Bleu Poster
22Jan12
I saw the first part in Beijing and even that I thought was uninspiring. There's a syndicated-to-death serial (I think made in the 90's) of Three Kingoms that set the standard.
Wall
Displaying wall posts 1 - 30 of 34 in total
Michael Harbour
3Jan12
Disappointing. Pretty, but empty: battle battle, quite pretty moment, battle,battle, quiet pretty moment, battle battle battle, quiet pretty moment, and so on. The battles were pretty, the quiet moments were pretty. I didn't care what happened to anyone. Basically a painting in motion. Perhaps the longer original Chinese version is where the characters lived the lives we don't see in the International version.
rik peeters
7Dec11
Every second between the geniunly epic battle scenes is a copy-paste of popular American and popular Asian cinema. So much so, that these moments (often filled with low-brow melodrama) become embarassing. This is by far Woo's best effort, but it's no "Ran"... (2 stars out of 5)
Dibyajyoti Sarma
27Nov11
I’d gawk at anything with Tony Leung in it. But, what I admired most about John Woo’s masterful ‘Red Cliff’ is the action sequences, grand, operatic, slo-mo, and comprehensively staged so that you know what’s happening out there. Not just fast cuts and jumps, and quick editing as is the wont of today’s action films. The elaborate battle set pieces are magnificently mounted. Wish I could catch this one in theatre...
R1oga74
17Aug11
Hi, I am Italian. I watched this films on DVD on my PS3. The Uncut movie is amazing.
OwainCai likes this
Manuel Bernardo
21Jun11
Woo finds the right note and then mercilessly smashes it for 300 minutes. Red Cliff is loud, grandiloquous, exagerated, campy, infantile. And, guess what, it works incredibly well. Once you accept the absurdity and push aside the shallow drama, the battle sequences can be immensely thrilling, both for the execution and the well mesured set-ups, the over the top top antics of the generals being humorous and inventive.
DT likes this
SmokeyPSD
10May11
Grace and violence meet, only under John Woo. I hope he stays within China to make even more interesting, important films. Good for China and seems to be more personally fulfilling for him. The beauty of it all, coupled with the historical strategy and brutality is mesmerizing. Forget the short version. Agree that it is his masterpiece and makes it clear to me that he really is an auteur.
Greg S.
12Apr11
I've been a huge admirer of John Woo's Hong Kong films for sometime but until seeing Red Cliff I had never thought about listing him among my favorite auteurs but this film clinched it. How this film hasn't received more attention(even with its poor distribution) is beyond me, in terms of craftsmenship and spectacle the recent work of Ridley Scott, Cameron and Nolan don't come close to what Woo has done here.
Jack Lehtonen and Harry Rossi like this
lasttimeisaw
29Mar11
No Andy Lau and Ken Watanabe in the cast, can anyone please edit it? It looks so unprofessional.
Harry Rossi likes this
chad bentley
17Jan11
Epically awesome! Battles on a grand scale! I would have preferred it a little grittier...( too squeaky clean ) and while the acting was excellent all around it was a bit over the top for me at times...( sometimes plays like a soap ). I could have also used a few mini bosses to deliver pleasure upon demise. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the 5 hours spent watching it. A FUN MOVIE!
OldGregg69
9Dec10
a bit of a marthon...but well worth it for the visual splendor.Mr Woo stay away from hollywood.
Rod Lebowski
5Jun10
I was just complaining the other day (after having seen AVATAR, ROBIN HOOD and others of the ilk) that movie battles, esp. medieval battles, mostly have little to no strategy; it's always charge and hope for a deus ex machina, which is lame. None of that here. Long sequences that jiggle complex strategy with several clashing of troops and acts of individual badassery, and not a single second of incoherent action. Faithful to the spirit of Chinese Legend: generals unrealistically snuffing a shitload of enemies single-handedly (sometimes unarmed!) is proof that history is boring.
Edward Copeland
28Apr10
John Woo's cinematic exile comes to a glorious end with this remarkable, nearly five hour epic set in 208 A.D. China. http://eddieonfilm.blogspot.com/2009/04/whole-lotta-woo.html
daniel
5Apr10
SPOILER: Both films are fun I haven't seen the International cut, but I think they could be both 20 minutes shorter. Some ideas that are not fully fleshed out, such as Zhao Wei's infatuation with an enemy soldier, could be left on the cutting floor. Overall, it's great to see China finally churning out big action productions that rivals Hollywood.
Madeline
23Feb10
I watched the two-part international release, and really can't understand how it could have been edited into a 2.5 hour movie. Watching it, I was left with the impression that it should be written about IN CAPITAL LETTERS. And probably thought about that way too. (But that makes it seem a bit like I'm questioning its subtlety or emotional intelligence, and really Red Cliff is very moving.)
Zac Zellers
10Feb10
Jesus Christ, the American edit was horrible. I was lucky enough to see both the American edit in theaters(which was severely undeveloped, mostly just crazy action sequences) and then the 5 hour version in a Detroit theater which was stunning and very moving. I wouldn't even bother with the edit, wait for a chance to see the real thing. I feel lucky to have seen the unabridged version on a big screen. Perfect!
Musidora
31Dec09
I sort of wish that nation leaders actually went into battle like these generals and strategists. My favourite scene is where Kong Ming and Zhou Yu improvise on the zithers (guzhi?)... Yeah, actually... it would have been nice if all the music was in the vein of erm... Chinese... but you know. The PC-ification of female figures in the movie's story annoyed me a bit.
Byron Brubaker
14Dec09
This profile needs updated a bit. Chow Yun-fat was not in this movie. And this review is for the American released version of the film. A grand epic piece of entertainment. The editing seems a bit rushed in scenes other than the battle scenes. This may be because of the cutting down of the two part version released in China. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the theme song, A River that has No End (?), if eligible, will be nominated for an Oscar. CGI was used to expand the horizon of wide shots and navy boats on the river. There really were massive numbers of live soldiers in the battle scenes though. Unlike Ninja Assassins, which I saw recently with its fighting sequences heavy on the CGI, this historical epic allows you to see the martial art skills of the lead figures in the battles. This is like China's version of War and Peace. Based on the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the story is set roughly in the 3rd century CE. Prime minister Cao Cao (Zhang), who has conquered many warlords of northern China, bullies the young emperor into sending him to defeat two "rebel" armies to the south. Liu Bei (You) leads the smaller force and Sun Quan (Chang) is lord of the southern kingdom. Liu Bei's military strategist/diplomat/reader of signs of nature especially the weather, Zhuge Liang (Kaneshiro) travels to form an alliance between the two armies in preperation for Cao Cao's attack. Kaneshiro is awesome in this wise scholarly role. This is the type of wise adviser role usually played by an old man with a white beard, but he is young and easy on the eyes according to my wife. Sun Quan's viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) is the other major military strategist, who really appreciates the art of war and the beauty of music. Leung is also excellent in a strong heroic role. Sun Quan's sister wants in on the action too and serves as a spy for awhile. Zhou Yu's wife Xiao Qiao seeks peace and is willing to do what she can to further the success of the Alliance's cause. Other generals and skilled fighters in the Alliance include Zhao Yun, the ex-pirate Gan Xing, and Guan Yu. Some of these men are hard to keep track of in the heat of battle. But the military planning and missions each man takes on does a lot for making the elaborate clashes accessible for the audience. The brief moments of humor, the romance between Zhou Yu and his wife, the carefully planned attacks and counter attacks, the kinetic and disciplined hand to hand combat all add up to a historically epic story worth seeing!