Against The Blade of Honour


Reviewed by: Dagger Lee

May 08, 2004

Rating: three-point-five

Year: 1995-1996
Length: 26 episodes

Cast:
Louis Koo as Ding Pang
Irene Wan as Ching Quer Ching
Noel Leung as Ching Ching
Eddie Cheung as Lao Yuer Song

This series is an adaptation of one of Gu Long's novels. I have not read it so I don't know how different the series is from the novel.

Story:
Ding Pang is a swordsman who is regarded as dangerous. He defeats his enemies with a few moves from a paper. He goes to challenge Lao Yuer Song and loses by the same moves. Ding Pang then is accused of stealing the moves and is forced to jump off a cliff. He ends up on an island and is held in prison. A woman named Ching Ching feels sorry for him and lets him go. Ding Pang gets chased and pulls out the sabre that nobody had previously done. Now everyone respects him. Ding Pang returns to China and seeks revenge.

Comments:
I think Louis Koo did a pretty good job. I have not seen Damian Lau's version so I can't comment on how he performed. In the beginning, I thought Louis overacted a little. He did much better later on in the story. He had chemistry with Noel (Vivian) Leung as well. I thought he was more handsome in the beginning of the series but that's just my opinion. When his hair was messed up at the island, I thought he was Takeshi Kaneshiro for a moment!

Eddie Cheung was splendid as ever. He portrayed his character with ease and skill. Sometimes, I really do pity his character for losing his martial arts and his wife. He does end up with wife in the end, though in death.

Noel Leung was perfect in the role of Ching Ching. Her beautiful face shows that she's a kind person who would never hurt anyone. She had great chemistry with Louis and they looked great together.

Irene Wan didn't do well. Her expression stayed the same all the time. Pairing her with Louis is a bad decision. She looked older than him and had a round face compared to the other females.

The fight scenes were pretty good for a TVB series. It was a cut above the other serials produced during the same time. I really love it when Louis used his sabre to go against his opponents. It looks so cool.

I have a few complaints about this series. First, some of the background music was borrowed from ATV's Fist of Fury and TVB's The Romantic Swordsman 1995. Couldn't TVB make some of their own instead of ripping it? However, I felt that it fitted the series well.

What's up with most of the fake backgrounds? Sorry, but a blue wall can't substitute for a sky. Some of the scenes were taken outside and that was much better.

The ending was weird. What happened? Did TVB want to confuse the audience?

Conclusion:
Anyway, this is a good series. It coud've received 4 stars if it weren't for some of the problems I mentioned. Don't expect a happy ending from this series.


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