Red Cliff International Version - Part I & Part II [Blu-ray]

Red Cliff International Version - Part I & Part II [Blu-ray] Review

Red Cliff International Version - Part I & Part II [Blu-ray] Feature

Legendary action-cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992ic HARD BOILED in RED CLIFF, the epic historical drama based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. RED CLIFF opens as power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeks permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a s

Red Cliff International Version - Part I & Part II [Blu-ray] Overview

RED CLIFF is the epic historical drama based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. A power-hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao seeks permission from the Han Dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords who stand in his way, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao's brutal, fast-approaching army, the warlords band together to mount a heroic campaign - unrivaled in history - that changes the face of China forever.

Red Cliff International Version - Part I & Part II [Blu-ray] Specifications

Director John Woo's Red Cliff boasts some mighty impressive numbers. It took four screenwriters to adapt the 800,000-word source material, a 14th-century Chinese novel called Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There are also three editors, two directors of photography, hundreds of horses, and a combined cast and crew numbering in the thousands, making it reportedly the most expensive movie ever made in China. There are quite a few minutes, too, as it has a running time of 2 hours 28 minutes. That's only about half the length of the cut released in Asia, a fact that has led some critics to dismiss the American release as merely a bowdlerized version of the real deal. That may be, but this depiction of the titular battle that took place in AD 208 and is credited with changing the entire face of China is still an epic and magnificent piece of entertainment. The principal characters include Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), a power-hungry general and self-appointed prime minister who convinces the weak-willed emperor that two rebellious leaders in the south, Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen), must be stopped; Cao Cao's antagonists also include the brilliant strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and the heroic warrior Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), whose wife (Chiling Lin) is a legendary beauty. Cao Cao has a huge advantage in manpower, not to mention an impressive fleet of warships. But he is arrogant, while his opponents are not merely humble and brave but clever (Cao Cao's diabolical plan to send the contagious bodies of soldiers who have died from typhoid fever to the Southlanders' camp works temporarily, but the latter counter with ingenious strategies of their own, like using fog, wind, and fire to destroy Cao Cao's ships). All of this is depicted in the most spectacular battle scenes since the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with a steady supply of gorgeous shots and indelible images. Woo, whose previous films range from the terrific Hard Boiled and The Killer to the lamentable Ben Affleck thriller Paycheck, is in his element here, and Red Cliff is a treat. --Sam Graham