The Unbeatables III
| The Unbeatables III | |
|---|---|
| 双天至尊III | |
| Genre | Gambling |
| Directed by | Edmund Tse (谢益文) |
| Starring | Li Nanxing Zoe Tay |
| Opening theme | 灰色地带 (Grey Zone) by Tay Ping Hui |
| Country of origin | Singapore |
| Original language | Mandarin[1] |
| No. of episodes | 30[1] |
| Production | |
| Running time | 46 minutes[1] |
| Original release | |
| Network | MediaCorp Channel 8[1] |
| Release | 18 November 2002[1] |
| Related | |
| The Unbeatables I The Unbeatables II | |
The Unbeatables III (Chinese: 双天至尊 III) is a 30-episode Singaporean drama serial which was telecast in November 2002.
Produced by Mediacorp, the drama is the third and last drama in The Unbeatables series, and was broadcast six years after The Unbeatables II[2]
Synopsis
Set 8 years after end of The Unbeatables II, Coral Island also known as Singapore became one of the most technologically-advanced countries in the world. It also has the world's largest Casino, which is owned by Yan Fei. After all the hardships he went through, Yan Fei now lives in content with his family. As well as having improved his gambling skills, Yan Fei also developed unique and powerful fighting techniques which involve the use of dice and poker cards, earning the respect of the top gamblers around the world. Popular and admired as the King of Gamblers, Yan Fei also has a long list of enemies whom constantly challenge him, for the ownership of his family's casino. Unknown to him, his enemies were in the dark improving their own skills to fight him one day.[3]
Luo Qifang, the wife of Yan Fei, has went missing again like she did before in The Unbeatables II. Frustrated but not giving up, Yan Fei sought the help of one of his latest allies, Mr. Clayton, a retired general from G.I. Joe, an elite branch of the US Military. With excellent communication network and information gathering skills, Mr. Clayton and his new team of G.I. Joe figured out that Qifang have been kidnapped by their old archenemy, the Cobra Organization. Further investigations led them to two major suspects: Huang Yunjiu, an influential politician, and Wu Cheng Yi, a homosexual. Mr. Clayton strongly suspects that these two may be part of the Cobra Organization and are responsible for Qifang's mysterious disappearance. Yan Fei soon received a private message from the Cobra Organization, telling him to meet them alone if he ever wanted to see Qifang again. Yan Fei was alarmed that an international terrorist group was actually interested in his family, but he couldn't figure out what the Cobra Organization were after.[3]
Against the wishes of G.I. Joe, Yan Fei went over to meet the terrorists in Australia. There, he met the new Cobra Commander, along with Cheng Yi and a masked man whom he suspected to be Huang Yunjiu. Luo Qifang was with them too. The Cobra Commander demanded that Yan Fei hand over a certain spellbook, which the latter denied having. However, before the terrorists could kill Qifang, the G.I. Joe team and Yan Fei's personal army arrived to ambush them. Outnumbered, Cobra Commander and his fellow terrorists fled via a teleportation portal, promising to return. Reunited with Qifang, Yan Fei threw a party at his mansion. He became suspicious when Huang Yunjiu came over to the party uninvited. The intelligence officers in G.I. Joe reported that Huang Yunjiu wasn't in Coral Island during this period and there were no passport records of him returning so far, and thus Yan Fei suspects that he must have arrived to Coral Island through the use of teleportation, a mysterious technology which currently only the Cobra Organization have. However, without concrete proof, he cannot afford to deal with Yunjiu directly, and he has no idea what Yunjiu wants yet. Yan Fei decided to investigate the claims of him having a "spellbook". What he doesn't know is that years ago, his mischievous son Yan Xing had snatched an ancient Grimoire away from an associate of Cobra Commander who had dug it up, but later threw it away into the sea.[3]
Meanwhile, Cobra Commander changed his looks and posed as Huang Yunjiu, a professional gambler, in an effort to avenge his wife's death by getting rid of Qifang. Yunjiu first befriended Shenfeng to join forces against Fei, and later got Xing involved, baiting him with the promise of holding the gambling king throne that Fei holds.
Xing's parents were heartbroken after learning that Xing has turned on them, acknowledging Yunjiu as his mentor. Yunjiu then sent assassins after Qifang, who was saved by a nurse named Jiang Yexue. Yexue was saved by Fei in the past, when Fei helped her out of an immoral deal with Shenfeng, when she tried to pay off her brother's gambling debts. Since that time, Yexue also began to develop feelings for Fei.
Meiyao, the three disciples that Fei chose to pass on his skills to, was later revealed to be Yunjiu’s daughter, and was forced by her father to betray Fei, which caused Fei to have amnesia. Xing then took advantage of the opportunity to force Qifang back to the gambling arena. Qifang was at a loss, with no one to turn to and discovering Fei's amorous relationship with Yexue.
Fei eventually regained his memory, and discovered that Xing had forced his mother into a life-and-death gamble. He then decided to take his wife’s place, hoping that he could bring back Xing’s conscience.
Production
Portions of the series were shot in Australia,[2] while an entire casino was built in Studio 6 of Mediacorp's former campus at Caldecott Hill for the casino scenes.[4]
Mediacorp spent S$1.5 million on animated special effects for the series.[5]
Cast
- Li Nanxing as Yan Fei[6]
- Zoe Tay as Luo Qifang[6]
- Lee San San as Jiang Yexue
- Ken Cai as Yan Xing
- Willy Liu as Yan Xing (Older)
- Tay Ping Hui as Luo Shenfeng/Luo Yingfeng
- Huang Yiliang as Huang Yunjiu/Dong Sihai
- Allan Wu as Ding Wei
- Vivian Lai as Dong Meiyao
- Cassandra See as Luo Wenxin[7]
- San Yow as Jiang Xueming
- Wang Deyuan as Wu Youkang
- Joey Swee as Jia Jia
- Henry Thia as Ding Shiyi
- Le Yao as Jiang Xiaotong
- Jin Yinji as Auntie Qian
Accolades
| Award | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Best Actor | Li Nanxing | Nominated |
| Best Drama Serial | The Unbeatables III | Nominated |
| Best Drama Theme Song | 《灰色地带》 sung by Tay Ping Hui | Nominated |
| Best Director | Edmund Tse | Won |
References
- ^ a b c d e "Mediacorp programming distribution page for The Unbeatables III". Mediacorp. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Mediacorp programming distribution page for The Unbeatables III". Mediacorp (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "The Unbeatables III Synopsis". Mediacorp Channel 8 (in Chinese). Mediacorp. Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ Yeo, Kai Ting (7 December 2015). "Memories of the Hill ahead of MediaCorp's big move". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
Tay also remembers the time when he was shooting the third edition of "The Unbeatables". According to him, the set design team recreated a whole casino within Studio 6 itself.
- ^ "The Unbeatables III". Mediacorp Channel 8 (in Chinese). Mediacorp. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
耗资150万元制作的电脑特技 [With animated special effects that cost $1.5 million...]
- ^ a b Ng, Gwendolyn (5 August 2015). "Local actor Li Nanxing makes Taiwan debut". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
The epic trilogy was Singapore's TV version of Romeo and Juliet, albeit set in the gambling world. Yan Fei (Li) and Luo Qifang (Zoe Tay)...
- ^ Ng, Gwendolyn (24 February 2017). "Channel 8 actors of yesteryear back on small screen". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
See, 43, who was part of television's gambling trilogy The Unbeatables (1993, 1996, 2002)...
External links
- Official Website (Via Wayback Machine)(in English)
- Official page on Toggle(in English)