Best/Worst Chinese TV series you've seen

[The Running Man]

Title of the thread says it all.

I'm curious to see what the members here think. :)

[LoBo]

I have only seen good tv series which are:

The Legend of the Condor Heroes {82}

The Return Of The Condor Herose {83}

The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils {82}

The Duke Of Mount Deer {84}

The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre {86}

[bboyninku]

I've seen many good ones that weren't neccessarily martial arts dramas but had martial arts intermixed. Here are some of my favorites.

The Young Master of Shaolin feat. Dicky Cheung
Fist of Fury feat. Donnie Yen
Master of Tai Chi feat. Wu Jing
Book of Sword, Romance, and Gratitude feat. Chiu Man Cheuk (Vincent Zhao)
Smart Kid feat. Dicky Cheung
Kung Fu Master feat. Donnie Yen
Real Kung Fu feat. Yuen Biao
Fist of Hero feat. Chiu Man Cheuk
Wong Fei Hong TV Series
Eight Assassins, Suspicious Temple, Headless General all feat. Vincent Zhao
Hou Dong Ge feat. Chin Siu Ho
Fist of Power (not Tai Seng edited movie) feat. Fan Siu Wong

Not the best but still entertaining...
The New Duke of Mount Deer feat. Dicky Cheung
The New Chor Lau Heung feat. Richie Ren
Wind and Cloud 1 and 2 feat. Chiu Man Cheuk
Seven Swordsman feat. Chiu Man Cheuk
The Legend of Hung Man Ting
Condor Hero (The new big Mainland China production one)
Ten Tigers of Kwangtung (ATV)

Ones that I am looking foward to see in the near future
Wing Chun feat. Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung (yes... Nicholas Tse is in it...)
The Sword Stained With Royal Blood

[silver hermit]

best

legendary fok
tai chi master
young wong fei hung
bastard swordsman TV
ninja in town
dynasty
princess chang ping
condor heroes
heavenly sword dragon sabre
bruce li ninja series don't know the name
young hero of shaolin
drunken fist
just from what i have seen there is alot that i have not seen

worst
general lin
iron lion

[Morgoth]

Iron Lion is a series? Is the Tai Seng version just cut down like fist of Fury and other shows they released?

[clfnole]

Rise of a Kung Fu Master - Meng Fei. The story of Choy Lay Fut's founder Chan Hueng.

[silver hermit]

Rise of a Kung Fu Master - Meng Fei. The story of Choy Lay Fut's founder Chan Hueng.

man i forgot about that one! wicked series

[clfnole]

That one goes back a while.

[5 Element Boxer]

Master Of Tai Chi with Wu Jing is the best series I've seen so far.

Real Kung Fu and Wing Chun are good too. Both starring Gordon Liu.

[kungfufan]

Seen a few:
Best:
Drunken Kung Fu
Real Kung Fu
Iron Fist Kung Fu
Master Swordsman Lu Xiao Feng II
The Proud Twins


Worst:
Magic Sword of Heaven and Earth


I've seen more but can't remember the names, will edit post as and when I remember.

[Milodan]

I have to agree with Kungfufan, Magic Sword of Heaven and Earth is a heap of crap. To anyone even thinking of buying this or watching it, DON'T. You'll be wasting hours of your life when you could be watching paint dry. Believe me, watching paint dry would be far more rewarding. Anyway rant over, back to the original question. Master Of Tai Chi with Wu Jing has to be one of the best series I've seen so far, along with Real Kung Fu starring Yuen Biao & Iron Fist starring Fan Siu Wong. I have a few more to watch including Drunken Kung Fu, Tang Lang Quan (Mantis Fist), Legendary Fok, Chen Zhen, Huo Dong Ge & a load of Wu Jing series. Only thing is none of them are subtitled so it's taking me a while to get into any of them.

Peace

[bboyninku]

I know both Wu Jing and Chiu Man Cheuk have plenty of television series I want to see but unfortunately I only understand Cantonese!

[5 Element Boxer]

Anyone seen Magic Blade? I hear it's really good. And from what I've seen, the choreography is really, really good.

[Yakuza954]

I admire those of you who watch these series completely unsubbed and with little knowledge of Cantonese/Mandarin. God knows I'd never be able to do it.

[5 Element Boxer]

It doesn't bother me at all that I can't understand Cantonese. Most of the time, the fight choreography makes up for it. I used to watch Master of Tai Chi all the time at my friend's house. He has all of those great international channels.

[wuxiawuxia]

Get your hands on the new Hua Yuan Jia starring Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan and Leung Kar Yan (as Hua Yuan Jia's father)

The series rock! It is currently showing on TV in Mainland China, the rating of the tv series has gone up really high. the DVD sets were just released a week or two ago.

[gorhama]

Wu Jing's "Master of Tai Chi" was one if not the best TV series I have ever seen. Being a huge Yuen Biao fan "Real Kung Fu" was great as well.

"Wing Chun" is being shipped to me tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to seeing it along with the new "Hua Yuan Jia" show that was mentioned in the previous post!!

[KUNG FU BOB]

I know this thread is kind of old and dusty, but...

WING CHUN was very good. There were a lot of cliched, soap opera sort of storylines, but the cast is great, especially Yuen Biao, and the fight choreography is exciting. The only down side is Nicholas Tse. He trained for the series, but he never looks powerful to me. Just really skinny (and his character is such a sulky baby that it's hard to sympathize with him). Still everyone else that fights is great.

MASTER OF TAI CHI was fantastic. That's the only time I've ever watched an entire series unsubbed, and I enjoyed the whole thing. I wish Tai Seng would hook that up like they did WING CHUN. But since they've already released a condensed "movie" made from the series, I doubt they'd go back and do that now. Still, their release TAI CHI MASTER or the unsubbed full series are well worth watching, especially if you're a fan of Wu Jing.

Just started HUO YUAN JIA which is based on the same real life kung fu master that LEGEND OF A FIGHTER, and FEARLESS were about. It's great.

Worst:
FISTS OF FURY- I'm a Donnie Yen fan, but the fights were speeded up so much that I literally couldn't sit through it. If you watch them slow-moed a little, the choreography is really good, but it just looks like the Three Stooges or Keystone Cops at regular speed.

[shelliegal]

some really good ones i like:

wing chun
demi gods semi devils 2001
heaven sword dragon sabre 2002
legend of the condor heroes (legend of the arching heroes) 2001 or 02?
liao zhai

currently the worst:
flying fox of the snowy mountain (yuck and double crap! stay away!)

[silver hermit]

worst
spirit of the dragon

[defcon]

which is the best version of demi-gods and semi devils (tian long ba bu)?

[kowloon]

best: wing chun
worst: fist of fury 1995

[kungfusamurai]

It's difficult for me to make a good choice because I don't understand cantonese or mandarin, nor can I read chinese. So my choices are based on how the fight scenes look.

My favourite to date is Tai Chi Master with Wu Jing. After that, there are a bunch of stuff from the early 80s which I can't recall off the top of my head, which had really great fight choreography.

KFS

[fabhui]

My favourite so far has also been Tai Chi Master with Wu Jing which I caught subbed. Fantastic series!!!

[kungfufan]

I thoght Fox Volant of Snowy Mountain was really good! Had a good balance of Wuxia and the plot was ok too.
I know it's not a chinese drama but saw a good Korean drama called Iljimae which I thoght was worth a mention!
Am currently watching Huo Yuan Jia and it seems to be pretty good. I've got quite a few series to watch but they're so damn lon I got to find the time!

[tdb]

which is the best version of demi-gods and semi devils (tian long ba bu)?

If you need English subs you're 'stuck' with the TVB '82 version. There are two other versions I'm aware of, TVB '97 and CCTV '03, which I guess you're also referring too. As far as I can tell none of them are considered a definitive version for one reason or another. Check out some reviews over at spcnet.tv (http://www.spcnet.tv/); that may help.

[shelliegal]

I thoght Fox Volant of Snowy Mountain was really good! Had a good balance of Wuxia and the plot was ok too.
I know it's not a chinese drama but saw a good Korean drama called Iljimae which I thoght was worth a mention!
Am currently watching Huo Yuan Jia and it seems to be pretty good. I've got quite a few series to watch but they're so damn lon I got to find the time!

maybe it's just me, but fox volant is just so utterly bad to me that i regret buying it. there's still 20 minutes left of the ending i think that i just can't make myself sit through. i haven't watch iljimae yet but my hubby did and he like it. if you like iljimae, try "time between dog and wolf", also starring lee jun ki. it's modern time with actions reminiscent of hong kong movies.

which is the best version of demi-gods and semi devils (tian long ba bu)?

since i only saw the mainland 03 version, i'll say try that one out. the sceneries are beautiful and the actresses here are really eye-candy.

If you need English subs you're 'stuck' with the TVB '82 version. There are two other versions I'm aware of, TVB '97 and CCTV '03, which I guess you're also referring too. As far as I can tell none of them are considered a definitive version for one reason or another. Check out some reviews over at spcnet.tv; that may help.

the 03 version does have english subtitles too. i believe it's released by pmp entertainment.

[tdb]

the 03 version does have english subtitles too. i believe it's released by pmp entertainment.

Ah, I see. The dvd set you're talking about is listed under the alternative name, HEAVEN DRAGON, THE EIGHTH EPISODE.

[Yang Wu Liang]

Tian Long Ba Bu '03 and Demi Gods and Semi Devils '82 are both great series - it very much depends on whether you'd prefer to see some old school goodness with Beardy etc or a more modern take on the story with mainalnd production values.

[Yang Wu Liang]

Forgot to put my favourites!

80's TVB LOCH, ROCH, HSDS trilogy
Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2001
Sword Stained With Royal Blood 2006/7(?)
Seven Swords
Young Warriors 2007 (Bit soap opera-ish but it depicts the back story of the Yang family leading up to the opening battle in 8 Diagram Pole Fighter)

[Delirious]

Tian Long Ba Bu in 1996 is the best one from TVB. Felix Wong made the whole series an instant classic.

[Cesare]

Forgot to put my favourites!
Sword Stained With Royal Blood 2006/7(?)


That's a superb series. Esp. the last ten episodes or so, when it gets a strong "historic drama" flavour. Nice action, fantastic characters and some great acting (esp. Gao Hu as Chongzhen absolutely shines).
Not to mention the great opening theme... :-]

[kungfufan]

Yeah I agree Tian Long Ba Bu is one of the best series i've seen!

[Edshugeo The GodMoor]

I really disliked Wing Chun. Fight scenes were great (mostly), but were overshadowed by so much other crap so much of the time, it was hard to take. And just one episode for Gordon Liu? Worst series for me.

Best - Legend Of The Condor Heroes (82 or 83), Return Of The Condor Heroes 2006

I liked Fox Volant, but not much.

[Cesare]

Best - ... Return Of The Condor Heroes 2006


What? Huang Xiao Ming and Liu Yi Fei were some of the most annoying leads I've ever seen (not sure if it's their fault, director's or Jin Yong's). I liked the series for the baddies and the supporting characters (who were generally much more ingratiating than the central pair of...protagonists), but...
Ah. I've ranted enough at SPCnet and wuxiasociety, I'll just refrain from ranting any more. :-] If nothing else, the series deserves bonus points for featuring Gao Hu, Cheng Haofeng and Ba Yin. :-]

[defcon]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I ended up watching DGSD 82 first and I'm making my way through DGSD 03 right now. Mainland chinese productions are definitely way more powerful visually, especially as far as the martial arts go. Like in the 03 production you really get a sense of just how god-like Qiao/Xiao Feng's kung fu is.

I recently downloaded LOCH 08 (another mainland production), but unfortunately without english subs. From what I understand though, LOCH 03 is the one to watch (aside from the TVB 83 production). Supposedly it's more accurate and true to the novel, and one of the best post 2000 mainland wuxia productions out there. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a dvd release or torrent of the series with english subs. Can anyone point me the right way?

[gravedigger666]

That's a superb series. Esp. the last ten episodes or so, when it gets a strong "historic drama" flavour. Nice action, fantastic characters and some great acting (esp. Gao Hu as Chongzhen absolutely shines).
Not to mention the great opening theme... :-]
I am thinking to pick it...so far only serie I have seen is Wing Chun which was..well,not masterpiece but certainly above average.

[Cesare]

I'd recommend BXJ to anyone... Though it is of course quite important to keep in mind that it's wuxia, not MA...;-)

[Cesare]

I'm watching TVB's The Four now - and I'm enjoying the show immensely... It's Si da ming bu, so I'm pretty much bound to enjoy it...:-) And any old-school fan may feel tempted to check out Gordon Liu, Lee Hoi San and some other old-timers in this series...:-)
(I was particularly delighted to see Law Lok Lam in it - though it felt kinda funny to watch a scene where Tit Sau is mentioning Lang Huet to him, since - for me - Law Lok Lam *is* Lang Huet...:-))
Check it out. I've seen 6 eps so far and so far it's very entertaining.