu has never work for him anymore in his other productions.]

wow i didnt know that ZJZ directed bi xue jian! the series was so underhyped though...well, if he did direct that, then i say he should direct more because IMHO BXJ was one of his better productions, so...
and XAJH is like my favorite one of his! he should get those directors back

I didn't know BXJ was directed by ZJZ himself. I may actually watch it, even though I don't particularly like the storyline.

you should! its actually quite good. and from what i understand, it deviates from the book (although ive never read it)

[loislane]

I didn't know BXJ was directed by ZJZ himself. I may actually watch it, even though I don't particularly like the storyline.

BXJ as a production was almost perfect just as perfect as XAJH, in my eyes, esp. the fighting scenes really stood out. If not because of the storyline itself, it would've been a tie with XAJH as #1 for me.
And I really loved Bobby Dou Zhikong (Taiwanese actor) as Yuan Cheng Zhi, I was really hoping that he'd be casted as ZWJ in HSDS09 due to his resemblance to Tony Leung, and his acting skill.

Despite the storyline which is less interesting than other JY novels, and the lack of romance, BXJ2007 managed to entice me from the beginning till the end. I think it has really great directing, great actings, and great fights. The only thing pisses me off is the fact that YCZ is so indecisive in love and he actually loves the woman whom he didn't end up with, more. (I was rooting for the girl he ended up with XD)

Wow, you're part Mongolian! That's cool. I knew a few Mongolians once, and I was surprised that the guys are so big and tall, I wonder if Mongolians guys are all that big^^ And I'm really intrigued in Mongolian language and culture. To know that ZJZ went as far as differentiated the chinese dialects of the people in XAJH and the fact that he had been really authentic and detailed in producing wuxia series, I thought I could hear some Mongolian language or Persian language in this HSDS version, kinda disappointed I didn't get that. I was also hoping that he'll cast a Mongolian actress to act as ZM, but I guess, well... which Mongolian would want to act as a traitor

wow i didnt know that ZJZ directed bi xue jian! the series was so underhyped though...well, if he did direct that, then i say he should direct more because IMHO BXJ was one of his better productions, so...

and XAJH is like my favorite one of his! he should get those directors back

I KNOW!! He really should get those directors back, XAJH is my all-time favorite wuxia series, so far. I'm surprised they never work for him again.

So far, the most loyal guys(directors) to ZJZ are Yu Min and Zhao Jian. But lately after DOMD/Royal Tramp(Huang Xiaoming), Yu Min almost never participate in ZJZ productions anymore. Both Da Tang You Xia Zhuan and Bing Sheng were handled and directed by Zhao Jian (also HSDS), and Yu Min was only the cinematographer in HSDS2009. While I dislike Yu Min's directings, I love Zhao Jian's works, he's really an awesome action director, I'd say, and I hope he has received awards for his fighting choreography

I agree BXJ was underhyped, probably because the novel itself was not too popular, either, but it was really one of the top and better production among wuxia series. I was also surprised when I found out ZJZ directed it himself (with the help of Zhao Jian). Probably because it was only 20 eps.

[icrayray]

Finished HSDS2009, have nothing to watch now.
I realized this series wasn't even promoted before it started airing and it just aired out of nowhere. Wondering if this would affect how well the series is received in China and other areas. Anyone know if people are giving it the hype it desires especially with all the big productions going on in china right now(Water margin, new journey to the west, HLM,etc) I just hope this series isn't going to be ignored because it is definitely one of the best HSDS out there even with some its flaws like the horrible CGs but ady and DC makes up for it.
When i first saw DC, I didn't like him as ZWJ and that he's going to be paired up with my favorite ady an but after this series I love them together now. Love their chemistry in HSDS and I hope they can work together again as a couple in future series but chances are slim.

[sunnysnow]

I thought I could hear some Mongolian language or Persian language in this HSDS version, kinda disappointed I didn't get that.

I was too, hoping that the Persians would converse in a foreign tongue amongst themselves but alas, the censors actually did away with "Persia/Persians" and replaced it with 西边 (the west)!! All these censoring and bad dubbing really kills the series for me.

Yu Min almost never participate in ZJZ productions anymore. Both Da Tang You Xia Zhuan and Bing Sheng were handled and directed by Zhao Jian (also HSDS), and Yu Min was only the cinematographer in HSDS2009. While I dislike Yu Min's directings, I love Zhao Jian's works, he's really an awesome action director, I'd say, and I hope he has received awards for his fighting choreography

Actually Yu Min is the Chief Director for HSDS, not Zhao Jian. There's an error on the wiki d-addicts page. Zhao Jian was action director and directed only the martial arts scenes. Besides being chief director, Yu Min was also cinematographer for HSDS.

I was also surprised when I found out ZJZ directed it himself (with the help of Zhao Jian). Probably because it was only 20 eps.

I didn't know that ZJZ was the chief director for BXJ but anyhow, he hardly spent any time on that series as he had just finished handling ROCH and was preparing for DOMD. I remember watching an interview clip where he told the press that he had let Zhao Jian and the rest handle the entire filming process and only visited the set occasionally (just like he did for the filming of HSDS).

[loislane]

Thank you for the correction, sunnysnow! Then I'm just glad for HSDS, Yu Min toned down the things I dislike he had done before in DGSD and RoCH

So the dubbing is really that bad... Good thing, I don't understand Chinese that much, so I wasn't affected at all by it.

So is ZJZ really the chief-director for BXJ or not? Or did wiki made an error again? XD

[Wuxialover]

I usually root for the underdog too, being a devil's advocate is also very fun. I just happen to prefer ZM over ZZR this time. Not because everyone else is (I usually like going against the crowd rather than with it ).

Oh, don't get me wrong. I wasn't refering to the character. But more so the actress. In this case Liu Jing. Had innocent dream of her. Wuxia style, you know, stuck in a cave, together, sparks fly and such. PG rating of course. heh

Just finished several more episode, not bad so far.

[Xiang Yu]

Just picked up the DVD set from a generic videostore, they should be selling them all over China now.

I thought the pace was amazing in the beginning, then I got to the bing huo dao part and it's so insanely boring and draggy here, my dislike for this yin susu and ZCS doesn't help here either I think.

Currently at the part where one of the xuanmin elders kidnapped young ZWJ. Also lol at how this elder looks even older than Zhang real man.

[Surferket]

'Why doesn't anyone mention ZJZ's Da Tang Yu Xia Zhuan? I consider that his second best piece of work after XAJH.

I have a synopsis on that show at my site.

[j2j2j2]

LoCH2003
Producer: Zhang Ji Zhong
Director: Yu Min
Action director: Zhao Jian

RoCH2006
Chief producer: Zhang Ji Zhong
Producers: Ma Zhong Jun, Pu Shu Lin, Chi Chen Xi, Tie Fu
Chief director: Yu Min
Action director: Zhao Jian

HSDS2009
Chief producer: Zhang Ji Zhong
Executive producer: Song Ya Ping
Chief director: Zhao Jian
Cinematographers: Yu Min, Guan Jian Xiong

Among his Jin Yong adaptation productions, ZJZ had only chief-directed himself once, and that is for Bie Xue Jian (Sword Stained with Royal Blood). [FYI, the directors for Xiao Ao Jiang Hu has never work for him anymore in his other productions.]

I'm curious, who does the final cut of the film? Is it the producer, director, or is there another editor?

Also, does anyone know how the censorship procedure works? Do they submit an initial version to them and then after a lot of back-and-forth work that's how the final version is created?

I like Li Guo Li's series better due to the focus on character development. Scenery and choreography is nice, but I like series that are more character driver versus looking at pretty pictures.

I somewhat agree with this. ZJZ's series tend to go for the grand scale, epic feeling. But the character development lacks in a lot of areas and often relies too much on the talent of the actors and actresses.

For example, in LoCH 2003, Zhou Xun and Li Ya Peng are phenomenal actors and they were able to pull it off (though I did feel that Li's Guo Jing was a little too slow).

And in HSDS 2009 both Deng Chao and Ady An were able to pull it off.

But in RoCH 2006, despite it having some of the most beautiful scenes, and despite Huang Xiao Ming being a decent actor, Liu Yi Fei was simply not good enough to carry a series that suffered from bad character development.

Ep 33:

I have 4 questions:
- Who is the young man who just joined ZWJ and ZM? He calls ZWJ JiaoZhu
- The inn they stayed at looked familiar but it didnt click until YX and the other Ming cult members entered...this is where YX and JXF first met, isnt it?
- Does anyone know the filming location of the high-altitude covered overpass/bridge where the Ming Cult members were? I'm guessing somewhere on Wudang Shan, but I have not been able to track down the name of the exact structure.
- They have not showed Song QingShu going to WuDang to betray them yet. Does that happen in this version?

1. The young man is the son of one of the generals in ZWJ's army.
2 & 3. Not sure

4. In this version...

click to show/hide spoilers

It doesn't show that.

In fact, in this version Song Qing Shu is a little schizophrenic. They don't really show him being the spoiled brat initially.

They also don't show his turmoil over why he would want to kill his 7th Uncle.

They do show the struggle of how he initially refuses to betray his father and Wu Dang, but after he "marries" ZZR they don't know show his struggle when he sees the Wu Dang people again at Shaolin.

Also, I was under the impression that it ended up being his father who punished him in the end, but instead it was the 2nd Uncle.

I was too, hoping that the Persians would converse in a foreign tongue amongst themselves but alas, the censors actually did away with "Persia/Persians" and replaced it with 西边 (the west)!! All these censoring and bad dubbing really kills the series for me.

I KNOW! Those scenes were especially horrible. I really wish ZJZ would release a directors cut or even an uncut version.

'Why doesn't anyone mention ZJZ's Da Tang Yu Xia Zhuan? I consider that his second best piece of work after XAJH.

Oh I agree, this was definitely one of his best pieces of work. I guess since it wasn't as big profile, he didn't have to bend to the censors or anyone else?

~~~~~~~

Overall this is a very good interpretation of HSDS. My favorite is still the 2000 version with Lawrence Ng and Gigi Lai. Mainly because the story flow is so tight and well thought out.

So if I had to rank them this one would probably share 2nd place with the Tony Leung version.

[Surferket]

Ep 3's white ear-muffs on Ice Fire Island looks really stupid.

And where the hell did they get so many polar bear skin to make 2 full outfits since there was only 1 dead bear found and YSS was adamant against killing live polar bears.

[sunnysnow]

XJ3 and LOCH08 are considered C-pop. I respectfully disagree that the songs for these dramas are suited to imperial china themes. Chinese instrumentals are supposed to achieve harmony between humans and natural sounds (Daoist). The chinese cultures' way of life has very strong Daoist influences, especially during the ancient times, so, there is nothing wrong with ZJZ creating an 'ancient mood' with instrumentals.

Have to say that I'm really disappointed with the music for this HSDS. Imo, it's not even as good as HSDS'03 or any of the other adaptations for that matter. Then again, I didn't have high hopes given the lack of quality of music for his recent works. Eversince TLBB, the music for ZJZ's wuxia serials have been really crappy- silly Disney-like love tunes, melodramatic violin/piano pieces, recycled fight tunes and even a harry potter tune in ROCH! I think good music is really important especially for a period series because it really can make or break one's mood. Take for example that sudden kiss ZWJ planted on ZM's cheek in ep 35. That scene could have been rather romantic or lovey dovey sweet but the stupid cartoon-like background music turned the scene into some sort of silly farce.

I really miss ZJZ's XAJH/LOCH period where the music and songs were simply brilliant. Imo, his LOCH'03 has the best music ever though it's a huge pity that an official OST was never released for that series.

'Why doesn't anyone mention ZJZ's Da Tang Yu Xia Zhuan? I consider that his second best piece of work after XAJH.

I really like DTYXZ as well. Imo, it's even better than BXJ because of its storyline (BXJ is one of ZJZ's better series after the height of XAJH and LOCH but I've always found its plot and characterization rather mediocre).

[Surferket]

This HSDS09 has lots of Gregorian chants. Really weird shit.

[NuDaFu]

Wow, you're part Mongolian! That's cool. I thought I could hear some Mongolian language or Persian language in this HSDS version, kinda disappointed I didn't get that. I was also hoping that he'll cast a Mongolian actress to act as ZM, but I guess, well... which Mongolian would want to act as a traitor

Only 1/8 Mongolian actually. Mongolian language is actually interesting. Most people would recognise it immediately if they've heard Korean. It's a more gluttural form of Korean, because it's where Korean developed from (that's hearsay though, I haven't personally looked up the origins of the Korean language, but the similarities between the 2 are undeniable).

Well, my personal sense of aesthetics was certainly happy Ady An was chosen as ZM. I haven't found any Mongolian pure blooded female to be terribly attractive - but that's my view. I think I side more with ancient Chinese female ideals of physical beauty than Mongolian.

I somewhat agree with this. ZJZ's series tend to go for the grand scale, epic feeling. But the character development lacks in a lot of areas and often relies too much on the talent of the actors and actresses.

I totally agree with this. Although, the novel itself often has weak character deveopment, so the material at hand was not a terribly good point of reference anyway.

Like you said, it depends on the acting skills of the actors and actresses and the ingenuity of the scriptwriters.

Overall this is a very good interpretation of HSDS. My favorite is still the 2000 version with Lawrence Ng and Gigi Lai. Mainly because the story flow is so tight and well thought out.

I haven't seen the complete series, but enough off it to determine the level of acting. I'm generally unhappy with Honkie period dramas because they have absolutely no cultural or historical sense enough to set up the mood, literary flair, and body language to suit a period drama. But, of course I checked out HSDS 2000 just because it was HSDS. I have to agree to disagree with you. I didn't find any of the acting impressive enough to encourage me to watch the whole thing. My major beef with it was that they stole Yang Pei Pei's HSDS94 alteration to the story (namely, ZM going back to be 'punished' by her father, leading to a fake death). I don't appreciate plagarism...Honkie dramas do a lot of that, especially with music. I remember they once played the Star Wars theme in one of Mei Xue's old dramas . I dread to think what else in HSDS 2000 that I could identify as a plagarism.

And where the hell did they get so many polar bear skin to make 2 full outfits since there was only 1 dead bear found and YSS was adamant against killing live polar bears.

From the Polar Express fur services of course. Conveniently located at your nearest major iceberg.

[loislane]

Only 1/8 Mongolian actually. Mongolian language is actually interesting. Most people would recognise it immediately if they've heard Korean. It's a more gluttural form of Korean, because it's where Korean developed from (that's hearsay though, I haven't personally looked up the origins of the Korean language, but the similarities between the 2 are undeniable).

Ahh... now that you mentioned it, and recalling how my Mongolian acquaintances talked to each other, Mongolian does sound alot like Korean! That's an interesting fact, thank you!

Still thinking it would've been interesting if they get Ady to speak Mongolian a bit, and HZY speak Persian a bit, in this series. But then again, with all the terrible dubbing, I guess it'll be useless even if its in the script -_-

Well, my personal sense of aesthetics was certainly happy Ady An was chosen as ZM. I haven't found any Mongolian pure blooded female to be terribly attractive - but that's my view. I think I side more with ancient Chinese female ideals of physical beauty than Mongolian.

The actress who played Hua Zheng (Genghis Khan's daughter), the Mongolian princess who falls for Guo Jing in LoCH2003, is a Chinese citizen with Mongolian ethnic(her hometown is Inner Mongolia). Her name is Asiru. I think she's quite beautiful on par with chinese beauties^^

[Surferket]

If you search Youtube for Mongolian beauties you'd be surprise how beautiful Mongolian girls are. Definitely very exotic looking.

The actress who played Hua Zheng (Genghis Khan's daughter), the Mongolian princess who falls for Guo Jing in LoCH2003, is a Chinese citizen with Mongolian ethnic(her hometown is Inner Mongolia). Her name is Asiru. I think she's quite beautiful on par with chinese beauties^^

[NuDaFu]

I think Mongolian ladies are exotic. Still, I retain the description of 'beauty' for Chinese ladies .

Although, I find some Russian females quite stunning (not talking about Kournikova here). And one never knows if those Mongolian beauties are not a Russian and Mongolian mix. There is so much inter-marriages between the two countries that one never knows who is truly pure blooded.

I confess my bias though, because I'm 3/4 Chinese.

Although, Yul Brynner was a gorgeous, gorgeous Mongolian fellow .

This sort of ties in with ZM again, because I read somewhere (maybe even on this forum in an old post), some HSDS novel purist actually researched the clan ZM was noted to be from. Her original clan was a Mongolian tribe probably closer to Ukraine than true Mongolia. I think it was implicated that ZM might have Ukraine/Slavic roots too...Slavic being the root ethnicity of Russian and Ukrainian people. Hey, we share even that...though she's no Chinese like me.

[Mingfeiwalex]

er... the actress that played huazheng in LOCH2003 is Xiena, 谢娜, an actress, host, singer that was born in Sichuan... I dont find her particularly beautiful... She is more comical than pretty and does shows on Hunanweishi such as Kuailedabengying

[loislane]

er... the actress that played huazheng in LOCH2003 is Xiena, 谢娜, an actress, host, singer that was born in Sichuan... I dont find her particularly beautiful... She is more comical than pretty and does shows on Hunanweishi such as Kuailedabengying

That's LoCH2008(Li Guo Li/Hu Ge version) you're talking abt

I'm talking abt Hua Zheng in LoCH03(Zhang Jizhong/Li Yapeng), she was acted by Asiru: http://photo.blog.sina.com.cn/asiru

[j2j2j2]

This sort of ties in with ZM again, because I read somewhere (maybe even on this forum in an old post), some HSDS novel purist actually researched the clan ZM was noted to be from. Her original clan was a Mongolian tribe probably closer to Ukraine than true Mongolia. I think it was implicated that ZM might have Ukraine/Slavic roots too...Slavic being the root ethnicity of Russian and Ukrainian people. Hey, we share even that...though she's no Chinese like me.

Haha It's stuff like this that has always made me wonder if Xie Xun was Russian, because how many Chinese people do you see with blond hair?

That being said, I think "Chinese" is a little too diverse to have one type of "look." Even if you limit it to just Han Chinese, it's just too broad.

I have Chinese friends---and even family members---that look very Korean or Japanese. So much so that they will even get mistaken by their native people.

So I didn't really mind that they found Chinese actors to play those foreign parts. Though, like others have mentioned, it would have been nice for them to speak their "native" language a little when by themselves.

Or else it's like those Hollywood movies where they all speak English, but with an accent!

[yin_shen_quan]

Although, Yul Brynner was a gorgeous, gorgeous Mongolian fellow .

Actually he's from Vladivostok...but you're pretty close geographically, and are right on for 'georgeous' =)