Red Cliff

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.

After several years away from Hong Kong (and mainland China,as well), John Woo has returned,with a vengeance,to direct perhaps one of the finest films of his career. 'Chi bi' (or as it is being distributed in English speaking countries as 'Red Cliff')tells the tale of two warlords locked in battle mode for the control of the south of China, in the fourteenth century,during the Han dynasty. Tony Leung Chiu Wau stars as Zhou Yu,while Fengyi Zhang just absolutely reeks of bad guy as war lord,Cao Cao. The rest of the cast turn in outstanding acting jobs,as well. Originally,this film was released in Asia as a two part,five hour blockbuster that went through the roof as one of the most successful films from mainland China (but is cut by half it's original running time to just under 150 minutes). Along the way,we are witness to several full pitched battle scenes,but features some nice locale shots of the Chinese countryside,as well during the non battle scenes (filmed in wide screen by Yue Lu & Li Zhang). The razor sharp editing is by Hongyu Yang,with assistance by Angie Lam & Robert Ferretti,for the American version). This is taut,nail biting entertainment for the thinking person who is sick to death of most of what passes for films from the Hollywood sausage grinder of the same old,same old. Spoken in Mandarin with English subtitles. Rated 'R' by the MPAA,this film serves up some fierce, intense battle scenes,with graphic bloody violence,as well as some mild adult situations.

I first saw the 148 mins version in 2009 on a dvd which I own.

Saw the 288 minutes version few days back.

I liked the 148 mins version but i liked the 288 mins version even more n inspite of the runtime, i never felt like fiddling with my phone. In fact, i found the film very captivating.

The film has tons of action. A true old school war with tons of bows n arrows, spears, swords, horses, ships, etc.

Apart from the battlefield action sequences, all the characters are awesomely developed, the cinematography is lovely n some of the scenes are picturesque.

There is absolutely no shaky cam or fast cut editing. One can easily make out what is going on during the war scenes. None of the scenes is shot in too much darkness.

We have a daring character Gan Ning (Nakamura Shido II) who does a stint like Steve McQueen's character from Hell is for Heroes. I love both the scenes.

The hand chopping scene, the sword slashings n the spears piercing, are all brutal.

After finishing the film, rice flour and sugar stayed on my mind. I tried the recipe on YouTube.

Some drawbacks - The initial scene with the baby on the back n running n fighting is lol n far fetched.

John Woo had already done this mistake in Hard Boiled with the baby peeing n all.

Another far fetched n lol scene in this movie is that of catching a woman in midair.

The msg in the end about nobody a victor is so anti war.

Its been years since I last watched a great Chinese movie. Growing up in Malaysia, watching many Chinese movies, the one I most fond of was Wong Kar Wai, Tsui Hark, Stanley Tong, Jackie Chan and of course the masterful John Woo. In his movies, the elements he combined made his movie very unique and distinctive from any other Chinese films i've watched. His use of kinetic shots and slow motion gave a fresh look, if not, reinvented the action genre while Hollywood was still producing plain and boring action movies.

After nearly 18 years, John returns to Chinese cinema, with a big present install for all of us. And that is Red Cliff. Beautifully shot, big on scale, action-plenty, great performances and a smart adaptation of the historical epic, The Three kingdom makes this movie one of the best Chinese epics in decades.(with the exception of Hero) True to his style. After his last three films, i began to think whether John's losing his edge already or is it because the Hollywood system that was in the way. In this case, I choose to think the Hollywood system was the cause of it. Red Cliff shows he still have the similar trademark he use in his films. The only difference is that this movie is huge in scale.

The themes he use; brotherhood, humble and honor are one of the driving formulas which made his classic movies a hit with audience is still very visible here. Visuals are breathtaking as this is one of the greatest visual effect shots I ever seen in an Asian movie. For an Asian like me I'm very proud of that. The cinematic shots were stunning and beautiful. One which John's interpretation is still very sharp. The production behind this movie are mind blowing-ly HUGE. With the amount of extras and props used, makes any filmmaker-wannabe to ask "how did he do that?" I couldn't even imagine all the headache he has gone through for this movie.

Now, in terms of story telling, plot and character development, the elements which i mention up there surprisingly fits together. The pacing for each scene has a mind of its own. For action it goes into overdrive. Cleverly building in the battle and action, the scenes were outstanding. It almost has a classic hong kong action feel to it where every action seems to be very unpredictable. The dramatic scenes and character development fits like a shoe, as the acting boost up all the character's emotions. Whether its seriousness, ego, humor, sad or depressed all the characters has it. So, to my surprise I still can't get over the fact that John can still balance both action and drama together like he always did in his films. Two thumbs up for that. The plot came in quite well in timing. With no hesitation except for the small intro, it goes straight into the battle scenes first before any dramatic scenes take place. Slowly it builds up, from the inroduction of characters each revealing themselves in detail, to the forming of strategies to stop the invasion and ends in with an amazing climatic battle scene.

All in all, Red Cliff is one of the best movies in 2008 that I've seen. I'm gonna review Part II later. So to end this review. I gave it A MUST HAVE for people.

8.8 out of 10 ratings.

Admittedly, I had my doubts about Red Cliff. John Woo in the chair to make a historical war drama? That hasn't happened since... oh wait, it's never happened before. Then again, if Ang Lee could make a great movie about gay cowboys, I'm willing to see what John Woo can do outside his usual territory. That, and the film's steady high profile publicity over the past several years, made Red Cliff a must-see for me.

For Red Cliff, the biggest divergence from Woo's prime time classics such as The Killer is the subdued emotions. Most of Woo's classics were rather in-your-face in terms of melodrama, but not so in Red Cliff. While I loved his melodramas, I believe Red Cliff reveals a matured Woo with improved craftsmanship. Make no mistake: he has incorporated his signature themes of male bonding, loyalty, and sacrifice in Red Cliff--but in a much more subtle and understated manner.

Unquestionable, some viewers have loved Woo for his badass action sequences. But for me, I've always been a fan because of his memorable characters. To this point, I was pleased with Red Cliff's strong characters. The film has focused on making the central figures appealing by either embellishing them with an edgy factor or giving them some depth, and this is successful for the most part.

For me, the low point of the movie was the weak acting from Zhao Wei and Takeshi Kaneshiro -- not just compared to Tony Leung, but on any scale. Kaneshiro is an odd choice to play the historically glorified Zhuge Liang, while Zhao Wei's character seemed totally inconsequential.

The film also features some annoying cartoonish music, which seemed to be oddly misplaced in intense combat scenes.

Other than those few shortcomings, Red Cliff is a solid film that is both a mega blockbuster and quality film-making.