Red Cliff-2009

Red Cliff is hands down highly recommended, not only for those familiar with the story (and who're likely to find fault with some minor tweaks to supporting characters in involvement and names), but makes a great entry point to the rich stories of brotherhood, valor, bravery which sits snugly in any John Woo movie, and I guess to reintroduce a whole new generation to the era of the warring states.

Red Cliff is the most expensive Chinese movie made to date, a two-part film depicting the famous battle at Red Cliff, when the Han Dynasty general from North China, Cao Cao, sails a massive fleet down the Yangtze River to invade the lands of Liu Bei and Sun Quan in the South.
Red Cliff, the highly anticipated epic period flick marks the return of "bullets and guns" maestro John Woo back to making movies in the Asia region. Taking on a section of the well-loved novel, Romance of the Three Kingdom, this grand tale is being told in not one but two movies.

Red Cliff blazes across the screen with a sweep that most movies can only dream of. It's nice to see a master like Woo at the height of his powers, after slipping Hollywood's shackle.

Fine moments of humanity and heroism remain, particularly as the film builds to a colossal climax of hellish bloodshed. But at times, "Red Cliff" is a bit of a forced march, drama and context excised to keep the audience trudging along.

The film is at its clunkiest early on as terribly dry narration and some hasty action — sort of a Cliff's Notes beginning to "Red Cliff" — explain how power-mad Gen. Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) bullies the emperor into letting him mount a massive assault on a couple of pesky kingdoms that stand in his way.

The heart of the film is the relationship between master strategist Zhou Yu and scientific sage Zhuge Liang. Perfectly cast as man of action and crafty savant, Leung and Kaneshiro build a rich spirit of warmth and respect around these two very different men.
Writer-director Woo adds a nice feminine touch to this manly tale, giving Zhou Yu's beautiful wife, Xiao Qiao (Chiling Lin), a pivotal role in delaying Cao Cao's final barrage with a wonderfully orchestrated delaying tactic over a simple cup of tea.

Combat, romance and historical details aside, "Red Cliff" is one of those movies that begs to be experienced more than simply deciphered. It is poetry in martial motion, a vivid recreation of a place and time and a battle that shaped Chinese history for generations to come. Flaws and all, you can't watch a frame of it without feeling that it has been generations since Hollywood tackled anything on this scale.

An excellent movie for fans of war and strategy films, like the Chinese equivalent of the battle scenes in "The Lord of the Rings". This movie will be remembered for its showcase of its classic battle of the two kingdoms at sea. What sets it apart from other scenes is that the final battle was done at night. This is probably the first time we have seen a battle like this without the sunlight and yet, the movie was able to show this very effectively. The actors were all good and the fight scenes and stunts will leave you satisfied and yet at the same time, wanting more.
Watch it for great cinematography and artistry.

Trivias

Red Cliff

• Yun-Fat Chow dropped out of the film the day principal photography began. Tony Leung Chiu Wai replaced him.
• John Woo's first Chinese film since 1992.
• Red Cliff makers received help from the Chinese Army who lent them approximately 100,000 soldiers to play extras.
• Red Cliff had been divided in two parts for the theatrical release in the Asian market. The American release will be the condensed version of these two parts. The reason given was that the Asian viewers are more familiar with the characters and their exploits while the western viewers might be confused with the numerous characters and their similar names (therefore keeping it simple for the US market).
• During post-production of red cliff a 23-year-old stuntman was killed when fire broke out after a small boat rammed into a larger warship, while filming miniatures.
• Movie makers received help from the Chinese Army who lent them approximately 100,000 soldiers to play extras.