Long time lurker, first time poster so please forgive me if this is in the wrong category and needs to be moved, but this is something that I have wanted to get off my chest for some time now.
I have noticed a marked decline in the quality of fight choreography in Wuxia productions despite a dramatic rise in their overall production values. HD playback is a big part, but the sets, costumes, makeup, etc. are markedly superior to what was available a decade ago let alone two. However this has not been matched by the fight choreography which as I have mentioned has seemed to have declined. This is in contrast to films which have consistently maintained high standards and continue to this day exceed anything Hollywood action films has been able to muster even with its 9 figure budgets. For example the hyper-kinetic visceral choreography in Flashpoint or SPL, the classic 90's golden era style of the Ip Man films, or the perfectly composed and beautifully filmed scenes in Wong Kar Wai's the Grandmaster, are all consistently excellent in their respective ways. Now I understand the cost limitations and compressed time schedules involved in shooting television is far different from TV and you cannot realistically expect to shoot something like the scenes from Hero (The minute or so blue lake scene took weeks to film) when you have maybe 3 days to shoot 1 hour long episode.
However, despite even bigger limitations, Wuxia series of the late 90's up until the late 2000's were still able to have passable action sequences. There seems to have been a precipitous fall since 2010 where every Wuxia TV show I have seen has had worse choreography than the show preceeding it. Tian Ya Ming Yue Dao while one of the first Wuxia TV series I recall that was available in HD had absolutely crap fight choreography despite how critical it is to the overall story because it is adapted from a Wuxia novel. Xiao Ao Jianghu was only slightly better but arguably relatively worse since it is an adaptation of a story that pretty much defines the elements of Wuxia. Tian Long Ba Bu was almost painful to watch because of how bad the action was and so was the Return of the Condor Heroes. The action choreography was so terrible that it basically ruined all potential enjoyment of the series. They are markedly inferior to their Liu Yifei counterparts made in 2003 and 2006 respectively. The Sword Stained with Royal Blood (2007) and HSDS (2009) while both having their flaws still had decent action despite the laters horrible abuse of bad CGI and occasional times where you could even see the green screen itself.
The reason why I had the urge to write this is because I recently watched two more series last month that characterizes both what is wrong with Wuxia television and what is right. Hua Qian Gu isn't exactly a Wuxia genre as it is more outright fantasy, but the action scenes are probably the ultimate example of how terrible it has gotten. None of the combat choreography actually even involves any physical contact whatsoever between actors and all that is accomplished is spinning around in circles shooting bad CGI energy blasts at one another. No parries, ripostes, kicks, or acrobats to speak of, just spinning around in circles in mid-air while pointing their fingers going pew pew pew. I wasn't expecting anything good, but my disappointment with admittedly low expectations made it all the worse.
And then I finished up the 2014 adapation of the Duke of Mount Deer this weekend. The adaptation of a novel that is at heart a genre-defying anti-Wuxia Wuxia turned out to be a refreshing breath of fresh (or rather decade old air) in which it exceeded all of my preconceptions. I am not a big fan of Qing period pieces but despite this, I found the show exceptionally made in spite it being a comedy and not taking itself too seriously. The action scenes were well choreographed and executed with precision. Some standouts being Hai Dafu's fight with the cross-dressing disciple hidden as a palace maid, the two unnamed assassins fighting the condemned prisoners, Hai Dafu's fight with the Empress Dowager, and even the Empress Dowager's bought with Jiunan. That I can actually remember each of these fights clearly is a testament to how well executed the choreography was as opposed to it's other post 2010 siblings. Even the CGI was well integrated into the action and subtle enough to not be overwhelming. Better yet, the show had some of the best costuming I had yet seen in a TV adaptation with historically accurate clothing, though the styles were more late Qing than it should have realistically been only two decades after the Ming. The costumes simply looked great and again I say this in spite of the fact that I hate the Qing period. This stands in stark contrast to some other recent shows where the costumes were not only not period appropriate but complete fantasy (I'm looking at you here Lan Ling Wang). I'm not particularly obsessive enough to care that a hairstyle is from the Jin period rather than the Western Han, but I do appreciate period accurate costuming that doesn't look like it stepped off from a Las Vegas (Seriously, WTF was up with the feathers on the costumes in Lan Ling Wang).
Since I have just finished with the Duke of Mount Deer, I am unfortunately in a bit of a funk in that I expect that anything I watch from now on will not be able to live up to it. Does anyone else have recommendations for Wuxia or even simply ancient period TV shows made post 2010 that actually have decent action? Please include lesser known adaptations of authors besides major figures like Jin Yong that I may have missed out on (I enjoyed Da Tang You Xia Zhuan 2008). I had initially thought that part of the problem of the decline in action was because of the tailoring of the shows for younger and more likely younger female audiences more interested in love stories and "idol" actors than interesting plots and thumping action but the Duke of Mount Deer despite casting a veritable stable of nubile beauties did the genre justice. Liu Yifei isn't exactly known for her emotive chops either but both of her TV shows were alright in that department.
I also would be interested in hearing the opinions of others. Agree? Disagree? Obscure Shows with lesser known actors?