The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber

This was one serial that I anticipated for a long time and my expectations were also great. I mean, there were many advertisements on TVB magazines and it was supposed to be a large production (a blunt translation for what I mean as an expensive and grand production).

There are many reviews and summaries of this Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre story so I shall not waste time giving a plot synopsis or summary of the story, but rather give some personal comments on this 2000 version. Firstly, I was, well, slightly disappointed when I first watched it. As mentioned earlier, given all the publicity and anticipation, I was having really having high hopes on this latest version. To be fair, it was an above average TVB serial and certainly better than the 1996 Taiwanese. Here are some of its plus points:

The early part of the serial was really memorable with Liu Songren and Mai Shuet as Zhang Cui Shan and Yin Su Su. Though they were a bit "over-aged" but they really brought out the characters with their veteran acting. I was initially shocked when I learnt that Lawrence Ng will be the lead Zhang Wuji; I know he is an A class actor and certainly remarkable in "Healing Hands" but as a swordman? However his acting more than made up for the lack of physique part. I certainly got more and more used to him as the show moved on, and he seemed to bring out the character of Zhang Wu Ji more than Tony Leung did in the 1986 version.

Another pleasant surprise was Charmaine Sheh as the female lead Zhou Zhi Ruo; she has always been the goody two shoe type of character in TVB serials and it was certainly refreshing to see her turn vicious and ruthless towards the end of the story. She handled the role reasonably well for a newcomer and her beauty (hehe) certainly made the show more watchable.

But other aspects of this latest adaptation of the highly popular novel were somewhat disappointing:

Firstly, those who are familiar with the novel will certainly know that HSDS is one story which focus on brotherly friendship and relations more than romance. In fact, it has the least emphasis on the romance between its leads in the Condor Trilogy. The friendship between the seven swordsmen of Wu Dang, the teacher and student's care and concern between Zhang San Feng and Zhang Cui Shan, the father and son relation between Xie Xun and Wu Ji, the brotherly bond between the members of Ming Sect.

In this adaptation, focus seemed to be on the romance of the leads instead, especially on Zhao Min and Wu Ji. Certain part where they tried to give more emphasis on the two leads were really draggy and boring.

Also, the supporting cast in this version really paled in comparison to the 1986 one; most of the important characters like the seven swordsmen of Wu Dang, Zhang San Feng, Mie Jue Shi Tai (the wicked nun), The White Browed Eagle King, The Bat King and the main villain, Cheng Kun, were all not as impressive as the previous version. Quite disappointed by the casting in fact; understandable that many of the better actors are no longer in TVB but I still think they could have gotten more suitable people to play the supporting roles. The two sidekicks of Zhao Min (Xue Ming Er Lao) were really like some TV extras and acted quite stupidly.

Another minus point is the sword fighting part. TVB adaptation of Jin Yong novels are usually low costs production but the effects in this serial looked really cheapo at some part (the wires when the seven swordman flew could be so clearly seen in one scene, the part where Zhang San Feng impart his Tai Chi to Wu Ji was also quite so-so and could have done better).

Finally, the theme song by Lawrence is quite well done and the serial is still worth catching overall.