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Thread: SMILING PROUD WANDERER 1984: epic fail

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default SMILING PROUD WANDERER 1984: epic fail

    During the first six years of the 1980s, TVB was on an epic roll in adapting Jin Yong's most popular novels into TV series. These series starred many of TVB's most popular actors at the time, and are now regarded as classics of wuxia adaptation. TVB seemed to have the Midas Touch in those days: DEMIGODS & SEMIDEVILS (1981), LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES (1982), RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES (1983), DUKE OF MT. DEER (1984), and HEAVEN SWORD & DRAGON SABRE (1986).

    And then, SMILING PROUD WANDERER (1984), which was a complete, utter, epic FAIL in terms of both production quality and fan response.

    SPW is one of Jin Yong's most popular novels. One could even make a strong argument that it's Jin Yong's *most* popular novel. Between 1981 and 1986, TVB was at the peak of its prowess in successfully adapting Jin Yong novels for the small screen, but despite hiring one of its best actors (Chow Yun Fat) for the protagonist role of Ling Wu Chung and using many of the same cast, crew, and production values of its previous and later adaptations, TVB somehow completely, utterly, and miserably failed in this attempt to adapt SPW. Chow Yun Fat looked bored playing Ling Wu Chung; it was hard to believe that this was the same actor who, just four years earlier, had so masterfully portrayed the gangster Hui Mun Keung in THE BUND. The story was incoherent and made no sense (which should not have been a problem if TVB was even trying to adapt Jin Yong's story at least somewhat accurately). Worst of all, somebody decided to blow three years' worth of production budget on special effects, which got to the point that if some anonymous, low-level flunky of a minor sect sneezed, it'd come out with 13-rainbow colored laser lights and a wirefu flight across Victoria Harbor.

    I cannot understand how this series FAILED SO HARD when it had so much going for it on paper. Talk about a choke job.

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    Perhaps one of the biggest reason for the failure was Chow Yun Fat. He was just never viewed as a good actor in martial arts dramas. Also at the time, CYF was no longer as popular as once was and will become once again. 1984 was the start of one of the low points of his career, imho. Also, note that all the other adaptations had the Five Tigers in it and SPW did not, another reason for failure? At that time, TVB couldn't lose with any of the 5 tigers and they decided to try something different and it failed.

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shadow8899 View Post
    Perhaps one of the biggest reason for the failure was Chow Yun Fat. He was just never viewed as a good actor in martial arts dramas.
    Chow admittedly isn't as well-suited to wuxia drama as he is to modern gangster dramas, but good actor as he is, he could have made this work if he'd put in a decent effort. In SPW '84, however, Chow looked like he wasn't even *trying* to play Ling Wu Chung. He looked bored throughout the entire series, as if he couldn't wait to get out of his TVB contract (and he probably couldn't).

    Everything else about the series also failed, however. In addition to Chow, I felt a whole slew of actors were miscast in this series. Nobody fit their roles well as they did in other 1980s TVB Jin Yong adaptations.

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    Moderator Suet Seung's Avatar
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    Who would you recast in this 80s adaptation? Who would be suitable to play LingHu Chong and others during the 80s?
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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post
    Who would you recast in this 80s adaptation? Who would be suitable to play LingHu Chong and others during the 80s?
    Take your pick of any of the Five Tigers besides Kent Tong. Ling Wu Chung, however, was meant to be a bit older (not much older, just a few years) than the likes of Gwok Jing, Yeung Gor, and Cheung Mo Gei during the bulk of their stories, and maybe that's why TVB decided to cast Chow Yun Fat instead of any of the Tigers.

    I have a feeling the nod would go to either Andy Lau or Michael Miu.

    That still left *many* problems, though. The SFX and makeup/costuming departments just lost their minds doing SPW '84. Thank goodness that saner minds regained control of the asylum by the time that HSDS '86 went into production.

    There must have been a drop in the price of Colombian cocaine in Hong Kong during mid-1984.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng View Post
    Take your pick of any of the Five Tigers besides Kent Tong. Ling Wu Chung, however, was meant to be a bit older (not much older, just a few years) than the likes of Gwok Jing, Yeung Gor, and Cheung Mo Gei during the bulk of their stories, and maybe that's why TVB decided to cast Chow Yun Fat instead of any of the Tigers.

    I have a feeling the nod would go to either Andy Lau or Michael Miu.

    That still left *many* problems, though. The SFX and makeup/costuming departments just lost their minds doing SPW '84. Thank goodness that saner minds regained control of the asylum by the time that HSDS '86 went into production.

    There must have been a drop in the price of Colombian cocaine in Hong Kong during mid-1984.
    Don't you forget the weird disco scene in ROCH. TVB did some weird things those days.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post
    Don't you forget the weird disco scene in ROCH.
    At least that didn't happen until the very end, which meant it would not be a persistent problem for the series. I have a feeling that was done due to excusable, possibly weather-related issues.

    But SPW '84...TVB just lost its mind with special effects.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng View Post
    At least that didn't happen until the very end, which meant it would not be a persistent problem for the series. I have a feeling that was done due to excusable, possibly weather-related issues.

    But SPW '84...TVB just lost its mind with special effects.
    Explain why Guo Jing explained to Yang Guo about Yang Hong's death twice in ROCH84.

    Explain how there was a magic act scene with Zhou Bo Tong, does it seem modern to have magic acts?

    Or how Yelut Qi's father dressed somewhat like a Manchurian (talking about the costume)...

    SPW 84' and DGSD82' are two JY adaptation I've managed not to have watched once. I've seen all of the other 80s adaptation. I'm overly satisfied with the 90s adaptation, I'm not even mildly interested to see Chow Yun Fat's version. Ah, correction I have seen a few eps of DGSD 82.
    Last edited by Suet Seung; 02-10-10 at 11:55 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post
    Explain why Guo Jing explained to Yang Guo about Yang Hong's death twice in ROCH84.
    Gwok Jing only explained it once. Yeung Gor got the explanation twice: once from Gwok Jing, and then sixteen years later from Ohr Jen Ngok.

    Explain how there was a magic act scene with Zhou Bo Tong, does it seem modern to have magic acts?
    No. Illusionist shows have been around for thousands of years.

    Or how Yelut Qi's father dressed somewhat like a Manchurian (talking about the costume)...
    The costume looked vaguely Middle Eastern to me.

    These things I could overlook. SPW '84 had entirely different and much bigger problems: the producer/director got SO carried away with SFX that they became distractions. Hairstyles and costumes were weirder than they had been in the past as well, particularly Dung Fong But Bai. SPW 84's Dung Fong But Bai had a hairstyle that looked like it was stolen from Wolverine of the X-Men.

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    Is that so? I could be wrong, but that's what I remembered from a recent rewatch a few years ago.

    Did they get a woman or a man to play DFBB in this version? I'm curious because both the Mainland and the TVB96 version had a male actor while Singapore and/or Taiwanese version had an actress for the role.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post
    Did they get a woman or a man to play DFBB in this version? I'm curious because both the Mainland and the TVB96 version had a male actor while Singapore and/or Taiwanese version and had an actress for the role.
    For SPW '84, a man (Gong Ngai or Ngai Gong, I forget the order of his name) played both the masculine and feminine personas of Dung Fong But Bai. This is the same actor who portrayed Ohr Jen Ngok (Gong Nam 7 Freaks leader) in LOCH/ROCH. Generally, this guy is a great actor and he brings each of his roles to life in terrific fashion, but I think he was all wrong for Dung Fong But Bai. Then again, maybe I was too distracted by his Wolverine haircut (or was too grossed out by his feminine persona).

    *Everything* seemed mismatched about SPW '84. I felt great discomfort watching this series, and only got halfway through it before I just gave up.

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    Senior Member leorio's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post
    I'm curious because both the Mainland and the TVB96 version had a male actor while Singapore and/or Taiwanese version had an actress for the role.
    Just want to say that in the Mainland version (assuming you mean the 2001 version) he's played by a woman.

    I watched SPW 84 back then. It left an impression on me because of the story - a young man who seems to be leading a secure life suddenly has to make hard choices and ends up being associated with "evil" people. I don't remember about the SFX at all.
    I also remember being impressed by Stephen Tung's acting, though he rather overdoes the crazy and obsessed act. And IINM he doesn't become feminine in the end (I only learned about the feminine part after reading the novel).

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    Quote Originally Posted by leorio View Post
    Just want to say that in the Mainland version (assuming you mean the 2001 version) he's played by a woman.

    I watched SPW 84 back then. It left an impression on me because of the story - a young man who seems to be leading a secure life suddenly has to make hard choices and ends up being associated with "evil" people. I don't remember about the SFX at all.
    I also remember being impressed by Stephen Tung's acting, though he rather overdoes the crazy and obsessed act. And IINM he doesn't become feminine in the end (I only learned about the feminine part after reading the novel).
    Ah! You got me! You're indeed correct there. I just remembered Mao WeiTao was an opera singer and most traditional Chinese opera singers are male. I had to double check, but yes, she is a she afterall.

    Ken, Do you want to combine the pre-existing SPW84 thread to this thread?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post

    Ken, Do you want to combine the pre-existing SPW84 thread to this thread?
    Nah. Let this one stand as a rant about how awful it was.

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    Twofold question for you TVB experts....1) what do you feel is the BEST adaptation of SOD/SPW (based on staying true to the novel, acting quality, etc.) and 2) is there anywhere you know of that I can get a copy of it....I just saw some clips of the Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2001 on YOUTUBE and it looks decent, but the whole thing is not avail there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KChill View Post
    Twofold question for you TVB experts....1) what do you feel is the BEST adaptation of SOD/SPW (based on staying true to the novel, acting quality, etc.) and 2) is there anywhere you know of that I can get a copy of it....I just saw some clips of the Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2001 on YOUTUBE and it looks decent, but the whole thing is not avail there.
    I think the best SOD/SPW I've seen has to be 1996 State of Divinity. The series was very loyal to the novel and it definitely had the best ever LHC in Jackie Lui. The theme song was also very up beat and nice. I highly recommend this series to those who haven't seen it yet. It's well worth the time!

    Ken, regardless of what you said about the poor casts of of the '84 SPW, I still think Jamie Chik was the prettiest Yue Lingshan ever! It's not her fault that they toned down her character and made her much nicer and sweeter than how the novel portrayed her. I was actually guilty of rooting for her and LHC to be together as I was watching the series, but once I read the translated novel and saw how poorly she treated him, I realized I was an idiot. But like I said, it was really hard to resist Jamie as Yue Lingshan at the time. Oh, and it did have one of the best theme songs ever. So, it didn't completely fail, just probably 99.9%

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    Maybe I'm the only one who loves this series. It inspires me to read Jin Yong's wuxia novel (For me, SPW is Jin Yong's Best). I remember I like Jamie Chic and the theme song. One of TVB's most popular song.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfkuGbI2sKw

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    I hate SPW, it's the second worst story written by JY beside DOMD. I hate the castration and fight with needles as a weapon. Apparently, many many people in the story is stupid enough to cut of their manhood just to be powerful... Jezzzzzzzz

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    Quote Originally Posted by Trien Chieu View Post
    I hate SPW, it's the second worst story written by JY beside DOMD. I hate the castration and fight with needles as a weapon. Apparently, many many people in the story is stupid enough to cut of their manhood just to be powerful... Jezzzzzzzz
    Power corrupt. Absolute power corrupt stupidly.

    I always saw the ridding of manhood part as a metaphor for throwing away dignity. Great men who throw everything away for power, in the end, they all end up with nothing. Failure.

    My opinion, SPW is the best JY novel!
    Last edited by Wuxialover; 02-13-10 at 09:51 PM.

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    Actually, it wasn't that bad, True, the mian leads were miscasts but they acting wasn't that bad.

    Good Points:
    - Kenneth Tsang makes a good hypocrite and main villian.
    - I like the supporting veterans who played the leaders of the 5 sects.
    - It had a great themesong.
    - The beginning was actually alright until till when Simon Yam was killed, then it went downhill.
    - The appearance of Dong Fang Bu Bai actually made me want to puke - which is the supposed response from the novel. It was supposed to hair-raising.

    Bad Points:
    - Rebecca and Jamie look great, but have bad chemistry with Chow Yun Fat. The girl who played Yi Lum was not pretty enough. Chow Yun Fat wasn't bad, but it wasn't interesting. Seemed he was too old for the role. Stephen Tung was worse. he didn't look the part and acting was bad. Everyone had bad chemistry.
    - Story deviated 2/3 of the way through. Terrible ending.
    - Terrible and repetitive background music. They had no other music to play other than the theme. It drove me mad by ep 10. Played the song like 5 times in one ep. Maybe they should have had a sub-theme.

    IMO, if I had to chose a TVB actor from that time to play Ling Hu Chong that was not from the 5 Tigers, I would chose Hugo Ng. He has that dignified look and also a playful side too. He can alos look older as well.

    But the worst wuxia adaption made by TVB has got to be "Land of The Condors". Everyone was miscasted, the themesong bored me, and I hated everyone. The story was dragging and pathetic and I was so unattached to any of the characters. I;ve never heard nayone say good of it.
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