Top 10 Wuxia Series

[WuxiaLover]

I'm sure many here has seen plenty of Chinese Wuxia series, what are your top 10? Here's my list.

I figure this might be a nice way to get to know everyone.
(Apologize if a similar thread exist, I searched and found nothing)

1. State of Divinity 96
2. Legend of the Condor Heroes 94
3. Demi-Gods and Semi Devils 97
4. Return of the Condor Heroes 95
5. Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber 2000
6. All About Tin
7. Chinese Paladin 3
8. The Journey of Flower
9. Mystery of the Twin Swords
10. The Duke of Mount Deer 98

Your turn.

 

[Ironfingers]

1. Heavenly Sword Dragon and Dragon Sabre 1986
2. State of Divinity 1996
3. Nirvana in Fire 2015
4. The Demi-Gods and Semi Devils 2003
5. The Legend of Condor heroes 2003
6. The Return of the Condor Heroes 1995
7. The Adventure of Chor Lau Heung 1985
8. The Return of Luk Sui-Fung 1986
9. Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei (2012)
10. Meteor Butterfly and sword 2010

Who is next??

 

[ami]

u guys r sure a couple dun like long movie so don't have one yet

 

[P-Dragon]

1.The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber 2009
2.The Demi-Gods and Semi Devils 2013
3.Chinese Paladin 2005
4.Chinese Paladin 3 2009
5.Xuan Yuan Sword 3 Legend (2012)
6.The Return of the Condor Heroes 2006
7.The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2008)
...

I Never Watch The Old Edition So I Don't Know The Different,But I Really Like New Edition.
and All That Drama I Never Watch On Internet I Only Watch Khmer Dub On TV

 

[WuxiaLover]

@Ironfingers Looks like we share similar taste. Especially with State of Divinity 1996. That's a very good series. Also you're a three decade follower like me. 80's, 90's, 2000's. I've seen all those series on your list as well.

I noticed you got Nirvana in Fire high on that list. I haven't seen it yet, but heard many praise for it. Must be a good series. I'll have to check that out when I have time.

 

[Rei]

I'm somewhat surprised I couldn't come up with a full list. But here is mine:

1. Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei (2012)
2. Demi-Gods and Semi Devils (1997)
3. The Snow is Red (1996)
4. Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber 2000
5. Sword Heroes Fate (time travel wuxia count? lol)
6. The Return of the Condor Heroes 1995
7. Rise of the Taiji Master 1996

Wuxia genre has always been my favorite but oddly most of my top favorites series are not from this genre lol.

 

[Ironfingers]

@WuxiaLover I have watch series from all three decade , included the 70's hehe. Yes our taste is similar compare to story lines, but we choose different adaptation to represent out list lol. State of Divinity 96 is a classic, hence why I am not a fan of the 2013 version. YEs you guys have to check out Nirvana in Fire! It brings back the old Wuxia feel from the good old 80s and 90s! I think you guys will enjoy it!
@Rei the snow is Red was a good series, but oh man the voice dubbing killed me lol!

 

[WuxiaLover]

@Ironfingers Yes, State of Divinity 96 was the best of the adaptations, beating the original Smiling Proud Wanderer in the 80s. And by default it's the closest to the novel. 2013 one was terrible. They butcher the story. As for Nirvana in Fire, from what I've seen the series has a really high production value. Looks really well made.

The snow is red, I thought the story was okay, the opening and ending theme songs were good though. As for the dub, well, it was an ATV production, which tend to get dub by the less quality team. TVB series got the professional Tai Seng dub treatment. I could barely watch ATV series, because of those dub. lol

 

[Rei]

The Snow is Red is up there, more because of nostalgic memories I had with both my sisters. Even more now after my little sister passed away. She used to be very obsessed with Mimi Kung's character to the point she'd watch the ending so many times lol.

Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei is definitely up there for me among my other genre top favorite series like Young Justice Bao trilogy, Virtues of Harmony, Three Kingdoms, and a Step into the Past

 

[WuxiaLover]

@Rei I'm sorry about your little sister. I've shared some Wuxia memories with my dad as well, he passed away too. I'm thankful for the good memories though.

A Step into the Past is a good series. I'm surprise no one mention Twin of Brothers yet. It's another decent series.

 

[Ironfingers]

I am a fan of Mimi Kung too, her character was so complex in The Snow is Red! She did a fantastic job!! I wanted to ripped her master to pieces , what a load of work that character was! .

I like Strange heroes too, but I wouldn't put it on top of my list, did you know I heard they are going to make a sequel ? I wonder how much of that is true. As for Twins of brother, there too many element in that series, sometimes the combination of Wuxia and fantasy just makes it so busy! Subplots are not conclusive , and they had so many dragged on scene.

 

[WuxiaLover]

@Ironfingers While I thought Twin of Brothers was decent, I do agree with your complaints about it. The series came out in an era where Wuxia had already lost a lot of its magic. It did attempt to revive things for TVB though. But at that point Mainland China production has already risen and taken over with Wuxia. And now they are the only ones producing them. TVB did attempted again with Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion. Which was their last grand production.

Now here we are today. With production like Nirvana in Fire, TVB is done for.

 

[Ironfingers]

They are crappy employers! Bad work conditions and salary,and they need to hire new marking marketing and casting managers! No one wants to watch a bunch of talent-less beauty queens on stage!! Plus I am not digging their pairing with really young woman and very old men! Just now, there are still a hand full of artist I still enjoy, however their script and production can;t compare with the ones from mainland.
There are also some very annoying mainland production, mostly done by Yu Zheng, who over use Idol actors and CGI. I did enjoy his scheming of beauty and beauty world, other than that his productions are crap! People may think the same about TangRen Production, but I they specialized in fantasy drama like Chinese Paladin so it's okay for the crazy effects at least they are using for the right reason, maybe I am Bias because I like their artist more than Yu Zheng.
Okay I am so off topic, lack of sleep is making me ramble jib jabs!

 

[WuxiaLover]

They are crappy employers! Bad work conditions and salary,and they need to hire new marking marketing and casting managers! No one wants to watch a bunch of talent-less beauty queens on stage!! Plus I am not digging their pairing with really young woman and very old men! Just now, there are still a hand full of artist I still enjoy, however their script and production can;t compare with the ones from mainland.

That's what I heard as well. Although they did put out some actors who became big over the years. Andy Lau, Chow Yun Fat, Ekin Cheng, Aaron Kwok, Simon Yam, Raymond Lam, etc. But there have been just as much bad rep coming out too, like you said. As for their writers, a lot of them if not all from the 90s left. And they're banned from adapting Jin Yong's work after Heaven Sword, Dragon Saber 2000. So they're out. Lacking actors and quality production broke them.

Competition made them better. Without ATV, they have no motivation. They just buys Mainland series and broadcast them. Which is fine I guess, since it saves them the trouble.

There are also some very annoying mainland production, mostly done by Yu Zheng, who over use Idol actors and CGI. I did enjoy his scheming of beauty and beauty world, other than that his productions are crap! People may think the same about TangRen Production, but I they specialized in fantasy drama like Chinese Paladin so it's okay for the crazy effects at least they are using for the right reason, maybe I am Bias because I like their artist more than Yu Zheng.
Okay I am so off topic, lack of sleep is making me ramble jib jabs!

In agreement with that, Yu Zheng apparently likes to make people rip their hair out. TangRen I don't mind, because I do like their actors and even though not all of their series have been a hit with me, I do enjoy their production.

My favorite being Chinese Paladin 3. My most anticipated series of 2016 is Chinese Paladin 5 and Legend of Qin.

 

[Rei]

Ironfingers, your rants are legit haha. I think the last dubbed TVB series I've enjoyed was probably Three Kingdoms RPG, even though it's probably mediocre at best.

@Rei I'm sorry about your little sister. I've shared some Wuxia memories with my dad as well, he passed away too. I'm thankful for the good memories though.

A Step into the Past is a good series. I'm surprise no one mention Twin of Brothers yet. It's another decent series.

Yeah good memories really help out with coping. My father just recently passed away last year too. It's definitely life changing seeing people around you dying left and right.

I've never seen the older version of Twin of Brothers but I did enjoy the latest entry. One highly rated series that I haven't seen is Chinese Paladin.

 

[Ironfingers]

@WuxiaLover TVB is just not smart! I know they were trying to make things different for a change in the story, so it is no like the older version, but when it comes to adapting classic Wuxia story, people so preferred it to come close to the novel it self. They should of just change the titled and just add in whatever and don't call it an adaptation lol. Besides there are other popular novel's they could of adapted from, like Gu Long, I thought it would of been interesting if they did a New Chor Lau Heung series or Luk Sui Fung, but they didn't. Yes it is true, that lots of famous artist owe TVB for their popularity, but to be fair HK is monopolized by this station, so really haha they didn't have much of a choice but to work for TVB. I feel bad for some of the left over artist who wasted their youth and talent at that station, the smart ones like Sammul Chan & Hawick Lau knew that they were not getting anywhere with the station s they left, and I am happy for their success found in the Mainland Market. I don't know if there are still chances for the others.

Between the chinese Paladin franchise , I prefered Chinese Paladin 1 with Hu Ge and Eddie Peng, it was a much better thoughtout story line. In addition, LI Xiao Yao was not as annoying as the Jing Tian character. And I really really did not like Yang Mi in this series, her character has to be the most annoying ever! I thought the love triangle between Jing Tian, Xue Jian and Long Kui to be so odd! I think the more enjoyable story line was between Wallace Huo and Tang Yan's character.

@Rei Chinese Paladin back in it's time had a very unique visually, it is packed with CGI lol, but I don;t mind lots of CGI when it comes to fantasy series. TangRen is known for crazy CGI when it comes to fantasy series. Chinese Paladin 6 , and Qin Moon sword will be coming out and the CGI is more updated here, you may enjoy it more. P.S my condolence is with you friend Hugs!

 

[ami]

so great u got some actors as fan to looking forward 2!

 

[WuxiaLover]

@WuxiaLover Between the chinese Paladin franchise , I prefered Chinese Paladin 1 with Hu Ge and Eddie Peng, it was a much better thoughtout story line. In addition, LI Xiao Yao was not as annoying as the Jing Tian character. And I really really did not like Yang Mi in this series, her character has to be the most annoying ever! I thought the love triangle between Jing Tian, Xue Jian and Long Kui to be so odd! I think the more enjoyable story line was between Wallace Huo and Tang Yan's character.

Chinese Paladin 1 definitely has a lot more going for it, but CP3 introduced me to Tang Yan, so maybe I'm bias, but I like her as an actress, and I enjoyed her character. That and I love the soundtrack.

Then again the Chinese Paladin franchise got great OST. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[Hamster]

I'll just list my top two.
Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre 1986 and The Young Wanderer.

About The Young Wanderer: I think the main guy and his teacher have the right thinking. Why concern oneself with being number one and fighting when one can eat good food, drink and have fun? Seriously, those wulin people are way too serious, letting their life pass them by with needless competition and revenge. This reminds me of Little Fish's comment in The Two Most Honorable Knights series when he said: "If someone mistreated me, I would take revenge. But if I can't I won't take revenge either. Ha ha ha." Something along those lines, I can't remember the exact wording.

 

[WuxiaLover]

@Hamster The Young Wanderer was funny, and so was Little Fish. They have quite interesting logic.

As for those in Wulin, well, a lot of them have greed and lust for power. They're mostly bad people. lol