Jin Yong's first impressive TV series was The Legend of the Condor Heroes starring Bai Biao and Mi Xue. I still remember that the slogan at that time was "Martial Arts Drama with Hard Bridges and Hard Horses". From then on, I fell in love with martial arts dramas and knew who Jin Yong was.
The first set of Jin Yong's dramas that shocked me was Adam Cheng's Eternal Dragon Slayer in the late 1970s. This TV series made me realize what a beautiful woman is, and that is Zhou Zhiruo played by Angie Chiu. I still remember the last scene: Zhang Wuji stood in front of Zhao Min's grave and suddenly saw Zhao Min's figure. When he chased him out, he was gone. At that time, Zhang Wuji looked confused and helpless (adapted from the plot). Adam Cheng is by far the most successful Zhang Wuji.
Mainland friends like to use Hong Kong and Taiwan martial arts dramas to distinguish mainland TV dramas. In fact, as far as Jin Yong's plays are concerned, Hongkong is quite different from Taiwan Province Province and other Asian regions. The greatest strength of Jin Yong's martial arts is to describe characters and human nature, not just a few protagonists, but all kinds of people in novels. In the production of Taiwan Province Province and other places, only a few knowledgeable stars will be chosen as the leading role, but the selection and shaping of other roles are sloppy. Even if it is superior to Hong Kong in other production conditions, it is difficult to have the charm and taste of Jin Yong's novels.
. Before 2000, only Hong Kong TV had enough talents to produce such excellent works as Jin Yong's novels. Only TVB can capture the charm of Jin Yong's novels.
If I had to choose the favorite Jin Yong drama of each era, my choices would be Adam Cheng's version of The Dragon Slayer, Andy Lau's Chen Yulian's version of The Condor Heroes and 1997 Felix Wong Yat Wa's version of Long Hudou. Two thousand years later, it will be the world of Jin Yong's plays in Zhang Jizhong.
Before Zhang Jizhong's the legendary swordsman, we didn't see many mainland TV dramas, namely the Three Kingdoms, Wu Zetian, Shuihu and Yongzheng Dynasty. I remember watching the Water Margin and imagining how perfect it would be to shoot the Eight Dragons with these productions. At that time, it was supposed that if Ding Haifeng Song Wu was replaced by Joe, it would be much more real to embroider a wolf's head on his strong chest than the tattoo on Felix Wong Yat Wa's snow-white skin.
Because I love reading Jin Yong's novels, whenever the TV station plays Jin Yong's plays, I will record them and watch them. At the end of 2002, I first saw the promotional short film of the mainland version of the legendary swordsman, which lasted only a few tens of seconds. One of them was Ling Huchong and Ren Yingying sitting on a cliff playing the piano and playing the flute together. At that time, I felt that the use and framing of the lens were different from those of Jin Yong's plays in the past. But it doesn't matter much to me, except that it is Jin Yong's play in name in Taiwan Province Province.
After watching the first episode, I found that the martial arts artistic conception I usually imagined was reflected in the play. For example, when Ling Huchong and Quyang met in a tree, they had the same idea. I really don't understand why some viewers say that the legendary swordsman has no martial arts flavor. The real houses, forests, mountains and water are Wen Zi described by Jin Yong. After watching several episodes, I can't help thinking that it is not difficult to find a big house or forest as the background, but when I think of the cliff scene, I will definitely use the factory view! When you really sit and watch the sky, there are more caves in mainland China than in other places. When you see the big cave that has crossed the cliff, you really feel what the original essence is.
In fact, at that time, the first few episodes of the legendary swordsman were cut to pieces, but Li Li's did have some shortcomings, but at that time, it was enough to appreciate its advantages, unlike some mainland friends who were just picky.
Of course, such a wonderful martial arts drama should also be well hidden. Recorded more than a dozen episodes and found no video. When I went shopping, I happened to find a VCD of the legendary swordsman on sale. In great joy, I bought it for more than 360 Hong Kong dollars.
The broadcast time of Hong Kong TV series is far less than that of mainland TV stations to please the audience, and several episodes are broadcast at a time. Generally, Hong Kong dramas are broadcast for one hour every day from Monday to Friday, and there are three quite long advertising slots, which are quite unpleasant. This time, watching the legendary swordsman TV series is the first time I feel happy and satisfied. I didn't think the plot was dragging on at that time. Every episode is very touching and I am always surprised. The battle of bamboo forest, the third battle of Shaolin, the battle of Dong Fangbubai, the battle of the champions of the Five Mountains, and the last war are all laughter and unprecedented satisfaction.
At that time, there was such an evaluation of the legendary swordsman: "Jin Yong's TV plays are just derivatives of Jin Yong's novels, and their achievements are just part of the highlights of the novels, which is a bit interesting." This mainland version of the legendary swordsman has been promoted to the same status as the novel; That is to say, Wen Zi performed well in some plots and there were many scenes. Television is better than Wen Zi, and most of them are written in light and shadow, which complement each other. Now it seems that this evaluation is a bit over-praised, but it also expresses the feeling of shock at that time.
At the beginning of 2003, I accidentally found the VCD of Legend of the Condor Heroes in a film and television shop, and it only sold for more than 200 yuan. It's imported from the mainland, and the packaging is very ugly. Guo Jing on the cover is a bit fierce (I didn't know it was played by Ling Huchong at that time), and Huang Rong is not beautiful. What is more attractive is the scene of galloping horses on the cover. At the back of the page, I saw Zhang Jizhong's name, as well as the names of producers such as Ju Jueliang, Ma Yucheng and Zhao Jian. Although the director Ju Jueliang is from Hongkong, he is unknown. Ma Yucheng is no stranger, but he is quite a good martial arts coach. Later, compared with the producer of the legendary swordsman, I found that the legendary swordsman was the same producer, and that was Zhang Jizhong.
The TV series in Hong Kong is directed by the producer, and the film is directed by the director. Are the producer and the producer the same person? Or is it just equal to the investor? One more question. Was The Legend of the Condor Heroes filmed before or after the legendary swordsman? All these have a great influence on the performance of this TV series. On the contrary, I don't care much about who the starring role is. I don't know anyone anyway. This is also good, there will be no inherent image of actors, and you can be more involved in the characters in the play when watching the play.
When I first saw the picture of the opening song, I was very pleased that it was a higher-level production than the legendary swordsman. The effect of the whole the legendary swordsman is very general, but The Condor Heroes has the feeling of anticlimactic. What I can't stand most is Huashan's sloppy discussion of swords, which is far from the final confrontation of the legendary swordsman. Fortunately, in the end, Guo Jing and Genghis Khan played a good beat on the hero, and Li's performance was also excellent, successfully establishing the heroic image of George Guo Jing Jr. This is also one of the plates I have seen the most.
After watching this movie "The Condor Heroes", I am eager to see the growth of Rong and Guo. Jin Yong's works, only Guo Jing and Huang Rong, are still full of flesh and blood from youth to old age. Li and Zhou Xun can't continue to carve heroes, so the continuation of these two books is broken. No matter how successful The Condor Heroes is in the future, it is also a great pity.
In the middle of the same year, ATV broadcast a promotional short film of Eight Dragons. Although it was only a few seconds, I can see that it was made in Zhang Jizhong. Other Jin Yong dramas don't have the atmosphere and composition of Zhang Jin Yong's dramas. I also found that Duan Yu was played by Jimmy Lin. I only saw him play a supporting role in the movie meteor butterfly sword more than ten years ago, and I think he has the noble temperament of Duan Yu. From then on, I went to a film and television shop every once in a while, eager for the emergence of this set of "Dragon Eight".
In the middle of 20031February, the VCD of Tianlong Babu was finally sold, but only the first half was imported from mainland China, and the packaging was extremely unsightly. The first thing I saw was Hu Jun on the lid of the box. I watched his Infernal Affairs 2 and his performance left a deep impression on me. I think it would be appropriate for him to perform in Qiao Feng. Look at other actors, including Christy Chung, Tong Chun Chung and Lin Zhiqi. The mix-and-match between Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland is a bit neither fish nor fowl, unlike the TV series played by Zhang Jizhong, but more like the production funded by Taiwan Province Province. Even the producer's name is not printed on the back of the box, which makes people wonder if it is Zhang Jizhong's work.
As there was only the first half, I was very busy and didn't have time to watch it. I didn't rush to buy it, so I copied the website and made a plan. Through this website, I found many reports about Zhang Bian's Jin Yong dramas. I was surprised to see that such a proud Jin Yong TV series was ruthlessly abused in China.
Two weeks later, with excitement, I began to watch the TV series I had been looking forward to for half a year. Compared with the first two works, I have much greater expectations for the Dragon Eight Branches. The plot I want to see most is the death of Xinglin, Juxianzhuang, Ajun and Shaolin War. Compared with the feeling of watching the dragon in 1997, the feeling of Xinglin is similar to that of Juxian Village, but the death of Ah Jun is inferior. The remake of Qingshiqiao is excellent, which refers to the whole layout, but the director's dragon in 1997 was extremely successful. ).
The real spirit of Zhang Jizhong's TV series is Shaolin War, which is an unprecedented shock and the real establishment of Qiao Feng's heroic image. There are always surprises when there is no expected plot. Tian Ba Long Bu is by far the most successful Jin Yong drama.
After watching Dragon, I read all the reports about Jin Yong's dramas in the mainland and began to pay attention to the production trends of The Condor Heroes. Including preparation, casting, shooting and now waiting. I have never been so familiar with the production of a TV series. Compared with previous Jin Yong dramas, The Condor Heroes has completely lost its mystery, and its casting, modeling, costumes and scenes are all familiar. However, the expectation of "The Condor Heroes" is extremely high, which will inevitably affect the feeling of watching it another day. Of course, I am still full of confidence in the achievements of the condor heroes, which will surely be another peak in the history of martial arts TV.