Feng Yun - Actors and Actresses

Here're sites/my personal thoughts about the actors and actresses in the two big-screen versions of Feng Yun, Wind Cloud: The Stormriders and the Feng Yun TV Series...

TV Series: Feng Yun, 2002
In two parts: the original Feng Yun (22 VCDs) and the sequel (22 VCDs).
Same core cast for all 44 episodes; the cast is a mix of various people from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (and Japan as well).

Movie: The Stormriders, 1998
Special effect/graphics key to this movie. Subtitles in Mandarin/English; the DVD version has special features, including a section about special effects.

Bu Jing Yun, or "Cloud": AARON KWOK
Sites:
Aaron's Official Website
Aaron's Song Lyrics
Aaron Kwok's Official Webring

Aaron is a popular singer/actor; from Hong Kong
My Thoughts:
Aaron's performance in The Stormriders is satisfactory. Although his lines aren't fantastic, he acts his parts dutifully. For physical appearances, he fits Jing Yun for the most part, but I personally feel that he doesn't have the height that a brooding character like Jing Yun requires. For any other character it wouldn't matter so much, but Jing Yun commands stage presence, which Aaron slightly lacks. This is to say nothing against his acting, although his expressions are slightly wooden.
In any case, I don't think that Aaron's performance is the thing that stands out most from The Stormriders, but it will certainly be appreciated by the millions of Aaron fans.

==> One thing that The Stormriders emphasizes that the TV Series doesn't about Jing Yun is that his 'Strike Cloud Palm' move requires liquid for it to be effective. Aaron demonstrates this very effectively by losing his arm in a slight plot twist.

Nie Feng, or "Wind": EKIN CHENG
Sites:
Ekin Cheng's Movies/Songs
Aaron's Ekin Cheng Homepage :Includes a page about The Stormriders-download
the theme song and/or the theme song music video starring Ekin
(http://www.geocities.com/ekin_cheng2295/)
(http://www.chinese.altocelebs.com/c/ekin-cheng/)

Ekin is a popular singer/actor; from Hong Kong
My Thoughts:
First off, the hair rocks! I'm all for black, rather than strange-colored dyed hair, and it's also a great length. Sure, Nie Feng's hair may be purple/brown/whatever in the comics, but when it comes to real people, I still prefer the natural. Ekin fits Nie Feng pretty well, and I would almost be tempted to say that he might be more right for the role of Feng than Zhao Wen Zhou (Nie Feng in the tv series), at least when it comes to physical appearances. It might be a different story when it comes to martial arts skills... Ekin has the cool, calm, gentlemanly role down for the most part. His clothes aren't quite typical of the day; a little too tight in the sleeves, but that isn't really his problem.
As for his acting, he has more emotion than Aaron does, perhaps because the script allows him more room to show his feelings. His battle with the Fire Qi Lin in its cave is awesome; even though the fire beast in The Stormriders isn't half as large and qi lin-ish as the one in the Feng Yun tv Series, the graphics are amazing. The special effects for his 'Wind Spirit Kick' is also very impressive.

==> Ekin sings the opening theme for The Stormriders and does well with it. The melody is dramatic and catchy, and the music video is pretty good.

Xiong Ba, or "Conqueror": SHINICHI CHIBA
Sites:
(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/p/SonnyChiba-1002866/)
(http://www.kungfucinema.com/people/sonnychiba.htm)

'Sonny' Chiba is a famous long-time actor; from Japan
My Thoughts:
The character of Xiong Ba is vital to the plot of Feng Yun; Chiba must convincingly play the role of the villain, and he certainly does. Chiba has tremendous stage presence; whenever he walks, talks and fights, he does so with ample confidence (except at the end when he's defeated, of course.) He portrays the dominating, intimidating character of Xiong Ba with experience, skill and a plentiful amount of guesturing and evil laughter.

==> Chiba plays Xiong Ba in both big-screen versions of Feng Yun; maybe because he's so good at it.

Bu Jing Yun: HE RUN DONG (Peter Ho)
Sites:
(http://pop_a_lyrics.tripod.com/peter.htm)
(http://peterho.hypermart.net/)
(http://asiastar.hoops.ne.jp/english/peterho.html)

He Run Dong is an actor/singer; born in the US; from Taiwan
My Thoughts:
     Bu Jing Yun's story dominates the first part of the Feng Yun tv series, and so Peter gets the spotlight. Peter matches Jing Yun in the general physical aspects. His height and build go well with Jing Yun's customary garb: sleeveless shirt, long cape, pants, boots. Not too traditional, but the costume follows the comics' lead. It has been said that Peter is not muscular enough to be Jing Yun; but in the realistic sense, no one wants to see graceless, steriod-pumped hulks; the movie isn't a body-building contest. Peter is one of the tallest actors in the series (Duan Lang rivals him in height) and is quite noticeable just standing to one side in any particular scene. His hair is dyed blue, but doesn't look too out of place once you get used to it.
      Peter's acting brings the character of Jing Yun alive. He does a very good job of brooding; his glare is piercing and shows plenty of cold, lonely pride. He portrays Jing Yun's sullen attitude well; he rarely smiles, so when he does, the gravity of the situation really comes through. It is true that Peter, or whoever does Jing Yun's voice, emphasizes the words too much at times, but it becomes part of the character.
      Peter's martial arts skills in fighting scenes are often annoyingly covered up with special effects, but are still convincing.

==> Peter originally did not have the part of Bu Jing Yun; Vincent Zhao actually did, but Zhao felt Peter was better suited to play the character.

Nie Feng: ZHAO WEN ZHUO (Vincent Zhao)
Sites:
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kris.wojciechowski/people/chiumancheuk.html)
(http://pcmdb.topcities.com/Movies/HomeInvasion.htm)

Zhao Wen Zhuo is an actor (most popular in Taiwan); from mainland China
My Thoughts:
     First things first as usual, the physical aspects. Although Zhao Wen Zhuo can't really be considered handsome and people have complained that his looks don't fit the character of Nie Feng in that respect, his acting and martial arts make up for the fact that he wasn't born looking like a comic book character. The major thing I have a problem with is his hair, color or otherwise; I prefer Ekin's. Still, his clothes are traditional enough: the blue/white robes, and then the red later in the series.
     Zhao really made the good parts of Nie Feng stand out, but also exercised a convincing attitude of ruthlessness, especially in the last half of the Feng Yun series. He sometimes falters with ultra-emotional situations, but overall does all right; he himself has admitted to feeling overwhelmed with emotional scenes (see Related Links in Feng Yun Main Page). As Zhao Wen Zhuo has starred in many martial arts serials, his fighting scenes are great and he manages to pull off a gentlemanly attitude throughout them.
     In the first half of the series, he plays an almost secondary role next to Jing Yun, but in the sequel he shares the acting burden with Peter as the plot brings them together for the second climax.

==> Zhao Wen Zhuo was filming Feng Yun in conjunction with other serials; he felt that he had the easiest time with Feng Yun compared to the others, in both acting and martial arts aspects.

Meng/Ming Yue: JIANG QIN QIN
ALIAS: SHUI LING

Shui Ling is a popular actress seen in many serials (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; White-Haired Maiden, etc.)
My Thoughts:
Shui Ling is a wonderful actress to play the two characters that she does: Meng and Ming Yue. Shui Ling's acting is bright and sincere whether she plays the lively and cheerful Ming Yue, or the melencholy, sweet Meng. Physically, she is a typical Chinese maiden; her hair is nice as Ming Yue and a little strange as Meng, but generally good. As Meng, her 'scar' is a little ridiculous; it's supposed to be large, not delicate and heart-shaped...but she does a good job of being extremely self-conscious about it. Shui Ling and Zhao Wen Zhuo's acting work well together, which is probably why she has the roles of both of Nie Feng's loves.

==> Shui Ling (Meng/Ming Yue) and Peter He (Bu Jing Yun) acted together in the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon series as a couple.

Xiong Ba: SONNY CHIBA
See above.

Cast of Other Major Characters in the TV Series (In order of appearance):

==> Ni Pu Sa (Mud Buddah; Bu Xue Liang) - Several brief appearances by the Mud Buddah to tell the future; not much acting involved.

==> Wen Chou Chou - (He Du Lin) - The "jester", as he was called in The Stormriders, Wen Chou Chou is the caretaker under Xiong Ba, almost second in command. He provides some comic relief in certain scenes. He Du Lin is commended for his acting; Chuo Chuo takes on some jobs that were supposed to be womens', such as leading the bride during her wedding; he also simpers and waves a fan. His clothing is also considerably strange. Still, the virtuous traits of Chou Chou are well brought out by the actor.

==> Yan Ying - (Tian Li) - As the traitorous mother of Nie Feng, Tian Li does a good job of making Yan Ying a flightly, shifty character.

==> Qin Shuang - (Wang Xi) - Qin Shuang, or Frost, is the only Cantonese actor in the cast; his hairstyle (yeah!) and costume are the most traditional of Xiong Ba's three disciples. His character is well portrayed; upright and moral, but naive in his own way.

==> Duan Lang - (Wang Jia Lin) - Wang Jia Lin is probably the most handsome actor in the cast. As Duan Lang, he makes the audience feel for his predicament in the beginning of the story with good acting as the underdog who 'goes to the dark side.' His clothing follows the comics' lead: red and blue. Although his hair is unusual, for the most part it's not particularly annoying.

==> Kong Ci - ( Wu Chen Jun) - Annie Wu Chen Jun is Taiwanese; her physcial appearance is slightly off, but her acting as the servant girl Kong Ci is excellent.

==> You Ruo - (Jiang Zu Ping) - You Ruo's hair is quite funky, but Zu Ping's portrayl of the rowdy, rude girl becoming a refined young woman is entertaining, humorous and well done, especially during scenes when she fought against her conscience and emotions. Zu Ping has a sharp look of intelligence and defiance that fits the character of Xiong Ba's daughter well.

==> Chu Chu - (Tao Hong) - Physically speaking, Chu Chu's hair is terrible; it's cut in a Japanese style, dyed brownish and covers her face. But as for her acting, she's quite the convincingly innocent (and annoying at times) maiden in distress. However, several scenes between Tao Hong and Peter He (Jing Yun) are quite touching.

==> Wu Ming - (CoCo Sun Hing) - The character of Wu Ming is a powerful one, commanding respect from everyone who hears his name. The actor looks quite like the Wu Ming of the comics, wears similiar blue robes, and also has a style of dramatic appearances and an outwardly mild temper which fits the character nicely.

==> Jian Chen - (Xing Min Shan) - Jian Chen is perhaps one of the most pathetic characters in the series, not in terms of acting, but in terms of what happens to the character. Xing Min Shan's portrayl of the moral, polite, gentleman-swordsman always makes the audience feel sorry for him at one time or another because of plot twists. His clothing is brisk black and white, and his scenes of swordplay are engaging.

==> Jue Wu Shen - (Wang Hui Wu) - This villian is all right, but lacks the stage presence that makes Chiba (Xiong Ba) such a good actor. He comes through as a wiry, sly antagonist, working in devious ways, but is nowhere near as convincing a bad guy as Xiong Ba is.

==> For the other major characters: Qin Shuang, or Frost, has terribly spiky slicked-back hair. His role isn't as important in The Stormriders as in the tv series, but his acting is all right.
==> Chu Chu, who is supposed to be Jing Yun's love, is a character portrayl I really dislike. She has no grace whatsoever and her acting is very superficial. Then again, her character isn't too important.
==> Kong Ci, the character of whom is changed. She is originally a servant-girl and Jing Yun's
obsession, but she is Xiong Ba's daughter instead in the movie. Also, unlike the original version of Kong Ci, she loves both Wind and Cloud, instead of just Wind.
==> The entire movie has a rather dark quality, be it the lighting or script or something else...
==> Weaponry in The Stormriders is done well; both the Snow Drinking Saber and the Jue Shi Hao Jian appear in their familiar, easily-recognizable forms.
==> The graphics, again, are the strong point of this movie. It's clearly impossible to turn a huge, elaborate story like 'Feng Yun' into a movie which will show everything, so plot cuts do kill off a lot of the interesting parts of the story and leave out many characters (Duan Lang, for instance, who appears a lot in the tv series.) But the fighting scenes are good, and overall the movie is a classic revenge/destiny type action-martial arts story, good entertainment for general viewers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Feng Yun tv series is very good, but up to a certain point. The first 22 VCDs are excellent; the plot is solid and entertaining, character development steady and believable, and the situations acceptable, if not realistic. However, as the story progressess past Xiong Ba's defeat, the plot deteriorates steadily and noticeably. Although a lot of interesting character development occurs, the drive of the story becomes artificial and disillusioned. The ending is frankly atrocious; characters are needlessly wasted and the series ends with a very poorly done climax (from the plot's standpoint, not the acting). I have no idea why the the ending was mutilated so much; there were endless possibilities for better, more fitting endings, but so much for that...

Although the ending is quite a letdown, the first half of Feng Yun is still worth watching. Thanks to the many twists and turns to the excellent original plot, and good character portrayl for the most part, I think that much of the appeal of the comics has been captured by the tv series through the acting, scenery and special effects.

As a final thought, all I can say is that Feng Yun makes for pretty addictive entertainment!

Back to Feng Yun MAIN

~ The theme songs for the Feng Yun tv series are nice; the ending theme is melodic and the words are good (one word seems a little weird).
    Depending on which version of the opening theme is heard,opinions vary. I heard the short, worse version first, where english is sung during the chorus:
    "Sing without you / I'll sing without you / Can't you feel my heart? / 'Cause still I love you."
Sort of a strange chorus, which doesn't fit the theme of the series. Although the tune is catchy, not once was 'Feng' or 'Yun' mentioned in the lyrics.
    The other opening theme is more dignified and dramatic, and it fits much better and is also longer.