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.