Red Cliff is a Chinese film directed by John Woo about the famous Battle of Red Cliffs, sometimes called The Battle of Chi Bi in the west.
In 208 AD, the Han dynasty was dying, as civil war, corruption, and famine plagued the country. The warlord Cao Cao gained control of the emperor, and built up a mighty power base of all northern and central China. The two main forces opposing him were the smaller nations led by Liu Bei and Sun Quan. As Cao Cao advances south to bring these two under control, the two must form an alliance to resist Cao's invasion, and find a way to defeat an army many times larger than their own.
In the US, the International version is available, which is a shortened version of the film. The full film is two part, and about 5 hours in length. The shortened version is about 2 and a half hours. I have not seen the short version, but since this period is of great interest to me, I never minded watching the longer version of the film. The full version is available in the US, UK, and Canada. All the dialogue is in Chinese, with subtitles.
I only have a few minor problems with the film. There are one or two scenes where there is very light wuxia going on (martial arts as shown in movies like Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), but the more prominent feature is the more famous generals being able to fight several men at once without issue. Now, in the novel of this time period The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong, that's basically how things happen. Certain individuals, like Guan Yu, are described as being "worth 10,000 men", so it's only natural they could defeat so many on their own. But it gets incredulous a bit at times.
The battle scenes are largely good, if also a bit of a strain on disbelief in their own way from time to time. But they're executed well, and the cinematography is good, I think.
The score and acing and all the other technicals are very good. I have no complaints about any of them. I also saw one of the only good representations of old-style "fireships" that were common for a while in naval warfare. It's almost worth the price of admission for that alone.
Great movie about a favorite time period of mine, with strong, if not completely faithful, representations of all the major players of the battle. A very good movie that will remain a favorite of mine for a long time.
_Red Cliff_ is a Chinese film directed by John Woo about the famous _Battle of Red Cliffs_, sometimes called _The Battle of Chi Bi_ in the west.
In 208 AD, the Han dynasty was dying, as civil war, corruption, and famine plagued the country. The warlord Cao Cao gained control of the emperor, and built up a mighty power base of all northern and central China. The two main forces opposing him were the smaller nations led by Liu Bei and Sun Quan. As Cao Cao advances south to bring these two under control, the two must form an alliance to resist Cao's invasion, and find a way to defeat an army many times larger than their own.
In the US, the International version is available, which is a shortened version of the film. The full film is two part, and about 5 hours in length. The shortened version is about 2 and a half hours. I have not seen the short version, but since this period is of great interest to me, I never minded watching the longer version of the film. The full version is available in the US, UK, and Canada. All the dialogue is in Chinese, with subtitles.
I only have a few minor problems with the film. There are one or two scenes where there is _very light_ wuxia going on (martial arts as shown in movies like _Hero_ or _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_), but the more prominent feature is the more famous generals being able to fight several men at once without issue. Now, in the novel of this time period _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, by Luo Guanzhong, that's basically how things happen. Certain individuals, like Guan Yu, are described as being "worth 10,000 men", so it's only natural they could defeat so many on their own. But it gets incredulous a bit at times.
The battle scenes are largely good, if also a bit of a strain on disbelief in their own way from time to time. But they're executed well, and the cinematography is good, I think.
The score and acing and all the other technicals are very good. I have no complaints about any of them. I also saw one of the only _good_ representations of old-style "fireships" that were common for a while in naval warfare. It's almost worth the price of admission for that alone.
Great movie about a favorite time period of mine, with strong, if not completely faithful, representations of all the major players of the battle. A very good movie that will remain a favorite of mine for a long time.
Red Cliff is a Chinese film directed by John Woo about the famous Battle of Red Cliffs, sometimes called The Battle of Chi Bi in the west.
In 208 AD, the Han dynasty was dying, as civil war, corruption, and famine plagued the country. The warlord Cao Cao gained control of the emperor, and built up a mighty power base of all northern and central China. The two main forces opposing him were the smaller nations led by Liu Bei and Sun Quan. As Cao Cao advances south to bring these two under control, the two must form an alliance to resist Cao's invasion, and find a way to defeat an army many times larger than their own.
In the US, the International version is available, which is a shortened version of the film. The full film is two part, and about 5 hours in length. The shortened version is about 2 and a half hours. I have not seen the short version, but since this period is of great interest to me, I never minded watching the longer version of the film. The full version is available in the US, UK, and Canada. All the dialogue is in Chinese, with subtitles.
I only have a few minor problems with the film. There are one or two scenes where there is very light wuxia going on (martial arts as shown in movies like Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), but the more prominent feature is the more famous generals being able to fight several men at once without issue. Now, in the novel of this time period The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong, that's basically how things happen. Certain individuals, like Guan Yu, are described as being "worth 10,000 men", so it's only natural they could defeat so many on their own. But it gets incredulous a bit at times.
The battle scenes are largely good, if also a bit of a strain on disbelief in their own way from time to time. But they're executed well, and the cinematography is good, I think.
The score and acing and all the other technicals are very good. I have no complaints about any of them. I also saw one of the only good representations of old-style "fireships" that were common for a while in naval warfare. It's almost worth the price of admission for that alone.
Great movie about a favorite time period of mine, with strong, if not completely faithful, representations of all the major players of the battle. A very good movie that will remain a favorite of mine for a long time.