SERIES QUIK-VIEWS
A |
B | C | D | E
| F | G | H | I | J | K | L
| M | N | O | P | Q | R | S
| T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
These quik-views are written by Wonton & TKiet. Reviews with the “#” indicates that they are written by TKiet. Any comments or questions, email Wonton or Tkiet.
Find these series posters at StarsCentral.
A
A MATTER OF CUSTOM
(LUC LUONG HAI QUAN)
Stars: Wong Hei, Jessica Hester Hsuan, Liza Wong, Danny Lee, Evergreen Mak, Jade Leung, Fiona Yeun, Joyce Chan, Melissa Ng.
Comments: A serie with an interesting topic, however, it concentrates way too much in boring relationship (I’m talking about Liza and Danny). It would be a lot much better if those two have less screen time and let the serie focuses more on Jessica and Hee, Jade and Mak Cheng Ching. Throughout most of the serie, I have to fast forward Liza’s scenes. Melissa Ng looks very elegant and beautiful in here. Overall, it is a quite predictable serie, with very basic plot. The ending is very very dissatisfying, as no one knows whether or not Hei actually dies.
Rating: 3/5 – Rent it if you are either Hei or Jessica’s fan and don’t if you don’t want to see Liza and Danny. What I like best about this serie is Jade Leung’s performance.
Armed
Reaction III (LUC LUONG PHAN UNG III)
Stars: Bobby Au-Yeung, Ada Choi, Marco Ngai, Joyce Tang
Comments: Unlike its original, this one followed the
same format as the sequel. Joyce Tang’s stubborn and childish character is
irritating to watch for some viewers. I like this third installment better than
the previous one.
Rating: 4/5 – Despite all the criticisms to this
series, it’s still one of the better cop series I’ve seen recently.
Recommended.
AS SURE AS FATE (SO MENH NGUOI DAN BA)
Stars: Hacken Lee, Joyce Tsang, Mui Siu-Wai, Florence Kwok
Comments: This is one series to watch with your
family. Very funny and warming. There’s not a minute seems wasted in this
series, therefore, it’s moving pretty fast. I can say this is one of the most
constructed series produced by TVB, events are happening throughout the whole
series and they’re not repetitive. Before you know it, the series is over.
Rating: 5/5 – I highly recommend this series as it is one of my all time favorite series.
At
Point Blank (vuoc vao hon nhan)
Stars: Law Gallen, Yuen Ka Dan, Lousia Lou, Michael Tse, Myolie Wu, Fiona Yuen
Comments: An above average and enjoyable short series
about marriage.
Rating: 3.5/5 – Worth the rental cost for a few
laughs. [3.5/5]
At Point Blank (vuoc vao hon nhan) #
Stars: Gallen Lo, Kingdom Yeun, Louisa So, Michael Tse, Myolie Wu.
Comments: A quite ridiculous serie. It starts with a promising storyline then just goes downhill. I don’t get why Louisa keeps on chasing Gallen like that. The serie explains how it never works out with her previous relationship. But the way the serie is presented, there is a clear impression that she never love him, only listen to that stupid fortuneteller. Nevertheless, great acting job for Kingdom and Lousa; both did good portraying what they suppose to be. The rest of the support cast was fine
Rating: 2.5/5 – The beginning is much more interesting but it slows down at later part. Sometime I get the feeling that they purposely drag the serie so it will be 16 tapes (viet version). Even though there is a good cast, they cannot save the slow storyline. Whatever it is, this is Gallen’s best serie, better than Seven Sisters.
B
BURNING FLAME (LIET HOA HUNG TAM)
Stars: Wong Hei, Louis Koo, Esther Kwan, Jade Leung, Lee San San, Chin Kar Lok
Comments: A large production, anniversary serie I think. It is just another typical drama; however very refreshing as the topic addresses firefighters. But in the end, it all ends up with relationship, hatred, family feud, and deaths. The best part of the serie is at the beginning where is all happy and concentrate more on firefighting. The later part is more dramatic as they put in Jade Leung’s death, which was sad; and then the other guy. I enjoyed watching the serie so I would recommend it
Rating: 4/5 – it would be perfect if there were better actors. Lee San San was still fresh back then, and Louis Koo is still improving. Also, Wong Hie and Esther don’t look good together; Esther is much more mature.
C
COLORFUL LIFE (DUYEN TINH MUON SAC)
Stars: Frankie Lam, Annie Man, Ronald Cheng, Mui
Siu-Wai, Florence Kwok, Louisa Lou, Myolie Wu.
Comments: A family business of dying fabric. A very
funny, entertaining, and warming series. Frankie Lam and Annie Man make an
adorable couple.
Rating: 4.5/5 – Certainly, one of the year 2001’s
best series. Highly recommended.
D
DETECTIVE INVESTIGATION FILES IV (VU AN HINH SU IV)
Stars: Sunny Chan, Louis Koo, Charmaine Sheh, Jessica
Hsuan, Lee San San, Joyce Tang, Anne Heung
Comments: A good cop serie, much preferred than Armed
Reactions; however not as comical. It depends
largely on the dramatic relationships between the main characters. Most of the cases are very interesting. Another serie that is heavily dominated by
the Miss Hong Kong. DIF 4 is another of
TVB’s cliff hanging serie, where in the end, the audience won’t know who will
end up with who.
Rating: 4/5 – It is very good, it successfully kept me interested the hope time with the criminal cases and the drama. However, the acting skills lack so much. This is like Charmaine and San San’s second serie so don’t expect much from them. DIF is also Anne’s debut serie, only appears in a few episodes. Recommended.
E
F
FEMININE MASCULINITY
Stars: Gallen Lo, Flora Chan, Kong Wah, Angela Tong,
Nicola Cheung
Comments: Flora in here plays a ghost who got kill by
an unknown person, whom in which she wants to find out. Gallen is the unlucky guy who was at the
scene where she got kill. From that
point, the two work together to find out the suspect. The plot is very typical, but it is quite funny at time.
Rating: 3.5/5 – Quite entertaining to watch. The best part is the ending, where they will
find out who really kill Flora; watch and see.
FILE OF JUSTICE IV (HO SO LUAT IV)
Stars: Michael Tao, Bobby Au-Yeung, Jessica Hsuan,
Chan Sau-Man, William So, Bowie Lam, Sheren Tang, Patrick Tam, Astrid Chan.
Comments: This series can be said one of TVB’s
classic series in the early 90’s with its mega cast with big names actors and
actresses. This series and “Detective Investigation” gave Michael Tao the
position he is holding right now in the HK showbiz. He will always be
remembered by us as the characters he played in these series.
Rating: 4.5/5 – Much better than “File of Justice V”.
G
Gods
of Honor (BANG PHONG THAN)
Stars: Benny Chan, Yuen Ka Dan, Chin Ka Lok, Irene Wan, Michelle Yip, Fiona Yeun
Comments: Lots of computer effects and fightings
throughout the whole series. Interesting plot. Excellent performance from Yuen
Ka Dan as Benny Chan’s mother.
Rating: 4/5 – Definitely one of the better series of
this year. Highly Recommended.
H
HEALING HANDS II (BAN TAY NHAN AI II)
Stars: Lawrence Ng, Bowie Lam, Raymond Cho, Maggie Sui, Yoyo Mung, Flora Chan, Kit Chan, Fiona Yeun, Moses Chan, June Chan, Michael Tong, Ada Choi, Sheren Teng.
Comments: First of all, I never watched the first one. I only saw the last few tapes at the end where Ada went into a coma and that’s it. I like the serie very much, especially the scenes in the hospital. All the elaborated equipments, nice clean bright room. What make the serie good is because of the supporting group. Those such as Raymond, Maggie, and Fiona did a great job. Their characters are very much likeable and the actors acted very well.
Rating: 4.5/5
– an entertaining serie that worth the money so I high recommend it. The plot is presented smoothly and the
actors are the best. Annoying (not that
much though) at Yoyo Mung’s part.
HOPE FOR SALE (MOI TINH SOM CHO)
Stars: Law Gallen, Christy Ng
Comments: An okay little series. Nothing much to
praise about. Rent it if you feel like it, if not, nothing much is lost.
Rating: 3/5 – A better cast would attract more people
to this series. This is a weakness of the series.
I
IN THE REALM OF SUCCESS
Stars: Steven Ma, Nadia Chan, Michael Tong, Claire
Yiu
Comments: The series starts out quite funny and
entertaining, but it goes down hill not long after.
Rating: 2.5/5 – Recommend to watch only the first
half of the series. Steven Ma is annoying than ever.
J
JOURNEY TO THE WEST II (TAY DU KY 2)
Stars: Benny Chan, Kong Wah, Wayne Lai, Mak Cheung
Ching, Joyce Chan.
Comments: I never watched the first part so I don’t
know if it is any better. Still, I like
it simply because it is entertaining.
It would be so so much better if they re-edit the first few tapes. They keep on playing the same freaking
flashbacks over and over again. But the
serie gets better.
Rating: 4.5/5 – Recommend. Storyline is quite refreshing since TVB changed the whole plot. Bad part is the crazy animation, similar to Dragon Love
Aside Info: NMG (Andy Lau’s film company) is doing another remake of the serie. Dicky Cheung will be the Monkey King; Eric Kot is the pig. It is so far star studded. Sammi Cheung, Jimmy Lin, Ruby Lin, Twins, Monica Chan, Fennie Yeun and many many more big stars will be in there or make some kind of cameo appearances.
K
L
LAW ENFORCERS (CANH SAT HINH SU)
Stars: Nick Cheung, Roger Kwok, Fennie Yuen
Comments: A mini cop series that focuses more on the
relationships than cops. Yep! You guessed it right, this series is sort of like
“A Matter of Custom” but it doesn’t drag that bad and no old people acting
teens.
Rating: 2.5/5 – A cop series that focuses too much on
the relationships among the characters than the cops. You won’t find much
excitements in this series, but there are plenty of melodrama. Though in my
opinion, this is one of the better series released in year 2001.
Legal
Entanglement (THUC THI PHAP LUAT)
Stars: Hacken Lee, Kenix Kwok, Michael Tse, Elaine
Ng, Stephen Au, Myolie Wu
Comments: 3.5/5 – This is a very warming series that
deals with deals with different types of relationships among friends and
family. The law cases are especially refreshing, they are less serious and more
emotional. You won't find anything in this series like the “Files of Justice”
series.
LEGAL ENTANGLEMENTS (THUC THI PHAP LUAT) #
Stars: Hacken Lee, Kenix Kwok, Michael Tse, Elaine Ng,
Stephen Au, Myolie Wu, Patricia Lau
Comments: It
starts out really good but then just drags on like crazy. The middle part needs to be chopped off some
more. Acting is alright, some of the
law suits are good too, especially the one with Alkina Hong with the baby.
Rating: 3/5 – Just another typical average TVB serie,
rent it at will when you have some free time.
Nothing to go all excited.
LIFE FOR LIFE (VAN
MENH)
Stars: Cheung Tat Ming, Marianne Chan, Cutie Mui, Michael Tse, Shermin Yui, Ben Wong.
Comments: A low budget serie but rather it is one of the best serie I’ve ever watched. It is the serie that make me realized how good Marianne and Cutie Mui as actresses are. The acting is what makes this serie worth watching. The plot is comical at time and somewhat interesting. The best part is how these two actresses change their characters and attitudes. The serie is more character driven; Michael Tse and Cheung Tat Ming were just hilarious.
Rating: 5/5 –
if it was not clearly stated above, here it is again, this is one of me best
serie. If you are one of those viewers
who appreciate good acting, then this is the definite serie to watch.
LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL (DONG CUNG QUY PHI)
Stars: Marianne Chan, Anne Heung, Eddie Cheung, Marco
Ngai
Comments: A “heavy” series, the underdog character
always has to suffer. Quite dramatic, but also frustrating. Excellent
performance from Marianne Chan and by far, is Anne Heung’s best performance.
Rating: 3.5/5 – Why the rating so low? It’s because I
was frustrated and irritated watching it! Almost all of the characters in the
series are overly stereotyped making the viewers feel very aggravated. Despite
how I personally feel about this series, as a whole, this series is strong with
the interesting plot and excellent performances it has to offer.
M
N
O
ON THE TRACK OR OFF (DUONG DUA AC LIET)
Stars: Steven Ma, Ada Choi, Bondy Chiu, Frankie Lam
Comments: This series is quite dragged. The beginning
of the series is unnecessary and there are too many irrelevant characters.
Frankie Lam is wasted in this series. I recommend “Colorful Life” if you want
to see a Frankie Lam series.
Rating: 2.5/5 – Another of those series that I
thought I would like it, but was disappointed.
P
Q
R
S
SEVEN SISTERS (BAY CHI EM)
Stars: Law Gallen, Kong Wah, Charmaine Sheh, Anne
Heung, Florence Kwok
Comments: There are some funny moments in the series,
but not enough for me to recommend this series. I couldn’t believe it myself
that they can actually make a series like this one. The series storyline is
uncomplicated and ridiculous, and they managed to pull this series off with 30
episodes which should tell you something.
Rating: 1.5/5 – Truly is one of the worse “ghost”
series, work is needed on the plot and acting.
Aside info: This was Florence Kwok’s last series with TVB, she decided to retire from the entertainment circle and work in an office instead. Too bad that she left, she’s one of my favorite TVB supporting actresses and you have to admit that she does have some acting talent. She can play any roles about just fine.
SEVEN SISTERS (BAY
CHI EM) #
Stars: Gallen Lo, Charmaine Sheh, Anne Heung, Kong Wah, Florence Kwok, Annie Man, Hong Wah, Shirley Cheung, Eddie Cheung, Helena Law, Kingdon Yeun
Comments: It is just boring, the worst ghost story ever. It tries so much to be like Time Before Time, but it is no match. Not talking about the actors, with just the slow slow slow turtle moving story, it definitely not worth the money. The ending is especially ridiculous with Gallen in a dream world like in What Dream May Come. Charmaine is alright as well as Anne. Kong Wah character is very dull and plain. Florence Kwok and Hong Wah stands out the most in the serie, both look very lady rich like.
Rating: 2/5 –
Not a recommended serie; watch it with low expectation because if you think
this serie is all that, then you will definitely hate it. I had high hope for this serie because I
like ghost story, but not this one.
T
U
V
W
WARS OF THE GENDERS (TINH VANG)
Stars: Dodo Cheng, Dayo Wong, Yuen Ka Dan, Marsha
Yuen, Patrick Tang, Eric Cheung, Joyce Chan, Siao Leung, Loletta Lee
Comments: This is a very smart and well-written
series – no doubt of one TVB’s best comedies. The law cases are not serious
like those in “Files of Justice”, but they quite are smart and clever. Some of
the cases will bring you intrigues and surprises, which is the factor that
attracted me to this series.
Rating: 5/5 – The series didn’t catch on to me at
first and I was hooked on it as it moved. I have seen this series a couple of
times now and it just gets better everytime.
Aside info: Dodo Cheng won the TVB’s most popular
actress of the year award for this series in 2000 and it sure didn’t surprise
me. This series was the highest rated series of the year 2000 and is still
ranked number one on TVB’s ratings chart.
WITNESS TO A PROSECUTION (BAT MAN BI MAT)
Stars: Bobby Au-Yeung, Jessica Hsuan, Marianne Chan,
Frankie Lam, Michael Tse, May Kwok
Comments: If you like “Untraceable Evidences”, check
this one out. Instead of a modern day female coroner of Flora Chan, we have
Bobby Au-Yeung as the coroner in the historical period. The methods that he
inspects the dead bodies finding evidences to help solves murder cases are
obviously fictional but fun to watch.
Rating: 4.5/5 – This series is indeed one of my favorites
with an excellent cast and it has a well-blended plot of different elements of
actions, humors, intrigues, excitements, and emotions.
Aside info: Bobby Au-Yeung won the TVB’s most popular
actor of the year award for this series in 2000.
X
Y
Z
UPCOMING/IN PRODUCTION SERIES
Note: Titles
to some of these series are tentative and subject to change.
BURNING FLAME II
Stars: Wong Hei, Alex Fong, Maggie Cheung, Yoyo Mung,
Flora Chan, Annie Man, special appearance from Jessica Hsuan
Info: Modern/drama/fire fighters. Despite the title,
this series has a brand new plot – no relations to “Burning Flame”. Jessica
Hsuan only appears in flaskbacks as Wong Hei’s dead wife. Wong Hei and Maggie
Cheung make a pair. Flora Chan is the third party of pair of Alex Fong and Yoyo
Mung.
A CASE OF MISADVENTURE
Stars: William So, Flora Chan
Info: Historical. It seems to be like “Game of
Deceit”.
DOOMED TO OBLIVION
Stars: Wong Hei, Gigi Lai, Nadia Chan, Myolie Wu
Info: Historical.
ETERNIAL HAPPINESS
Stars: Raymond Lam, Michelle Yip, Joe Ma
Info: Historical. Michelle Yip plays the character of
Manh Lai Quan.
FIGHT FOR LOVE
Stars: Bowie Lam, Sonija Kwok, Fiona Yuen
Info: Modern/computer professionals.
THE GOLDEN FAITH
Stars: Law Gallen, Deric Wan, Jessica Hsuan, Anne
Heung, Raymond Lam, Michelle Yip, Myolie Wu
Info: Modern/drama – blockbuster type. This may be
TVB’s 2002 anniversary series. Jessica Hsuan and Michelle Yip play sisters.
JOURNEY TO THE WEST III
Stars: Dicky Cheung, Edmond Leung, Ng Man-Tat, Eric
Kot, Andy Hui, Sammi Cheng, Lee San San, Kristy Yang, Nicholas Tse, William So,
Jimmy Lin
Info: Legend of the Monkey King. They said that this
series is made with the biggest budget ever in the history of TV series.
PRINCESS CHANG PING
Stars: Steven Ma, Charmaine Sheh
Info: Chilam Cheung is replaced by Steven Ma as the male lead. Charmaine Sheh plays Princess Chang Ping.
TAKE MY WORD FOR IT
Stars: Bobby Au-Yeung, Chilam Cheung, Kenix Kwok,
Annie Man
Info: Modern/cops. Bobby Au-Yeung and Kenix Kwok make
a pair. Chilam Cheung and Annie Man make a pair. Click here for more info and
pics for this series.
TREASURE RAIDERS
Stars: Felix Wong, Maggie Siu, Anne Heung, Halina Tam
Info: Historical/kung fu.
WHERE THE LEGEND BEGINS
Stars: Steven Ma, Ada Choi
Info: Historical – the legend of the goddess “Lok Sun”.
Produced by Mui Siu-Wai’s sister, who produced “When Dreams Come True” and
“Colorful Life”.