#legend of the condor heroes 2008

[dangermousie]

Since we are about to meet the newest Guo Jing, pls have my favorite drama Guo Jing, from 2008 adaptation of The Legend of Condor Heroes, played by the one and only Hu Ge.

[romanceyourdemons]

Essential wuxia for newbies?

if we're talking a good introduction, kung fu panda (2008), crouching tiger, hidden dragon (2000), ip man (2008). if we're talking about things that are important to see, the latter two of that list plus come drink with me (1966), the five deadly venoms (1978), last hurrah for chivalry (1979), hero (2002), kung fu hustle (2004), and the assassin (2015). i'm not as familiar with the world of books, so i won't claim to know the best Essential Classics, but the book and the sword was the first jin yong book i read and i really enjoyed it, legend of the condor heroes is of course a classic and for good reason, and i've really been digging thousand autumns

[teafiend]

Reviews (summaries) of a few of the drama adaptations for [Legend of the Condor Heroes]/ 「射鵰英雄傳」 from the last three decades:

*Drama posters are from oldest to latest (from left to right, top to bottom)

1983 version (starring Barbara Yung and Felix Wong):

Too young to remember and never rewatched. A feted classic from Hong Kong TVB’s heyday. The only thing I will unequivocally say I love about this version is the iconic theme songs, which are the only musical tracks I can easily recall and identify when it comes to the numerous adaptations.

1994 version (starring Athena Chu and Julian Cheung):

First love. Good performances. Beautiful and ultra-cute JingRong. Favourite balance of visuals for JingRong. Solid production (HK TVB). Newish classic. Faithful to the main storylines. The version which made me fall for Guo Jing and the saga. Sometimes, however, first love only goes so far.

2003 version (starring Zhou Xun and Li Ya Peng):

Gritty. Jiang Hu. Sweeping epic. Mature vibes. Tragic and heartbreak-tinged. Faithful to the main storylines. Brilliant JingRong. Elegantly cultured Huang Rong. Earnestly chivalrous Guo Jing. Love both the portrayals of Guo Jing and Huang Rong (despite the many criticisms received). Loved the veteran gravitas of many of the supporting casts. Performances were fabulous. My only gripe is with Yang Kang (and his actor, Zhou Jie, whose performance I was not especially partial to, but he did okay though). The best Mongolian segment(s) out of all adaptations. Favourite drama adaptation (to date). The main and ending theme songs are fantastic, and the opening track has quite an epic saga feel.

(Some audience disliked ZX’s portrayal, and criticisms abound about her using her own voice during the show - which is a bit husky - but I had absolutely no issues with it. I thought the criticisms weirdly petty, actually. As someone who does not find dubs at all nice, I appreciated her using her own voice/dub for the series. LYP also received his fair share of criticisms for his portrayal. Personally, I enjoyed both tremendously).

2008 version (starring Ariel Lin and Hu Ge):

An adaptation I skipped as neither mains appealed to me, and Liu Shi Shi as Mu Nian Ci was not enough of a draw to make me trudge through an adaption I read was not particularly faithful to the novels. Visuals and vibes wise, I just could not see Hu Ge as Guo Jing - which is simply a personal preference - but I do not doubt that his performance/portrayal would have been fine. That goes for the rest of the cast and their performances.

2017 version (starring Li Yi Tong and Yang Xu Wen):

Pretty. Vibrant aesthetics. Wuxia vibes. Relatively youthful. Commendable production. Sweet, lovey-dovey and affectionate JingRong. Cutie - and handsome - Guo Jing. Excellent Huang Rong. Faithful to the main storylines. Highly enjoyable. Main instrumental track a clever nolstagic callback to the classic Hong Kong songs/themes. Good production. Superb performances overall.

(I found this version’s GJ a bit too prettily handsome, which is lovely but also felt a bit not-GJ. Still enjoyed his portrayal a lot though).

2024 version (starring Bao Shang En and Ci Sha):

Strong Wuxia vibes. Solid aesthetics and production. Youthful. Squee-worthy JingRong. Adorably devious Huang Rong. Favourite Guo Jing and JingRong (to date). Wonderful performances all around. Faithful to the main storylines. Some distinct emotional beats.

Especially noteworthy was the beautifully shot and conveyed scenes from near the end during GJ’s mental and spiritual struggles with his grief and martial abilities. Superbly done and went to the heart of the novel’s themes.

Flaws included pacing and issues with storylines length. Uneven focus. Lack of epic-ness.

(Ci Sha is not really my cup-of-tea visuals wise but he looked and felt like what Guo Jing *should* be and his performance was compelling and layered. His portrayal embodied the 靖 of 郭靖, and I think that meant something significant. He truly came into his own by the last third when the confidence and composure GJ cultivated throughout the series made his nuanced portrayal fangirl-scream worthy. *fainting away* Love his steady, gentle and devoted GJ to bits. The focus and complexity they afforded Yang Kang in this version made him a much more complex and conflicted antagonist, which was fascinating. This Wanyan Hong Lie inspired major feelings for a character I already found especially interesting and tragi-complex since the 2003 adaptation. The soft-spot I have for him is too real).

[mademoiselle-red]

I will always love the 2008 version of Legend of the Condor Heroes because it delivered on the Huang Yao Shi x Mei Chaofeng ship (all in the very blatant subtext) when no other adaptation really bothered ❤️

[walkwithursus]

Lowkey I may be becoming a Hu Ge stan…when I finish Nirvana in Fire I’m gonna start watching Chinese Paladin. And then his 2008 version of Legend of the Condor Heroes (gearing up for the release of Xiao Zhan’s version in the near future)!

[rigelmejo]

I think my Chinese is pretty fine when it comes to watching shows

Then My friend tells me to check out Shao Nian Bao Qing Tian 少年包青天 and its like I'm watching Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008 all over again ;-;

(By which I mean I go from "Oh Guardian or Word of Honor cool I know what everyone is saying" to "I'm roughly certain this guy is bragging and that one is insulting and a royal person just walked in but i couldn't tell you for the life of me the specifics")

[dangermousie]

I wouldn't say BDSM in terms of whips and chains per se but dark and stuff:

Yang Kang x Mu Nianci, Legend of Condor Heroes 2008 (at one point they literally bang by a corpse of the dude they killed)

Ruby Lin x Wallace Huo charas in Glamorous Imperial Concubine - they are not the OTP though, but her OTP with Yan Kuan chara is also hella twisted (he takes her in for training and revenge and she's a doppelganger for his stempom)

Goodybye My Princess OTP, Too Late to Say I Love You and Siege in Fog both def qualify (everyone knows the first, second is warlord insanity and the last can be succinctly described by ML's comment "she's a knife, I am also a knife.")

General and I since they work for enemy kingdoms, lure each other into ambush, stab each other etc.

Love In Between, The Wolf, Border Town Prodigal all qualify.

Love and Redemption is vvvv bdsm :P

I am sure there are more.

You described the main couple from the double as a BDSM couple. Do u know other ships from dramas that have a similar dynamic ?

I mean we're only at ep13 and they barely touched twice so that's mostly my wishful thinking & my dirty mind lol, sorry 😭😭 but i do have a few more couples with a similar dynamic!

Tantai jin x su su obviously (Till The End of The Moon; consider checking the novel as it is even worse better)

Xie Wei x xue ning (Story of Kunning Palace)

Yun He x chang yi (The Blue Whisper)

Sun Li x Ying zheng (The King's Woman)

Hard to Find (minidrama)

Love like the Galaxy too maybe, there were a few moments that made me go 👀👀👀

I'm sure there are more but these are the first ones that come to my mind. Also keep in mind that i'm saying 'bdsm couple' in a very broad sense - there's too much censorship in dramas to have a couple fully go dark - but as far as i remember in these ones we have many interesting dark, bloody, naughty interactions! Our male leads are not exactly princes charming and are not afraid to get their hands dirty <3

Also if anyone has recs about this please let me know!! I thought i've seen a lot of dark couples but i'm clearly lacking

[changru]

My probably incomplete wuxia/xianxia drama list

The Favorites

Nirvana in Fire Barely counts as wuxia, more political, but I will take every opportunity to mention I love it. It’s a level of its own.

Nirvana in Fire 2 Not on the level of the first one, but still good.

The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2008) I know in order to be a true wuxia fan you're not supposed to pick this version out of them all, but...

Swords of Legends / Legend of the Ancient Sword (2014) Cheap and cheesy, but few characters have ever put me through quite the emotional roller coaster as Ouyang Shao Gong.

Ashes of Love This drama is still my hilarious, angsty baby.

Ever Night I have one blade to protect Sang Sang in her sleep.

The Legends / Zhao Yao Seriously badass female lead unlike any other, with meaningful relationships with other female characters.

The Untamed Well, you know, it's The Untamed.

Word of Honor Hasn't even ended yet, but there is nothing else like it.

The Ones I Loved For The Side Characters Only

The Legend of Qin A lovely, complex and very attractive supporting cast around the insufferable lead. Great ost, too.

Flame's Daughter Jing Hong x Lie Xiang foreva.

The Ones That Had ONE (1) Good Thing

Legend of Fuyao *gasp* I know! Everyone loved it. I didn't. But I did love Fuyao herself.

The Legend of White Snake I feel bad saying this, because it wasn't bad, just very bland, but compared to Green Snake, everything else paled in comparison. But I loved her, and her dragon ascension.

Fighter of the Destiny Luo Luo.

Swordsman (2013) Dong Fang Bubai! I still marvel at the shortsightedness of the production team putting this amazing woman with amazingly messy romance with the male lead and then... what? we're supposed to care about anything else?

The Ones I... Watched

Chinese Paladin ...it hasn't aged well. Yueru got to me, though.

An Oriental Odyssey It was good until it wasn't.

Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky I like Huge's ost song.

I Will Never Let You Go It had its moments.

The Four It had Yang Yang in it, so that was a plus.

The Ones I Forgot I Watched

The Legend of Zu, The Legend of Chusen, Chinese Paladin 5, The Classic of Mountains and Seas (...seriously, what even happened in this drama?)

The Ones I Want To Forget

Princess Agents

[shijiegongzi]

All the Chinese Dramas/Movies I’ve Watched or Started (85 Listed Here)

Painted Skin 1 (Hua Pi 1) (movie)

Painted Skin 2 (Hua Pi 2) (movie)

She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan 2008 (Legend of the Condor Heroes)

Shen Diao Xia Lv 2006 (Return of the Condor Heroes)

Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2013 (The Smiling, Proud Wanderer)

Tai Zi Fei Sheng Zhi Ji (Go Princess Go)

Huan Cheng (Ice Fantasy)

Hua Qian Gu (Journey of the Flower)

San Sheng San Shi Shi Li Tao Hua (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms)

Chu Qiao Zhuan (Princess Agents)

Shuang Shi Chong Fei (The Eternal Love)

Legend of Fu Yao

Yan Xi Gong Lve (Yanxi Palace)

Ruyi Zhuan (Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace)

Zhen Hun (Guardian)

Zhifou Zhifou Yin Shi Lv Fei Hong Shou (Story of Minglan)

Xu Ni Fu Sheng Ruo Meng (Granting You a Dreamlike Life)

Bian Cheng Lang Zi (Border Town Prodigal)

Xia Zhi Mo Zhi (Rush to the Dead Summer)

Shuang Shi Chong Fei 2 (The Eternal Love 2)

She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan 2017 (Legend of the Condor Heroes)

Xiang Mi Chen Chen Jin Ru Shuang (Ashes of Love)

Dong Gong (Goodbye My Princess)

Mei Zhe Wu Jiang (Bloody Romance)

Legend of Yunxi

Dugu Tianxia (Legend of Dugu)

Xiao Nv Hua Bu  Qi (I Will Never Let You Go)

Qin Shi Li Ren Ming Yue Xin (King’s Woman)

Huan Le Song (Ode to Joy)

Huan Le Song 2 (Ode to Joy 2)

Qin Ai De, Re Ai De (Go Go Squid)

Ying Xiong 2002 (Hero) (movie)

Shi Mian Mai Fu (House of Flying Daggers) (movie)

Zhi Wo Men Dan Chun De Xiao Mei Hao (A Love So Beautiful)

Bai Fa (Princess Silver)

Zhen Huan Zhuan (Empresses in the Palace)

Bubu Jing Xin (Scarlet Heart, Chinese version)

Zhi Wo Men Nuan Nuan de Xiao Shi Guang (Put Your Head on my Shoulder)

Bai She: Yuan Qi (White Snake) (animated movie)

Chen Qing Ling (The Untamed, live action)

Mo Dao Zu Shi (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, donghua)

Jing Ying Lv Shi (The Best Partner)

Qing Yun Zhi (Noble Aspirations aka Legend of Chusen)

Qing Yu Nian (Joy of Life)

Meng Hui Da Qing (Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty)

Legend of Hao Lan

Jiang Ye (Ever Night)

Fa Yi Qin Ming (Medical Examiner Dr. Qin) (2016 version with Zhang Ruoyun)

Wu Xin Fa Shi (Wu Xin: The Monster Killer)

Gu Hua (Talking Bones)

Xin Ling Fa Shi (The Listener)

Jiu Zhou Tian Kong Cheng 2016 (Novoland Castle in the Sky)

Wu Dong Qian Kun (Martial Universe)

Wo Zhi Dao Ni De Mi Mi (I Know Your Secret)

Da Song Bei Dou Si (Plough Department of Song Dynasty)

Ai Qing Jin Hua Lun 2018 (Evolution of Our Love)

Da Wang Bu Rong Yi (King is Not Easy)

Qing Ping Yue/Gu Cheng Bi (Serenade of Peaceful Joy/Held in the Lonely Castle)

Lang Ya Bang (Nirvana in Fire)

Xia Tan Jian Buzhi (Ancient Detective)

Gu Jin Da Zhan Qin Yong Qing (Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior)(movie)

Shen Tan (Detective L)

Min Guo Qi Tan (My Roommate is a Detective)

He Shen (Tientsin Mystic)

Zui Ye Wu Jian (Evil Nights)

Jue Ji Lin Jie Tian Xia (LORD Critical World)

Xiong An Xian Cheng (The Truth)

Wei Zhuang Zhe (The Disguiser)

Chuan Shuo Zhong de Chen Qianqian (Romance of Tiger and Rose)

Ru GUo Wo Niu You Ai Qing (When a Snail Falls in Love)

Xi You Ji 2019 (Tian Zhen Pai version) (Journey to the West)

Dian Xia Gong Lue (To Get Her)

Hong Lou Meng (Xiao Xi Gu version) (Dream of the Red Chamber)

Ming Xing Da Zhen Tan (Who’s the Murderer)

Hong Lou Meng 1987 (Dream of the Red Chamber)

Xiao Huan Xi (Little Reunion)

Fei Ren Zai (Non-human) (animated series)

Da Song Shao Nian Zhi (Young Blood)

Lang Ya Bang 2 (Nirvana in Fire 2)

Hei An Zhe (Death Notify: The Darker)

Hen Ji (Trace)

Jin Yi Zhi Xia (Under the Power)

Wai Ke Feng Yun (Surgeons)

Shao Nu Da Ren (Maiden Holmes)

Ren Zha Fan Pai Zi Jiu Xi Tong (Scum Villain Self-saving System)

[dangermousie]

He's an amoral psycho and a doting son scared of his mom.

I dig!

It's actually pretty fun to see a Yang Kang so wildly different from Yuan Hong's take in 2008. Yes, I realize that this is spoiled ruthless bastard is much closer to the novel while the 2008 route tragic antihero driven to villainy by torture, mistreatment and the world's cruelty leaving him with few bearable choices is quite AU but he was one of all time fave characters for a reason - it was wild starting out to dislike him, then liking him, then loving him, then pitying him, then hating him, then back to pitying and liking him and BAM tragic end.

I mean guys, you know me - how could I not go insane for this take?!

(Mussssst...rewatch....is it insane to watch two different takes on LOCH at the same time? Don't answer!)

[dangermousie]

Ooooh, a fellow fan of The Princess’ Man! You have excellent taste, Anon.

OK, some cdrama recs (in addition to the two already mentioned):

Monarch Industry/Rebel Princess - my ultimate cdrama ride or die OTP. Once they commit to each other in some ep in ep 11? 12? some ep in early teens, they remain ride or die for the rest of the eps of this 68 ep drama which mean well over 50 eps of epic OTPness.

Legend of Condor Heroes 2008 - more for the secondary OTP than the primary but primary somewhat too.

Return of the Condor Heroes - my fave version is 2006 one but mmv

Listening Snow Tower - the amount of times those idiots took poison or stab wounds for each other is glorious. Neither even looks at another person in terms of romance.

Song of Glory - she starts out planning to assassinate him but asap they become ride or die.

One and Only - very very ride or die but only if you don’t mind an uhappy ending (same with Prince of Lan Ling or Song of Glory above)

Love Between Fairy and Devil - very very ride or die in xianxia format.

Singing All Along - she helps him to the throne they love each other a lot blah blah their obstacles are all external.

Ice Fantasy - basically elf prince x devoted lady general, I love them.

@renewedmotionforjudgment​ do you think Gong would qualify? Perhaps not because it takes forever for Eight to win over our FL, tho when he does, very ride or die.

And just for kicks, let’s go really really old school - Little Fairy. Good luck finding this easily with subs anywhere tho. (I had to buy dvds tbh.) 

Do you have any recs for ride or die cdrama otps? I don't know if you've seen it but in the vein of the princess' man where they're both madly in love and would do anything for each other? I've seen quite a few but there is a lot of very devoted ML but the FL don't match that energy and I want both of them

So I’m gonna be honest, my taste in dramas tend to run the “devoted ML��� trope bc I like my ML to suffer on screen (whumped, crying, and bloody) more than my FLs.

But top of my head - general and I, Prince of Lan Ling (Lan Ling Wang). I’m tagging @dangermousie for help on this haha.

[dilirebas]

Hi! Are there any Wuxia or fantasy historical dramas you recommend? Thanks!

Sure! I’m not sure what style you’re looking for and whether or not you need English subs, so I’ll just throw out everything that comes to mind.

For the great classics, there are a few Jin Yong novel adaptations I would recommend. Legend of the Condor Heroes is one of Jin Yong’s best known stories and the 2003 adaption of LOCH is great, if you don’t mind watching something older (and with pretty bad video quality lol). I also started watching the 2017 version, which is more modern, and I really like it so far. There’s a 2008 version with more of an idol drama style but it was a real drag to watch so I wouldn’t recommend it.

Return of the Condor Heroes is another classic but unfortunately the 2006 version is the latest one worth watching because the 2014 version is pretty terrible, and I don’t have a good feeling about the 2019 version. And again if you don’t mind watching older stuff, the 2003 version of Demi Gods and Semi Devils is quite good too.

The Flame’s Daughter is a wuxia drama I’ve recommended a few times. I was expecting yet another mediocre idol drama take on wuxia but I ended up loving it, and even rewatching it. The story and characters are well-written and memorable, and the fight scenes are fantastic. It’s a sweet idol drama with a proper wuxia feel. I also recommended Bloody Romance a lot because it’s an incredibly good drama overall, but the action/fighting/abilities are not as well-developed, so as a wuxia production it leaves me a bit cold.

I would also recommend Princess Agents, which isn’t strictly wuxia in plot, but it does have that type of action and conflict. The production quality is very high, the characters are well-written, and the 2nd male lead will break your heart.

The King’s Woman also isn’t strictly wuxia because it’s an idol palace drama in many ways but it mixes in the martial arts world and action. I’m throwing this in here because the chemistry between Dilraba and Zhang Bin Bin will leave you with your jaw dropped.

And on the topic of wuxia/xianxia with a more idol drama feel, the production company Tangren has made some iconic ones. I actually think some of their lesser known dramas are better than their most popular ones. Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei is about a group of four heroes solving cases and it’s a really fun watch. It has a more realistic fighting style and the cast is simply brilliant. Xuan Yuan Sword: Rift in the Sky is a fun xianxia drama with meh CGI but an enjoyable story and a strong cast.

Lastly, Novoland: Storm of Prophecy is actually such a well-made drama in so many ways. The world-building is great, the production quality created such a unique atmosphere, the entire cast is brilliant, but you really shouldn’t expect too much. Idk if they were hoping for a sequel or if it was budget issues, but the storylines simply don’t get resolved. Everything is set up brilliant and then you have no idea how it gets tied up.

Other than that, I still haven’t watched Martial Universe and Legend of Fuyao, but I’ll definitely get to those, so I’ll keep you guys updated about my thoughts!

[preachingandtalking-blog]

[the-wintry-mizzenmast]

I am very sad to hear of the passing of Louis Cha, known to most as Jin Yong 金庸. He was the grandfather of the wuxia literary genre. His works (or rather, their 80's era TV adaptations) imprinted on me hugely as a child, as stories where young female characters had just as much agency, intelligence, fighting capability, and importance as the boys in tales of martial arts derring-do.

His leading ladies in his Condor Heroes Trilogy will forever epitomize some of the ideals of positive representation of women in fiction. He always wrote a lot of wildly different women with different personalities, but he very rarely denied them their agency or their role to play in the unfolding story, or even their historical importance in the canon of his world. I will never fail to point out that Huang Rong 黃蓉 is remembered one hundred years after her death, equally alongside her husband, Guo Jing 郭靖 , not only for her cunning and intelligence, but also for her heroism and valor in defending Xiangyang against the invading Mongolian forces. That in his history, a woman is remembered for her deeds and her character, and never as man’s wife or a character’s daughter or mother, meant more to me as a little kid than I could have imagined or articulated at the time.

In this world of institutionalized racism and sexism, I don't think I would have gotten as far as I have now without the confidence that Jin Yong's characters instilled me at an early age. Though he wasn’t really writing more in his later years, his work still had a huge impact on the formation of my identity (and countless other young Chinese or girls of Chinese descent), and he will be missed.

RIP. If you’re interested in checking out Jin Yong’s wuxia world, there are a couple of ways it has now been accessible to English speakers.  The first act of the first book of the Condor Heroes Trilogy, known colloquially as “Legend of the Condor Heroes” or “Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes” is officially being translated as A Hero Born. More is supposed to coming soon. 

Fan translations are available as well of all the books in the series, and more, are available at WuxiaSociety. 

There are a lot of adaptations of the TV series, which on average some production company remakes once per decade. The 1980′s versions are the best, but more difficult to find to English-speakers, so I recommend checking out some of the more recent versions (2003, 2008 or 2017 for Legend of the Condor Heroes, 2006 for Return of the Condor Heroes, and 2009 for Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber) which you might be able to find on Youtube or other sites.

[troublewithangels]

ok confession time when i was 10 and watching legend of condor heroes 2008 he played this slightly evil dilf guy and um well. i must say that he used to occupy my thoughts daily lol hehe. end of story.

anthony wong in this movie??????? 😭😭😭

[meadowlarkx]

1, 8, 13, 28, 44, 56, 88

Bless you :D It was a bit chaotic this year

1. Charlotte Cumberbirch etc - Trooper and the Maid

She takes the trooper by the hand And leads him to her chamber She's given him some wine to drink And his love it flared like tinder

8. Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng - 鐵血丹心 Legend of the Condor Heroes OST (1983)

(I'm going to post translated lyrics since this ask inspired me to try and find out what the lyrics meant for this boss theme song, so I must thank you for that!)

Through mutual friendship, we will travel toward the horizon Chasing the grassland, in all four directions are vast desert land Why fear the snow and the frost lashing at our faces The cold wind blows... the blue sky... togetherness...

13. Bizet's Carmen - L'amour est un oiseau rebelle

L'oiseau que tu croyais surprendre, Battit de l'aile et s'envola. L'amour est loin, tu peux l'attendre-- Tu ne l'attends plus, il est là!

28. Sirusho - Qélé Qélé (Armenia Eurovision 2008)

Time is here tonight, You should make it right, To end our fight, just hold me tight

44. Joan Baez - East Virginia

Her hair it was of a brightsome color And her lips of ruby red On her breast she wore white lilies There I longed to lay my head

56. Måneskin - Beggin'

I'm beggin', beggin' you So put your loving hand out, darling

88. Trio Mandili - Rachuli

If anyone actually has the Georgian lyrics to their particular gorgeous rendition and/or a translation I would be so grateful. best I can do is this rn for a different version on lyricstranslate!!