After watching the Heaven Sword And Dragon Sabre 2019, I was tempted to go back and rewatch the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄傳), the first part of this wuxia trilogy. It’s been 2 years, and my first impression was it is a watchable drama despite it being a remake. Most people would remember the TVB version of 1983 starring Felix Wong Yat-Wah and Barbara Yung Mei-Ling and a comparison would be inevitable. In this Legend Of The Condor Heroes 2017 review, I will try to highlight what I like and dislike about this remake after having rewatched it recently and perhaps, you can decide from there if you should sit through the entire 52 episodes.
Episodes: 52
Type: Wuxia
Aired: January 2017
Images Credit: Sina
* A dubbed Cantonese version was aired over TVB Hong Kong in May 2017
The Novel
As we all know, The Legend Of The Condor Heroes is a very popular Chinese novel written by Jin Yong. It has become a classic. Fortunately, we now have a translation of his novel which starts with the first volume, A Hero Born (Amazon affiliate link).
The Main Cast
- Yang Xuwen as Guo Jing
- Li Yitong as Huang Rong
- Chen Xingxu as Yang Kang
- Meng Ziyi as Mu Nianci
- Zhao Lixin as Hong Qigong
- Michael Miu Kiu-Wai as Huang Yaoshi
- Heizi as Ouyang Feng
- Ning Wentong as Zhou Botong
- Mi Lu as Mei Chaofeng
- Tay Ping Hui as Temujin/Genghis Khan
- Zong Fengyan as Wanyan Honglie
- Wang Kuirong as Ke Zhen’e
Main Characters
It will always be hard to find a perfect depiction of the characters for any shows that are based on novel adaptations. For the Legend Of The Condor Heroes 2017, they used rookies and less well-known actors and actresses for the main leads due to budget constraints. Below are the main characters that are depicted in the drama as I see it.
Guo Jing
Guo Jing grew up on the Mongol plains with his mother, Li Ping, and was absorbed by Temujin into his tribe when he was a young boy. His father, Guo Xiaotian, died before he was born. He is an honest and upright individual who is also loyal and patriotic. However, he is also mentally slow and would not be able to grasp issues quickly. While it might take him a long time to master a kungfu skill, he makes up for it by being diligent and hardworking.
Huang Rong
While Guo Jing is slow, Huang Rong is the complete opposite. She is very smart and witty and often uses her quick-thinking skills to get out of dangerous situations. She is the daughter of Huang Yaoshi and they live on Peach Blossom Island. Her mother died when she was born and she was doted on by her father. She is a good cook and uses this advantage to get into the good books of Hong Qigong.
Yang Kang
Yang Kang grew up as a Jin prince and son to Wanyan Honglie. In actual fact, he was born to a Song peasant couple and didn’t know of his own identity until much later. His biological father, Yang Tiexin, is thought to have died before Yang Kang was born. While his mother, Bao Xiruo, is kind and compassionate, Yang Kang is a dishonest individual who can be treacherous to get what he wants.
Mu Nianci
Nianci is the foster daughter of Yang Tiexin. She is an orphan when an epidemic killed her family. Tiexin took pity on her and brought her up. Together, they traveled everywhere and staged martial art contests whereby a man who can defeat Nianci will be awarded her hand in marriage. She is also a very filial daughter. Her character is more reserved and not as bubbly as Huang Rong’s but Nianci is the type of woman who would sacrifice herself for the greater good.
Hong Qigong, Huang Yaoshi & Ouyang Feng
These 3 characters are part of the 5 Greats in the martial art world. Hong Qigong is the chief of the Beggars’ Sect and loves to indulge in good food. He is helpful and uses his skills to help those in need. His character is depicted as happy-go-lucky with a cheerful demeanor. A chance encounter with Guo Jing and Huang Rong resulted in Hong Qigong agreeing to accept them as his disciples. He also anointed Huang Rong as his successor as the chief of the Beggars’ Sect later on in the drama.
Huang Yaoshi is the Huang Rong’s father and known as the Eastern Heretic. He is an eccentric character who doesn’t like to explain himself although he may be framed for things that he didn’t do. As such, misunderstandings often arise between him and members of the other sects. But Huang Yaoshi is actually a sentimental person at heart. He has a tomb built on Peach Blossom Island that is dedicated to his late wife and visits it often to talk to her.
Ouyang Feng is known as the Western Venom and apart from his great martial art skills, he also specializes in toxicology. He is ruthless and ambitious with an aim to become the greatest martial art exponent in the wulin. This led him to cooperate with Yang Kang and Wanyan Honglie in order to get his hands on the 9 Yin Manual which is a book about a powerful martial art technique.
Zhou Botong
Zhou Botong belongs to the Quanzhen Sect and is also a great martial art exponent. He inherited the 9 Yin Manual from his senior but destroyed the second volume after being tricked by Huang Yaoshi and his wife years earlier. Trapped on Peach Blossom Island after confronting Huang Yaoshi, he lived in a cave on the island for the next 15 years until the arrival of Guo Jing. Zhou Botong is a playful character who is childish and loves to play pranks on others. He secretly passed on the 9 Yin martial art skills to Guo Jing and also became his sworn brother.
Mei Chaofeng & Ke Zhen’e
Mei Chaofeng and Ke Zhen’e are foes. The former is a disciple of Huang Yaoshi but escaped from Peach Blossom Island with her husband after they have stolen the second volume of the 9 Yin Manual from their master. This second volume is written from memory by Huang Yaoshi’s wife after they have tricked Zhou Botong into letting them read it. By practicing an evil version of a martial art skill from the 9 Yin Manual, Mei Chaofeng’s character is portrayed as ruthless, cruel and revengeful.
Ke Zhen’e is the leader of the 7 Freaks of Jiangnan and together, they are Guo Jing’s masters. He was blinded by Mei Chaofeng in a duel while his brother was killed. Ke Zhen’e is a strict master but loves Guo Jing at heart.
Synopsis
Initial Plot
The Legend Of The Condor Heroes 2017 begins with the story of 2 sworn brothers, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin, living in Ox Village. Their wives were pregnant at that time. While fleeing from Jurchen officials, Qiu Chuji, a Quanzhen Sect member, got acquainted with the 2 brothers. Upon request, he named the 2 unborn children as Guo Jing and Yang Kang.
Among the Jurchen officials who were pursuing Qiu Chuji was Wanyan Honglie, a Jin prince. He was seriously injured but was secretly helped by Yang Tiexin’s wife, Bao Xiruo, who took pity on him. Wanyan Honglie fell in love with Bao Xiruo and ordered Duan Tiande to capture the 2 brothers. While fleeing from Duan Tiande’s soldiers, Guo Xiantian was killed while Yang Tiexin fell off a cliff and disappeared. The wives got separated. Li Ping was captured by Duan Tiande but escaped while Bao Xiruo was “saved” by Wanyan Honglie and ended up as his queen in his palace. She was also told by Wanyan Honglie that her husband had died during the raid.
18-Year Agreement
When Qiu Chuji found out about the incident, he pursued Duan Tiande to try to save Li Ping but was unsuccessful due to a misunderstanding with the 7 Freaks Of Jiangnan. When the misunderstanding was resolved, it was agreed that the 7 Freaks Of Jiangnan would find Li Ping while Qiu Chuji would look for Bao Xiruo. Both parties would then train the 2 children separately in martial arts for a contest to be held when they reach 18 years of age.
Much of the drama then revolves around the adventures of the 18-year-old Guo Jing as he seeks Duan Tiande to avenge the death of his father and to meet up with Yang Kang for the agreed upon martial art contest arranged by his masters with Qiu Chuji. By the time he left Mongolia to fulfill these missions, he was already betrothed to Temujin’s daughter although he only cares for her as a sister.
Along the way, Guo Jing met Huang Rong and fell in love with her as well as had the good fortune of learning new martial art skills from renowned martial art experts in the wulin. All these happened against the backdrop of conflicts among the Song, Jurchens, and Mongols with Yang Kang being forced to choose between his true identity as a Song and loyalty to his stepfather, Wanyan Honglie.
The Legend Of The Condor Heroes 2017 Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
In the final episode, Temujin died due to illness. By then, he had united the Mongols and was a formidable force. Just before he died, he met up with Guo Jing who was now protecting Song territory from foreign invaders. While they were foes then, there was much respect for one another. The final scene sees Guo Jing and Huang Rong riding back to Xiangyang, a city that they were trying to protect.
Guo Jing & Huang Rong
Leading up to the final episode, Guo Jing turned his back on Temujin when he discovered that the latter had plans to invade Song territory after getting rid of the Jurchens. He tried to escape with his mother from Mongolia but Temujin’s daughter reported him as she was afraid of losing her betrothed. Guo Jing’s mother committed suicide in front of Temujin after advising his son to never betray his Song identity.
His Mongol teacher and brother let him escape due to their emotional attachment to each other while Temujin’s daughter broke their betrothal due to her guilt of indirectly causing his mother’s death. So, Guo Jing and Huang Rong ended up together despite earlier uncertainties.
Yang Kang & Mu Nianci
Yang Kang was consistently torn between his loyalty to the Song and Jin empires. His biological father and mother died after being pursued by Wanyan Honglie and his soldiers. In the initial stages, he was influenced by Mu Nianci, whom he loved, to go against Wanyan Honglie to avenge the death of his parents. But he found it hard to kill his own stepfather who had loved him like his own son and to give up his life as a prince.
When Mu Nianci jumped off a cliff and thought to have died during the pursuit for the Book of Wumu (a book on military strategies) by opposing parties, Yang Kang turned even more ambitious and treacherous. He died while trying to stop Huang Rong from revealing that he was the murderer of Ouyang Feng’s nephew while they were all inside a temple. He was poisoned from Huang Rong’s body armor when he launched a palm strike on her and died a painful death.
Mu Nianci survived the jump from the cliff. She was pregnant with Yang Kang’s child at that time. When Guo Jing and Huang Rong were on the way to Xiangyang to warn the commander of a Mongol invasion, they bumped into Mu Nianci and her son. Guo Jing named Yang Kang and Mu Nianci’s son Yang Guo. Yang Guo would go on to become the protagonist in the second part of this trilogy, The Return Of The Condor Heroes.
Wanyan Honglie
The Jurchens lost a battle to the Mongols in Samarkand and Wanyan Honglie was captured. This was done with the help of Guo Jing and an idea from Huang Rong to penetrate the walls of the city. Wanyan Honglie died when he slashed his neck against a sword before he was actually beheaded in front of Temujin.
Ouyang Feng
Ouyang Feng was tricked by Huang Rong when he held her captive in order to get her to interpret the 9 Yin Manual. Huang Rong reverses the instructions on the manual and gave Ouyang Feng the wrong information. Although Ouyang Feng ended up practicing the 9 Yin Manual in a reverse manner, he still developed great powers that even superseded those of Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi. However, he became insane with the wrong method of practice as a result.
The Legend Of The Condor Heroes 2017 Review – Should You Watch?
It is indeed hard to watch 52 episodes of a drama if it isn’t interesting enough. For the 2017 remake of this Jin Yong’s trilogy, I feel that they have managed to pace the story and scenes well so that the usual boredom halfway through a long drama is reduced as much as possible. The first 10 to 12 episodes is actually pretty exciting with fighting scenes to keep the story action-packed. So, once you start watching, you will be compelled to continue and follow the plot, especially if it is the first time you are watching The Legend Of The Condor Heroes and/or have not read the novel.
The story follows quite closely to the novel which should keep Jin Yong’s fans happy. Although the male and female lead are young and inexperienced, they did a fairly good job at playing the role of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Yang Xuwen gave us a dim-witted Guo Jing that is likable although his acting still lacks maturity. He can’t convey expressions well enough to reveal the depth of emotions when confronted with betrayal, disappointment, and other situations.
On the other hand, I quite like Li Yitong in her portrayal of Huang Rong. She has managed to make the character lively and interesting to watch apart from just a pretty face. She is a good match to Yang Xuwen’s Guo Jing but I feel that it still lacks a bit of chemistry between the 2 leads. Maybe because theirs is a more innocent love that is being portrayed but there are times in the drama that I don’t feel particularly invested in their relationship.
My Verdict
The Legend Of The Condor Heroes 2017 review on my part would end with a watch recommendation. It is worth it to sit through this drama especially if you are a Condor Heroes fan because you will get pulled along to follow the story through with the great pacing of the storyline. Don’t expect superb acting but the fighting scenes and plot should compensate for the shortfall.
Personally, one of the reasons I re-watched this drama is due to Michael Miu Kiu-Wai. He managed to make Huang Yaoshi really classy as a martial art expert. His nuances and facial expressions convey the character as a cut above the rest as a kung fu master and it is a joy to watch.
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this version is better than the 2008 Legend of the condor heroes adaptation (Hu Ge and ariel lin version) .
Nice graphic and resolution and camera view
good choreographer
faithful to original novel