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REVENGE, ANGER, MORAL CHALLENGES , and KICK ASS FIGHTING
What a jewel of a find!!! I love Shaolin storylines - dramas and movies and when I saw the title GREATEST SHAOLIN on YT while scanning through clickbait shorts I had to explore. This drama must be a recent English translation release because I could not find it anywhere - except YT. The actual name of the drama is Shaolin Wendao.The story -- 4 loyal childhood friends (3 boys and 1 girl) are now adults and have explosive and devasting experiences that lead to life-transforming conflicts and emotional rollercoasters. The actors' Zhou Yi Wei (Trials and Empires: Storm of Prophecy and the Rebel Princess) and Guo Jin Fei maintained one of the most toxic "brotherhood" I have ever viewed in a drama. The lust for revenge versus what is good and right becomes major themes mixed with Buddism and Filial piety. I have no desire to reveal spoilers because this is a drama worthy of all 38 episodes.
There are numerous individual fight scenes that are unforgettable and bloody, there are battles with groups and there is a war with Japanese pirates. The childhood female friend is forced into prostitution although a princess prior to her being labeled treason - solely by being a family member. Her character is a catalyst for moving this drama from one degree of average entertainment to challenging the viewer as to her culpability and sanity. ACTION ACTION ACTION!!!
Life in a Shaolin Temple, commitment, vows, and hierarchy was shared which was a bonus. Visually stunning watching the training and inner conflicts which can develop and their resolutions.
Every actor brought their A-game to the drama and the casting director picked quality actors for all of the roles. No letdowns or weak performances.
The music was the perfect accompaniment to the pace of the drama and did not overwhelm or underwhelm the scenes which I always note when music seems to be overdone and annoying. None of this happened throughout.
A must watch -- the quality of this drama in 2017 when it was apparently first released without English translations would have put this one of many top 10 or top 20 at the minimum.
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Recommended !
Amazing series Very layered and deep. Great messages throughout, cannot believe I’ve watched all 38 episodes. Although in early episode reallly boring and to slow..Every episode became more intense. The actors, actresses, writers, custom designers, music and location is impeccable.It is the best Chinese drama I have ever watched ..totally engrossed in the richness of the characters, the cliff hanger plots and the music ...so beautifully executed. The martial arts in this series were a thing of mystical perfection.. the best I have ever watched I became emotionally attached ..couldn't wait to watch the next episode. I highly recommend to watch this. Its a masterpiece.Was this review helpful to you?
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Bonus: unappetizing love triangle
Three quarters of the story was misery, toil, humiliation, violence, humiliation, sexual abuse. The rest was similarly depressing. The good guys suffered permanently at the hands of the bad guys, there were never any mental recovery phases.A gloomy play for forgiven people who want to find a comforting peudosense in the incorporated Buddism.
The whole children's friend thing was misleading, one of the friends liked to act as a mean perpetrator. The fact that the FL was turned into a whore was also down to him. Nevertheless, she believed she owed him something, believed she had to be grateful for the benefits she had received: Do I have to understand that?
Enough writing about this ugly series, it was another waste of my life. Amithaba!
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不如放下- it's better to let go
Infuriating and captivating! Shaolin Wendao is a character-driven story exploring complex relationships between four childhood friends as their lives change in extreme ways. An angsty tale of grand passions, forsaken desires and philosophical dilemmas, posing questions about revenge, mercy, atonement and fate as well as the endless cycle of retribution spanning generations.This is an old-school drama in the best sense of the word. It’s highly quotable. It has great atmospheric music and martial arts choreography (not many fighting scenes though). It doesn't shy away from tackling hard truths and bringing up uncomfortable emotions, especially when it comes to the limited choices women had at that time and how men judged their worth. There’s a lot of unrestrained acting that helped bring to life the deeply flawed characters. With this type of drama you get transported to the past because as a 21st century person it's hard to understand the choices they make, which can be very frustrating but also fascinating and unpredictable. I feel like this type of immersive storytelling has become increasingly rare in the last decade.
To be fair, there’s a flip side to it as well. I feel like the director let things get a bit out of hand with overacting at times, particularly with Zhou Yiwei in his unhinged stage. Also, watching these characters persistently make their lives a thousand times more complicated than needed was tiring. The main character is a walking disaster who can be very selfish and manipulative. The villain (who's awesome btw) broke him at the beginning, so for two thirds of the drama he’s completely off-his-rocker, becoming obsessed with vengeance to the point of insanity. He chose the most difficult path and dragged everyone who loved him down with him. Honestly, he was so infuriating at times I wanted to kickdrop him myself, fortunately everyone seemed to do it for me so my blood lust was alleviated.
I have a lot of smaller gripes about camera work, silly humour or the weird (lack of) make-up.
The (non)ending was also quite disappointing, which makes me a bit hesitant to recommend the drama. I guess try it if you’re in the right mood. It may not be your cup of tea but you may surprise yourself.
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