The Sorcerer and the White Snake(白蛇傳說之法海)-Jet Li,Raymond Lam,Eva Huang

[totalloser]

I am obviously late to the party. I just watched it on Netflix two days ago. In regards to this version changing the "original story"... My understanding is that the tale of the white snake was passed down from oral tradition and has seen many changes. I thought a very early version, Jingshi Tongyan (警世通言), from Ming Dynasty, actually had Fahai portrayed as a good character while the white snake was evil. But that's the beauty of the oral tradition, where each re-telling adds/changes the story a bit. I thought this film version is quite good, and gives everyone something to enjoy: nice action sequences, two romances, comedic relief (Neng Ren and other animals) and some pretty good CGI. The ending was very Ladyhawk-like, but not too terribly tragic. I was less sympathetic to the white snake as I thought her motivations were very selfish, romance be damned. It seems to me that she seduced the poor bastard, Xu Xian; although her motivation to save him was admirable.

[szfong]

The 2005 Series w/ Liu Tao as the snake is also quite good. The film cuts too many scenes and tells the story too quickly. The film actually steals ALOT of scenes and ideas from the other half dozen series & film adaptations. The film ONLY has better special effects, bigger budget, I guess... to hire more expensive actors/actresses...