Search - Condor Hero: Complete TV Series on DVD


Condor Hero: Complete TV Series
Condor Hero Complete TV Series
Actors: Huang Shao Ming, Liu Yi Fei, Meng Guang Mei
Genres: Indie & Art House, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Television, Animation
NR     2006     30hr 45min

Studio: Tai Seng Entertainment Release Date: 10/31/2006 Run time: 1845 minutes

     
3

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Huang Shao Ming, Liu Yi Fei, Meng Guang Mei
Genres: Indie & Art House, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Television, Animation
Sub-Genres: Indie & Art House, Animation, Television, Animation
Studio: Tai Seng
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen,Letterboxed - Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 10/31/2006
Original Release Date: 01/01/2005
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/2005
Release Year: 2006
Run Time: 30hr 45min
Screens: Color,Widescreen,Letterboxed
Number of Discs: 9
SwapaDVD Credits: 9
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 1
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese
Subtitles: Chinese, English

Similar Movies

 

Movie Reviews

GREAT, GREAT SHOW
John Stanowski | Philadelphia, PA USA | 05/14/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This series starts off a little typical and a little slow (as in not good at getting you really involved) but that soon changes. I'm now a prisoner of this series until I get to finish watching it. I am so sucked in. I'm sucked in as much as usually only the Korean shows can make me.

Condor Hero is a perfect blend of love story and kicka** wuxia. Wow. It's perfect to watch with your guy/gal--both will be pleased.

The subtitles aren't so bad as others have mentioned here. They're fine. The picture quality is great. (I never saw fire look so good.)

Only problems I have with the show is the repeated insertion of music from the movies "Aliens" and "Terminator 2". Umm, they don't think we're gonna recognize it? Anyway, it's distracting.

There are a lot of CG beasties in this show too, which is pretty cool except for a fake-lookin' leopard(cougar?) and these crocodiles that have the ability to pounce 12 feet out of the water and then look rubbery. Ha! But don't let that stop you. The giant CG condor looks great!

There's lots of action, romance, characters, plot twists, surprises (one episode had so many I--I couldn't take it!)

It's just a damn good show. And the leading lady is a hottie.

P.S. Be careful with some of these other reviews -- spoilers in there.
"
Forbidden Love... Wuxia Style
SereneNight | California, USA | 10/07/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yang Gor is a young orphan, adopted by a local hero Guo Jing and his wife Huang Rong. Tormented by his step siblings, Guo Jing reluctantly decides to foster him at a local monastery. He hopes with time the monks can curb Yang's impetuous spirit. Unfortunately, Yang's mischievous manner alienates the monks and he eventually runs away to live with Dragon Girl, a mysterious woman who lives in a nearby Tomb. Raised by Dragon Girl, Yang becomes her disciple, and eventually falls in love with her. Gor and Dragon are shunned because love between master and disciple is forbidden. Will Gor and Dragon separate or will love conquer all?

This was a stunning epic which spans nine disks (and many hours of viewing). The cinematography is beautiful even if some of the cgi is rather bad. (Particularly the condor, the animals in the woods). I did find the 'holy foxes' to be really cute, 'tho. The subtitles are a bit strange, but easily understood. My favorite mistyped subtitle is when the various characters claim people have been 'jeopardized.' I think they mean killed or slain or harmed, but the word 'jeopardized' is used. It's amusing.

RE: Plot: At first, Gor is very difficult to like. He starts off as an ugly little boy whose tricks aren't always that nice. At times it's easy to see why people don't like him. But eventually, this character grew on me. He is far from from perfect... Which was refreshing. Dragon girl, his lover was beautiful, kind, and sweet but rather bland. She spends the latter half of the series sort of 'out of commission' which was a bit of a drag. I found Guo Jing to be charming and his wife was good too. I was irked with Wu who is a brat. Xiang is an obnoxiously pert "Scrappy Do" Scene stealer, and towards the end, too many plot threads involved this character.

Overall, this was a vastly entertaining series, particularly the first 6 DVD's.

Be warned, there is something wrong with this listing. This is not the first error I've seen with Amazon's HK film database. There are several versions of Condor hero, and the DVD jacket and actors may not be right. This review refers to "Return of Condor Heroes" which is the picture on this product page.
"
Great Movie!
Chi T. Tran | Novato, CA | 04/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just finished watching it last night. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie although the love portions were a bit slow at some points. The action sequences were superb."
The Test of Unconditional Love
E. Kim | South Korea | 08/12/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This series is an adaptation of Louis Cha (Jin Yong)'s second novel "Return of the Condor Heroes," within his "Condor Trilogy." While this story is fine "stand-alone," I do recommend viewing one of the various adaptations of the first novel "Legend of the Condor Heroes" as many, many characters are in both. I think part of the thrill of watching this series is seeing those previous characters show up within this story. It also helps you understand how powerful these figures are supposed to be, adding to their grand appearances. While by itself, the series does explain many of the important details of each respected character, you really don't get the full effect of how great some of these figures are supposed to be, without a complete understanding of their history.

While I did enjoy this series, I have to admit that the beginning is extremely annoying. If or when I re-watch this series, I don't even plan to watch the first disc again. The child Yang Guo is so annoying, it makes you angry. He is also somewhat out of character. Even without any knowledge of his character, he's just plain annoying. Even worse is when Huang Xiaoming takes over as the young adult version of Yang Guo and he still remains annoying. But luckily, as the series moves on, he matures, and is much more enjoyable to watch, and by the end of the series is very likable. I understand this progression is on key with what a normal viewing of Yang Guo as a character should be. But there is a difference between dislike and almost unwatchable. So I would advise to just be patient, after about the 10th episode, it gets really good and the story is great. You just have to muscle through the first few episodes or better yet, if you know the story, just skip them.

Unlike Yang Guo`s character, Liu Yifei's (Crystal Lau) portrayal of Xiaolongnu (Dragon Girl) is simply perfect, even getting the approval of Jin Yong himself. She has a natural beauty and demeanor that really embodies Xiaolongnu and realistically conveys Xiaolongnu's cold, expressionless, anti-social, ghost-like behavior almost flawlessly. Even her love to Yang Guo seems very much in tact with how you would expect such an introverted character to act. I feel that if Liu Yifei had no spoken lines in the series, you would know exactly what emotions she is expressing while remaining expressionless (I know this sounds like a strange thing to say, but you just have to see her to understand), which really tackles the very root of what Xiaolongnu represents.

For the most part, I thought all of the fight scenes were pretty good and enjoyable. Similarly to most shows in this genre these days, there was a good amount of CG used and all were far from great, but bearable compared to most Wuxia series I've seen. You might recognize many of the music used in the soundtrack to many Hollywood productions, but you have to understand that this was made for Chinese audiences, who are less familiar with American works, so this aspect didn't bother me as much as some people. Although, I would have preferred that they just stuck to a pure original soundtrack. The original music they did use on the other hand, does fit very well. So I would have to say that overall the music is a good accent to the series.

Another negative aspect in my opinion is that the series is too pretentious at moments. While I'm not totally opposed to artistic imagery within any film or show, I think the duration becomes tedious. Certain scenes will be these beautiful environments which at first are very appealing, but they last way too long, to the point of pointlessness. Still, as mentioned earlier, this was still a very enjoyable series as it went on, as with all of Jin Yong's works you really get to know the layers in the many characters in his stories. Although some aspects might be beyond modern expectations in terms of themes of love and loyalty, it is this unrealistic view that attracts us to these stories. Even without the great CG work of Hollywood or with the almost cliché, sometimes predictable revelations, there is still something that the Chinese produce so well in this type of production, and is unique beyond anything else in visual media."