The Eagle Shooting Heroes
Also known as Legend of the Condor Heroes.
One of Jin Yong’s most beloved martial arts stories comes to screen again in the highly anticipated new drama The Eagle Shooting Heroes. Having played star-crossed lovers in The Little Fairy, Mainland heartthrob Hu Ge and top Taiwan actress Ariel Lin (It Started with a Kiss) strike pitch-perfect chemistry as the newest generation of stars to take on the classic roles of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Julian Cheung and Athena Chu, Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun, and most memorably Felix Wong and Barbara Yung are just a few of the big names to have previously headlined this timeless tale about the adventures and romance of a noble, naive swordsman and a petite, clever heroine. The Eagle Shooting Heroes is produced by Lee Kwok Lap, director of the popular trendy period drama Chinese Paladin which first launched leading man Hu Ge to fame.
Forced to flee the Central Kingdom after troops wiped out their village, Guo Jing and his mother settle in the Mongolian grasslands with a tribe led by Genghis Khan. Their quiet life on the steppes is interrupted one day by seven strange masters from the south who have come to take Guo Jing as their pupil. Eighteen years later, Guo Jing (Hu Ge) is now skilled in martial arts, but still every bit as naive and kindhearted as he was as a child. On his masters’ orders, Guo Jing leaves the grasslands for the first time and encounters the cute and crafty Huang Rong (Ariel Lin). Together they embark on an epic adventure of myriad dangers and fateful encounters.
The Eagle Shooting Heroes brings together a star-studded ensemble cast from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong including Yuan Hong (The Young Warriors) as Guo Jing’s cunning sworn brother Yang Kang, Leung Ka Yan as North Beggar Hong Qigong, Elvis Tsui as the power-hungry Ouyang Feng, and Kathy Chau as Yang Kang’s mother Bao Xiruo. The most exciting addition though is probably the casting of acclaimed Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong as eccentric martial arts master Huang Yaoshi.
Ratings: 2 out of 5
I really don’t like the way the story was very much changed around. The only good thing about this adaptation was casting Hu Ge as Guo Jing. Li Ya Ping’s retarded version ruined what would have been a great effort.
Everything was wrong about this version from Ariel as Huang Rong to Anthony as Huang Yaoshi
What was aceptable was Yang Kang who did a commendable job albiet one that was too favourable towards his character. Ou Yangke is also very good except for the changed script of him falling deeply in love with Mu Nianci and finally killing kimself when she rejected him. Now that’s not the Ou Yangke that I know and expected. Another grouse is the cheap sets that looked as though they were just put up yesterday and ready to be dismantled anytime. Colour depth was another problem as everything looked washout. Oh how I longed for Zhang Ji Zhong’s epic feel of his aaptations.
