The Legend of the Condor Heroes(1994)

Legend of Condor Heroes 1994 was not very popular with the Hong Kong audience when it came out. In fact, the entire show had gotten a seriously bad rap because it was constantly measured up to (and constantly come up short to) the 1983 TVB classic. However, this show when viewed on its own, is a very good show with a good cast and a can't lose plot. The show stars Julian Cheung and Athena Chu, two relative unknowns in Hong Kong until this show thrusted them into stardom. Also starring in the show is Gallen Lo and Emily Kwan.
The plot of this version follows that of the novel much closer than the 1983 version. This version almost repeats the novel word by word, which explains why this series is much shorter than the 1983 version. Because of how closely it follows the novel, this series flows at a very consistent pace and has almost no part in which it drags on. I would give a summary of the plot, but that would take too long and spoil the story. The costumes in this show is very good, although there is almost no change in most of the character's clothing through the entire show, Athena Chu only has 2 sets of clothing as Huang Rong, for goodness sake (not counting when she dressed up like a beggar and a guy).