The Return of the Condor Heroes


Reviewed by: Thai guy

September 06, 2003

Rating: five

I would like to review the second TV series I have seen since I was born. This is the Return of the Condor Heroes (ROCH) 1983. I suppose it is needless to repeat the story of this famous Jin Yong novel.

Apart from the main cast, Andy Lau and Idy Chan, this series contains several veteran actors such as Kenneth Tsang Kong and Lau Dan. This adds to the value to this TV series as the acting skills of these big stars are impressive. I will express my opinions on the casts and then I will discuss the production in general.

Andy Lau performed Yang Guo to perfection and I guess this was the role in which he made a name for himself in his acting career. The chemistry between him and Idy Chan Yuk Lin made this series memorable. After watching Andy in this series, I had no doubt why he was promoted as one of the TVB "Five Tigers" at that time. Andy played his role as Yang Guo to perfection although this role is not easy to play. He had to start from presenting the cheerful part of Yang Guo until Yang Guo gradually became more mature in the end after sixteen years had left. Andy Lau is good for roles like this. For example, in the Duke of Mount Deer, he played Emperor Kang Xi and was able to portray how the young emperor matured throughout the series . Therefore, it seems that TVB made a right choice to cast Andy as Yang Guo.

Idy Chan Yuk Lin is forever the most beautiful actress in my mind. I started admiring her as Xiao Long Nu. Idy Chan made the character come alive. Admittedly, Xiao Long Nu has been living in the tomb for almost half of her life and she is a very innocent young lady. Compared with Carman Lee in the same role in 1995, Idy Chan rightly interpreted the character of Xiao Long Nu. Carman presented Xiao Long Nu in quite a boring fashion. Her Xiao Long Nu behaved like a ghost or a robot. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Idy Chan, by the time ROCH was made, had more experience in acting in comparison with Carman.

Leung Kah Yan also portrayed Kwok Jing quite well. However, I personally feel that Leung Kah Yan did not sufficiently bring out the foolishness of Kwok Jing. I felt that there was a lack of continuation of this character from the Felix Wong version of "Legend of the Condor Heroes 1982". If you remember, Felix Wong made Kwok Jing look so dumb. In any event, this is not a big mistake as Kwok Jing in ROCH is one of the most powerful martial arts exponents, so his character has developed over the years.

Au Yeung Pui San is the best adult Wong Yung so far. She perfectly conveyed the role of Wong Yung, continuing from what Barbara Yung did in LOCH. I think it is not easy for Au Yeung Pui San to play this part as people keep remembering Barbara Yung's portrayal of Wong Yung.

Similar to Au Yeung Pui San, Lui Yau Wai is the best Li Mo Chou so far. She is very good in presenting the ferocity of Li Mo Chou. I like the scene that Li Mo Chou and Wong Yung fought each other. Both Au Yeung Pui San and Lui Yau Wai performed their roles very well and both of them were not overshadowed by each other.

Kent Tong as Huo Du is also a good choice. Kent is always perfect as a villain. I don't know why the latter adaptations always cast the wrong actors for this role. Perhaps, they cannot find any talented actor.

Apart from Kent, another actor I cannot ignore in my review is Chun Wong, who is, again, the best Zhou Bo Tong so far. It seems that Chun Wong understands the character of Zhou Bo Tong very well. Admittedly, Zhou Bo Tong loves to play and his character is like that of a child. However, one needs to be very careful to play this role. Zhou Bo Tong is not a stupid or idiot guy. He is one of the most powerful martial arts exponents at that time. He is rather a genius who can create his own kungfu style. The actors in the latter adaptations always present Zhou Bo Tong in only one aspect, that is, too funny.

Apart from the cast, I also want to comment on the productoin in general. Admittedly, the technical effects in this series were not so good. This is due to the technology at that time. However, the fighting scenes were quite good as they used hand-to-hand combat, which is much better than the laser and explosives in TV series that are made during the 1990s.

Finally, I would like to say that I am very glad that TVB decided to produce the VCD of this all-time memorable TV series. For everyone who wants to see ROCH or never had any chance to see it, I recommend that you should spend the money in your pocket in purchasing the VCD of this adaptation. This is much better than wasting your money on other adaptations, which are low in quality.


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