Having watched many different "Water Margin" movies and drama series, I always wonder, why the 1998 version gets such enormously high ratings. Maybe it's because it's the only version available with English subs. Another reason, I can't think of...
Compared with "Water Margin" (1973), "Outlaws of the Marsh" (1983) and "Water Margin" (2011), the version from 1998 is draggy, boring and suffers from less than average acting and performance.
With exception of well done martial arts scenes, the series is neither unique nor has it to offer anything else I'd name exceptional.
Many characters look that much alike that you're hardly able to keep them apart, if they don't introduce themselves, while others look so much out of place that I wonder why they went for a Water Margin casting in the first place. I wonder what might have driven those resposible for the casting to even consider casting certain actors for certain roles.
Make up and costume department didn't waste much time to create unique outfits for the 108 Stars of Destiny, even though they are all described in very special ways in the novel.
All this, I might possible be willing to forget about, but what really angers me are both, the listless performance of cast and voice actors and the similarly listless writing leading to one of the most boring "Water Margin" experiences ever with episodes so draggy they you have to fight the constant wish to yawn every five minutes...
A good news that adam cheng comeback for the role fuzi ^^
Yes!!! I just read it! They will both play in season two, Adam Cheng AND Wang Jin Song. One as Fu Zi and the other surely also in an interesting role. Love them both, so, that's really good news!!!
What I do not second: What makes you think, getting older robs you of being carefree?
What I experience(d) is: Young people very often care much too much about what others think, about how they look, about their style, about how they might appear in another ones eyes. They worry about school, university, if they get the job or the boy/girl they want, about prestige and carreer etc... The young so often need to reassure themselves that they are cool and trendy. They want to fit in with their clique and circle and often don't dare to do what they really want just because they fear to lose friends etc.
The older you get, the less you care about such negligabilities, as you grow way more self confidence and way more self confident.
I turn fifty, this year, and I can tell you, I don't give a damn if others wrinkle their noses if I laugh out loud on the street, when I'm on the train or on the ferry. I don't care what others think about my clothes, my style or my hair colour. I don't care what others think, when my boy-friend and I kiss on the street or when we are flirting as if we just met for the first time.
Life gets much easier, the older you get, that I can tell you. I don't have to proove my worth to anyone anymore, because I know what I'm worth. I live a very carefree life: why would I worry about money or a job or friends? I've a solid job and education. I have enough money to spend and a little flat to live in. I've a few lifelong friends I can rely on instead of a collection of 1000s of "friends" on social media. I don't know, who created the idea that people of 35+, 40+, 50+ are old or that they lose their lightheartedness. A woman of my age doesn't need to worry anymore if the boy next door will still like me without make-up (because he knows by now and decided to stay with me), we don't have to act fake to impress our fake friends (because the friends we have know how crazy we are by now and like it), we don't have to ask mom and dad anymore if we can stay out over night or if they can give us some money... Nope, I can honestly claim, I don't want to be twenty again. I love the carefree life I live today. It's way more easy going as it was back than when I had no idea if I'd find a job, a partner or if I could afford my expenses...
A few thoughts on "Ever Night 2 - 将夜2" - Cast changes:
While everyone's aware, meanwhile, that Dylan Wang will take over the part of Ning Que from Arthur Chen, other cast members obviously also won't reprise their roles.
It's time to say goodbye to Adam Cheng and Liu Pei Qi...
While I think, the casting team found the fitting actors to play Fu Zi (Wang Jin Song will replace Adam Cheng) and Chen Mou (Chen Tai Shen will replace Liu Pei Qi) in season two, I just can't deny that I find it utterly weird to suddenly have a 22 years younger Fu Zi to deal with and a 14 years younger Chen Mou, while Ning Que, Sang Sang and Long Qing grow up and grow older...
Maybe Fu Zi and Chen Mou found the Fountain of Youth - who knows...
One of the many things, the "Ever Night" production and casting teams obviously didn't think of when they made their casting decisions for season one...
Of course, it was lovely to see Adam Cheng as Fu Zi, but at the time, we'll reach season three, he'll be in the second half of his seventies...
A versed casting team would have thought about issues like this from the very beginning and would not have said "Oh, I'd love him to play Fu Zi, he'd be my first choice".
Yes, dear, I loved him too, but he's not 50 anymore...
A versed casting team would have thought ahead for the three seasons to come and, therefore, they should have paid attention to the age of their actors too, in my honest opinon, and if they'd be able to take part in the later seasons.
It was clear from the very beginning that "Ever Night" shoud/would have at least three seasons. Therefore, I'd have expected a way more professional way of thinking about how to realise it. If you want to do three season, plan for three seasons... If Peter Jackson would have filmed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy like this we'd have different actors for the characters in each of the three movies... "Ever Night" is an ambitious project, it would have been nice if it would live up to this ambition. And this first and foremost means: Do a better writing for seasons two and three!!! The script of season one with its plotholes, with its abandoning characters for ten, twenty, thirty episodes that you almost forgot about them to be part of the tale just to throw them back at you for one or two minutes and then to abandon them again for numerous episodes, was awful!!!
I really do not understand how you can say any of these things about a show that you stated you would never watch.…
Normally, I watch between 5-10 episodes before I decide, if I give it a try or not. I even tried to start watching it twice (because I loved Yang Zi and Deng Lun in other roles) but ended up not as enthused about it as anyone else. I don't like bon-bon coloured artificial settings and the heavy use of CGI. I didn't like the overly praised peach-blossom coloured "Eternal Love" either. And not everyone is into overdone romance. So what...
Eye-cancer creating CGI? lol... Among all chinese fantasy dramas, this drama has the best CGI tho. If this is…
No offense meant, but compared with "Ever Night" or "Tribes and Empires" the CGI in "Ashes of Love" is a joke. I agree on the use of CGI in several other drama series, though. I'm not sure, if I've a term for some of the trash they tried to feed us. Sometimes, you can just shake your head.
Mushy romance, hot kisses, wrapped around limbs in steamy love scenes and eye-cancer creating CGI...no one will ever get me to watch "Ashes of Love", but it seems to make its fans freak out...
I wonder what these celebrities actually sound like maybe because Western films.arent dubbed it could explain…
The trend is going more and more to non-dubbing and on-set recording. There are numerous drama series where the actors are not dubbed anymore: "Ever Night", "Tribes and Empires", "Shaolin Wendao" and many more. As for the Western movies: Here in Germany all movies get dubbed which are not from Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
I just wonder: what has dubbing to do with facial/eye expression???
After all, the actors talk on set, They just get dubbed afterwards. A fantastic example for how an actress sounds on set is Li Qin's performance as Chun'er in a BTS video. She's better than the actress who dubbed her later on...but for some reasons some production companies obviously prefer dubbing as it can still be done whole the actors are on set. So, they don't have to wait for them to got to the studio themselves. A question of time and money.
Not a new story, things like this got told over and over again, but it's really nicely done. Filmed in beautiful settings and with a decent use of CGI: colourful but decent, matching the fantasy theme. A cast of fresh faces, flanked by the beautiful Liu Guan Xiang and a once again very stern Li Zi Feng.
What totally turns me off, though, is that annoying voice actress dubbing the female lead: She does the same annoying thing again and again and again for any actress she dubs. No colour in her voice, just annoing screaming around that loud that you cannot not hear her. Is that the revenge of a woman who wasn't able to become a real actress??? Ruining the performance of every actress she dubs in studio??? Girl, do us all a favour: Go and retire!!! Then, you won't ruin any other drama series and no other performances any more in future!!!
Because some obviously think that's what happens between them when they "sleep together". If you read my comment carefully, you'd get that I do not think like that. But some people obviously can't imagine that some things don't have to happen even if a boy and a girl sleep together...
You really think Arthur could just be pushed off considering who his dad is??Also legend of awakening will do…
That's why I said, I for my part...
This series has so many storylines and characters I find interesting, that I simply can't focus on the main characters or the main storyline only.
For me, "Ever Night" is a bit like "Lord of the Rings" and Ning Que is a bit like Frodo Baggins: They are the main characters, but they are far from being the most interesting characters. What goes for Frodo also goes for Ning Que: Those around him, his friends and companions, are willing to even sacrifice their lives to see him succed. And yet it is Sam who is the most amazing character in LOTR...
As for the bad habit of changing the actors for the leading characters in Chinese drama series which run over more than one season: That's something I'm glad about that it doesn't happen in series from the US or GB or even Germany. If a series runs over more than one season, they make sure an actor stays for more than one season (even if the production company has different plans). No one would ever have thought about casting a new actor for the role of Fox Mulder, when David Duchovny left the X-Files. They gave Scully a new partner instead. It's either same character = same actor or new actor = new character. Of course, this does not work for "Ever Night", but it's something Chinese productions definitely have to start working on. And if Tencent didn't want to work with Arthur Chen, they should have made this clear from the very beginning not in the middle of broadcast of season one. That's far from being professional...
You really think Arthur could just be pushed off considering who his dad is??Also legend of awakening will do…
I don't think, Ever Night 2 will drop in views. Not, if people watch a series for the story and not for a single actor. I, for my part, am interested in the story and in the whole cast, not just in one character or actor. To literally show the rest of an amazing cast the middle finger just because the change of one actor it pathetic, in my honest opinion. Would people do that too of the change would have heppened due to illness or other reasons? "Ever Night" is a captivating story and I want to know how it ends, no matter how and what.
Well, with Dylan Wang to be not as tall as Arthur Chen, they have the chance to make Sang Sang look like having grown up. Not the worst thing to happen if they want to show her becoming an adult.
Compared with "Water Margin" (1973), "Outlaws of the Marsh" (1983) and "Water Margin" (2011), the version from 1998 is draggy, boring and suffers from less than average acting and performance.
With exception of well done martial arts scenes, the series is neither unique nor has it to offer anything else I'd name exceptional.
Many characters look that much alike that you're hardly able to keep them apart, if they don't introduce themselves, while others look so much out of place that I wonder why they went for a Water Margin casting in the first place. I wonder what might have driven those resposible for the casting to even consider casting certain actors for certain roles.
Make up and costume department didn't waste much time to create unique outfits for the 108 Stars of Destiny, even though they are all described in very special ways in the novel.
All this, I might possible be willing to forget about, but what really angers me are both, the listless performance of cast and voice actors and the similarly listless writing leading to one of the most boring "Water Margin" experiences ever with episodes so draggy they you have to fight the constant wish to yawn every five minutes...
They will both play in season two, Adam Cheng AND Wang Jin Song.
One as Fu Zi and the other surely also in an interesting role.
Love them both, so, that's really good news!!!
What I do not second:
What makes you think, getting older robs you of being carefree?
What I experience(d) is: Young people very often care much too much about what others think, about how they look, about their style, about how they might appear in another ones eyes. They worry about school, university, if they get the job or the boy/girl they want, about prestige and carreer etc...
The young so often need to reassure themselves that they are cool and trendy. They want to fit in with their clique and circle and often don't dare to do what they really want just because they fear to lose friends etc.
The older you get, the less you care about such negligabilities, as you grow way more self confidence and way more self confident.
I turn fifty, this year, and I can tell you, I don't give a damn if others wrinkle their noses if I laugh out loud on the street, when I'm on the train or on the ferry. I don't care what others think about my clothes, my style or my hair colour. I don't care what others think, when my boy-friend and I kiss on the street or when we are flirting as if we just met for the first time.
Life gets much easier, the older you get, that I can tell you. I don't have to proove my worth to anyone anymore, because I know what I'm worth.
I live a very carefree life: why would I worry about money or a job or friends?
I've a solid job and education. I have enough money to spend and a little flat to live in. I've a few lifelong friends I can rely on instead of a collection of 1000s of "friends" on social media.
I don't know, who created the idea that people of 35+, 40+, 50+ are old or that they lose their lightheartedness.
A woman of my age doesn't need to worry anymore if the boy next door will still like me without make-up (because he knows by now and decided to stay with me), we don't have to act fake to impress our fake friends (because the friends we have know how crazy we are by now and like it), we don't have to ask mom and dad anymore if we can stay out over night or if they can give us some money...
Nope, I can honestly claim, I don't want to be twenty again. I love the carefree life I live today. It's way more easy going as it was back than when I had no idea if I'd find a job, a partner or if I could afford my expenses...
While everyone's aware, meanwhile, that Dylan Wang will
take over the part of Ning Que from Arthur Chen, other cast members obviously also won't reprise their roles.
It's time to say goodbye to Adam Cheng and Liu Pei Qi...
While I think, the casting team found the fitting actors to play Fu Zi (Wang Jin Song will replace Adam Cheng) and Chen Mou (Chen Tai Shen will replace Liu Pei Qi) in season two, I just can't deny that I find it utterly weird to suddenly have a 22 years younger Fu Zi to deal with and a 14 years younger Chen Mou, while Ning Que, Sang Sang and Long Qing grow up and grow older...
Maybe Fu Zi and Chen Mou found the Fountain of Youth - who knows...
One of the many things, the "Ever Night" production and casting teams obviously didn't think of when they made their casting decisions for season one...
Of course, it was lovely to see Adam Cheng as Fu Zi, but at the time, we'll reach season three, he'll be in the second half of his seventies...
A versed casting team would have thought about issues like this from the very beginning and would not have said "Oh, I'd love him to play Fu Zi, he'd be my first choice".
Yes, dear, I loved him too, but he's not 50 anymore...
A versed casting team would have thought ahead for the three seasons to come and, therefore, they should have paid attention to the age of their actors too, in my honest opinon, and if they'd be able to take part in the later seasons.
It was clear from the very beginning that "Ever Night" shoud/would have at least three seasons. Therefore, I'd have expected a way more professional way of thinking about how to realise it. If you want to do three season, plan for three seasons...
If Peter Jackson would have filmed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy like this we'd have different actors for the characters in each of the three movies...
"Ever Night" is an ambitious project, it would have been nice if it would live up to this ambition.
And this first and foremost means: Do a better writing for seasons two and three!!!
The script of season one with its plotholes, with its abandoning characters for ten, twenty, thirty episodes that you almost forgot about them to be part of the tale just to throw them back at you for one or two minutes and then to abandon them again for numerous episodes, was awful!!!
Don't take it personal, please. ;)
I guess, I'm simply not made for stories like this. lol
I agree on the use of CGI in several other drama series, though. I'm not sure, if I've a term for some of the trash they tried to feed us. Sometimes, you can just shake your head.
You asked how the actors really sound - you got a detailed answer. If you don't want answers, don't ask questions.
There are numerous drama series where the actors are not dubbed anymore:
"Ever Night", "Tribes and Empires", "Shaolin Wendao" and many more.
As for the Western movies:
Here in Germany all movies get dubbed which are not from Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
I just wonder: what has dubbing to do with facial/eye expression???
After all, the actors talk on set, They just get dubbed afterwards. A fantastic example for how an actress sounds on set is Li Qin's performance as Chun'er in a BTS video. She's better than the actress who dubbed her later on...but for some reasons some production companies obviously prefer dubbing as it can still be done whole the actors are on set. So, they don't have to wait for them to got to the studio themselves. A question of time and money.
The one who dubbed Dilireba and Bai Lu is Qiao Shiyu, the one who dubbed Li Yi Xiao in "Ming Lan" is Zhang Zhe.
Filmed in beautiful settings and with a decent use of CGI: colourful but decent, matching the fantasy theme.
A cast of fresh faces, flanked by the beautiful Liu Guan Xiang and a once again very stern Li Zi Feng.
What totally turns me off, though, is that annoying voice actress dubbing the female lead:
She does the same annoying thing again and again and again for any actress she dubs.
No colour in her voice, just annoing screaming around that loud that you cannot not hear her.
Is that the revenge of a woman who wasn't able to become a real actress???
Ruining the performance of every actress she dubs in studio???
Girl, do us all a favour: Go and retire!!!
Then, you won't ruin any other drama series and no other performances any more in future!!!
If you read my comment carefully, you'd get that I do not think like that.
But some people obviously can't imagine that some things don't have to happen even if a boy and a girl sleep together...
This series has so many storylines and characters I find interesting, that I simply can't focus on the main characters or the main storyline only.
For me, "Ever Night" is a bit like "Lord of the Rings" and Ning Que is a bit like Frodo Baggins:
They are the main characters, but they are far from being the most interesting characters.
What goes for Frodo also goes for Ning Que:
Those around him, his friends and companions, are willing to even sacrifice their lives to see him succed.
And yet it is Sam who is the most amazing character in LOTR...
As for the bad habit of changing the actors for the leading characters in Chinese drama series which run over more than one season:
That's something I'm glad about that it doesn't happen in series from the US or GB or even Germany.
If a series runs over more than one season, they make sure an actor stays for more than one season (even if the production company has different plans).
No one would ever have thought about casting a new actor for the role of Fox Mulder, when David Duchovny left the X-Files. They gave Scully a new partner instead.
It's either same character = same actor or new actor = new character.
Of course, this does not work for "Ever Night", but it's something Chinese productions definitely have to start working on.
And if Tencent didn't want to work with Arthur Chen, they should have made this clear from the very beginning not in the middle of broadcast of season one. That's far from being professional...
I, for my part, am interested in the story and in the whole cast, not just in one character or actor.
To literally show the rest of an amazing cast the middle finger just because the change of one actor it pathetic, in my honest opinion.
Would people do that too of the change would have heppened due to illness or other reasons?
"Ever Night" is a captivating story and I want to know how it ends, no matter how and what.