"Qimen Dunjia" was originally a number created by Taoism, integrating astronomy, geography, arithmetic, personnel, life, etc., which can be used for people's livelihood and warfare. Such as Guiguzi, Zhang Liang, Zhuge Liang, etc., are all masters of Qimen. However, since the release of "Qi Men Dun Jia" directed by Yuan Heping in 1982, "Qi Men Dun Jia" has become the pronoun of magic. Subsequent works with the same theme derived from this also adopted the "spiritual" setting of the film.
In 2017, Yuan Heping and Tsui Hark joined forces to once again use their old title 35 years ago to gather many stars such as Zhou Dongyu, Ni Ni, and spend 250 million yuan to shoot the new "Qimen Dunjia". The film was shot at 48 frames, with more than 1,000 special effects shots alone, and more than 60% of green screen shots.
Although the investment is high and the lineup is strong, after the release of "Qi Men Dunjia", due to the thin story, flat characters, blurred world view, etc., the content is accused of being empty. The gorgeous but dry technology remains. Even the action drama nominated for the "Academy Award for Best Action Design" is actually old and lacklustre.
In the end, this "luxury version" "Qi Men Dun Jia" only received 290 million box office. Calculated according to the proportion of investment and benefit, even the cost has not been recovered, which can be called a blood loss.
On May 21, 2019, the new version of "Qi Men Dun Jia" directed by "Xiang Brothers" was launched in Hengdian. The biggest difference from the 2017 version is that the new version does not use any stars. The biggest actor in the film is the starring actor of the 1982 version-Kaohsiung.
After about 10 months of shooting and post-production, the new version of "Qi Men Dun Jia" was launched online. Netizens called the movie "Qimen Dunjia 2020" based on the date it went live.
Maybe even the main creative team did not expect that "Qi Men Dunjia 2020" went live for 3 days, and the box office of the split account exceeded 8 million. It has become a new "Fried Screen" masterpiece by word of mouth, and the Douban score is much higher than the 2017 version. .
So, why did "Qi Men Dunjia 2020" with an investment of only 20 million win the "Deluxe Edition" predecessor with an investment of more than 10 times?
01
"Qi Men Dunjia 2020" is not a new creation. It not only has the same name as the 2017 edition, but also uses the same script, which can be said to be a derivative of Xu Ke and Yuan Heping's edition.
But the 2020 version does not completely copy the previous work.
It deleted one of the two emotional lines in the "2017 version", and only retained the male protagonist "Zhou Tong" (corresponding to the former version of Li Zhiting's "Bao Yichang") and the disciple of "Fog Hidden Gate" Flea (corresponding to the "Iron Dragonfly" played by Ni Ni in the previous version) is an emotional scene with CP.
Not only that, even for this emotional line left, "Qi Men Dunjia 2020" try to cut the complexity and simplify it. The transition between Zhou Tong and Little Flea from "brothers" to children's affection is highlighted by a scene where the little Flea saves Zhou Tong and ends after another scene of "Beauty Saves the Hero".
And the "sugar" between two people only exists in the flashback scenario. But by then, the sugar has also become glass ballast, and the audience has hurt before they taste the sweetness.
In addition to the emotional line, "Qi Men Dunjia 2020" is also neat and tidy on other characters. The conflicts between Zhou Tong and his father, the separation of life and death, and the dramatic changes in his family, his apprenticeship in the hidden gate of the fog, revenge in learning arts, and the defeat of the BOSS are all interlocking and absolutely no nonsense.
From another perspective, the story and characters are therefore not rich and full, but the combination of fast-paced plot advancement and fantasy visual effects has also become an forgivable shortcoming.
02
As a "spiritual" theme film, special effects are the top priority of "Qi Men Dunjia 2020". And the special effects part of the film finally displayed in front of the audience, everywhere reveals that "money is spent on the blade".
In a word, without a celebrity, the special effect will look good!
At the beginning of the film, the deserted inn, the dark yellow lights, the enchanting beauties, the sultry beauties, and the sultry charm are full of ominous amidst the mystery and strangeness; then, the ugly and vulgar The dwarf, the weird and terrifying giant baby, together with the thieves' lust and murderous desire, induced "killing"; the sharp blade was swung down and the corpse fell to the ground, and the plot immediately turned into a monster. The catapult web slings people up, and the terrifying giant spider climbs down...
This scene combines martial arts and fantasy, giving the audience a double shock of horror and surprise.
In addition, when interpreting the theme of "Qimen Dunjia", the film also uses the most simple and straightforward "yin and yang". "Five elements" to explain, just like the film’s simple and clear story and character setting. The wind can make fire flourish or extinguish, but the fate of fire is not controlled by the wind, which is reminiscent of Nezha's "I cannot control my life."
Several masters' talismanic techniques, imperial objects, force skills, and formations, although there are no innovations in the way of expression, they can still be called highlights in the film. Especially the talisman technique of the senior sister, although it only drives countless Zhang Fulus to fight and restrain, it is completely different from the traditional use of talisman, but in the film and television works, not only the visual effect is good, but more importantly, it saves money.
The villain BOSS in the movie, "The King of Bi Fang", is not set like an ancient fire monster, more like a certain kind of monster Vampire parasitic monster. It will wrap and devour the prey, and then borrow the opponent's skin. At the beginning of the film, it swallowed the thieves who strayed into the inn. After that, it swallowed the bad guy who had just successfully framed the opponent and took the position of the county grandfather.
If it weren’t for killing the protagonist’s father later and opening the Demon King’s barrier at the end, in the first half of the film, the Bifang who continuously swallowed the wicked person would have always done something to dispel hatred.
is just that compared with the amazing "inn play" at the beginning, the final battle at the end is not big enough. The attacks of several masters lacked characteristics, and Bi Fang's counterattack lacked imagination. The film's "Yin Yang and Five Elements" setting was largely wasted.
03
As mentioned earlier, "Qi Men Dun Jia 2020" has no stars, and the biggest name is Kaohsiung, the old drama bone. But for young audiences, the actor of "Zhou Tong" may be more popular.
It is He Peng who plays "Zhou Tong".
He is originally from Henan and graduated from Beijing Film Academy. He Peng has not many works. Among the film and television dramas he participated in, the most well-known is "Wen Chao" in "Chen Qing Ling".
Wen Chao is Wen Ruohan's youngest son, stubborn, cruel, and passionate about showing off. Before the "Shooting the Sun", he made trouble for the protagonists and left Wei Wuxian in the mass grave.
In order to interpret "Wen Chao", He Peng added more than 20 catties to express the character's "greasy feeling". When "Chen Qing Ling" was broadcast, "Wen Chao" brought He Peng a lot of popularity. The audience said that his "Wen Chao" was a bit cute in his anger, but he didn't feel hateful.
Although in "Qi Men Dunjia 2020", there are audiences who expressed that He Peng's performance was not outstanding, but in terms of character completion In fact, He Peng's performance is not bad.
Compared with the protagonist, there are less than three scenes of"The boss's wife Chunchun has become the most amazing character in the film.
Her highlight is the word "yan".
coquettish, seductive, full of style and eyebrows The temptation of "Qi Men Dunjia" is even more impressive than the "Jiao Jiao" played by Liu Yan in the 2017 version.
If the "Qimen Dunjia 2020" is measured by strict standards, it From the plot to the characters and special effects scenes, there are actually obvious shortcomings. However, compared with the "big production" where the stars gather and the big names gather, the "Qi Men Dunjia 2020" which is "underfunded" everywhere, will be "sincerity". The show is vivid and vivid.
is not much money, but we don’t spend it randomly.
The audience who gave praise to "Qimen Dunjia 2020", it is precisely this point that can be seen in the film.
