Huayu Entertainment Starts with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

Jiang Yang had the most action scenes in "The Legend of Chu and Han".

This was expected.

After all, Chen Daoming is already fifty-six years old. Are we going to let him fight?

If something happens to the old man, who will be responsible...?

Moreover, Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, was so strong that he could lift a tripod, and his "unparalleled bravery throughout the ages" is recorded in history, which is one of his most important labels.

The phrase "the toughest of tough guys" is crucial to the characterization of Xiang Yu.

Jiang Yang's image is definitely not a problem. Gao Xixi had already checked him out when she chose him and was very satisfied.

In order to better showcase Jiang Yang's strong and masculine physique, the director even specifically asked him to take off his clothes frequently to give the audience a treat.

His performance in action scenes was even more surprising.

The action scenes in "Legend of Chu and Han" are completely different from those in typical action films, and even different from Gao Xixi's previous work, "New Three Kingdoms".

To be precise, it's a war film, an ancient war film using cold weapons.

Xiang Yu rarely engaged in one-on-one combat.

He did want to challenge Liu Bang to a duel, but the latter politely declined.

We're not interested!

The war scenes in "The Legend of Chu and Han" usually involve many people, with many people fighting Xiang Yu one-on-one, commonly known as ganging up on him.

Even if they ganged up on him, they still couldn't beat him.

In every local battle, Xiang Yu, unleashing his unparalleled power, charged in and out of the thousands of troops, unstoppable.

Even his final suicide at the Wujiang River was preceded by a chaotic massacre where he first slaughtered his enemies like chopping melons and vegetables before choosing to end his life and give his head to his deceased friend.

In other words, Xiang Yu's fight scenes are all one-against-many.

This style of play requires him to have a style that is sweeping and powerful, capable of overwhelming any opponent.

In the Legend of Chu and Han, the Battle of Dongjun best exemplifies Xiang Yu's personal bravery.

At that time, Xiang Yu had no war experience and had not achieved any merit. The Chu generals, led by Ji Bu, were not convinced of his abilities and disliked each other.

With the support of three hundred elite soldiers brought by Long Ju, Xiang Yu launched an attack on Dongjun.

It's still a siege battle.

This was Xiang Yu's battle to establish his authority. After this battle, the Chu army was extremely devoted to him, and he initially established his status as a war god.

The scene that makes the final cut is less than ten minutes long, but it was very difficult to film because the war scenes involved a lot of extras and the scene direction was complicated. If a scene wasn't done in one take, it would take half a day to recreate it.

The production team's original plan was to film for one or two weeks.

Later it turned out that the estimate was too high.

As the absolute core of this scene, Xiang Yu himself—Jiang Yang—exceeded expectations, making the filming surprisingly smooth.

The action director for "Legend of Chu and Han" is surnamed Ye, and Jiang Yang calls him Master Ye. He had previously been in charge of "Bright Sword" and "My Chief and My Regiment".

It's clear that he's not good at one-on-one combat.

In the Battle of Dongjun, Xiang Yu first charged into the enemy camp on horseback. After his horse was shot down, he single-handedly overturned the ballista and finally inserted his spear into the city wall, using it as leverage to climb onto the top of the wall.

Doesn't that sound really weird?

This is exactly the effect I wanted!

Before filming began, Master Ip explained in detail how to shoot and direct the scene, including Xiang Yu's movement path.

After observing for a while, Jiang Yang came up with an idea.

In this scene, Xiang Yu slays generals, seizes flags, and is the first to scale the walls, basically showcasing everything he can; he's practically a god descended to earth.

To be honest, there have been many, if not many, of the fierce general-type characters in film and television. He Rundong, who was replaced by Jiang Yang, even left behind a version of Lü Bu in "New Three Kingdoms".

How can I create something new in my films?

He found something interesting among the props at the scene: the military banners.

The so-called banner is the flag used in the army to symbolize the authority of the supreme commander, also known as the "commander's flag" or "central army flag".

Xiang Yu's main weapon in the drama is a Overlord Spear, which is somewhat mediocre.

Jiang Yang clapped twice and then said something surprising.

"How about I chop this down, then use the flag as a spear and sweep through the enemy ranks?"

"Brother, do you know how heavy this thing is?"

Master Ye thought he was being delusional.

This banner isn't just a piece of cloth covering the flag; it's twelve meters long, weighs seventy kilograms, and is the real deal.

Can you swing it?

Jiang Yang didn't explain. He gripped the flagpole with both hands, assumed a horse stance, and with a roar, the banner instantly soared into the air. He swung it horizontally and sideways, making two rounds of movements.

Master Ye was dumbfounded.

What the hell!

He already knew that Jiang Yang had shown strong fighting skills earlier, and Master Ye thought it was because he had practiced martial arts before.

"Martial arts actors" are rare among young male actors nowadays, but they do exist.

But this scene doesn't seem to be something that someone who has practiced martial arts can explain.

What does 70 jin and 12 meters mean?

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade weighed 82 jin (approximately 41 catties), while Zhang Fei's Eighteen-Foot Serpent Spear was roughly 2.7 meters long.

Note that this is an exaggeration in the novel.

In reality, no one in ancient times probably used such a weapon. Even if someone could wield it, how long could they last on the battlefield?

Jiang Yang's ability to wave the banner like that was somewhat beyond his imagination.

After the initial shock came ecstasy.

Master Ye keenly realized that with Jiang Yang's strong abilities, the action design could be much bolder and more unrestrained.

I didn't dare to do it before because the actors couldn't do it.

Jiangyang is acceptable.

Putting everything else aside, if a twelve-meter-long banner were swung around and brought down, a large area around it would be completely empty, with not a single person standing there.

This is getting interesting!

Master Ye and Jiang Yang had a passionate discussion about how to fully portray the terror of Xiang Yu.

His inner thoughts: You're terrifying enough.

The two scrapped their previous design and went back to a more challenging one, but an accident happened during the actual filming.

Because of the part involving climbing up the city wall, Jiang Yang had to be suspended by wires, and high-altitude operations still relied on the stunt team's signature equipment.

As a result, when Jiang Yang actually jumped up using the gun bar, the other end of the wire suddenly came loose.

What's going on?

Jiang Yang himself, who was in mid-air, and Master Ye, who was watching below, were both startled.

The city wall isn't particularly high or low; it's about the height of a story or two. If you fall from it and land incorrectly, it's no small matter.

Master Ye almost rushed over to save him, but then he saw Jiang Yang grab onto the city wall just before he fell.

hiss!

He gasped.

This action is fine; it was designed this way from the beginning.

But that was with the help of wires...

Jiang Yang is now holding on entirely with his bare hands, and after regaining his balance, he doesn't hesitate and uses his strength to flip himself over.

Is this okay?

I feel like it would be unnecessary to use wires on you, since you could have gone up there on your own!

Master Ye felt a string of "fucks" running through his mind. Then, he heard a tsk-tsk sound coming from the side. He turned his head and found another person staring at him in disbelief.

Or worse, he was forced to wear a mask of pain because he was going against Xiang Yu.

Chen Daoming, the great-grandfather, was speechless.

Is this even human?