Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre is an all time classic. Before the start of rise of Asian drama, this story was one of the most classics along with may of Jin Yong's work especially during the time when Hong Kong was the top dog of the asian entertainment industry during the 80s-90s. Who has never heard of Heaven sword and Dragon sabre? Like many of the classics, this story is one where it has been adapted many many times before and it stands just. The intricate story, world building and complex relationships has made this one of the most classic tales to come out of modern Asian literature. Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre is the third installment of the late Jin Yong's Condor Triology. Although it is a triology, each story can entirely be a stand alone and one does not need to necessarily understand what happens in each story to understand this drama. With that said, although this live action did take creative action to change some minor details or add some minor plots, I would say it did a good job of trying to stay true to the story.
I would say in this live action adaption, for casting, I think they did a good job. The leads were all refreshing new faces who brought something new to the classic characters they played. Yuki Chen who played Zhao min I would say was one who surprised me the most. Her interpretation of Zhao min( although I would say isnt the best) was very good. The charisma she brought with the character made her outshine most of her new cast memebers. The only thing i did not like for her was that she became really whiny at the ends and was always " wuji" this and " Wuji" that and it was totally kind of out of character for Zhao Min. Like she became such a suck up to Wuji that it was just kinda stupid Also something I did not like was that I felt no chemistry between the leads. They did not write enough in to the script to help flesh the relationships out more so that they were better define. At least Wuji and ZHao min relationship should have had more of a spark. This is literally why they were an intriguing couple. There was a spark there that wasn't there with other other 3 girls in Wuji life. The actors and the script apparently did not deliver( cause-plus that kiss scene was atrocious).
THe choreography was crap. Sorry to say, but this is wuxia. Although I love the aesthetics and costumes, I felt like the fight scenes were boring and seriously, the slow mo were not needed at all. This was the thing I most hated in this series. The fights were stiff with horrible sound editing and it totally takes you out of the story when you can tell none of theses "Martial Artist" can fight. There were some action scenes where it did look good but then again I think it was the slow mo that ruined it.
Finally The ending felt rushed and made no fucking sense. I like how they went with the " lets tear the lovers apart" as this was an aspect that they never really wanted to explore in the other adaptions but like they did such a poor job. All characters felt out of character and suddenly I felt like a toddler took over the script. Even though the ending in the original novel was a little ambiguous, The ending of this particular adaption is one where I think it definitely was a fanfic. Although I did enjoy the little ending in the Mongolian planes, that slightly made up for the bad conclusion. Like they totally skipped out the final scene where Zhirou kidnaps Zhao Min and makes Wuji really confront his feelings. Like shit that was a pivotal plot point, how the heck are you just gonna glaze over it.