Red Cliff (2009)
Feb 21 - by Aleida
Red Cliff (2009) is a Chinese epic movie directed by John Woo. With an estimated budget of US$80 million the movie is the most expensive Asia-financed movie to date. Unfortunately I didn’t catch ‘Red Cliff’ in the cinema and I’m still a little sad about that. Fortunately I got my hands on the DVD and was able to watch it. Now it’s time for a review!
Plot
The story of ‘Red Cliff’ is based on the Battle of Red Cliffs a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty, immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in China. In the summer of 208 the imperial army led by Chancellor Cao Cao embarks on a campaign to eliminate the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei in the name of eradicating rebels, with the reluctant approval of the Emperor Xian. After the hasty formation of the alliance, the forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan call for a meeting to formulate a plan to counter Cao Cao’s army that is advancing towards Red Cliff at godspeed from both land and water. Even though Cao Cao’s army could easily overrun the allied forces, Liu Bei and Sun Quan decide to face Cao Cao and stop him once and for all.
Be sure to watch the HD Trailer on YouTube (highly recommended) or watch various clips on Yahoo! Movies !
Thoughts
I don’t know much about Ancient China, but I have played Dynasty Warriors which is a tactical action videogame loosely based on the Chinese classic novel ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. Interestingly ‘Red Cliff’ is based on ‘Records of the Three Kingdoms’ which is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280. It was very nice to see the characters I’ve played in the videogame in the movie using a much more rich context. My favorite Dynasty Warriors character Zhao Yun (below) actually has some pretty cool scenes in the movie!
I’m a fan of epic battle movies and really enjoyed Spartacus (1960), Braveheart (1995), Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003), and Troy (2004) – there are probably more but I can’t list them all here. What I like about John Woo’s ‘Red Cliff’ is that it’s not just a ‘shock & awe’ epic battle movie with soldiers bashing heads. ‘Red Cliff’ is a very solid well balanced movie with enough attention going to the characters and the action on the battlefield.
What truly makes me excited about ‘Red Cliff’ is the attention to the various battle tactics of strategist Zhuge Liang (or Kong Ming). In history he is often recognised as the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era! It was truly refreshing to see some amazing tactics like ‘the turtle’ in action (above). I felt as if I was watching a mix of a great action movie and Discovery Channel at the same time AND seriously enjoying it as well!
Verdict
Red Cliff (2009) is a well balanced epic battle movie. John Woo did a great job making the movie a perfect mix between action packed battles, intelligent tactics, and esthetics as well. The spoken language (Mandarin English) might scare some people off, but it’s a small hurdle to overcome. ‘Red Cliff’ (2009) is simply a must see movie!
If you’ve seen the 148 minutes Western release you might want to look into getting your hands on the original Asian 280 minutes (2 parts) release.
Red Cliff is distributed by Summit Entertainment
February 22, 20107:27 am
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I watched Red Cliff because of the actress who played Xiao Qiao :) However, I was disappointed with the overall movie. Maybe it was because I watched Asian version with a couple months between the 2 parts, but I felt like there were bits and pieces missing from the plot.
However, I do agree that the battle tactics in the movie made it an enjoying film to watch :)