God of War, Zhao Yun

God of War, Zhao Yun
Also known as	Chinese Hero Zhao Zilong Dynasty Warriors
Traditional	武神趙子龍
Simplified	武神赵子龙
Mandarin	Wǔ Shén Zhào Zǐlóng
Hangul	무신조자룡
Genre	Historical fiction Romance
Screenplay by	Li Lizhuo Ying Ning Yong Zheng
Directed by	Cheng Lidong Yuan Yingming Guo Jianyong
Presented by	Cheng Lidong Gong Yu Yang Bin Dong Meng Chi You
Starring	Lin Gengxin Im Yoon-ah Kim Jeong-hoon Jia Qing Godfrey Gao Guo Dongdong Meng Ziyi Nazha Yan Yikuan Zhao-Han Yingzi Fan Yulin Collin Chou Sun Xiaoxiao
Opening theme	Hero's Tears by Sun Mingyu
Ending theme	The Pain of Separation by Zhang He
Country of origin	China
Original language(s)	Mandarin
No. of episodes	49 (aired version) 60 (original version)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Yu Yang Zhang Yurui Gao Peiqi
Producer(s)	Zhao Jun Yu Kangchun Yuan Guang Hua Hui Zhang Libin Zhang Xiaoping Zhang Ning
Production location(s)	Xiangshan Film City Hengdian World Studios
Editor(s)	Wang Shicheng Chen Guilun
Running time	45 minutes per episode
Production company(s)	Zhejiang Yongle Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Distributor	Zhang Min Zhang Lianchun
Release
Original network	Hunan TV
Picture format	1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	3 April (2016-04-03) – 7 May 2016 (2016-05-07)
External links
Website

God of War, Zhao Yun, released under the title Dynasty Warriors in Indonesia,^[1][2] is a 2016 Chinese television series directed by Cheng Lidong and produced by Zhejiang Yongle Entertainment Co., Ltd. The series starred cast members from mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan: Lin Gengxin, Im Yoon-ah, Kim Jeong-hoon,^[3] Jia Qing, Godfrey Gao, Guo Dongdong, Meng Ziyi, Nazha, Yan Yikuan, Zhao-Han Yingzi, Fan Yulin, Collin Chou and Sun Xiaoxiao. The story is loosely adapted from the 14th-century Chinese classical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms,^[3] with Zhao Yun (Zhao Zilong) as the main character. It was first aired on Hunan TV from 3 April to 7 May 2016.

Synopsis

Zhao Zilong was a great military general who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. With unparalleled fighting skills, courage and charisma, Zhao Zilong initially served Gongsun Zan but switched his allegiance to Liu Bei for the rest of his illustrious career as a member of the famous Five Tiger Generals. However, when he becomes embroiled in a love triangle with the beautiful Xiahou Qingyi and another great warrior, Gao Ze, will he discover that battles of the heart are the most dangerous of all?

Cast

Production and distribution

The series started filming in 2014 and wrapped up in 2015. Some footage from the 2008–2009 film Red Cliff was reused for the Battle of Red Cliffs scenes. The series premiered in mainland China on 3 April 2016 on Hunan TV and ran for 60 episodes.

The series was produced at a cost of nearly 250 million yuan (US$40 million).^[4] The drama is featured at the Hong Kong International Film and TV market (FILMART), which was held from 23–26 March 2015; it is reported that the overseas copyright prices offered for the drama has soared to US$100,000 per episode, setting a record for Chinese costume dramas exported to overseas markets.^[5] The series was sold to Japan at a cost of US$50,000 per episode and has become the most expensive Chinese television series exported to Japan.^[6]

Soundtrack

Reception

The reaction to the series was overwhelmingly positive. On Chinese video streaming websites, it recorded 2.35 billion hits in a mere 13 days after its official release.^[7] Hunan TV also reported that the drama was being viewed 260 million times daily on average.^[8] In total, the series garnered more than 10 billion views.^[9] The drama's first episode had a 1.73% viewership rating, which in Chinese standards, is considered a tremendous success. The drama peaked at more than 2% in its later episodes.^[9][10]

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

The series's broadcasting rights were sold to streaming site Viki with English subtitles as well as various other television networks such as Chunghwa TV, Sichuan TV and Guangxi TV, and other countries such as Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Cambodia and Thailand.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

References