Are you a fan of mummies? Are you a fan of ghosts? Are you a fan of The Mummy Movie franchise or Indiana Jones Movie franchise? Are you a fan of treasure hunts and adventure? Are you a fan of bromances and found family?
WELL, THIS DRAMA SERIES IS JUST THE THING FOR YOU!!
Yes, I am talking about Chinese drama franchise THE LOST TOMB!
Now, I am a SUCKER for tomb raiding dramas and I am kicking myself that I did not start this franchise sooner. WE ARE HERE NOW! One of my goals is to watch all the Chinese dramas that are available that have to do with tomb raiding/treasure hunting. THE LOST TOMB FRANCHISE HAS A LOT! I have a LONG way to go but I am working on it. Since, I LOVE this genre - I AM STARTING A NEW SERIES ON THE BLOG! Any time I write about a drama/movie having to do with tomb raiding/adventure/antiques/treasure hunting as a major theme within the drama/movie, it will become a part of my "DIGGING UP THE PAST" series.
Now, a little history of my relationship with The Lost Tomb franchise. I always knew it existed but I just never started the series. That all changed in January 2020 when I got sick one day. I needed something to watch that didn't require A LOT of brain power to comprehend. The Lost Tomb Season 1 with Yang Yang seemed like THE PERFECT CHOICE! Other than the actors and the need for less brain power what else that drew me to this series was the idea of a drama centered around tomb raiding. You don't find that every day in dramas! Well, I started it and the rest is history. NOW I AM FULLY ADDICTED AND COMMITED TO THIS SERIES!
A LITTLE BACKGROUND/HISTORY OF THE LOST TOMB SERIES
The Lost Tomb franchise is based off a series of novels. I have not read any of the books for this series. These novels are SUPER popular in China so it is no surprise that they were made into a drama series AND KEEP BEING MADE INTO MORE DRAMAS! I think this drama franchise was produced to be a multi-season drama spanning all the novels. The drama series have not completed this feat yet. The original Lost Tomb series track (not including the spin-offs and reboots) has only done 3 dramas so far. The dramas are always a hit and do very well in China. I LOVE THAT THEY KEEP GETTING MADE INTO DRAMAS BECAUSE THAT IS MORE DRAMAS FOR ME TO WATCH! This series has had spin-offs, reboots AND movies so there is a BUNCH of content to consume when it comes to the Lost Tomb franchise.
SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE LOST TOMB SERIES
The gist of this entire franchise is that it is about a group of friends who go on adventures, explore ancient tombs and TRY NOT TO DIE IN THE PROCESS! Now these core group of friends have others join in on their expeditions and there is a history of tomb raiding within these clans/families that are involved in this series BUT that one sentence is really all you need to know RIGHT NOW if you want to watch this series. The drama series goes into detail about the clans, the history and the characters so you can test the waters with The Lost Tomb season 1 AND THEN if you are hooked (like I was) you can do a deep dive ON GOOGLE!
There are 3 MAIN CHARACTERS you need to know for now:
Wu Xie - He is the grandson of a tomb robber so tomb raiding is in his blood. He seems to attract trouble but also everyone wants to help him/be friends with him. He is SUPER smart and a loyal friend. His brain is his talent and what he brings to this trio.
Zhang Qi Ling/Xiao Ge - He is a man of mystery. One of the many themes of this series is cracking open the many mysteries that surround this character from how old he REALLY is to why he has no memory of anything. He is a lean, mean, silent fighting machine. He doesn't say much BUT IS HIGHLY protective of Wu Xie. His relationship with Wu Xie is a highlight of this series for me. (Xiao Ge is my favorite character in the franchise but I tend to like the quiet characters)
Wang Pang Zi - LAST but certainly not least is Wang Pang Zi. He is the comedic relief in this series. He is also loyal to Wu Xie and Xiao Ge as well as they are to him. Their friendship is what keeps this series together.
These 3 characters make up the loveable trio of friends in this series and are ESSENTIAL to the Lost Tomb Series. THE TRIO EVEN HAS A NICKNAME - THE IRON TRIANGLE!
DRAMAS/SPIN-OFFS
Because this series was filmed and made over many years, you may notice that while the character names are the same, the characters aren't played by the same actors. So, I will list out in what order the dramas have come out and then what order, it is suggested, you watch them in. I will include spin-offs and prequels in the lists. You can decide which order you want to use. The Lost Tomb Season 1 did have a movie remake of it called Time Raiders as well. ALSO - not all of the dramas are made yet but are planned to be made as I said above so there are gaps that will need to be filled in later.
ORDER OF RELEASE
The Lost Tomb - Season 1 - VIKI
Tomb of the Sea (Spin-off) - VIKI/WETV
The Lost Tomb - Season 2 - VIKI
Ultimate Note - iQIYI
WATCH ORDER
The Lost Tomb - Season 1 - VIKI
The Lost Tomb - Season 2 - VIKI
Ultimate Note - iQIYI
Tomb of the Sea (Spin-off) - VIKI/WETV
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS SERIES
- The Iron Triangle - As I said above, the trio of friend IS EVERYTHING in this series. You grow to love the characters and their relationship/loyalty towards each other. I think if the chemistry between these 3 characters didn't work in the franchise, there would be no franchise. Since every drama has different actors playing these 3 characters, I find it fun to see how each actor portray their version of the character and how the Iron Triangle relationship is different because of the actors in that particular version.
-Tomb Raiding - As I said above, I LOVE TOMB RAIDING THEMES IN DRAMAS! It adds a lot of action and adventure to the dramas. You get to meet monsters and ghosts. You never know what these characters are going to encounter on their adventures. The tomb raiding makes this drama series such a roller coaster ride of fun. Highly entertaining!
- ENDLESS CONTENT - I am happy that this series is popular and not finished yet. That means I will always have a new drama to watch because they are still being made or even rebooted. You even now have spin-offs and movies and original dramas with the tomb raiding themes being made because this series is SO POPULAR! GIVE ME ALL THE TOMB RAIDING DRAMAS!!
- The OSTs - I LOVE the OSTs/instrumentals of this series. I am partial to when an instrumental of a series have a good base and drum AND THIS SERIES HAS THAT! I have a feeling that these adventure type dramas need exciting and fast pace music to accompany it which is why I like it a lot. You also hear some interesting instrumentals and sounds in this series OSTs because it is supposed to be a "scary"/"creepy" drama series
MY STRATEGY TO WATCHING THIS SERIES
-Do a little research beforehand (OR NOT) - Now I did not do any research into this drama when I first started it and I was fine at least with the first season. You might want to do a quick google search none the less to learn a little about the characters BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TOO. My advice - At least learn the characters and a little of the backstory - ESPECIALLY once you are done with Season 1 or if you haven't read the books. I mean just read this post and you can watch Season 1 and be fine 😂.
-Dont have expectations - Some of these dramas have higher production quality than others because of budget and they were made years ago. So, don't expect every drama in the franchise to look AMAZING! I think this is the charm of it too. Dont start this drama with any theories or expectations either. You might be disappointed. Just enjoy this drama and let it flow over you.
-Go with the flow - A lot of the drama makes no sense especially with the physics of it all. 😂 Just go along for the ride and enjoy it! You don't need to think very hard about this drama. It makes the watching experience more fun if you laugh at how absurd some of the situations these characters get themselves into.
-Be Prepared for Cliffhanger endings - Due to this drama being made as a series DO NOT BE SURPRISED BY CLIFFHANGERS AT THE END OF THE DRAMAS! It will happen - I AM WARNING YOU NOW!
-Just Have Fun! - Watch this drama under a blanket and with a bowl of popcorn. JUST ENJOY IT! TRUST ME - you will fall in love with the characters and the series JUST LIKE I DID!
Here are my thoughts/mini reviews on the 2 dramas of this franchise that I have seen. I plan to watch more and write FULL reviews of them once I am done. Those reviews will be on this blog OF COURSE! If you want me to write reviews of the 2 dramas I have seen, LET ME KNOW! I can definitely write them in the future for ALL OF YOU!
My Twitter Review of The Lost Tomb S1
My Twitter Review of The Lost Tomb 2
SHOUTOUT TO DINGOODRAMAS FOR THEIR LOST TOMB GUIDE!
I think this is FANTASTIC resource and introduction to this series as well
You can read it RIGHT HERE!
Have you seen any of The Lost Tomb franchise or any of its Spin-offs? Are you a fan of the tomb raiding genre in Cdramaland? Are you going to start this franchise now?
STAY TUNE FOR MORE TOMB RAIDING CONTENT!
I plan to make this a consistent theme on my blog!
WE NOW ALSO HAVE A DISCORD SO TALK TO US ON THERE AS WELL!