THE HEAVEN SWORD & DRAGON SABER 2000

Damian Lau as Cheung Chui San Michelle Mai Suet as Yan So So Lawrence Ng as Cheung Mo Kei Gigi Lai Chi as Chiu Man Charmaine Sheh Si Man as Chow Chi Yerk Liz Kong as Siu Chiu Cherie Chan as Chu Yee (Ah Lei) Eddie Cheung as Yeung Siu Joyce Tang Mei Ling as Kei Hu Fu and Yeung But Fui Edward Mok as Yan Lei Ting
This is the best "Heavenly Sword Dragon Saber" (HSDS) version I have seen so far. Though it lacks some elements and the flashy kung fu sometimes gets on my nerves, it's still my favourite. I think this is the best version of HSDS yet.
WARNING: SPOILERS
BRIEF SUMMARY OF HSDS 2000
This story revolves around Cheung Mo Kei, a caring, strong-willed, powerful, and attractive young man. He is the son of Cheung Chui San and Yan So So. He has the strength of both his parents, but he is not as witty as his mother. The four girls that fall in love with him prove that he is really 'all-that'.
The four women that love him are Chiu Man, Chow Chi Yerk, Chu Yee, and Siu Chiu. In the beginning, Cheung Mo Kei falls in love with the Mongolian princess Chiu Man. Chow Chi Yerk, Cheung Mo Kei's childhood friend, is a bit over-protective of him and jealous because she knows that Cheung Mo Kei loves Chiu Man. Cheung Mo Kei promised Chiu Man to give her three requests of anything she wanted. The first one she made was to see the Heaven Sword. That request of granted. Siu Chiu, his loyal servant and maid, loved him very much as well, but she had to go back to Persia to be the Princess that she was. That night, Cheung Mo Kei was very depressed and lonely without Siu Chiu. Chow Chi Yerk got so jealous and angry that she finally decided to take action. So one night, she drugged them, killed Chu Yee, who is Cheung Mo Kei's cousin, throws Chiu Man onto a boat with a big bag, and steals the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. After she does this, she cuts off a chunk of her own hair and pretends she was drugged too. However, she put the blame on Chiu Man and said she was the one who committed all these crimes. Also, Cheung Mo Kei's Yi Fu (Godfather) was kidnapped.
Cheung Mo Kei was led to believe that Chiu Man had betrayed him and never really loved him. He even heard her say that she was using him when she was kidnapped by a bunch of men who wanted the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. Cheung Mo Kei was very depressed at this time. He questioned Chiu Man and asked her why she did what she did and whether what she said about him was true. Chiu Man told him she was just lying her way out and that she really loved him, and that she never killed Chu Yee or stole the swords. Cheung Mo Kei obviously didn't believe her because of the persuasive Chow Chi Yerk who convinced him that Chiu Man did all those horrible things. Chow Chi Yerk also made him promise her that he will kill her if he sees her. Cheung Mo Kei didn't have the heart to kill Chiu Man because he loved her too much. Chiu Man pressed Cheung Mo Kei to kill her if he really believed that she was the killer. Instead of killing her, Cheung Mo Kei injured her in the shoulder with his knife and left.

Afterwards, her agreed to marry Chow Chi Yerk. However, Chiu Man is the only one who knows of Chow Chi Yerk's evil deeds. On the day of the wedding, Chiu Man came. She told him that she knew where his Yi Fu (Godfather) was, and said if he wanted to know, he had to come with her instead of marrying Chi Yerk. She also used her second request to ask him not to marry Chi Yerk. Chi Yerk got so mad that she burst out of her wedding gown and said if Cheung Mo Kei left with Chiu Man, she would no longer be a part of his life anymore. With regret, Cheung Mo Kei left with Chiu Man to find his Yi Fu. Chow Chi Yerk was very angry by now. She had sacrificed so many things for him and went again her Master's wishes by being with him, and this is what she got. She went back to Au Mei and became master of Au Mei, just like her Master wished. She left Au Mei before because she loved Mo Kei and wanted to be with him, but since he rejected her, she returned to Au Mei. There, she showed them her true powers.
It is revealed that when the two swords clash together, inside will be the secret to a very powerful kung fu called "9 Yum Jan Ging". This is the kung fu that Chow Chi Yerk learns, and ends up being better than Mo Kei. Later on, she marries Song Ching Su, the son of Mo Kei's good friend. She does this to make him jealous, but Mo Kei makes it clear to her that he loves only Chiu Man and she shouldn't marry a person she doesn't love just to make him jealous.
She marries him anyway, and together, they enter the fighting competition. Whoever wins will get Cheung Mo Kei's Yi Fu (Godfather) and the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. But people don't know that Chow Chi Yerk already has the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. Ching Su gets hurt in a battle against his father and loses all his kung fu. Then Chow Chi Yerk fights his father and wants to kill him for hurting Ching Su, but then Cheung Mo Kei saves him. Chi Yerk and Mo Kei fight, and eventually, Chi Yerk wins. She doesn't kill him though. She spares his life, because she did love him, and left with Ching Su. Ching Su loved Chi Yerk a lot, but she only had room in her heart for Mo Kei. No matter how good he treated her or loved her, she still only loved Mo Kei. She took Ching Su home. Now, she was a bit far beyond crazy. She started seeing the ghost of Chu Yee. At this point, she went crazy. But it just so happened that Chu Yee didn't die, but survived. Chiu Man tried to keep Chu Yee away from Mo Kei was she was afraid another girl would want to steal Mo Kei away from her.
That night Chu Yee went to look for Mo Kei, she bumped into her father, but ran away. Because her father killed her mother so many years ago and also treated her badly, she was angry at him. He was angry at himself for treating them that way, and wanted to start over with his daughter. She wouldn't see him at that time, so he told her he will wait for her to show up, and that he wants to see her again. Chiu Man locks Chu Yee up in a room where no one can find her because she doesn't want Mo Kei was find her. That day, there was a fire and Chu Yee died. At that time, Mo Kei received news that Chu Yee was dead and that Chiu Man did it. He got angry, but then he found out that Chow Chi Yerk was going crazy and was injured, so he quickly went to see her first. He spent a lot of time with her, and Chiu Man got angry and ran away. When Mo Kei went to look for Chiu Man, he found Chu Yee instead. She explained to him about how she never died, and rejected him. So Chiu Man got it all wrong. Chu Yee never wanted to steal Mo Kei away, but that she wanted to reject him and tell him that they are good cousins, but she doesn't love him the way all the other girls do.
Later on, Chow Chi Yerk kidnaps Chiu Man and demands Mo Kei to leave her, or else she'll kill Chiu Man in front of him. Mo Kei says that he loves all four of them. Chu Yee is his dearest cousin, Chow Chi Yerk has sacrificed so much for him, Siu Chiu was unselfish and loyal to him, but he loved Chiu Man the most. He said he couldn't live without her. At this point, Chow Chi Yerk reached to kill Chiu Man, but then found out her powers were all lost. She screamed and ran off.
It seems as if Chow Chi Yerk had too much power and had so much pain in her heart that she lost all her memory and kung fu. From this time one, Mo Kei and Chiu Man left Ming Gao and Chiu Man stopped being the Mongolian Princess. Together, they left to see the wonders of the world. At the end, they came back to where Chow Chi Yerk and Mo Kei first met. He felt comfortable here. They met here when they were just kids, and now he didn't even know where she was. Chiu Man said he can think of Chow Chi Yerk whenever he likes, but he's not allowed to tell her or let her know he's thinking about her. At the docks, they find Chi Yerk and her husband, Ching Su. They are both now mere people who have no kung fu. They are just a peaceful couple. Ching Su lost his kung fu in the battle against his father, and Chi Yerk lost both her memory and her kung fu. They are very happy together. Chi Yerk doesn't remember Mo Kei, but she says this place makes her feel nice and warm. Mo Kei says he wants to find a cure to give Chi Yerk's memory back, but Chiu Man says that Chi Yerk is now living a happy life, and there's no point on bringing back all the bad memories. Chi Yerk and Ching Su lived happily together because Ching Su finally got the love of Chi Yerk since she lost her memory anyway. Chu Yee now has a good relationship with her father since she didn't die anyway. Siu Chiu is with her mother and also, she is the Princess of her country. Yeung Siu and the rest of Ming Gao are peaceful and safe. But Fui and Yan Lei Ting are together. Chiu Man and Cheung Mo Kei are together, and living happily as well.
As for But Fui's part, I didn't include it in the summary. Kei Hu Fu fell in love with Yeung Siu, but her friend, Yan Lei Ting, also loved her very much. Kei Hu Fu betrayed her people and left with Yeung Siu. Together, they had a daughter which they named But Fui. After that, Kei Hu Fu died. Yeung Siu raised But Fui, who looked a lot like her mother. Yan Lei Ting later sees But Fui and thinks it's Kei Hu Fu, but then finds out it's her daughter instead. For a while, But Fui spent some time with Lei Ting, and they fell in love. Yan Lei Ting denies his love for But Fui because he says he is old enough to be her father, and Yeung Siu doesn't want them together either. He thinks Lei Ting is trying to get revenge on him because he 'stole' Hu Fu from him. But But Fui and Lei Ting get together anyway when Lei Ting finally admits he loves her. Together, they married and But Fui was pregnant with his child. Yeung Siu also accepted them.
Characters
Lawrence Ng as Cheung Mo Kei- Although he isn't extremely handsome or GREAT looking, he's still pretty good-looking, not ugly at least. He's very good to watch as Cheung Mo Kei. He's really good at acting clueless, sad, dumb, angry, anything. There were some times when he was expressionless, but I really liked him as Cheung Mo Kei. After I watched this series, I started to like him. A lot of people complained about him being Cheung Mo Kei, but I think he was great and he proves that talent doesn't always have to to come with looks. Comparing to the other HSDS versions, such as the Adam Cheng version, Lawrence is better. Same with the Tony Leung version, although I liked Tony Leung just as much as I liked Lawrence.
Gigi Lai as Chiu Man- Gigi could get really irritating in this series, but she is just doing her role. She was excellent as Chiu Man, and her role in this series proves that TVB should give her more roles. She can play any role, and she clearly showed her acting skills in this series. Not to mention, she looked extremely pretty in the Mongolian outfit as well as the white outfit she wore near the end that made her look like some sort of goddess. Overall, Gigi was excellent as Chiu Man, possibly my favourite Chiu Man. I watched a bit of HSDS 2003 with Alec Su and Alyssia Chia, and I must say that Alyssia sure looked very pretty, and she's a great actress, but she didn't portray the character of Chiu Man as well as Gigi did. Her Chiu was very whiny and a fool for love, but Gigi shows that she can be stubborn, strong, and caring towards Cheung Mo Kei. So far, I would say Gigi is the best Chiu Man.
Charmaine Sheh as Chow Chi Yerk- What can I say? Charmaine did a very bad job in Flying Fox Snowy Mountain, or maybe it was just her character. She proved herself in this series. In the beginning, she was a soft, quiet, and extremely nice girl. In the middle, she acted great as the persuasive and jealous girl. Then at the end, she really acted like she was mental and crazy. She didn't make me cry, but she DID make me feel incredibly sorry for her. Overall, I think Charmaine was ONE of the best Chow Chi Yerk's because she displayed all of Chow Chi Yerk's characters in this series (evil, crazy, nice, caring, quiet, strong, stubborn, beautiful..) Not to mention, Charmaine was very pretty! If you watch her more recent series, such as PITNOL or Country Spirit, you will see her acting has improved even more.
Liz Kong as Siu Chiu- She is not my favourite Siu Chiu, but she was okay. Ifelt she did portray the character of Siu Chiu by being quiet, unselfish, etc. She wasn't all that pretty, but she was very cute. Her acting needs some improvement, but I think that she was all right to look at and watch. You will find that she is sometimes expressionless.
Cherie Chan as Chu Yee- Cherie Chan's character was pretty annoying in this series, and she was ugly half the series. She was very pretty in the end, though. I think she portrayed Chu Yee perfectly. Her relationship with her father in this series was very touching.
Damian Lau as Cheung Chui San- As usual, he delivered his performance. His love story with Yan So So was very touching and interesting. I enjoyed seeing their on-screen chemistry. Overall, he did a good job.
Michelle Mai Suet as Yan So So- She looked very pretty in this series. Like Damian, she acted very well and portrayed the character of Yan So So flawlessly. Yan So So was supposed to be a smart and pretty girl, and that's what Michelle did in the series.
Eddie Cheung as Yeung Siu- He was one of my favourite characters in the series. Eddie Cheung is a great actor, and he continues to be great. He doesn't look too much like a Yeung Siu, but compared to the other versions, he's much better. He's full of talent, can act really well, and was great in this series.
Edward Mok as Yan Lei Ting- I didn't see much of this guy on screen, but I think he was really good in this series. He was very playful with But Fui, and was also serious and could actually cry. I think he should get more roles because he can actually act. Overall, good job!
Joyce Tang as Kei Hu Fu and Yeung But Fui- Joyce Tang should REALLY start getting main roles. What's wrong with her? Nothing! She's pretty, cute, and can act any role. In here, she played Hu Fu and Hu Fu's daughter, But Fui. As the mother, she displayed her character as mature, serious, and caring. As But Fui, she acted very immature and cute, yet caring and smart. I think Joyce Tang did an excellent job, and I hoped to have seen more of her in this series! But she didn't appear as much as I'd hoped, so I really hope that she gets more roles in series.
PS I do not own this review.