Red Cliff (2008)
"Chi bi" (original title)

The first chapter of a two-part story centered on a battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.).

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

John Woo (screenplay), Khan Chan (screenplay),

Stars:

Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Fengyi Zhang

11 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Zhou Yu (as Tony Leung)
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Zhuge Liang
Fengyi Zhang	...	Cao Cao
Chen Chang	...	Sun Quan
Wei Zhao	...	Sun Shangxiang
Jun Hu	...	Zhao Yun
Shidô Nakamura	...	Gan Xing (as Shidou Nakamura)
Chiling Lin	...	Xiao Qiao (as Chi-Ling Lin)
Yong You	...	Liu Bei
Yong Hou	...	Lu Su
Dawei Tong	...	Sun Shucai
Jia Song	...	Li Ji
Ba Sen Zha Bu	...	Guan Yu
Jinsheng Zang	...	Zhang Fei
Shan Zhang	...	Huang Gai

Storyline

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever.

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Plot Keywords:

battle | china | alliance | chinese history | chinese | 

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Taglines:

Destiny lies in the wind.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of epic warfare

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [cn] Official site [us]

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

10 July 2008 (China)

Also Known As:

Red Cliff

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Budget:

CNY 553,632,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$13,104 (USA) (20 November 2009)

Gross:

$626,809 (USA) (26 March 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing Film Studio, China Film Group, Lion Rock Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min 150 min (PG)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Woo:  [White dove]  A white dove was released to fly over to Cao Cao's base.

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Goofs

A sleeping baby is shown with blood spattered on his face in one shot, and in the next shot his face is completely clean.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The year is 208 AD. After years of civil war, a deathly calm has fallen of northern China. One by one, the rebel warlords have met their end under the sword of Prime Minister Cao Cao. Now, even the Han Emperor bows before his power. Yet from the south, a challenge is heard. Two leaders arise against Cao Cao's tyranny, the aging Liu Bei, and the inexperienced Sun Quan. So Cao Cao petitions the Emperor to brand these men as traitors, and declare a new war against the peaceful ...

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Connections

Followed by Chi bi xia: Jue zhan tian xia (2009)

User Reviews

Visually stunning but too short

The Battle of Red Cliffs holds a special place in Chinese history and mythology. It was a decisive conflict which occurred at the end of the Han Dynasty, immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms, and it was fought in the winter of 208/209 between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan and the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao.

The 2008 film, titled simply "Red Cliff", was deliberately timed for release in China in the lead up to the 2008 Summer Olympics and was a great success with Chinese audiences. One year later, the movie has a limited release in the West where the selling point is not so much the history (which is largely unknown outside China) as the director (Hong Kong's John Woo who is known for such Hollywood work as "Broken Arrow", "Face/Off" and "Mission: Impossible 2").

It has to be said that the Mandarin dialogue is leaden and much of the acting somewhat exaggerated, but a huge cast and considerable special effects - allied with the director's trademark style - makes the movie visually stunning with clever tactical manoeuvres, multiple battle scenes and considerable blood.

If it all seems a little confused to Western audiences, this is probably because we are seeing it in a rather different version to the original. In Asia, "Red Cliff" was released in two parts, totalling over four hours in length, whereas outside of Asia, the release is a single film of 'only' two and a half hours. For me, it's not up there with "Hero" or "House of Flying Daggers" but it is well-worth seeing and a pictorial treat.