Empress Wu ft. Alyssa Chia, Zhao Wen Zhuo

[goddessofhonour]

I havne't continued watching detaily yet, but I popped in a few tapes just to see how the serie would go. Hehe, couldn't help it so watched the ending. Already knew how everything was going to turn out though.

Anyways gotta agree with you azn devil. Don't like her final empress outfit. But it really does work to give her the older, cruler, empress look down. Gosh, she looked so old in the end!!! Lol, well then again she is supposed to.

Hmmm.....thought the nun outfits was a bit too showy.......Shouldn't it be more covery? lol

[babybunny]

I'm not up to the part where she becomes empress yet. But so far her costumes are okay. She looks old when she puts her hair up.

[da azn devil]

Originally posted by goddessofhonour
I havne't continued watching detaily yet, but I popped in a few tapes just to see how the serie would go. Hehe, couldn't help it so watched the ending. Already knew how everything was going to turn out though.

Anyways gotta agree with you azn devil. Don't like her final empress outfit. But it really does work to give her the older, cruler, empress look down. Gosh, she looked so old in the end!!! Lol, well then again she is supposed to.

Hmmm.....thought the nun outfits was a bit too showy.......Shouldn't it be more covery? lol

crueler isn't the word to use. as we can see, the whole series emphasised so much on how nice, kind, generous, forgiving she was, etc. this wu zi tien never turns evil, not to any extent at all.

yea and that nun outfit was like... bad. the first thing i noticed was her bare chests.

and did u c the part where they were shaving the gals hair to become nuns? like how could they just let that gal die like that just coz she's not ready to commit herself to buddah? like CUM ON! that just goes completely against buddhism!

oh, and did u notice that wen alyssa was a nun, she still had make up on? like her eyes were very balck with eye liner andd mascara and stuff.... its not rite.

[da azn devil]

Originally posted by babybunny
I'm not up to the part where she becomes empress yet. But so far her costumes are okay. She looks old when she puts her hair up.

most women look older with their hair up. that's y in series where the gal is married from the beginning, she tends to look older, coz her hair is always up. like annie in colourful life. she looks older there than in her more recent series like pitnol and obs.

[SKYLINE GT-R 32]

This series was boring. Watch up to tape 15 or so and just quit after that . The actor that played as the Emperor is so obsess with Wu Mei Niang (Alyssa Chia), no wonder that was the downfall to that dynasty.

[goddessofhonour]

Hey all I still havn't gotten much into the serie. It just bores me I did however tape it since my mom really enjoyed it and all so will get to it when I feel like it, hehe.

Same here da azn devil!!! While she was wearing the nun outfit, the first thing that I saw was just that too!!! Also the points you said are so right. I don't like the whole nunnery scenes......

I don't know. I really liked Vincent Zhao's "sister." Even though just saw her here and there in the serie, I feel for her. Perfer her to be with Vincent then Alyssa for some reason.

Argh, that stupid prince/king. So annoyed me!!! Don't even want to get into his character. Oh and Ying Ying....... That girl really has some issues she needs to work out!!!

[Sorrow]

Ok I have a contradictory way of explaining my views on this series but I really had to say it. And I had to say it so much I even registered so I could post my views to discuss with other fans. Well anyways, here it goes....

From a historic perspective this series was a big disappointment. Many viewers were complaining about Wu Mei Niang (Alyssia Chia) not "turning evil" Well my historical view, because of the influence from my chinese culture and history classes is that Emperor Wu was NOT an evil woman. The historical part I'm complaining about is that Emperor Wu is supposed to be an intelligent, cunning, and cautious person. The writers/directors DID NOT display this characteristic in Alyssia's character at all!

I rented this series to see how Alyssia's talent could be expanded to act in different characters, but it was disappointing to see that the writers/director (who ever is to blame) wrote the character of Wu Mei Niang to be so naive, simple-minded, and sometimes foolish. Many times when being questioned her character was given lines where all she said was, "Umm..." or "Ah...." Now how does that display intelligence when she can't think of something to counter another person's questioning, especially when her life is at stake!!!

From my knowledge of Chinese History, women during the Tang Dynasty had a choice to become a nun or not. (Note: Women of tghe Tang had the most freedom, priviledge, and choices) Emperor Wu chose to be a nun for political reasons, because nuns were allowed in politics. She was not forced to be a nun due to royal commandment! She chose to be one! The clothing was beautiful to the standards of the Tang Dynasty, but the nun outfit Wu Mei Niang wore was very indecent for nuns (even of the Tang dynasty)! What was that about?

There were minor historical problems that I could deal with because it wasn't very important because I was also watching from an entertainment point of view also.

For entertainment, what I liked was the romantic story between Vincent Zhao and Alyssia up until he "faked" death after falling into the river. Then it got really stupid because all you could think of was, why don't they just run away together! And of course this is from my entertainment point of view. I mean the god-sister kept trying to kill her! Why didn't Vincent just save her and run off with her pretending that she got killed? You guys know what I mean? Then they could marry and be together?

I was like they aren't going with the original history anyways why not ruin it some more and make it entertaining at least! Towards the end I really wanted Vincent to get with HIS god-sister (the girl that kept following him around). She was really adorable and had a point in everything she said to Vincent. I liked her character the most. Gosh towards the end I wanted to watch her more than Alyssia or Vincent!

ok that's all I have to say now since I'm not done with the series yet. I will probably have more to say after watching the ending. Well thanks for reading my long post.

[lilazinprincess]

Hey Sorrow,

For entertainment, what I liked was the romantic story between Vincent Zhao and Alyssia up until he "faked" death after falling into the river. Then it got really stupid because all you could think of was, why don't they just run away together! And of course this is from my entertainment point of view. I mean the god-sister kept trying to kill her! Why didn't Vincent just save her and run off with her pretending that she got killed? You guys know what I mean? Then they could marry and be together?

I agree w/ some of your point of views on this series. Yea, the costumes were very pretty.

BUt w/ the romance, sometimes i have the same thought as you. Why couldn't they run away right?? she can fake death and run away and live a normal decent life w/ Vincent.There were chances they could have done that. But then that's how the plot was written, we have to stick w/ it.

[goddessofhonour]

Hey there Sorrow and lilazinprincess

Lol sorrow!!! Can't help, but be a little amused at your reason for joining the forum, hehe.

Anyways I'm not too familiar with the history on Empress Wu or the Tang dynasty so really enjoyed reading your "comparisims" there.

Seriously, I agree with you on the whole running away thing!!! Why didn't they just do that? If they "loved" each other so much and "wanted" to be togehter then why not? Eh....

Hehe, same here!!! I so perfered Vincent with his god-sister more then him with Alyssa. She was just so cute an adorable!!! Its a shame that Vincent never really loved her like that......

[Sorrow]

Hey GoddesofHonor and Lilazinprincess,

How did you guys get the quote you want to respond to, to appear on the replies? I'm so new to this so I don't know half of what to do. I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

Yeah I pretty much signed up to complain about this series! *heehee* It amuses me, the silly things I do sometimes too. But hey maybe if I like this forum I'll stay and post other comments about other series also.

Thanks for reading my long complaining post. I am a china history fanatic and even took cultural and historical classes to learn more about Chinese Culture so sometimes it irritates me the way writers/directors make up thier own plots and stories. But of course I like to watch from an entertainment perspective also, so I can live with some historical series that contain twisted plots.

[lilazinprincess]

Hey Sorrow,
no problem we love to help you w/ any problems. As for the quotes.:

How did you guys get the quote you want to respond to, to appear on the replies? I'm so new to this so I don't know half of what to do. I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

My methods is copy the things you want to quote and go the the add reply section, there is a Quote icon at the top( you w/ all the Image and Bold icons), click on that and paste the things you want to quote into that section and you're done. Hope that helps.

[goddessofhonour]

Hey there sorrow and lilazinprincess

Another method you can use sorrow to get the message to quote is by clicking the "quote" button at the bottom of every post. It is located in the lower right hand corner next to the edit button. Just click on that button and it brings you into a Post Reply window with that message quoted. You can delete some of the message that you don't want or just leave it whole. Just make sure you click the quote button on the message you want quoted. (Doing this way it includes the whole "originally posted by _________")

Hehe, I hope you will enjoy browsing around this forum and will continue to post as a member

[LilyPhuong]

I know that this series mainly focuses on lady wu's love life but i wanted to see a transformation from her being innocent to an expereinced, almost bitter with life empress. I wanted to see how Alyssa would portray that.

[da azn devil]

Originally posted by LilyPhuong
I know that this series mainly focuses on lady wu's love life but i wanted to see a transformation from her being innocent to an expereinced, almost bitter with life empress. I wanted to see how Alyssa would portray that.

oh boy, there were many fans that wanted to c that happen, including me. we wanted to c alyssa in an evil role for once. and alyssa too hoped to play an evil role to expand her acting, but no, the director decided to make her stupid, dumb, gullible and extremely niave instead!
i don't know whether i said this is this forum or tvsf, but neways,
wen i first started watching the series, i already had an impression of wu mei niang due to the 70's version.
and as i was watching it, i was think that it was ok with the history and all. wen wu mei naing entered the palace, i was picking out the ppl that i thought would die under wu mei naing's hands wen she becomes empress. ppl like the lady in charge of the servants, the old eunich and the concubines. i was thinking of wot ways she could torture them to get pay bak. (ok, call me cruel, but this was the wu mei niang i saw in the 70's version)
and so as i watched the series progress, i was thinking, wen is wu mei niang going to turn evil????
i thought that mayb the turning point mite b wen her mother died. coz that scene she ran away and she said sum things, i don't exactly remember it word for word, but she said sumfing about pay back and not wanting to live a miserable life like that again. so i thought mayb she mite turn evil there....
yes, and so the series went on and i knew that wu mei naing was never going to turn evil, so i gave up on that and decided to enjoy the series from a fan pov, just for entertainment.

and yes, i also agree that alyssa's wu mei niang wasn't the witty and cunning wu mei naing i saw in the 70's version. however, i blame this on the script writer and not alyssa.
there were many scenes that i thought she could have said sumthig intelligent but she ends up saying nothing or doing nothing.
i remember the scene where she went to find di yin jie.
di yin jie captured the bad guy and he accused them of not returning the gold so that he could find the other stuff that they robbed. as a viewer, i saw through it. instead the suppsibly intelligent wu mei niang couldn't.

as a big fan of chinese history, this has got to be the WORSE adaptation of chinese history ever!
but from the pov of a fan of alyssa and a fan of sappy romance dramas, i realli loved it.

[goddessofhonour]

da azn devil!!! That is exactly what my aunt said, lol. She watched a few tapes and quit since she kept comparing this to the 70 version. She dind't like the storyline so far nor did she think Alyssa was as pretty as the Wu Mei Nian in the 70 version.

I agree. I also would have liked to see the transformation of Alyssa into a experienced empress. I would like to have seen a more serious/evil side to her. She was just too nice for me. Lol, still not finished with the serie

[alyssafan]

if zhao wen zhou is not the lead actor...i will want to watch..i'm also a huge fan of alyssa too...but dang hate that stupid zhao wen zhou....he can't act..

[goddessofhonour]

Are you serious Alyssafan?!?!?! I think that Vincent Zhao Wen Zhou is an awsome actor!! I've seen him in numerous series and he does so well in them!! Alyssa is also diffniately a good actress I've liked her ever since first seeing her in Dagger Lee with Jason Wu, hehe

[Sorrow]

Like I said I would have more to say when I finished the series and now that I'm finished I have to complain about it some more!

When ALyssia and her eunuch went to find the new court advisor I could see that she was really naive and stumped by him. I still didn't see any inteeligence in her and Wu Ze Tian is suppose to be an intellectual, cunning, and clever woman. Like someone said earlier she couldn't tell the official was pretending to say they found everythign but the gold!

Next problem. why did Vincent commit suicide??? That boggled my mind!?!?! Really now he could have taken the throne and possibly even the love of his life, but he kills himself. Yes I understand honor and all that crap about the country but the country wouldn't be in worse shape if he took over. The country was in terrible shape because of his usless cousin, the emperor. He could have made it better, especially when all the people were supporting him.

And I have to blame Wu Mei Niang for his death. She didn't have to bring out the fact that he was the rightful heir of the throne because that would obviously irritate anyone who thought he was the rightful emperor enough to want to behead Vincent right away. That last scene was really disappointing.

And how she ran down there to him after he slit his throat was really stupid. It's like comon' the commoners and royal court including the emperor now sees you embracing another man. How could everyone in the series not know about their love affair???? But it was like nobody knew they were in love throughout the whole series. Especially the stupid emperor!!! How could he not see through that? Well no one but her two friends and that old magistrate that retired (the emperor's uncle).

Overall this movie was not good from my point of view. From a historical point of view it's horrific. From an entertainment point of view there were many silly parts like Alyssia marrying the emperor to keep Vincent alive. And asking him to stay around and protect her. Then him pretending to die so many times. And his death at the end. All in all a major disappointment.

Just to let everyone know this is not an attack on Alyssia or Vincent. I'm only attacking the screenwriters.

I hope Vincent and Alyssia can pair up agian in another series that has better scriptwriters. I never saw the 70's version but i'm pretty sure if I did it would somewhat be disappointing too since everyone is telling me the 70's version makes Wu Ze Tian evil. Because I never beleived she was evil. She was just forced to survive and did whatever it took to benefit her country.

[Floo..]

wait a minute, what 70s versions? the one w/ hung bao bao? i thought it was 80s!!!! i must be really old then...

i dont really remember that 70s one (guess i was too baby at that time), but i remember liking her there. i got impression that she's a determined woman that has a sad life. so she's evil in 70s version?

[LilyPhuong]

Originally posted by Sorrow

Next problem. why did Vincent commit suicide??? That boggled my mind!?!?! Really now he could have taken the throne and possibly even the love of his life, but he kills himself. Yes I understand honor and all that crap about the country but the country wouldn't be in worse shape if he took over. The country was in terrible shape because of his usless cousin, the emperor. He could have made it better, especially when all the people were supporting him.

I just think that they had him die because they wanted a more dramatic ending. Plus, if he didn't die and took over, history wouldn't be the same. They didn't want to modify the story that much. The king was annoying though. i don't like that dude. I agree that the movie story was weak in that Lady Wu was not clever and witty at all. She seemed weak and naive. I wanted to see her being an evil empress. GRRR!