I'm actually debating if i should watch this or not. Plus the fact that I cannot find a good eng subtitles for…
Personally really enjoyed WIL despite rolling my eyes at the plot - just really enjoyed the leads and their acting! But yeah, it really sucks there aren’t good subs yet :/ hopefully someone might pick it up
Just wanted to say for anyone who read the spoilers (specifically on what is revealed in Ep 11), please don't let that deter you from watching, because they actually resolve it a lot better than I could ever have imagined, and it actually pushes them to have a much more open and honest relationship.
This drama is interesting because while there's a lot of cliches and dramatic storylines, the characters themselves are all quite normal, especially the main couple, and they probably have one of the most healthiest relationships I've ever seen in a drama (aside from the ep 11 incident, and you'll understand a bit more why he acted the way he did later on even though it certainly doesn't excuse anything).
There's open communication (seriously, every misunderstanding/disagreement is cleared up within an episode or two and both strive to do better), total and complete trust even when there's "love rivals" emerging, and mutual respect/understanding. Yizhou may be the wealthy, powerful one in the relationship, but you certainly don't feel that he has the upper hand hahaha.
Is this the sequel to Tribes and Empires? I trully want to know what happens to Hanjiang
Nope, this is not! This is an entirely separate story based on a different set of books. I don't know if Tribes and Empires will be releasing a season 2, unfortunately.
oh...thanks....i was gonna start this without having watched any of the others. if i like i will backtrack. This…
Er, there's no spoilers that would ruin the story, but there are some slight spoilers in terms of the character relationships and just the overall tone. Just a fyi :)
Also, the other dramas are technically related only by the Novoland name - in terms of everything else (story, production, characters, etc.) they are unrelated.
A hastily English subbed version of the first trailer for anyone who wants it! Translated based on meaning rather than literal translation - tie jia yi ran zai should probably be kept as Chinese because tbh the meaning of it special, but in order for people to get the gist I translated it.
Liu Hao Ran said in an interview a couple of days ago that they're in the final stages of filming this drama - we're almost there! The post-production phase is probably going to take quite a while, but at least this means we'll hopefully be getting some short trailers and sneak peeks soon.
Thanks for posting the link.I think they have wrapped up all the outdoor shots in Xinjiang Uygur for this season.…
Yep - this interview was actually really interesting as Jiang Nan (the original author of Eagle Flag and lead screenwriter for the drama) and the team shed some new light on the drama adapatation.
- He confirmed that they're not going to Scotland as they were able to film everything they needed in Xinjiang.
- Jiang Nan said that he personally recommended Liu Hao Ran for the role of Lu Gui Chen. He had seen Detective Chinatown (the first one) in 2016 and thought that Liu Hao Ran portrayed some traits that would also fit Lu Gui Chen well. The production team also invited veteran Zhang Feng Yi to play Ying Wu Yi due to a popular fanmade video on Bilibili from several years ago - which proves again that production teams do pay attention to this kind of stuff.
- The biggest, biggest news is that the team acknowledged they made some pretty big changes from the novel. For one, they raised the ages of the main leads to match the actors' ages. Also, the story is going to center around Lu Gui Chen's coming of age story and thus just going to follow one central storyline. Which means, they modified several scenes, including the biggest battle of all, to feature Lu Gui Chen more and gave several important scenes from other characters to Lu Gui Chen as well (which some had already guessed would be the case due to leaked pictures from the set that showed Lu Gui Chen interacting with characters that he didn't have any scenes with in the novel).
- Jiang Nan said that while he greatly admires Game of Thrones and the production team's ability to follow several different threads, he currently does not have that ability so they thought it would be prudent to centralize the story around one character and one main storyline. (He also lowkey hinted that he had suggested to a production team of another drama - most are guessing Tribes and Empires - that they eliminate multiple threads from the drama adaptation, which lol - he's been at odds with the original writer of T&E for years so this was funny).
- One thing that LHR fans and book fans were excited about is that one of the main screenwriters on the Eagle Flag team was also part of the team for TVB drama Line Walker which received a lot of critical acclaim for its script and pacing.
I'll add more if I can remember - but the biggest takeaway is that Jiang Nan and the team showed a lot of self-awareness and recognized that a drama is different from a novel and that they needed to make changes in order to create a quality drama.
Oh I agree, I think production companies are aiming for multi-seasons and it's definitely something that they're moving towards, but the reason why I said it's extremely difficult is because of the actors - actors who are decently popular are already reluctant to shoot period dramas because of the amount of time it takes, and it would be really difficult to convince them to dedicate another five to eight months on another season (unless the project is a huge hit). Especially for actors who also have a foot in the film industry (Huang Xuan of T&E, Liu Hao Ran of Eagle Flag) - they can shoot two (or more) movies in the amount of time it takes to shoot one drama.
It's a bit different for Ever Night because Arthur Chen is a newbie actor and doesn't have that many projects lined up (and due to his age, he has the luxury of time - and his dad is Chen Kaige so he won't ever have to worry about resources ha).
I really like Ma Bo Yong's novels and I'm actually really excited for the Longest Day in Chang An, haha.
I think there's a possibility that a couple of the dramas that you mentioned that are aiming for a 2018 release may be delayed if they can't find a suitable platform or if they get stuck in SARFT...but here's the list of the high(er) profile dramas that are currently being discussed a lot online - due to its stars and production teams - currently on the list for 2019.
Joy of Life (with Zhang Ruo Yun and also some pretty impressive veterans), started filming in January/February. The Longest Day in Chang An with Lei Jia Yin and Jackson Yi, based off of a popular web novel, is also targeting 2019 - I actually think this one should be really good despite my issues with the T&E director. Da Zhu Zai (idk what the official English name is yet...) is from the same author of Fights Break Spheres and Martial Universe and filming starts this month with Roy Wang and Ouyang Nana (the acting is going to be...interesting...but both are high profile young stars and the director & co have a good resume).
And of course - the film queens...
Zhou Xun's Ruyi is still up in the air due to not being able to get past SARFT - rumors are that they're looking at late 2018/early 2019 now (or they'll look at making it a web drama, but there's no way the production team will go that route unless they absolutely have no choice). Fan Bing Bing's The Legend of Ba Qing...it's probably dead in the water no matter what the courts decide on Gao Yun Xiang...but I can't see her (and all the other investors) just giving up on it entirely. If they decide to find a way to fix it, then it'll probably also be looking at 2019.
Zhang Zi Yi and Tang Wei both are making their drama comeback (or debut in ZZY's case) through period dramas that are currently filming - both are currently slated for 2019.
Also Zhao Li Ying's Ming Lan literally just wrapped up filming...I think they're going to try and air it this year (and this drama should be the easiest to sell by far), but there's also a possibility that it's looking at an early 2019 release.
And there's a couple of remakes that are currently filming (The Handsome Siblings, Legend of the White Snake, The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber, etc.)
No one knows how much the drama is actually going to cover yet and how much of the story they're changing (and we won't know until the drama is out, unfortunately), but from the pictures that have come out from extras and other people on set, there have been scenes from all six books, which matches what the production team had originally indicated. Whether or not that changes after editing remains to be seen - but I wouldn't worry too much about the multiple season rumors right now. Btw, I think you indicated before that you were interested in the battle scenes - fyi - the team spent the last week filming the biggest war scenes in Kuqa, Xinjiang (and endured a minor earthquake and sandstorm during that period - poor team).
It's extremely difficult for Chinese dramas to get multiple seasons (and that's assuming they get the okay to proceed) - especially period dramas, because of the amount of time they take to shoot, so most up and coming actors are reluctant to commit more time (see Huang Xuan's hesitancy when asked about a second season of Tribes and Empires and what ZLY said about Princess Agents...). I just can't imagine a production company can look at the controversy with those two shows (not to mention the Legend of Chusen though that had some additional controversial elements) and think, "Hey, let's do the exact same thing" - but of course they really could be that dense, lol.
No Chinese media have corroborated the Variety report yet about 70 episodes/multiple seasons (not saying it's false - but just something to keep in mind), and there are so, so many changes that can happen to a drama during the post-production/negotiation with broadcasters period. If they are truly intent on making the drama 70 episodes, they're going to have an extremely difficult time selling it to broadcasters due to the restrictions on period dramas, and also there are a gazillion high profile period dramas who are eyeing 2019 as their broadcast year and only so many available slots. Of course, Linmon seems to have connections everywhere so maybe they might be able to make it work, but it'd still be a tough sell.
Glad it helped! State-backed films in general are largely only well received among the older generation (my grandpa…
Oh, I think people (the younger generation) aren’t naive (my 90 year old veteran grandpa still has full faith in the government lol) - they understand that the anti corruption policies are more often than not just a way to placate the general population. Corruption is still pretty widespread both on a lower and higher level especially in smaller cities - but In the Name of the People definitely addressed existing issues and put them under a magnifying glass. Not saying it changed the overall society by any means - but what most people took away from the show wasn’t, “Oh, isn’t our government awesome?” - it’s more of a general hope. As someone who grew up in the US but visits China every year due to family, I’ve seen firsthand a lot of the hypocrisy regarding the anti corruption policies and the negative impact it’s had on businesses and families, so I’m always cringing when I see blatant propaganda haha - but I do think the reason why this drama was such a huge hit was because it really touched on issues that were so relatable to the everyday citizen. And I think seeing an issue that you know exists being broadcasted on TV is comforting - because it’s an acknowledgement of your struggles. Haha anyways sorry for the novel - it’s always interesting talking about this stuff!
Great review, thanks for taking the time to write it. I'm always curious as to how these state-backed dramas with…
Glad it helped! State-backed films in general are largely only well received among the older generation (my grandpa eats up this stuff), but where In the Name of the People succeeded is covering issues that are near and dear to the everyday citizens' hearts and creating characters that are much more layered and complex. There's definitely propaganda in regards to the role that the central government plays, but the drama also served as a vehicle to broadcasting many existing issues and forcing local governments to re-examine some of their regulations, which I think is always a win - especially in China :)
So.. from orginally 56 eps to 70 eps? And this only cover for one volume of the book? Does that mean they're planning…
Have people really compared LOCH to LOTR? Wow, I would definitely not consider any of Jin Yong's works to be anywhere near the fantasy epic realm - the Condor Trilogy series in particular is probably as close to classic wuxia as you're going to get. Wuxia is a genre that's pretty much exclusive to Chinese literature and it's become such a important cultural element. Jin Yong (who is the author of the Condor trilogy, as well as a lot of other famous works) is pretty much considered as one of the pillars for the genre.
The reason why you're seeing a lot of different versions is that China loves rebooting its classic shows (like how Hollywood is remaking everything), and this trilogy in particular has been remade constantly due to its popularity. It's also become a great way to launch young actors and actresses.
The first book in the trilogy is The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and the storyline is probably my favorite of the three. I think it's also the easiest to follow for someone who hasn't watched a lot of wuxia works. Legit - Huang Rong, who's the female protagonist in this story, was my role model when I was a kid (along with Xiao Yan Zi of Huan Zhu Ge Ge, lol). My favorite version is the 1983 version, and it's also the highest rated by far on Douban (9.1!!!) but I do think if you watch it now it will look way, way too outdated. Honestly, most of the LOCH remakes are pretty faithful to the original story, but the problem is the CG, haha. Even the CG in Hu Ge's 2008 version looks outdated now, so I would recommend watching the 2017 version. The 2017 remake was actually a surprise hit - people were sure it was going to flop because they used completely rookie actors for the two leads, but it ended up being one of the better adaptations.
The second in the series is the Return of the Condor Heroes, and it's pretty much a direct sequel to LOCH. The protagonist is the son of one of the characters in LOCH, so you'll see some familiar characters in this. The 1995 adaptation is probably considered the best by the general Chinese population, but the rest are all watchable. So I would probably recommend watching the 2006 adaptation - I have my problems with it, but I am really, really not a fan of the 2014 adaptation, lol (can someone stop selling adaptation rights to Yumama's company), so the 2006 one would be the better option.
The last book in the trilogy is the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and it's more of a distant, distant sequel to ROCH - as in, you could probably watch the story standalone without watching either of the prequels and not miss much. The pre-2009 adaptations are all pretty equally good and each have their strengths and weaknesses (interestingly enough, they are all similarly rated on Douban as well). My favorite is the 2003 version, and it actually holds up okay even now. I was not fond of the 2009 adaptation...They're actually filming a new remake now which should come out next year, so hopefully that will be a better take!
Everything that's come out about this drama thus far has been super promising - even more so than Tribes and Empires, because the supporting cast for Eagle Flag is amazing and I like the three young leads a lot. Zhang Zhi Jian and Xu Qing in particular (who are the two well known veteran actors not in the 'special appearance' category) are notoriously picky about their projects so I'm hoping that they saw something promising in the script and production that swayed them to join.
One thing to note - this show is going to have the opposite problem of Tribes and Empires, which was one book stretched into 70+ episodes and has multiple story threads (which is why it draggggged). Novoland: Eagle Flag has six books and is currently slotted at 56 episodes. It sounds like they're intending to cover at least parts of all six books by focusing on one main story thread, so that script is going to have to be really, really tight.
I do think that they will have better luck getting a satellite channel distributor than Tribes and Empires did - rumor is Hunan TV has already tentatively agreed, but things change fast in Chinese dramaland (as Tribes and Empires learned) so who knows. The cast is overall more famous though (especially since Liu Hao Ran's popularity exploded over the last two months - the marketing's been focused on him), and if there's one good thing about Linmon it's that their productions basically all end up getting TV slots.
I'm trying hard to temper expectations because 1) it's so far away and 2) the previous Novoland adaptations have been disappointing but ahhhh this looks so promising.
When they started the first season, most of the cast signed on for three seasons (they learned their lesson with some of their other successful shows - it's hard to get people back otherwise - this is why Wang Kai and Jin Dong are still appearing despite their crazy busy schedules), so yes, that's why it feels loose ended. And notice how Andi says at the end that she hopes they can all be reunited in the same way at the same time next year. Here's an article (in Chinese) where the production team confirmed when the second season stated airing that they were already working on Season 3. http://media.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0504/c40606-29252913.html
This drama is interesting because while there's a lot of cliches and dramatic storylines, the characters themselves are all quite normal, especially the main couple, and they probably have one of the most healthiest relationships I've ever seen in a drama (aside from the ep 11 incident, and you'll understand a bit more why he acted the way he did later on even though it certainly doesn't excuse anything).
There's open communication (seriously, every misunderstanding/disagreement is cleared up within an episode or two and both strive to do better), total and complete trust even when there's "love rivals" emerging, and mutual respect/understanding. Yizhou may be the wealthy, powerful one in the relationship, but you certainly don't feel that he has the upper hand hahaha.
Also, the other dramas are technically related only by the Novoland name - in terms of everything else (story, production, characters, etc.) they are unrelated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ATw-s-zc8
- He confirmed that they're not going to Scotland as they were able to film everything they needed in Xinjiang.
- Jiang Nan said that he personally recommended Liu Hao Ran for the role of Lu Gui Chen. He had seen Detective Chinatown (the first one) in 2016 and thought that Liu Hao Ran portrayed some traits that would also fit Lu Gui Chen well. The production team also invited veteran Zhang Feng Yi to play Ying Wu Yi due to a popular fanmade video on Bilibili from several years ago - which proves again that production teams do pay attention to this kind of stuff.
- The biggest, biggest news is that the team acknowledged they made some pretty big changes from the novel. For one, they raised the ages of the main leads to match the actors' ages. Also, the story is going to center around Lu Gui Chen's coming of age story and thus just going to follow one central storyline. Which means, they modified several scenes, including the biggest battle of all, to feature Lu Gui Chen more and gave several important scenes from other characters to Lu Gui Chen as well (which some had already guessed would be the case due to leaked pictures from the set that showed Lu Gui Chen interacting with characters that he didn't have any scenes with in the novel).
- Jiang Nan said that while he greatly admires Game of Thrones and the production team's ability to follow several different threads, he currently does not have that ability so they thought it would be prudent to centralize the story around one character and one main storyline. (He also lowkey hinted that he had suggested to a production team of another drama - most are guessing Tribes and Empires - that they eliminate multiple threads from the drama adaptation, which lol - he's been at odds with the original writer of T&E for years so this was funny).
- One thing that LHR fans and book fans were excited about is that one of the main screenwriters on the Eagle Flag team was also part of the team for TVB drama Line Walker which received a lot of critical acclaim for its script and pacing.
I'll add more if I can remember - but the biggest takeaway is that Jiang Nan and the team showed a lot of self-awareness and recognized that a drama is different from a novel and that they needed to make changes in order to create a quality drama.
It's a bit different for Ever Night because Arthur Chen is a newbie actor and doesn't have that many projects lined up (and due to his age, he has the luxury of time - and his dad is Chen Kaige so he won't ever have to worry about resources ha).
I really like Ma Bo Yong's novels and I'm actually really excited for the Longest Day in Chang An, haha.
Joy of Life (with Zhang Ruo Yun and also some pretty impressive veterans), started filming in January/February. The Longest Day in Chang An with Lei Jia Yin and Jackson Yi, based off of a popular web novel, is also targeting 2019 - I actually think this one should be really good despite my issues with the T&E director. Da Zhu Zai (idk what the official English name is yet...) is from the same author of Fights Break Spheres and Martial Universe and filming starts this month with Roy Wang and Ouyang Nana (the acting is going to be...interesting...but both are high profile young stars and the director & co have a good resume).
And of course - the film queens...
Zhou Xun's Ruyi is still up in the air due to not being able to get past SARFT - rumors are that they're looking at late 2018/early 2019 now (or they'll look at making it a web drama, but there's no way the production team will go that route unless they absolutely have no choice). Fan Bing Bing's The Legend of Ba Qing...it's probably dead in the water no matter what the courts decide on Gao Yun Xiang...but I can't see her (and all the other investors) just giving up on it entirely. If they decide to find a way to fix it, then it'll probably also be looking at 2019.
Zhang Zi Yi and Tang Wei both are making their drama comeback (or debut in ZZY's case) through period dramas that are currently filming - both are currently slated for 2019.
Also Zhao Li Ying's Ming Lan literally just wrapped up filming...I think they're going to try and air it this year (and this drama should be the easiest to sell by far), but there's also a possibility that it's looking at an early 2019 release.
And there's a couple of remakes that are currently filming (The Handsome Siblings, Legend of the White Snake, The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber, etc.)
It's extremely difficult for Chinese dramas to get multiple seasons (and that's assuming they get the okay to proceed) - especially period dramas, because of the amount of time they take to shoot, so most up and coming actors are reluctant to commit more time (see Huang Xuan's hesitancy when asked about a second season of Tribes and Empires and what ZLY said about Princess Agents...). I just can't imagine a production company can look at the controversy with those two shows (not to mention the Legend of Chusen though that had some additional controversial elements) and think, "Hey, let's do the exact same thing" - but of course they really could be that dense, lol.
No Chinese media have corroborated the Variety report yet about 70 episodes/multiple seasons (not saying it's false - but just something to keep in mind), and there are so, so many changes that can happen to a drama during the post-production/negotiation with broadcasters period. If they are truly intent on making the drama 70 episodes, they're going to have an extremely difficult time selling it to broadcasters due to the restrictions on period dramas, and also there are a gazillion high profile period dramas who are eyeing 2019 as their broadcast year and only so many available slots. Of course, Linmon seems to have connections everywhere so maybe they might be able to make it work, but it'd still be a tough sell.
The reason why you're seeing a lot of different versions is that China loves rebooting its classic shows (like how Hollywood is remaking everything), and this trilogy in particular has been remade constantly due to its popularity. It's also become a great way to launch young actors and actresses.
The first book in the trilogy is The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and the storyline is probably my favorite of the three. I think it's also the easiest to follow for someone who hasn't watched a lot of wuxia works. Legit - Huang Rong, who's the female protagonist in this story, was my role model when I was a kid (along with Xiao Yan Zi of Huan Zhu Ge Ge, lol). My favorite version is the 1983 version, and it's also the highest rated by far on Douban (9.1!!!) but I do think if you watch it now it will look way, way too outdated. Honestly, most of the LOCH remakes are pretty faithful to the original story, but the problem is the CG, haha. Even the CG in Hu Ge's 2008 version looks outdated now, so I would recommend watching the 2017 version. The 2017 remake was actually a surprise hit - people were sure it was going to flop because they used completely rookie actors for the two leads, but it ended up being one of the better adaptations.
The second in the series is the Return of the Condor Heroes, and it's pretty much a direct sequel to LOCH. The protagonist is the son of one of the characters in LOCH, so you'll see some familiar characters in this. The 1995 adaptation is probably considered the best by the general Chinese population, but the rest are all watchable. So I would probably recommend watching the 2006 adaptation - I have my problems with it, but I am really, really not a fan of the 2014 adaptation, lol (can someone stop selling adaptation rights to Yumama's company), so the 2006 one would be the better option.
The last book in the trilogy is the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and it's more of a distant, distant sequel to ROCH - as in, you could probably watch the story standalone without watching either of the prequels and not miss much. The pre-2009 adaptations are all pretty equally good and each have their strengths and weaknesses (interestingly enough, they are all similarly rated on Douban as well). My favorite is the 2003 version, and it actually holds up okay even now. I was not fond of the 2009 adaptation...They're actually filming a new remake now which should come out next year, so hopefully that will be a better take!
Hope that helps!
One thing to note - this show is going to have the opposite problem of Tribes and Empires, which was one book stretched into 70+ episodes and has multiple story threads (which is why it draggggged). Novoland: Eagle Flag has six books and is currently slotted at 56 episodes. It sounds like they're intending to cover at least parts of all six books by focusing on one main story thread, so that script is going to have to be really, really tight.
I do think that they will have better luck getting a satellite channel distributor than Tribes and Empires did - rumor is Hunan TV has already tentatively agreed, but things change fast in Chinese dramaland (as Tribes and Empires learned) so who knows. The cast is overall more famous though (especially since Liu Hao Ran's popularity exploded over the last two months - the marketing's been focused on him), and if there's one good thing about Linmon it's that their productions basically all end up getting TV slots.
I'm trying hard to temper expectations because 1) it's so far away and 2) the previous Novoland adaptations have been disappointing but ahhhh this looks so promising.