I noticed that a lot of people think that the shows of 80s are considerablely better than those of today, but they usually point to handful of shows like Legend/Return of the Condor Heroes, The Bund, and Looking Back in Anger. It isn't hard to make the case that Yesterday's Glitter is a lot better than say the Legend of Lady Yang, or Dragon Love. But what happens when you compare the likes of say
The Bund..........Part 3 vs the best of the 90s like Greed of Man, Plain Love I/II, and Burning Flame(IMO the best mix of melodrama, romantic triangles, serious thoughts, and brother love).

On another note does anyones think that the Mongol horn sound effect in Legend of the Condor Hero is still being used by TVB?

Not at all.

The 90's re-make of The Legend of the Condor Heroes '83 was merely a joke.

And i don't kno where to begin from the recent 2003 re-make...

Also, I would say dramatic series today, like A Threshold of An Era or Golden Faith, fails in comparison to classics like 'Looking Back in Anger' in terms of storyline, memorable scenes and stirring up emotions from the audiences.

Now, undoubtebly Greed of Man and series like 'Breaking Point' etc. are classics in their own right even though it is made in the early 90's. Personally, i don't seperate them with the 80's classics...I guess my cut-off year is more around 95-96...

Surely, there must have been a share of poor series done in the 80's as well, however, when comparing the new era's best against the old era's best, i would say the 80's and early 90's not only produced more classics but they were more entertaining/intriguing as well.

agree! i luv series from the 80's & the early/mid 90's. n NO, they r NOT overrated. they r more "underrated" if u ask me!

herez some of my fav from the 80's & early/mid 90's:
Return of the Condor Heroes (’83)- Idy Chan, Andy Lau
The Duke of Mount Deer (’84)- Tony Leung CW, Andy Lau
Police Cadet (’84)- Tony Leung CW, Sean Lau, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung
Police Cadet II (’85)- Tony Leung CW, Chow Yun Fat, Margie Tsang, Carina Lau, Simon Yam, Sean Lau, Ng Man Tat
The New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber (’86)- Tony Leung CW, Kitty Lai, Sheren Tsang, Simon Yam, Carol Cheng, Margie Tsang
basically, I luv any series that have Tony Leung CW in it! he is the BEST & i luv him
Looking Back in Anger (’88)- Felix Wong, Deric Wan, Carina Lau, Kathy Chow, Maggie Siu, Yammie Lam
The Blood of Good & Evil (’90)- Deric Wan, Kitty Lai, Maggie Siu, Nathan Chan
The File of Justice I-V (’90-’97): Bobby AuYeung, Michael Tao, Amy Chan, William So, Bowie Lam, Jessica Hsuan, Faye Wong, Sammi Cheng, Sheren Tsang …
The Breaking Point (’91)- Leon Lai, Deric Wan, Kathy Chow, Maggie Siu- this is my ALL-TIME FAV series! Deric Wan is the BEST in there!
The Remembrance (’93)- Julian Cheung, Kenix Kwok, David Siu
Weapons of Power ('94)- Terry Fan, Leo Koo, Gigi Fu, Angie Cheung
The Ching Emperor (‘95)- Julian Cheung, Vivian [Noel] Leung
Detective Investigation Files I-III (‘95-‘97): Michael Tao, Kenix Kwok, Joey Leung, Louisa So, Amy Kwok, Sammi Cheng, Margaret Chung, Monica Chan, Gabriel Harrison…
Journey 2 the West (‘96)- Dicky Cheung, Kong Wah, Wayne Lai, Evergreen Mak
Corner of the Con-Man ('96)- Bobby AuYeung, Leo Koo, Gigi Fu, Moncia Chan
The Hitman Chronicles (‘97)- Terry Fan, Vivan [Noel] Leung, Tsui Kam Kong, Louis Koo, Patrick Tam, Gigi Fu

call me "old-school" or watever the hell u wish, but when it comes down 2 it, the 80's [& early 90's] produced some of the BEST & more CLASSIC series; plus, they r MORE entertaining & has BETTER artists.
that's y rite now, i hardly watch series. i watch more HK movies & IF i do want 2 watch some series, i would rent series that was from the 80's (not much, but they do have some) or early/mid 90's.

I think 80's series has better plots but way they make series in the 90's or later are better.....more money are put into it for better effects and the pace of the series are much faster

I think I prefer the older series because of the old breed of actors and storylines. Hasn't been as good from about 1995 onwards

i think the 80s movies were definatly golden, the early 90s, were ok, but once htey started abusing computer graphics and everythign seemed "unrealistic" it started to get boring, especially when they over killed the computer graphics in "ancient wuxia" movies... i also think poor acting had to do with the declination, and putting the 80s over all better...

Agree that today's TVB series cannot be compare to the ones in the 80s. Firstly, the plots of the series today is so bad or should I say there's no plot at all!! Secondly, it seems like TVB promote their actors/actresses too quickly, especially those MHK so the lack of talent with the actor/actresses ruin the whole series.

I agreed 80's drama are better...nowadays..the plot seem so cheesy and predictable!! a more factory made product

some of the 80s are alright..but i find the new ones more fun....but i agree it is cheesy and predictable..

I have never liked any of the 80's series but my parents and my sister love them the only thing i didn;t get was why were everything back then look for fake?

I definitely enjoyed the 80's series better. I agree with others, that the older generation actors and actresses were better than the present. Now a days, it seems like anyone who looks good can be on the new series. Some of them just do not seem to know how to act.

Even though the present day technology in film making has improved a lot, it seems they over use it in the newer series. It makes things look even more fake than the older special effects.

There are not that many good series coming out nowaday. I still love the old series. A lot of new ones are so cheesy....

yea, 80's series were much better.. not so rushed in a way..much more thought to it, at least thats what i think... and i won't even consider burning flame even close to being a top series, even in the 90's- present.. however, tehre are a few good ones that do make it ontop of the list and i would rate it along with some series in the 80's.. like At the treshold of an Era.. i think thats the only series NOT from the 80's that would make it as an alltime best, it can make a case..

i actually thoit burning flame was alike alot better than at the threshold of an era.

I seriously cannot stand series that were made in the 70/80's, they soom so uninteresting and unattractive to me. I would rather quit watching series if u make me watch the 70/80/early 90's series.

i havent seen much 80s TVB but to me 90s TVB is mroe attracting i guess cause of technology making the movies look betta

i think the new computer effects are SO NOT NECESSARY

In my opinion they should just burn all the old movies and series...the actors are so freakin unattractive. and the special effects look terrible

Let's just say 80% of the old series are worth watching. Nowadays, I watch 1 to 2 TVB series a year not because I don't have time, but because they are not worth my time. I think TVB really went downhill since '96 on. The series are too lame and predictable. Series that are supposed to be funny aren't. I just think they are out of fresh ideas. I just hope they never do another remake of Jin Yong story. The last disaster was Heavenly Sword with the too old for his role Lawrence Ng!

I agree wholeheartedly that the 80s and early 90s were much better than many of the recent releases. I think they really went overboard with the computer graphics and the new breed of actors/actresses aren't great with very little/or no acting experience in their background. Although there are some series that are great and classics in themselves, overall recent releases are just not as good as the old.

Haven seen much of these series.. Just realized that 80s series had great casts!!

Are looks all you care about? Acting talent + Storyline are more important, which is what the 80s and early 90s series are great at.

In the 80's TVB, in my opinion, did a much better job in making their TV series interesting, everything seemed to click, great storyline, plots, acting and man, even the music stands out - who doesn't agree that Roman Tam's Condor Heroes songs are not instant classics!

Now these days, TVB makes lousy movies, actors who looks good/pretty and all, but sucks at acting, etc.... If you look at all the remix they have made from the Legeng/Return of the Condor Heroes onwards, all the acting sucks, bad casting, plots etc... But there's one thing that I must admit, TVB did improve the special effects that made many of the series more believeable, but I feel none of the 2000 TV series just don't have the same 'feel' as the old ones.

Thats' my 2-cents....

The picture quality was horrible back then, but their plots and acting were certainly better then those of today! I especially enjoyed the DIF series, and Journey to the West!!! So no they are not over rated in my opinion.

Okay you're talking about 80s dramas...hmm...the Condor heroes trilogy was decent. Although, I like the remakes better. Nevertheless, they are still not over rated.


An unbelievable series...The stories are so entertaining...especially the one with the girl who poses as a statue and kills. All these revenge plots! Definitely my type of series.

"Man takes revenge, 10 years is not too late" (rough translation)
That quote was used in every story.

Well...no offence but i personally feel its overrated...there isnt reeally anything that great about the series in the 80's.....some of the actors/actresses back then couldnt act as well...just like now...some cant act but there are a number who can act well....and the extra effects back then was so fake...the color n picture quality is also better now....but mebbe now so many ideas has been used already that they keep repeating the ideas

at first i thought the 80's series were completely boring. but my mom who loves to watch old series was watching them and i happen to be bored so i watched with her. turns out the shows are pretty interesting. lots of drama and evil people.

I agree. I definitely think the 80's are better than the modern series..