Red Cliff (2008)

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.

Fmovies: 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.

A friend of mine revealed to me that John Woo acknowledged parallels between characters in his movies, and characters from the Three Kingdom era, and that General Zhao Yun was one of Woo's personal favourites. This admiration for General Zhao's qualities cannot be more obvious when it is he who opens the first battle proper, with a very familiar character episode involving the rescue of the infant son (and future lord) of his master Liu Bei, thereby sealing his reputation of valor, earning admiration even from enemy Cao Cao. Fans of Liu Bei's camp will undoubtedly cheer at the appearances of his sworn brothers General Guan Yu (who is worshiped as a Deity until this very day, and remains one of my favourite characters besides Zhao Yun) and General Zhang Fei, whose gruffness translates to instant war-ready prowess. While Liu's army is clearly routed in a military loss, it explained the dilemma of Liu's leadership. One which is based on sincerity, a quality which persuaded his chief military strategist and genius all round Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to join his cause, but one which lacked military strength in numbers, despite having some of the best generals of the time under his leadership.

Which of course Cao Cao admires and probably is envious about, given his superior strength in numbers came from surrendering armies, whose loyalty remains questionable, and of course with individual generals who can't surpass the abilities of those from Liu. Playing the king like a puppet and having him issue a decree for permission to pursue Liu Bei who has fled southwards, he sets his sights also on warlord Sun Quan, for a more personal reason akin to the story of Helen of Troy. Zhuge Liang, knowing their current weakness, seeks an alliance between the armies of Liu and Sun Quan, and this forms most of the first half, where he had to play envoy to cajole and persuade, especially in convincing Sun Quan's most trusted adviser Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) that war is inevitable and they should form a win-win partnership.

And here's where great minds think alike, and watching both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang do a friendly pit against each other is nothing short of amazing, where so little says so much. It helps of course that both Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro have been paired up as leading men on screen before, in Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express and in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Confession of Pain too, lending some much established and credible chemistry as men who share admiration in each other's ability, especially when Zhou Yu seemed to have a fairer balance between fighting skill and intellect. With one side having highly disciplined soldiers with good morale, and the other having renowned generals to be leaders, it doesn't take a genius to realize the advantages gained in fending off a common enemy together.

The fight sequences were pure spectacle, with old school wire work combined with technological wizardry to showcase some large scale battle sequences at a macro level, or to highlight the immense naval numbers that Cao Cao brings to battle. Formations and strategies take centerstage in a first major confrontation on land, where one gets to see John Woo's interpretation of Zhuge Liang's "ba-gua" (8 stratagems) strategy, made more entertaining through the continuation of what we have already seen in each general's fighting ability, each given a unique style befitting the characters in folklore, such as Guan Yu and his Guan Dao (Green Dragon Crescent Bla

Red Cliff fmovies. After 15 years in Hollywood and making only on decent film (Face/Off) John Woo returns to his Asian roots. Here he get the creative independence he deserves and creates the most successful (and most expensive) ever Chinese films.

The year was 208AD, the Prime Minister Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) has taken control of Northern China and made the Emperor a puppet ruler. But the south is defiance. Lord Liu Bei (Yong You) tries to fight and has excellent general, but is hopelessly outnumbered by Cao Cao forces. He sets out to make an alliance with two other Southern Lords, the young Sun Quan (Chen Chang) and military expert Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). Liu Bei uses his chief adviser Kongming (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to negotiate with Lords. Even with this new alliance, Cao Cao still outnumbers the 3 Kingdoms with a force of 800,000 troops. Zhou Yu and Kongming sets out the win the coming battle with strategy, expert military tactics, trickery, the weather and spies. Here the two forces set out for the coming battle.

John Woo is an action director and the martial arts and the battles are well handle, if OTT (but that's what John Woo does). He has flair and the fights are bloody. He has fun with the CGI, from the battles to following arrows and doves when they are in flight. He gets to combine both Asian and Hollywood style of film-making. The music as well combine both Asian and Western styles. The film itself feels like the Chinese Lord of the Rings.

Tony Leung is the strongest link in the film, he is an expert martial artist and a good actor, being in House of Flying Daggers, the Infernal Affiars Trilogy and Lust Caution just to name a few. He offers another good performances. Other actors also offer good performances and they was no one who dragged the film down.

In China and Hong Kong Red Cliff was split into two films and already out on DVD in Hong Kong. The Western version combines the films, and its also the dumbed down version. The English was just weird in context with the rest of film. The film also does change in tone from it beginning. Lets hope that the DVD release in the West will be of both films or an extended edition.

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.

This review is of the Chinese DVD Release of the 1st film only... I cannot understand how the previous poster could feel that way about this gorgeous epic. Everything they said they hated were things I thought were well done, and wonderful about the film. Of all the people I've shared this DVD with, they've all thought it was an amazing movie also.

Ever camera shot was gorgeous. The angles were unique, without wasted punch-ins or b-roll. It's rare to find films so tastefully shot. The color was stunning, and the interpretation of the classic tale was unique and never disappointing.

Meanwhile, With all the characters, the actors each held such a powerful presence. It's very tough to develop any character singularly while you have so many important characters with their own mythos and chronicles, but each actor really held up to their image and that of the character. Kaneshiro is a very unique version of Zhuge which caught me off guard at first, but appreciated after his scene w/ the Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu was never a character I've cared for, but here, he's likable and strong. The best "fresh" interpretation though was that of Guan Yu. Instead of being "just another" honourable and strong warrior, he's rather a warrior-scholar, more intelligent, and more personality than ever before.

My only true quarrel is that it ends prematurely (that is, until we see the 2nd half in 2009). I just wish they could have done the whole saga instead of this little piece.

Thank you John Woo for one of the finest Three Kingdom movies ever! I believe this is a great direction for your talents! You've woven the action you're so famous for with a deep, heartfelt classic tale! Wonderful job!