The Return of the Condor Heroes Member Reviews
Member Ratings
11-17-2012 12:41 PM
Few weeks ago, I watched both HK (1995) and China (2006) series of the 'Return of the Condor Heroes'.
Even though the HK 1995 version is older than China 2006 and has less scientific and graphics impact to drive the casting, I still find HK version is better than China.
Firstly Carmen Lee acts better than Crystal Liu Yi Fei as Xiao Long Nu. Yes Crystal is younger and cuter than Carmen, but in term of acting, I believe Carmen is prettier and has the internal ladies look than Crystal. When I first saw Crystal, I was attracted by her outer look as she looks like those Japanese and Korean actresses, charming but too common look alike.
Louis Koo is also better than Huang Xiao Ming. I don't like Xiao Ming all of a sudden yelling/screeming out of joys in some scenes, especially near to Xiao Long Nu, I really pity her to suffer ear problem. Huang Xiao Ming also has too much facial plastic surgery as one can compare his current 2012 look (chin etc) with 2006.
10-23-2011 09:17 PM
I like how they make improvement for most vital fighting scenes; the Peach Blossom Island rock formation is awesome, the scenery and landscape fulfilled my imagination about the beautiful places in the book. GongSun family are better cast than previous version, the actors/actress are much more beautiful than 83 version, but not better acting though. Somehow I found "looking at each other's faces" between Yang Guo and XLN are too much, over dramatization, forced chemistry, not natural, Li Yu Fei is very beautiful but not perfect XLN. complicated costumes and too young. But still a must see if you are a fan of this series!
05-15-2011 01:38 AM
This review is made by someone who just started the condor trilogy, so I didn't see the old versions of ROCH, just LOCH 2008 and ROCH 2006.
First of all, I loved the ending with Yang Guo killing the Khan with a spear.
But the reason why I'm not giving this first star despite the weeks of joy this drama brought me, is mostly because of the Guo Jing of this version.
I know that it's probly suppose to be like that, but after seeing a really kind and silly GJ in LOCH 2008, I could hardly accept the image that this GJ was projecting: willing to sacrifice his family for his country and kicking YG out because of his love for his teacher.
04-27-2011 02:50 AM
I think there was too much stupid "drama" with the two main characters... especially with all those scenes with them looking dumb and staring at each other, or with the lady reaching her hand out or looking cross-eyed. It's okay, just not really worth it to watch.
08-22-2010 09:15 AM
This version had terrible editing. Carmen's XLN so far is the best still.
06-02-2010 08:23 AM
I must say although this has excellent cinematography, I wish he cut out all those scenes of YG and XLN (Huang "I'm a screaming ape" Xiaoming and Liu Yifei are both miscasts) staring at each other like...blankly? Somehow I find the chemistry seriously lacking. The 1983 TVB version lacked the technology effects, but the casting of Andy Lau as YG and Au Yeung Pui San as mature HR are superbly first-class and have yet to be beaten. Andy is the best ever YG and there has been no other that can match up to him.
One XLN I really liked was Mary Jean Reimer in the movie, "Little Dragon Maiden" (starring Leslie Cheung). She was exactly how I imagined XLN to be - gentle yet with that palpable streak of ruthlessness.
04-14-2010 05:26 AM
Absolute rubbish. Only gets 1 star because I wasn't able to submit with none!
Drippy slushy dirge with ridiculous special effects and huge scenes where nothing happens. Hard to believe this is the same team that made LOCH 2003. Shame it didn't include the same actors too.
What a disappointment.
04-14-2010 05:26 AM
Absolute rubbish. Only gets 1 star because I wasn't able to submit with none!
Drippy slushy dirge with ridiculous special effects and huge scenes where nothing happens. Hard to believe this is the same team that made LOCH 2003. Shame it didn't include the same actors too.
What a disappointment.
11-04-2009 09:19 PM
Remember, this adaptation is based on the revised addition of ROCH, not Jin Yong's original work. By far I think the TVB version is Carmen and Louis was the best cause it had the ancient, non mondern classical wuxia feeling and it was based on the original novel. And what's up with Liu Yi Fei's confusing hair and complicated costume?, she's supposed to be simple,cold, and expressionless.
08-14-2008 11:05 AM
agree with some critics in all three review wrote about HXM's acting, my conclusion he has done well before in another series, but not in this series, but imo the most lacking in this series was the exaggerated scenes, especially the love scenes,and the dancing scene, gosh really ruin the story
05-28-2008 01:23 PM
she is so beautyful with innocense i have watched the whole series "return of condor heroes " as well as her movie forbidden kingdom she acted superbly in both i like her pairing with Huang Xiao Ming (gouer) from rcoh
and want to see them together in some other series pleazzzzzzz maker of this series i.e. cctv network please bring its new season ( rcoh )
and please take these two only as lead actors ( Huang Xiao Ming and crystal lieu) there chemistry is so good and series is so marvelous deserves 5 stars out of five
pleasezzzzz make second season of this series in which there divine relationship is shown or anything like that but pleaszzzzzz make another series having lead actors Huang Xiao Ming and crystal lieu only no other then them
why there is this in korea , china etc couple with best chemistry indrama series never work together again like " jai hee & han chai young "from "delightful girl chung yaang " i like that series also please tell any body what is the reason behind this?
03-20-2008 08:38 PM
I really liked this series. The book is my third favorite [my first being The Smiling, Proud Wanderer and my second being Legend of the Condor Hero]. I'm a Jin Yong fan The acting was pretty good but I hated all of the mushy parts. The costumes were also good though Xiao Long Nu was supposed to wear 4 different colors; red at her wedding, green at heartless valley, her usual white, and brown when she lived at the bottom of Heartless Valley. Pretty good over all!!! 4.99999999999999999999999 stars!!!
11-10-2007 09:40 PM
i prefered a nicer Xiao Long Nu.. somehow Liu Yifei seemed too cool and aloof. Her continuous 'loving stares' at Yang Guo started to bore me after a while.. and Andy Lau made the Yang Guo character feel more like well.. YangGuo as depicted in the novel.
11-10-2007 09:38 PM
i really liked this version than the Richie Ren version.. its almost comparable to the Andy Lau version (which is by far the best)
11-06-2007 09:34 AM
ROCH'06 had so much potential but Zhang Jizhong pretty much killed it with the horrible editing (large chunks of scenes, even important ones were chopped mercilessly), sucky music, exaggerated CGI, over-the-top fighting (dancing semi-naked with flowers in the sky and flying up pass the mountains etc) and most importantly, lack of chemistry between the main leads which was made worse by the unnecesary time wasted on long-shots and plentiful scenes of the couple staring or smiling dumbly at each other as well as the painfully and annoying long-takes of Liu Yifei doing nothing but staring blankly into space with the wind blowing in her hair. Those stupid scenes shouldn't even be there in the 1st place. If they could put those scenes in, they jolly well could improve on the editing and put in scenes essential to the development of the plot and storyflow.
09-11-2007 12:55 AM
i really like condor heroes, dada is so really cute i like her role....
bencris
08-02-2007 11:44 PM
LYF can act o what? damn, she's SMOKING HOT in EVERY ANGLE of the camera!!! best looking XLN EVER! don't agree w/ me? than go ask ur daddy...he'll know
06-26-2007 02:49 PM
I think the martial arts in the movie is way too exaggerated. In many cases, it completely obliterates the laws of physics. This makes the movie look real corny and fake.
This isn't nearly as addictive as the 1995 or 1986 version. At times, it find myself really bored or wondering why the movie is stalling. However, when I watch the TVB series, it keeps me attached to the screen like a magnet to a piece of metal.
The romance was never as great for me as it was in the '95 or '86 versions. I really really tried to find the cute Xao Long Nu in Liu Yi Fei, but I JUST CAN'T! She might look pretty, but that doesn't automatically make her a good Xiao Long Nu and this is the case and point! I'm a guy, so I don't have much opinion about the male character; however, I found that Louis Koo or Andy Lau did a better job because they made you feel the character much more.
04-20-2007 06:27 PM
I've seen almost all the versions (except the Singapore one, and didn't finish the Richie Yen's version). For this version, first the good parts - better scenary, sets, supporting casts, some of the fight choreography. The bad parts - the male lead (overacting), atrocious and amateurish editing, some way over the top fight scenes, unfaithfulness to the novel, extremely rushed and butchered ending, and really brain-dead dialogs (compared to those in the novel). If you're a die-hard Jin Yong fan, I recommend getting the 95 TVB version.
04-16-2007 03:57 PM
i always liked the Hong Kong version of every Wuxia series after being diappointed so many times by Taiwan, Singapore, and Mainland China's series back then in the past. ROCH 1986 is the best so far for me, after watching all version of ROCH. but, after i watched ROCH 2006, i change my mind. it is superb and i dare to say that this series may be much better than the 1986 version. although there are some things missing, like the naming of the New 5 Greats, but overall, the series itself is superb. please see my full review here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Return_of_the_Condor_Heroes_%282006_TV_series%29
for me, this series is a must watch series. 10/10 - 5 stars!
04-14-2007 10:52 PM
I didn't find this series to be that great compared to the 1986 version or that of the 1995's. First off, this series lacked the chemistry between Xiao Long Nu and Yang Gor. One annoying thing is that Xiao Long Nu leaves Gor over little silly things. I believe Yang Gor was supposed to ride a bull..not a horse. China can't employ such graphics right now due to technological reasons, so why not let Hollywood in for some fun? What happed to the ending where they renamed the new great 5 (West Passionate, North Hero, Central Urchin)? They also edited (cut) other parts in the movie series (can't recall on top of my head). I felt as if they ran out of budget or something, so they rushed and killed the series. On top of that and besides the fact that it's supposed to be a love novel, I think they over did the love/emotional part and turned it into a chick-flick movie series.
P.S: Liu Yi Fei is hot...literally.....sssssszzz...burnt finger.
02-06-2007 12:00 AM
this series was okay. the fighting scenes were great, though i wish they would stop using Liu Yi Fei because she looks too young for the part, not to mention she is not that pretty. another complain is that this series is too long...i had to skip several episodes to get to the part when the child is grown up.
02-01-2007 12:00 AM
The four things that spoiled this series were the disgusting editing, not using a teenage actor for the teenage Yang Guo, some scenes of average importance to the story were too long and the hilarious interaction between Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang during their first few days just wasn't there. Go to the reading room and read chapters 8 and 9 and you'll see what I mean.
01-20-2007 12:00 AM
Yes I agree with you that this series is not as good as the 95 version. To me the 95 version is the best of all. Carman play the role of XLN well and Louis Portray YG well too. In this version YG look older then XLN.=]
01-08-2007 12:00 AM
i saw...I like Huo Du! he's such an evil bastard...lol!!!=)I like how when Lu Wu Shuang confronted Guo Xiang about Yang Guo's hand, but almost got beaten!....nice reavew!
12-23-2006 12:00 AM
This series was breathtaking cinema-wise. But why the heck was it trying to hard to be "the Chinese Lord of the Rings?" The director was great, but his ideas weren't even original, they were a blatant imitation of LOTR.
If we look away from the fancy camera-work, the stuff we are left with is a buttload of C.R.A.P. The dialogue was boring and unnatural. I hated all of the actors, except perhaps Li Mo Chou, who was the only one who could act. Everyone else was just barely getting by with delivering their lines. Huang Xiao Ming was SUCH an overactor. It made me cringe just watching him. Liu Yi Fei will always and forever more be a pretty face. No matter how many voice boxes they hook her up to and how many pretty hairstyles and fancy facials she gets, she will always always always suck at acting. Her voice has been dubbed in every series she was in. Why? Because she has a slight lisp, a shaky voice, and the volume of a chicken. I never thought I'd say this, but she needs to take a page out of Xiao Ming's book and ENNUNCIATE her words clearly, with volume.
11-06-2006 12:00 AM
I really like the story of the ROCH06. Not like the other viewers, i have nothing to say about comparing the new series of ROCH to the old one. Just because i only watched the ROCH06. I dont see anything bad when I watching this series, in fact, I like the performance of ms. Yi Fei in playing he of XLN. I have no intention to oppose all of you here, all I want is to share what my opinion is.. thank you. i lve you ms. Yi Fei
11-06-2006 12:00 AM
After I watched ROCH06 and then watched ROCH95 due to there are a lot of comparions of the two. ROCH95 remains to the novel much more. Carman's XLN is the CLOSEST XLN to the novel. She protrayed quite well from a icy-cold in the beginning to a warm tender XLN in the end. Carman's beauty is heartbreaking, she is born for this role. Not to mentioned Carman and Louis are very compatible. They're the MOST COMPATIBLE YG-XLN OUT OF ALL ROCH Versions. Eventhough I watched 06 first then 95 second, surprisingly 95 is better because of the sticks to the novel much more and Carman's XLN is closest XLN in the book.
11-04-2006 12:00 AM
Oh my...!!! How can you compare Louis Koo's YG to the awesome Huang Xiao Ming's!?!? No offence, but some of the people here have got good looks ruining their judgements in acting skills... LK's acting IMO was way too awkward, and I don't think he even knows what type of personality his character should have, nevermind us! HXM's Yang Guo was much more natural and we can actually understand why his personality changes.
Did I mention I LOVED this series!? I thought the leads HXM and Yi Fei were near perfect - their chemistry was sooo believable that you'd be forgiven to think they were a couple in reality as well!
11-01-2006 12:00 AM
i didnt like the guo xiang cuz she was dressed like the mongolians. her earings. yuck! i didnt like the guo fu in this movie either. i think the best guo fu was the 1 in 1980's played w/ andy lau and idy chan. and huang rong looks really young. she doesnt seem like a woman that is in her late 30s. i think the best huang rong that ive ever seen was in the 1980s played by susan au yeung pui san. she had all the looks that would be huang rong.
10-28-2006 12:00 AM
I agree with you on how the dreamy and grand atmosphere was overdone. HXM's Yang Guo did scream a little too much for my taste, but he was great. I also like how Louis Koo tried to show the different sides of Yang Guo the most... but I have to say, rewatching ROCH 1995 now, I realized how raw his acting was back then.
10-27-2006 12:00 AM
i dont think Louis Koo was that great of a YG. Huang Xiao Ming did a ok young YG and a good older YG. The fact that Louis Koo played young YG really destroyed it for me. and his young YG wasnt dat great either. if you had ever watched the TVB 1983 version, you will see the best YG in my opinion. Andy Lau played the youg mischievious YG really well. He played the old mature YG just as well.
Therea Lee's Guo Xiang was good but her accent really kill it. Yang Mi's GX was good but the end when she was screaming on the tower was a lil overdone compare to the other ROCHs.
As for Xiang Long Nu, i really dont know which one is best between LYF, Idy Chan and Carmen Lee. LYF looks like a beautiful and young XLN but Idy and Carmen looks more elegant and mature. i actually prefer Carmen better just cause i think she looks better :p.
did u see the '98 production of ROCH? i only saw a few episodes and it really cant match with ROCH'83,95 and 2006
10-02-2006 12:00 AM
I actually like the fairy-tale and the grand production of this series. This is one ROCH that actually depicted much of the martial aspects of the novel. I owned and read the novel many times and I have to say, much of the writing focused on the martial arts of different sects. This ROCH actually gave me the "flowery" moves that the "Tomb" sect was famous for, especially when you see HXM practiced his martial arts in such a feminine manner.
I love and agree with most of your character analysis. Theresa Lee was the best GX. When I first saw Yang Mi, I thought she was really pretty, but as the series progressed, I was disappointed with her portrayal of GX. She did not move me with her acting at all.
I got to say this YG and XLN are more touchy than the other couples, which I really like. However, they did not move me that much with their crying scenes like the ones in ROCH 95 with Carman and Louis, especially the wedding night one. But I can see and understand from this ROCH was that YG was a very lonely orphan, and XLN was the only one that raised and nurtured him. It gave me the emotion and undertanding that I was looking for as to why YG was so committed to XLN no matter what.
09-16-2006 12:00 AM
I think you overrate the actors too much. As for the grand atmosphere, I think that's why I don't like all of Zhang Ji Zhong's recent productions, but love his Xiao Ao Jing Hu. So much less time is wasted on ppl fighting for hours and hours, or trying to delineate the beauty of a zhao shi (movement/skill), or like the scene of Liu Yi Fei swimming in the water, which didn't mean anything. Even though all Jing Yong productions have a wonderful plot, I feel that by trying to make something so beautiful and grand, it takes away from the plot and makes it unrealistic. I feel that Jing Yong should be portrayed more human and less fairy-tale-like. Probably this is the reason why XAJH didn't get so great reviews from the critics.
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El Ha
04-08-2013 07:17 PM
Nice drama, except for the two main characters ;)