武林外传

[renzhe]

It looks terrible, but you all know you're going to watch it, just like I am. So we'll need a thread sooner or later.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGRF7-WiUHw

Some scenes and a bit more info: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjExMzg5NDc2.html

Anyway, it will be fun to see what they make out of it, now that some of the original actors have made it big. I hope that the big budget doesn't destroy the lo-fi charm of the original series, and that it stays focussed on wordplay, character-based humour and allusions, like the original.

It should be out for Spring Festival, so soon. Anyone else looking forward to this one?

[taijidan]

It looks good, maybe a little like 大笑江湖 which is a kind of parody on Jin Yong novels.

[renzhe]

Of course, it should be much funnier if you know the original TV show. In case somebody is not familiar with it.

In any case, it's the same writer as with 大笑江湖.

[imron]

Oh no. 大笑江湖 was pretty ordinary. Hopefully this will be better.

[langxia]

Saw the trailer yesterday when I went to watch 让子弹飞， and I have to say I am looking forward to it.

[roddy]

I really really really really want this to be good.

[Outofin]

The trailer looks fun. I laughed twice. If the movie can make me laugh 20 times, I'll call it a good one.

大笑江湖 was pretty ordinary

Agreed.

[rob07]

I liked 大笑江湖, but it is so heavily based on Jin Yong references and in jokes that if you haven't read quite a bit of his stuff (or watched the TV adaptations) a lot of the movie is not going to make any sense and if you didn't really get into it a lot of the movie is going to seem pretty stupid.

I think most Jin Yong tragics would enjoy the movie. I know I didn't get a lot of the jokes (I was really feeling my ignorance of 笑傲江湖 and 鹿鼎记 in particular), but I struggled through book or TV versions of four of his other novels and I thought the jokes based on them were both funny and clever.

In particular, I thought the final scene was brilliant. You need to have read or watched 神雕侠侣 to get the point (and you probably need to have enjoyed it to find the final scene funny). The reference is a bit oblique, so I sat thinking through the credits for a couple of minutes before bursting out into laughter.

Renzhe have you watched this? I think your attitude to Jin Yong is comparable to mine.

[rob07]

So, this has been on Youtube for a couple of weeks now. Is it any good?

Don't know why exactly, but I've only watched a grand total of one episode from the TV series. I was planning to watch some more before the movie came out, but somehow didn't. Now that it is out, should I just go ahead and watch it, or watch some of the TV series first?

[imron]

Just watched the first twenty minutes on Youtube. Not impressed.

[rezaf]

terrible

[bob22222]

I watched this yesterday and thought it turned out pretty well. If you can over look the exaggerated, and quite frankly boring action sequences, there's a lot of laughs to be had. There were obviously parts that I didn't get, either through gaps in my understanding of the language or culture, as there were plenty of times when the audience would give out a little chuckle or two.

Here are some of my favourite parts (Spoilers) :-

- Cantonese speaking 官 regrets not having not learned Mandarin when passing down sentence to a couple of confused bad guys.

- The skit of those over the top shouty adverts you see on tv (normally for crap phones), revealing the the great benefits of cows and their milk.

- 小郭 and 秀才 queuing up to 买房.

- Almost every part with 佟掌柜

- ... and some other bits that I've already forgot...

Anyway, I'd say for fans of the show, well worth checking it out. New comers are probably best off getting familiar with the show first, as there is quite a lot of reference back to it.