Reviewed by: Gaijin84 Date: 03/21/2010 Summary: A great start to an epic... John Woo's Red Cliff (followed a year later with the concluding Red Cliff Part 2), is a historically based epic recounting the battle of Chibi between Cao Cao and the united armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The story is also told in the Chinese classic "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." The movie, clocking in at over 2 hours, is a well paced action film whose strong acting leads it through any parts that could have slowed down the story. Zhang Fengyi (Cao Cao) is excellent in his role, showing the charisma and strength that would warrant 800,000 troops following him. Tony Leung is top-notch of course, but that is expected at this point. He is one of the best actors in the world, and his talent is not wasted with the character of Zhou Yu. Although he has been considered a relatively weak actor in past films, Takeshi Kaneshiro does a great job in his portrayal of the adviser and strategist Zhu-Ge Liang, highlighting Zhu's calm and thoughtfulness at even the heights of battle. This being a John Woo film, you have to expect the action to be spectacular, and for the most part it is. The battle scenes are complex and well choreographed, with classic weapons being wielded with deadly results. Blood packets are in plenitude here, and at parts I felt the nostalgia of the old Lone Wolf and Cubs films with their highly-pressurized blood-letting. The only scene that fell flat was the Bagua formation battle. I couldn't understand for the life of me how an army ride into a trap like that without realizing what was going on. Granted I have not ridden a horse and I don't know how they would react in that situation, but the whole thing seemed unrealistic. To further the issue, the battle turned into a real-life version of the video game Dynasty Warriors, with single warriors engaging and wiping out hundreds of enemy troops single-handedly. I enjoy a good battle between an ultra-skilled fighter and some lowly minions, but for some reason this became tedious and boring. Too much action sometimes can have the exact opposite effect as intended, and this scene was one of those instances. Luckily, Woo rights the ship and sets up the final naval battle with great anticipation. Save for that one battle, an excellent film and one that certainly whet's the appetite for the conclusion. 7.5/10 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 11/12/2008 Summary: Surprisingly good John Woo mega blockbuster 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. Then again, if Ang Lee could make such a great movie about gay cowboys, I'm willing to see what John Woo can do outside his 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 filmmaking. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 10/02/2008 Along with Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the films of John Woo were a major part of the explosion of western fandom for Hong Kong movies. In fact, the site you're at now was born out of a small AOL-based John Woo tribute. So it was probably inevitable that Woo would cross the ocean and try his hand at Hollywood productions. But besides Face/Off (and to a lesser extent Mission: Impossible 2), Woo never really seemed to find his groove working in the American studio system. By the time 2003's Ben Affleck-starring clunker Paycheck limped onto US screens and made a quick journey straight to video and late-night cable fodder, it was quite clear that Woo's US output would never manage to attain the heights of his Hong Kong oeuvre. But at that time, Woo found himself in a precarious place. While he apparently wasn't able to work within the constraints of American productions, the Hong Kong film industry -- now a shell of itself from its' former heyday that was buoyed by Woo's "heroic bloodshed" films of the day like The Killer -- wasn't exactly attractive, either. Many people thought Woo was done for good. However, over the past few years, the economic rise of China has given a shot in the arm to its' film industry, which could now truly compete on the world stage, even with the censorship imposed by the communist rulers. And so Red Cliff was born. An adaptation of the long-popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms stories (perhaps best known to westerners via Koei's strategic games of the same name, and its' twitchy action-based offshoot Dynasty Warriors) Red Cliff garnered a lot of press before the first frame was shot. Most of this was due to it being split into two parts, each released during a prime box office period. The first installment was released last summer, where it held its' own even with the competition posed by the competition of the juggernaut known as The Dark Knight, with the conclusion coming during 2009's lucrative Lunar New Year season. As each of the films had a budget of about US$80 million, Red Cliff is by and far the most expensive Mainland production to date. There was also quite a stir generated behind the scenes. Beginning with the highly publicized departure of long-time Woo collaborator Chow Yun-Fat from the cast list, and culminating in a tragic on-set accident that resulted in the death of a stuntman, Red Cliff had the industry buzzing and questioning if it could even be finished, much less be a quality film that stacks up against Woo's best work. Thankfully, the output does seem to confirm that John Woo is still one hell of a director and can make great movies. The plot is a bit dense to go into a short summary for a review -- and given that this is only the first part, giving a complete breakdown is kind of a moot point anyway. At any rate, the film tells the story of a turbulent point in Chinese history, where various leaders are vying for control of the country. Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) has been tearing across the land, and his ruthless methods have allowed him to overtake most of his opponents. But he is facing a strong adversary in the form of Liu Bei (You Yong), whose dedicated generals have generated a temporary stalemate. Though his forces have great heart and talent, Liu Bei realizes he will eventually lose against Cao Cao's massive army. So, on the advice of his top advisor, Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), Liu decides to strike up an alliance with Sun Quan (Chang Chen). Sun has a reputation for favoring diplomacy rather than force, but after talking with his main general, Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), Sun decides to ally himself with Liu, which leads to a climatic confrontation at a stronghold known as Red Cliff. Even though Red Cliff does have a dense plot and a long running time at almost two and a half hours, it never feels bloated. There are a couple of scenes that felt like they could have been trimmed a bit, but nothing seems totally unnecessary. It's a testament to John Woo's ability as a director that he is able to pack so much into scenes, where he gives a lot of information and plot development without overwhelming the viewer. A scene where Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu bond while playing music demonstrates this perfectly. On the surface, it might just look like an excuse for Woo to throw in some of his often-used cinematic devices -- a musical scene framed by filming techniques very much inspired by US films form the 1930's and '40's. But when one looks deeper, Woo manages to accomplish more character and plot development in one short scene than many directors could hope to create during their film's entire running time. Woo's direction is, for the most part, deftly handled by the actors. Vicky Zhao, playing the film's sole female lead as Sun Quan's sister, pretty much typifies the definition of "jade vase". Then again, Woo has never really been known for creating strong female characters, so the viewer will probably give him some leeway in that department. But the rest of the cast does a fine job, especially Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who would probably rocket to the tier of world's coolest actors based on this performance if he wasn't already firmly planted there. Takeshi Kaneshiro's more reserved performance gives a nice counterpoint to Tony's, and Chang Chen creates a suitably nasty villain; he's evil but not totally over the top or outright hateable. The supporting cast also creates some memorable characters, most notably Ba Sen Zha Bu as Guan Yu (aka General Kwan). One look at his scenes will make you realize why Chinese people still have altars to him. His role is fairly small, but the action contained in them will make you an immediate fan. Speaking of action, as Red Cliff is a John Woo movie, of course some note must be made of it. The whole "big historical battle epic" has been one of the most popular in Hong Kong and China over the past few years, and so, chances are, if you're a regular viewer of Chinese films, you've seen quite a few action scenes of the huge medieval battle variety. Rest assured, the stuff presented here is some of the best -- if not the best -- put to celluoid in this genre. The team of Corey Yuen and Dion Lam created some very exciting stuff here. Even though this sort of thing has been done countless times over the years in Hong Kong and Chinese movies, the action presented in Red Cliff feels totally unique. Even though there's only two battle scenes, there's enough action here for multiple movies. The action scenes have that rarely-seen (especially in these days of overly-slick CGI-rooted productions) impact of making the hair on the back of your neck standing up and getting you energized. When the film ends seemingly right before another battle seems ready to begin, it gives the viewer the ultimate "cliff hanger" feeling, because if what they've seen previously is so great, then what's set to come must be extraordinary. Let's hope this is the case when Red Cliff 2 comes out in January 2009. With such a great start, it would be a crushing disappointment to see a resolution that offered anything less than the quality of this production, which fully marks John Woo's return to the upper echelon of directors. Those who have been lamenting the current state of HK/Chinese productions can take well to heart that there's at least some life left in it, and that's perhaps Red Cliff's greatest accomplishment. [review from www.hkfilm.net] Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: dalvin Date: 08/22/2008 Summary: Can't wait for part 2 Absolutely, one of the most frustrating movies I have ever seen, frustrating because I want to see the rest. 80US million dollars is what they have spent filming this, and you can see where they spent it. Red Cliff is not a movie that hides behind pretty colors and slow-mo shots, although, there are plenty slow motion shots(it is a John Woo production). Instead it is the natural beauty that takes center stage to host the actors in their scenes. I did find myself in awe of Chinas Landscape, I have seen it before in film, but i've never been able to appreciate it like this. Natural, Beautiful. Red Cliff does drag a bit in the middle, you get to know the main charaters a little, and it helps to understand what drives them. There really are no side stories and I loved it, a couple of romances and some male bonding, but none of this is really a deterrent. The movie ends with a naval battle about to begin and I look forward to seeing how they handle that, the ground battles are very stylized, but there is an authenticity to them and that makes these better than a lot of the war movie battles I have seen. Even though I know better, I found myself wondering if this was how wars were fought on the front lines. This movie is only half done, and that makes it hard to review, but the movie is, all in all, very well done. This is by no means John Woo's masterpiece, but it is the most ambitious project any one from the east has ever undertaken and it does not disappoint. There isn't much that I can say about this film other than, you should watch it. The acting is top notch, but the battles strategies are what this film is about; so far the battle scenes are one vs. many, with different strategies being employed with certain fighters to utilize there strengths. There is a battle formation the employ using a turtle as the blueprint and it was quite interesting. As of now, I give it an 8 out of 10, I am trying to reserve judgement until I cant watch it in its entirety. It did leave me wanting more. I can't wait for part two. And with 80 million scrillas to spend they didn't have to cut corners with blood packets, they could've gotten CGI blood. Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 08/10/2008 Summary: ITs part one of 2 ITS hard to rate this movie when this is part 1 of 2, its just like rating kill bill without seeing both movies!! So far, this epic introduces the characters and its not until the last half an hour that you see some war tactics being employed. For myself i do not know the three kingdoms series so i watch this with fresh eyes. MY main gripe with this movie is Tong Leung's voice is obviously dubbed by someone else and im sure japanese actor Shido Nakamura cant speak a word of madarin.IS it me or does he overact? REally i cant give this a rating until i see the 2nd part but so far its been quite exciting and engaging Reviewer Score: 8