San guo

(Don't be fooled by the picture posted above - it is the one for the movie Three Kingdoms that was released recently.)

This series is simply terrific. It was quite an ambitious undertaking, for one. A whopping 95 episodes, fast-paced and intricate in many parts. It largely follows the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms though it does deviate in some parts. It's been almost 3 decades since the last notable attempt at serializing Romance, and now with plenty of Yuan and manpower to throw around, the deed has been accomplished. First, the scenery is remarkably grand and beautiful (both natural and CG) - from Zhuge Liang's hut in the middle of a forest, to gratuitous (though appreciated) shots of the Yangtze River, to the rather intimidating sights of tens of thousands of little armored men rushing forward.

Second, I appreciated the script. Perhaps it isn't as antiquated as it could have been, but let's be honest. If the producers and scriptwriters conformed to the way scholars of 200 AD spoke, like 8 people would understand. What would be the point? Rather, the writers decided to focus on making the dialogue engaging and meaningful to the target audience. Moreover, it still sounded decently authentic to adequately serve its purpose.

And finally, I enjoyed the acting and character interpretations. Chen caught me off-guard at first with his Cao Cao, but he's seriously grown on me. He has now become the representative Cao Cao in my mind - just devious and cunning enough, but not evil for the sake of being evil as he is sometimes portrayed...though at times of questionable mental stability. Lu Yi's Zhuge Liang is subtle, graceful, and dignified even in distress...not to mention terrific eye-candy... I digress. Zhou Yu's portrayal, though not especially flattering, was conveyed well by Victor Huang, and made me want to give the poor guy a hug (at the risk of disembowelment).

My major complaints would probably include the portrayal of the formidable general Zhang Fei. What are we, five? Did they really need to flatten and degrade a famed general by giving him the intelligence and self-control of a petulant pre-schooler? And Liu Bei's stubborn adherence to his so-called virtue got really old, really fast, though I suspect that had more to do with the man in history/Romance than the series itself.

This remake after countless remakes of the popular Romance of the 3 Kingdoms novel certainly hit all the right notes. Although it may not have the depth of its predecessors, it makes up for it by a good script, directing, artistry and production quality. The 3 Kingdoms story can be very daunting in terms of its sheer number of characters and events. So for those who're already staunch Kingdom buffs, this series may disappoint as the scriptwriters took a lot of liberties on the original storyline. But for those who're just starting their journey into the chaotic world of the 3 Kingdoms, this series is a gentle and enjoyable introduction into possibly one of the greatest Asian historical novels of all time and a glimpse into the Asian cultural diaspora.

Considering the shoestring budget the director had to work with. Especially being 80+ episodes. It's a masterpiece of a drama. No, it isn't 100% accurate to much of the ROTK lore but really what is? Even the novels are fictional to a point. It's a great drama, rich characters and thoroughly enjoyable.

I've never read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I had no preconceptions when watching this series. I found the casting and the acting to be extremely well done, with every character believable and relatable. The story was complex and engaging, and the characters and their noble aspirations, heroism, courage, loyalty, compassion and more were simply inspirational. I found myself in tears often, deeply touched by someone's kindness, or humility, particularly Liu Bei, and I was even inspired to be a better person in my own life after witnessing such profound values. I have watched the entire series twice and am now re-watching again as it is helping me to learn Chinese. It makes me feel so deeply connected with ancient China and fills me with profound respect. If only we could see more of this side of China.

Depicts the constant tension between personal ethics and statecraft, ambition and moral considerations. Fascinating series. Greek myths will seem psychologically simplistic after this. Only negatives are the simpering females - did they really all simper like that? - and bad subtitling. The English subtitling does no justice to the nuances in the Chinese original. Characters sometimes express themselves in very poetic terms, and this is not at all properly translated. Similarly, words ('gonna', 'wanna')more appropriate to cowboys are used to translate courtly language. The series is a selection of major actions in the very long novel of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the selections differ somewhat from the 1995 CCTV version. However, I much prefer the acting in this one, which is less stylized and more natural.