It started off pretty amazing with a well chosen cast and a well written story based on well researched historical chracters and facts. Costumes, settings, pace, performance - this series has everything that could make it a highlight amongst historical/biographical drama series.
What made me abandon and drop it was the camaera work. I don't know if it was on purpose or if it got used to let the audience feel the motion, but especially in battle scenes, there was not a single moment where the camera remained steady. It was hard on the eyes and kind of a torment to watch these battle scenes, as the eye had nothing to focus on. When this unresting camera work also went on in the palace scenes and even in scenes where the characters simply talked to each other, I decided it was time to go as it made me feel uncomfortable and restless, too.
I get the feeling that the vast majority of CGI-using movies and dramas of the last 20 years would have been better…
You're welcome. :) I don't know, if it has a happy ending, because I dropped it after having watched 1/3 of the show. It simply got too weird. Gu Long's novels definitely deserve better. The movie from 1977 is better and has a semi-happy ending, which is very satisfying, though.
Hey! I thought you were gone! Picking this up again?
I'm not watching anymore, I'm downloading, taking screencaps of Xia Tian and Zou Tingwei and deleting. Unfortunately, I need to thumb through the rest of the scenes to find the ones relevant to me. I know, I'm mean... Oh by the way: This stlye with the extremely pale face, the fan and the white clothes - I finally know where I saw it before. In King Hu's "Come Drink with Me" from 1966. Chen Hong Lie played the Jade Tiger: with an overly pale face , dressed all in white, weilding the fan. He just did it better...
Sigh, the logic is for 3 years old (no intention in humiliating 3 years old).
That dumb gesture: Waving the sword and everyone falls down. Blergh! The best way to cover that these guys and girls have no clue about swordfighting, which, actually, should be one essential class while studying acting and perfromance. It's so hard not to die laughing if I read comments about "good fight scenes" in this kind of dramas. What do they see??? There are NONE!!! Not. A. Single. One.
Sigh, the logic is for 3 years old (no intention in humiliating 3 years old).
I'm only interested in three of the actors performing in this series: Zou Ting Wei, Xia Tian and Li Zong Han. That's why I made it that far, so far, they kept me going. lol
Sigh, the logic is for 3 years old (no intention in humiliating 3 years old).
Hehe, I don't care much about bare skin, especially since I got to know, how six-packs and abs get created in some cases. Behind the scenes photos and videos can be very useful...
As for the ultimate villain: I have a guess. I'm pretty sure, I know to which actor the eyes under the hood belong. He can hide under a hood and wear a mask, but his eyes I'll never fail to recognise.
Sigh, the logic is for 3 years old (no intention in humiliating 3 years old).
Sadly, the mass-production of new actors for the c-drama industry dosen't mean a mass-production of talent, too. I haven't seen so many medicore and even bad performances in decades like they are popping up at the moment. Too many models, singers and idols trying to act and less and less trained actors are given a chance. But why do I complain??? The writers, directors and stage-coordinators become more and more medicore too. And as long as the female audience drools more over six-packs, naked chests and trained abs than over acting skills, nothing will change.
There seems to be a trend of MLs that can't fight or can't fight as well as the FLs.... sigh! The women really…
Oh well, that's nothing new. In King Hu's classic wuxia movie "A Touch of Zen" from 1971 the male lead played by Shih Chun couldn't fight either while the leading lady was a badass fighter. Instead, the male lead was clever, witty and brave in many other ways. Braveness and the ability to fight do not always define themselves by how well someone can lead a sword or through the amount of corpses someone leaves behind.
Sigh, the logic is for 3 years old (no intention in humiliating 3 years old).
Fingers crossed, you'll get "your" scene, soon. I took a break from c-drama for a couple of days, having watched Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy": "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More" & "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". Hell, that was good. From a time where men were still men and when actors in their fourties weren't considered old but at the peak of their carreer. I can't tell you how much I needed this. No babyfaces pretending to play men but men playing men... Now, I can go on with my series. lol
Sigh, the logic is for 3 years old (no intention in humiliating 3 years old).
I really wanted to continue, even if it would have been for Zou Ting Wei, Xia Tian and Li Zong Han only, but I can have them all in other series and movies - so, no way...I'm not that strong. lol
Costumes, settings, pace, performance - this series has everything that could make it a highlight amongst historical/biographical drama series.
What made me abandon and drop it was the camaera work. I don't know if it was on purpose or if it got used to let the audience feel the motion, but especially in battle scenes, there was not a single moment where the camera remained steady. It was hard on the eyes and kind of a torment to watch these battle scenes, as the eye had nothing to focus on.
When this unresting camera work also went on in the palace scenes and even in scenes where the characters simply talked to each other, I decided it was time to go as it made me feel uncomfortable and restless, too.
I don't know, if it has a happy ending, because I dropped it after having watched 1/3 of the show. It simply got too weird.
Gu Long's novels definitely deserve better.
The movie from 1977 is better and has a semi-happy ending, which is very satisfying, though.
Unfortunately, I need to thumb through the rest of the scenes to find the ones relevant to me. I know, I'm mean...
Oh by the way: This stlye with the extremely pale face, the fan and the white clothes - I finally know where I saw it before.
In King Hu's "Come Drink with Me" from 1966.
Chen Hong Lie played the Jade Tiger: with an overly pale face , dressed all in white, weilding the fan. He just did it better...
The best way to cover that these guys and girls have no clue about swordfighting, which, actually, should be one essential class while studying acting and perfromance.
It's so hard not to die laughing if I read comments about "good fight scenes" in this kind of dramas.
What do they see??? There are NONE!!!
Not. A. Single. One.
Behind the scenes photos and videos can be very useful...
As for the ultimate villain: I have a guess.
I'm pretty sure, I know to which actor the eyes under the hood belong. He can hide under a hood and wear a mask, but his eyes I'll never fail to recognise.
I haven't seen so many medicore and even bad performances in decades like they are popping up at the moment.
Too many models, singers and idols trying to act and less and less trained actors are given a chance.
But why do I complain???
The writers, directors and stage-coordinators become more and more medicore too.
And as long as the female audience drools more over six-packs, naked chests and trained abs than over acting skills, nothing will change.
In King Hu's classic wuxia movie "A Touch of Zen" from 1971 the male lead played by Shih Chun couldn't fight either while the leading lady was a badass fighter. Instead, the male lead was clever, witty and brave in many other ways.
Braveness and the ability to fight do not always define themselves by how well someone can lead a sword or through the amount of corpses someone leaves behind.
I took a break from c-drama for a couple of days, having watched Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy":
"A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More" & "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".
Hell, that was good. From a time where men were still men and when actors in their fourties weren't considered old but at the peak of their carreer.
I can't tell you how much I needed this. No babyfaces pretending to play men but men playing men...
Now, I can go on with my series. lol