Not as good as the 1983 version, but still a worthy adaptation in its own right. Casting was great. Li Yi Tong did a terrific job as Huang Rong. A few story arcs were abbreviated which took away from the overall epic... to call out a few: time young Guo Jing was in Mongolia, Zhou Botong/Yi Deng/Yinggu backstory, Zhou Botong's visit with Huang Yaoshi and his wife and how Zhou was duped regarding the Yin Manual. Still a highly recommended series, imo. There was less dependence on silly CGI for fight scenes which made those scenes way more fun to watch. I really hope the same director/cast will agree to remake the follow-up Return of the Condor Heroes!

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Good abridged adaptation

Obviously it's not possible condensing Jin Yong's most epic story down to a 95 min movie. Where the script really succeeded was selectively taking a few story arcs and weaving them together in a way that flows well. Pacing of the story was fairly fast, but this was expected given the amount of materials they had to cover. The cast all did fine with their characters; Lin Yan Rou did well as Huang Rong. I believe the script intentionally made Guo Jing more “normal” (vs “slow minded” like in the original story). As a bonus, they even remade the original theme song from 1983. Overall, my family and I enjoyed the movie.

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