Mongol

MONGOL – The Rise Of Genghis Khan

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 80th Academy Awards, Mongol chronicles the early life of one of the greatest conquerors in history – Genghis Khan. This epic joint production from Russia, Germany, and Kazakhstan is directed by award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov, and stars acclaimed Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu in the role of Temugin, the man who would become Genghis Khan. Shot completely in the Mongol language amid Central Asia’s sweeping grasslands and endless deserts, Mongol offers a fascinating revisionist profile of a man that everyone knew, but few understood.

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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.

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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.

This is another Jin Yong novel adapted by China’s Zhang Ji Zhong in a follow up of his earlier work on Xiao Ao Jiang Hu.
The title of this series is ????? (She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan ), aka Brave Archer, Legend of the Condor Heroes.

As with all his much loved novels, various tv adaptations were done on this novel; with Hongkong’s TVB station having produced it twice.

The story’s centered around the 2 sons of 2 sworn brothers residing in the Cow Herders Village late Song period when the kingdom was weakened by corrupt officials who were bribed or intimidated by the surrounding hostile states, namely the Jin Empire. The young boys were separated when young and one (Guo Jing) was accepted into Genghis Khan’s clan, the other (Yang Kang) was adopted by a prince of the Jin Empire.

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