Among all the TV Series of The Legend of the Cordor Heroes, the 1983 and this one, 2017, are the closest to the oroginal novels by Louis Cha. Out of all the Jiang Hu sagas of Louis Cha, She Diao Ying Shiung is the most complicated to translate into the small screen, even more difficult to big screen, due to theany characters, locations and side stories ot has.
I gave big time advantage for the 2017 version due to the CGI effect that enabled the directors to shoot the battle of Hua San at the end of the stories which resulted in the shift of 5 top martial art masters with the addition of Cordor Hero Kuo Jing.
For westerners and first time audience, The Legend of the Condor Heroes is most likely described as too long and over dramatized. However, to Chinese people this story illustrates what a good young man and a good young girl are. At the same time, it illustrates the worldly temptation that will take them to a darker path.
Acting wise, it's interesting to see Michael Miu played Huang You Shi. Michael Mie also played Yang Kang in the 1983 version and he was, IMHO, the best actor to played the lost soul called Yang Kang.
Louis Cha cleverly implanted the continuation of the novels into the story without campaigning it. Qiao Feng of Lay Pang used 18 Dragon Palm, the same style Hung Qi Gong and Guo Jing. Yang Kang and Mu Niancinare the parents of Yang Kao, the main hero of The Romance of Consor Heroes. Guo Jing and Huang Rong made Dragon Sabre and Heaven Sword to hide Wu Mu book and Qiu Yin Cin Cing, which became the main weapons in Dragon Sabre & Heavenly Sword (Yi Thian To Lung Ci). And so on.
For Chinese people, Guo Jing is our Superman. His character and behavior is the example of patriotism and how to behave in society. Huang Rong is the example of how a girl should be, smart, independence, not afraid to serve and always respects the elders.
