Return of the Condor Heroes (1995)

The Condor Heroes 1995 is the best adaptation of the Jin Yong novel in my mind. It is also the most accurate adaptation and follows on neatly from the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994 with many of the supporting cast returning to provide continuity to the series. 32 episodes is also the right length for the series providing non-stop action straight from the pages of the Jin Yong novel. You can't go wrong when some of the dialogue jumps straight out of the pages of the novel. Louis Koo played the role of Yeung Gor really well. He was cunning, devious, and playful at the start. After having his arm chopped off his character developed to a darker person. This is perfect. Some adaptations I've seen, Yeung Gor is still smiling an laughing after he looses an arm... Umm, yep!!! Carmen Lee was pretty perfect as Siu Long Niu. Beautiful, cold and distant. The chemistry between Louis and Carmen was great throughout the series. Gigi Fu is a bit underrated in her role as Kwok Fu. I loved the supporting actresses who played the cousins Lok Mo Seung and Cheung Ying. In fact Cheung Ying was one of my favorite characters and her costume suited her personality well. the green dress and gold mask - just fantastic. The costumes I didn't mind. It is what it is for a 90's drama I guess. The music was the disappointing thing about this series. No great songs like the 1983 version. That would have scored a 10/10 from me as it is I rate this series 9.5/10 because overall it was a well made series. As I said in my review of the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994, the problem with Jin Yong adaptations these days is that they may have breath taking views, slow mo/stop freeze computer generated special effects fighting etc but the storylines just don't cut it. Too much fluff and draggy bits added. Things added that don't make sense. Sometimes simple is best. I've lost count of the amount of times I've watched The Condor Heroes 1995 and I have seen all the adaptations to date including the Andy Lau 1983 version. That's saying a lot...

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