I should correct something. In the 'details' section it said the story was about a 'fictitious' general named Sit Yan Gwai. This is not correct, as Sit Yan Gwai did exist and is an actual war general from the Tang Dynasty period. The story however is fictitious and is based on the popular opera series about Sit Yan Gwai who rose to fame from a poor farmer to become a general. The other operas include Sit Ding San, his fictitious son and Sit Kong his fictitious grand son.
I loved this series growing up. I really like Sheren Tang and Alex Man. The story was witty and humorous. The secondary cast was also good. Definitely worth a watch. The Cantonese version of the series is on YouTube now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKMmAjQfb8c&t=1174s
So far this has been a hard watch. Ding Gaun Sen who plays the male lead looks so much like a girl dressed in a male costume. Not an ounce of heroic feel about him.
Lu Han looks like girl in that costume. So weak and sissy looking. The female characters looked more manly than him during the drama series. Hard to watch at times. Beautiful costumes and music. Great cast. Poor storyline. A really weak girly looking male lead ruined this series in my mind. Lu Han could probably act as a girl in future dramas and no one would notice.
I'm probably going to post an unpopular view here. I found William Yang to be a bit small in stature and sissy (weak) looking to play Guo Jing. I didn't mind Li Yi Tong, she actually looks like a younger version of Yang Mi in the way they dressed up her character. I didn't like the costumes. I don't like all this stop motion freeze fighting... So god dam annoying. I've stopped and started, stop and started this series so many times and I'm only up to 20 episodes. I stopped watching for months when they played that stuffing around music when that crooked General held Guo Jing's mother captive and tricked Firewood Monk for a place to hide. Honestly, that scene was treated like a funny joke with funny music? Jesus, you have a lowlife scoundrel in that scene. What's so funny about what he's doing? Grrr... -10 out of 10 so far for me.
Apart from Ariel Lin and Hu Ge, I didn't really think much of the cast. Also didn't like the extra draggy stuff they added that wasn't part of the novel. Wonderful background scenes, good special effects and nice costumes. Just wished they stayed more faithful to the novel in terms of the story. Some parts where they covered the novel were excellent. Probably a 6.5/10 from me.
I loved this series growing up. I really like Sheren Tang and Alex Man. The story was witty and humorous. The secondary cast was also good. Definitely worth a watch. The Cantonese version of the series is on YouTube now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKMmAjQfb8c&t=1174s