Azure-Dragon
Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy
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This series has it all for me... Action, Magic and Intrigue with stunning scenery. The beginning did not 'hook' me in at first, but once the plot starts to develop intricacies it began to captivate me. The slow movement and stillness of the scenes provokes emotion and suspense coupled often with ethereal music that lends a timeless quality to understanding the character's motives and actions based on the causal events of the past. I find the series masterful and engaging.
Episode 40 & 41 - I love the alchemical use of the natural elements in the soundtrack, instead of background music episode 40 uses Rain and episode 41 uses Wind and of course there is the crackling of fire in the camp. So much majesty has been put into this drama, it is a work of Art, Frame by Frame.
Episode 47 - the soundtrack is amazing, the music itself takes you on a journey - it's an acoustical odyssey. Cherchez La Femme - it's interesting that they are using women each time as catalysts to ignite a reaction that triggers a turn of events or should it be Cherchez Le Sorcier? The cinematography throughout this drama is pure visual poetry, enchanting the viewer with the connection to nature; even in Ep. 66 the background noise of crickets chirping adds a layer of subtlety.
Ep. 71-74: There are a lot of fragmented flashbacks that seemed like a Bohemian Rhapsody: 'Is this the Real Life or is this just Fantasy, caught in a landslide, no escape from Reality. Open your eyes look up to the skies and See...' The costume, set designs and use of colour were also aesthetically pleasing. This should be the Flagship model that will hopefully lead the industry as an example for new dramas in the future. It's refreshing to view a mature series with such depth instead of the shallow young adult dramas with sappy dialogue and dysfunctional relationships that we have been over-saturated with for years. I will wait in anticipation for the next season to see what the artists conjure up next!
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I loved this series. It has a lot of action and a little light comedy, but what impresses me the most is the men of honor and chivalry helping the oppressed seek justice and their bonds of brotherhood. Sometimes to do the right thing one is impelled to cross lines, meaning that there is no black and white in every situation, but different shades of grey in between.
The music could have been better and in some of the fight scenes, the filming was blurred and unsteady. Perhaps the cameraman had too much caffeine, or wine...
It was refreshing to see this book come to film because it's a great story that deserves to be told over again in each generation because it seems there will always be corruption in this world. To remake and update this series with the fantastic CGI special effects and an immersing soundtrack would really do justice to this timeless classic.
It's a much needed break from other action dramas that insert cheesy romantic side-plots to grab younger audiences by adding teen idol heart-throb actors to boost the ratings.
Also consider - 'Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre' or 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'
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Princess of Lanling King
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I don't want to be negative and bring anyone down, but the more I think about it, I have to admit that I really disliked this series. The woman was passed back and forth between the men like a dirty rag they both wiped themselves on. I'm so tired of love triangles, love squares and love pentagons... I was hoping the two Princes would just dump her and the guys would just get together! That would make a better story than this. I enjoyed the fight scenes and the magic elements, but they were not enough to make up for the faulty adaptation of the story's romantic entanglements. There was too much focus on 'love me, love me not' scenarios, when those scenes could have been used to better enhance the plot. Maybe it was targeting a teen audience.
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It Lost me between Episode 7 and Episode 14 before it started holding my interest again; and since the story is about Mages, we finally get to see some more fighting & magic in Episode 16 in the secret chamber under the Celestial Dance House, where it starts to pick up momentum for me until the final episode.
The intermittent songs with flashbacks were so cliché they should have been omitted and used for the more 'Campy' frivolous, romantic dramas.
In this last decade, viewer's have become more sophisticated in their tastes, even as Sound & CGI technology excels. It's time to change the style and advance to a more cinema-like quality with the 'Wow' factor and ditch the old over-used plot tricks. (ie... mid-episode songs; having to give air underwater to pretend a kiss; corny 'flirt' music in the background while man and woman banter back and forth with meaningless stale words; and the 'catch and swoop' as an excuse for them to hug and get close). Seen it sooooo many times, isn't the audience getting bored yet? Aren't the writer's tired of scripting the same old thing?
On a positive note, the core basis of the story is compelling and the costumes and settings are appealing. I gave this a high rating for it's integral quality, any misgivings that I mentioned were just my opinion and should not have any negative impact to dissuade others from enjoying this series, because it does hold high entertainment value. Maybe we're just starting to expect more in this digital age and to execute the masterful presentation of a story, it needs to compliment the great special effects and discard the hokey banal components of yesterday.
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