This is an excellent review of 楚留香, a fictional character created by legendary Taiwanese 武侠 author 古龙 （1938-1985）. His character was virtually tailored made for 狄龙. He described his character as a handsome, athletic man with a charming smile. Jackie Chan had almost begged 古龙 for the script, but he obviously didn’t fit the bill.
楚留香 first appeared on the silver screen, with 狄龙 pulling in the cinema crowds in 1977. Then, in 1979, Hongkong TV producers launched their version of 楚留香 starring Adam Cheng with an adulterated script. The HK version of 楚留香 was like an ancient Chinese version of James Bond. The Taiwanese didn’t believe that their 楚留香 could be stolen that easily. 古龙 himself was furious that his character had been distorted that way.
As it turned out, Adam Cheng’s 楚留香 managed to beat the Taiwanese versions even on their home ground. Incredibly, Adam Cheng had not only beaten the original 狄龙’s as 楚留香, the audience in both HK and Taiwan thought that he was even more 楚留香 than 古龙’s 楚留香. 古龙 surrendered and decided to work with Adam Cheng to continue the series.
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