Although dubbed as a sequel to the highly successful War and Beauty <金枝慾孽> Beauty at War has an independent plot that is not linked to the first series. Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯) remains in the sequel to portray Imperial Concubine Yu Fei, who has a son in the sequel. She meets an opera troupe performer, who resembles Hung Mo, played by Moses Chan (陳豪). Yu Fei’s sister Yuen Sau, played by Christine Ng (伍詠薇) deliberately acts as a matchmaker for the pair.
As the drama unfolds, Yuen Sau harbors an evil intention and hatches a plot to frame Yu Fei. Yuen Sau hopes to destroy Yu Fei and watch her status crumble in the palace. After learning about her sister’s plot, Yu Fei retaliates and plans revenge on Yuen Sau.
The original War and Beauty packed a first-class cast, including Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼), Gigi Lai (黎姿), and Maggie Cheung (張可頤). The sequel retained a strong cast, including Sheren Tang, Christine Ng, and Ada Choi (蔡少芬). With a new plot and a different cast, Beauty at War was pitched as one of the most exciting series of the year.
Sheren Tang Sacrifices Looks for “Beauty at War”
Although the weather was extremely hot in mainland China, all the actors and actresses had to wear thick ancient costumes during filming. Sheren Tang had expressed earlier that she was worried in filming the winter scenes, as she would need to wear bulky and furry clothing in the hot summer. However, she was very professional and seemed undaunted by the heat during the shooting process.
Sheren was spotted filming a peasant rebellion scene, which required her to sacrifice her elegant and graceful look. With the peasants charging into the palace, Sheren’s character nearly lost her life. Luckily, she was saved by an imperial guard, who protected her with his life.
The filming of the peasant rebellion scene was filmed during noon time, with the cast and crew bearing the scorching hot sun. The make-up artist deliberately created a distressing and despairing look for Sheren, with hair falling all over her face. Sheren even appeared with drips of sweat on her face to portray her character’s panicked state.
The cast and crew of TVB drama, Beauty at War <金枝慾孽 (貳)> have been shooting in Hengdian World Studios for more than a month and recently wrapped up the filming. The cast and crew are scheduled to return to Hong Kong to shoot the remaining scenes. Along with The Confidant <大太监>, Beauty at War was one of TVB’s most expensively produced series this year.
Source: QQ.com
This article is written by Stella for JayneStars.com.
Note: This article is written for JayneStars.com. DO NOT re-post this article on any other websites. No part of this article may be copied, reproduced, rearranged, redistributed, modified by any means or in any form whatsoever without prior written permission. You may use the content online and for your non-commercial, personal use only. Copying these materials for anything other than your personal use is a violation of copyright laws.
Should you wish to share this article, we recommend that you: (i) link directly to the article at JayneStars.com on your website; or (ii) share this article link via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
JayneStars Media LLC reserves all copyrights. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. By using the JayneStars website, you accept and agree to our Terms and Conditions of Use.Tags: Beauty at War, Christine Ng, Sheren Tang
nt too excited abt sequel..
The storyline does not seem to be too exciting from what is described above.
Perhaps acting-over-plot will make the sequel appealing. Of course, we can expect excellent acting from Sheren Tang and Ada Choi, not too sure about Christine Ng. Moses Chan should be adequate. Should have at least one more 1st lead actor.
“She meets an opera troupe performer, who resembles Hung Mo, played by Moses Chan (陳豪).”
TVB recycling the look-alike role.
“As the drama unfolds, Yuen Sau harbors an evil intention and hatches a plot to frame Yu Fei. Yuen Sau hopes to destroy Yu Fei and watch her status crumble in the palace. After learning about her sister’s plot, Yu Fei retaliates and plans revenge on Yuen Sau.”
Christine’s role is quite significant.
It is hard to believe this kind of plot …. Yuen Sau, who is a biological sister of Yu Fei, wants to destroy Yu Fei and watch her status crumble in the palace. What does she gain? Without a concubine sister, Yuen Sau will definitely lose her power and influence in the palace.
So it’s really a sequel? Great. Just make Yu Fei strong or stronger. I love her chac’s schemes in part 1
The plot in “War & Beauty” was a lot better, though not the best. Moreover, with 4 good 1st-class actresses, Sheren Tang, Maggie Cheung, Charmaine Sheh, Gigi Lai; and 2 good 1st-class actors, Bowie Lam and Moses Chan, I still think the 1st one was more appealing. Plus all the artistes were so much younger (8 years younger in 2004).
Beauty at War is a downsized actor/actress version of War and Beauty and also a downsized plot. Why can’t they just call it something else?
The cast is pretty old. War and Beauty had current fadans. Beauty at War had fadans of late 1980s and early 1990s.
The plot doesn’t seem very interesting but since since the Female Cast is grand I’m in!
I will watch the drama series for sure because of Sheren Tang and Ada Choi. They are fantastic actresses. I don’t care much about Christine Ng though. Perhaps I will change my mind after the series.
The plot should be one of the most important things in a series because without a good plot/story to carry the series through, even a great cast cannot help it much. I have seen so many people watch a series for just the cast but then get all disappointed and complain about how bad a series is. However, sadly they still continue to watch a series just for the cast.
“The plot should be one of the most important things in a series because without a good plot/story to carry the series through, even a great cast cannot help it much” ……….. Totally agree. I hope TVB will not waste their high-quality artistes’ acting in this sequel.
Huh. So it’s going to be a direct sequel to WAB after all?
I’m planning to watch this drama since I’m a fan of several of the castmembers, but story-wise the spoilers that have been revealed so far aren’t very exciting.
Has there been any announcement from TVB about its airdate? I’ve been wondering whether it will air this year.
I’m excited to see Christine Ng. I think she’s really underrated as an actress.
Me too! I loved her in WOIL and The Beauty of the Game.
War and Beauty was a terrific series. It has ended. People have left the palace. People have died. People have moved on. Leave it alone. Why resurrect the dead horse?
We don’t expect the dead horse to resurrect. But the storyline of the sequel does not look too appealing.
TVB is running out of ideas so they just want to milk all of their previous cows dry, just like what they did with Rosy Business.. They were even thinking of making a Rosy Business 3 which I do not feel is even necessary at all… They are trying to resurrect this dead cow/horse so they can get more milk out of it… But they may not since the cow/horse is pretty much dried out…
And not to mention the upcoming TITS2, GJ2 and the proposed THC2. Sequels galore. I have a feeling they may try for a RB3 a few years down the road.
Personally, I feel the time has passed for a WAB sequel. If they wanted to make a sequel they should have done so years ago when the original was a hit and fresh in viewers’ minds. Were there viewers clamoring for a WAB sequel in 2011 when TVB announced this series? Additionally, in recent years there has been a glut of palace dramas and it’s going to be difficult for WAB2 to differentiate itself. I’d be curious to see what the Chik-Chow combo can bring to the table that recent palace dramas haven’t, but my hopes aren’t very high right now.
I sincerely hope for this series to succeed because I enjoy watching ancient series but I have a feeling it will be a letdown. The plot does not sound that captivating and I see it attaining the level of success Curse of the Royal Harem did but not a hit like the first one was.
The story is not so interesting but i will watch it for the Ada, Sheren n Christine
did all this happen before or after war and beauty? or is it like a completely different story? i.e. war and beauty never happened; see how you like this sequence of events better? unless there were two peasant rebellions in the palace during jiaqing’s reign…
I too hope this series will be successful! I just adore both Ada and Sheren!
Agreed. Ada and Sheren the powerhouses!
I actually hoped that Charmaine will be in this series. Anyone else?