Red Cliff (Chi Bi) (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Reid V

  
  After a spat of lackluster films in America, Woo went back to China armed with the largest budget to date, and the result is a melange of breathtaking visuals, spectacular performances, and some of the largest and most awe inspiring combat sequences ever put to celluloid. Having it be… More
  After a spat of lackluster films in America, Woo went back to China armed with the largest budget to date, and the result is a melange of breathtaking visuals, spectacular performances, and some of the largest and most awe inspiring combat sequences ever put to celluloid. Having it be partially a historical drama about the final days of the Han Dynasty, mixed with elements of the fantastic, a staple of Chinese cinema, make this film quite a unique experience. For the most part Woo uses CGI to great effect without having it take away from the experience. This isnt a film for those desiring strong character development. It is a military epic in its purest sense and Woo seems comfortable just keeping most of the film on the battlefield. It is a very impressive achievement for a man whose many critics considered him having lost his touch.

• Cynthia S

  
  Part one and two. This is more of a mini series, due to the fact that it is almost 5 hrs. long. I can sum this up in one word...WOW! Amazing story. Well done. The battles that went on in this movie were absolutely ingenious! Along with all these were just enough romance, and beauty to… More
  Part one and two. This is more of a mini series, due to the fact that it is almost 5 hrs. long. I can sum this up in one word...WOW! Amazing story. Well done. The battles that went on in this movie were absolutely ingenious! Along with all these were just enough romance, and beauty to make a whole package. That John Woo guy really out did himself here

• Jan Marc M

  
  Grand and exquisite, Red Cliff is an impressive cinematic display of visual art charged with knowledge, wisdom, courage, purpose, and passion. The prelude of the two-part, five-hour epic set Han Dynasty, Red Cliff is, in totality, a culturally relevant and a historically significant… More
  Grand and exquisite, Red Cliff is an impressive cinematic display of visual art charged with knowledge, wisdom, courage, purpose, and passion. The prelude of the two-part, five-hour epic set Han Dynasty, Red Cliff is, in totality, a culturally relevant and a historically significant experience. Tactical.

• Al S

  
  A glorious and monumental achievement. It's an absolutely spectacular and fascinating epic masterpiece from Director, John Woo. This is without a doubt Woo's greatest achievement as a director. Woo once again manages to brilliantly capture emotional human drama and… More
  A glorious and monumental achievement. It's an absolutely spectacular and fascinating epic masterpiece from Director, John Woo. This is without a doubt Woo's greatest achievement as a director. Woo once again manages to brilliantly capture emotional human drama and incredible action, but this time in a historical background with great accuracy. It's both an brilliant action-adventure and beautiful historical drama with great scope and dedication. The battle scenes are incredible to watch, they are stylish, well-crafted and brutal. A breathtaking action-packed extravaganza that will grab your attention like no other epic you have seen. An astonishing work of art that truly is a gem to see. It's a thrilling, exhilarating and deeply moving film. An excellent and unforgettable movie, I loved it. A powerful experience that just knocks you out. It's filled with passion, history, drama, action and strong performances from it's amazing all-star cast.

• xGary X

  
  Red Cliff is an epic retelling of the battle of Red Cliffs in which a power hungry politician attempts to invade the peaceful lands of the south to unite the kingdom under his personal rule. Although clearly a historical epic, the film I was reminded of the most whilst watching Red… More
  Red Cliff is an epic retelling of the battle of Red Cliffs in which a power hungry politician attempts to invade the peaceful lands of the south to unite the kingdom under his personal rule. Although clearly a historical epic, the film I was reminded of the most whilst watching Red Cliff was The Two Towers, mainly because of the fact that it is pretty much just one huge battle sequence in which two vast armies of pixels kick the crap out of each other. It's basically the story of a game of military chess between two strategists rather than anything as mystical and romantic as Crouching Tiger or House Of Flying Daggers, and as such it is much more of a "boy's film". Woo does in fact try to inject some of this sweeping romanticism, but it falls short of Ang Lee's poetic vision because it relies entirely on one character; unfortunately she is criminally underwritten and Wei Zhao plays her with a constant vacant semi-smile that just made her look a bit retarded! On the other hand Takeshi Kaneshiro clearly relishes the role of wily tactician which makes a change from his usual action man persona and the best sequences come when the personalities of the characters are stamped onto the surrounding battle; namely the involvement of their feisty spy and Kaneshiro's ploy to steal arrows from the opposing army. The opening sequence featuring a general protecting his master's baby (a clear reference to Hard Boiled) also raises a smile. Maybe not fully rounded, but as a visual spectacle it is an absolute feast and it makes me wonder how good it would've been if Woo had stayed in China to create projects like this instead of spending the last 20 years sucking Satan's cock in Hollywood...

• Dean M

  
  John Woo's visionary epic based on the Chinese legendary battle is marvelous. Woo has left the mean streets of Hollywood behind him and returned to his homeland for this film. Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro make wonderfully performance as the artists of war. Cue hundreds of… More
  John Woo's visionary epic based on the Chinese legendary battle is marvelous. Woo has left the mean streets of Hollywood behind him and returned to his homeland for this film. Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro make wonderfully performance as the artists of war. Cue hundreds of extras, explosions, flying arrows, throat slashing mayhem, slow motion doves, blood-letting galore and a cup of tea that changed the face of China forever.

• Greg S

  
  The independent kingdoms of Xu and Wu form an alliance against the invading forces of the Han dynasty, led by the power mad Prime Minster Cao Cao, and their badly outnumbered forces make a stand at the fortress of Red Cliff. With a cast of thousands, the spectacular battles were… More
  The independent kingdoms of Xu and Wu form an alliance against the invading forces of the Han dynasty, led by the power mad Prime Minster Cao Cao, and their badly outnumbered forces make a stand at the fortress of Red Cliff. With a cast of thousands, the spectacular battles were expected, but what was not expected was the minute attention to battle tactics which makes it believable that the side with the better military strategists could defeat the side with the overwhelming advantage in troops.

• Gordon A

  
  Woo returns home to direct an epic tale from Chinese history with his characteristic flair for combat - he even manages to get his trademark doves involved ! The battle scenes balance strategy with combat which is refreshing and the close combat is actually edited so you can make out… More
  Woo returns home to direct an epic tale from Chinese history with his characteristic flair for combat - he even manages to get his trademark doves involved ! The battle scenes balance strategy with combat which is refreshing and the close combat is actually edited so you can make out what is going on. The between battle machinations drag a little and there is little emotional engagement but it wont dampen your enjoyment much.

• Aaron N

  
  Liu Bei: Truth and illusion are often disguised as each other, Cao Cao likes to play this game, both with friends and foes. Action master John Woo returns to his native China to direct an action epic capturing one of China's most famous historical war stories. The film is an… More
  Liu Bei: Truth and illusion are often disguised as each other, Cao Cao likes to play this game, both with friends and foes. Action master John Woo returns to his native China to direct an action epic capturing one of China's most famous historical war stories. The film is an amazing accomplishment in terms of how its action is captured in the way that Woo is known for as a filmmaker. All of the elements of his signature style are present here, and combining that with a good cast headlined by Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro, the film is a well made historical action epic. In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. The ruler of Wu, Sun Quan, calls on the rival warlord Liu Bei for help, but their two armies are still badly outnumbered. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever. Now, in China this film was actually two movies, with a total running time of five hours. For the American release, the film has been streamlined into one film and down to two and a half hours, complete with narration to help ease audiences into the story much better known to the Chinese. To this, I have to give credit to the studio, as this movie flows very well, with a much leaner presentation of the story, with enough dramatic arc to make it very compelling, while still leaving in all the awesome action that John Woo is very adept at handling. With all of the different characters interwoven into this story, I was taking my time in really getting into the film above an action standpoint, but once I did, this movie really took off. There are a lot of good actors present here, and many of them leave memorable impressions to keep you very interested in where this story will go. Of course, the main draw is to see John Woo go all "John Woo" on the action scenes, and he freaking delivers. Use of slow motion, explosions, well handled sense of scale, appropriate mix of effects, dual wielded weapons, Mexican standoffs, awesome stylized, often balletic sequences of action; all of things are present, and yes Woo even fits in some doves for good measure. There is action all over this movie, with two main sequences, which includes the fantastically epic climatic battle that lasts a good half hour and took over a year to get prepared for during production. The movie also manages to bring Woo's sense of melodrama concerning a couple characters, as well as his sense for overly-beautiful cinematography to keep the tone straight for his type of films. Its certainly another staple of Woo, but here he is doing it on a much more epic scale, which was necessary for getting one of China's most famous stories done right. A very well handled movie that delivers handsomely on its epic action. Cao Cao: This rag tag group of warriors mustn't be underestimated.

• Justin Y

  
  John Woo goes for an epic Chinese costume action war drama, say that 10 times fast, and he succeeds.<p>The plot is straightforward, however it is how the film plays out that makes this movie as great as it is. The first 20-30 minutes is all action before it slows down for the… More
  John Woo goes for an epic Chinese costume action war drama, say that 10 times fast, and he succeeds.<p>The plot is straightforward, however it is how the film plays out that makes this movie as great as it is. The first 20-30 minutes is all action before it slows down for the next hour. During this time, the pacing is slow to moderate and it does drag a little bit, which contributes to the 2 hour 20 minute run time, but the characters do get some good development. The introduction of characters are spread out as well during this period, and this is a good thing. The final 45 minutes is nearly all action with an ending that sets up a sequel. To be continued.</p><p>There are no guns in <i>Red Cliff</i>, but Woo still delivers some impressive action sequences. The battles are big, but Woo is able to zoom in and focus on certain characters, which allows for more in the way of good martial arts choreography. The action in the beginning is also able to setup the characters for the action at the end.</p><p>The actors are nicely chosen and all put on good performances, with Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhao Wei being the most entertaining of the bunch.</p><p>First impressions may lead one to believe that John Woo isn't the right man for this film, but <i>Red Cliff</i> has got the action, story, acting, and CG to warrant a watch.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Well, i like it, this is a movie that actually deserves the "epic" label in the best sense possible. It has the right balance between wire-fights and brawling fights, between wide battle scenes and intimate moments with the characters. It never feels too long or that is… More
  Well, i like it, this is a movie that actually deserves the "epic" label in the best sense possible. It has the right balance between wire-fights and brawling fights, between wide battle scenes and intimate moments with the characters. It never feels too long or that is wasting time in pointless exposition. I'm not a nerd of the novels, so thankfully i don't have to occupy my mind comparing each character with each actor and thinking "OMG, this guy is not like the character in the book!" and so on. The cast is great on all fronts, Kaneshiro shows that he has acting skills and not just pretty looks. Tony Leung is Tony Leung and Fengyi Zhang is spot on as Cao Cao. Woo delivers action but actually cares about the characters. You could say that he has enough material to help him in that matter, but this could have failed hard and in so many different ways. Certainly surpassed my (low) expectations. After more than a decade of crap Woo can finally add another solid flick to his credits. Looking foward to the second part.

• Walter M

  
  "Red Cliff" starts in 208 A.D. as Cao Cao(Fengyi Zhang) has just become Prime Minister. That is only the beginning for him, as he seeks to consolidate power under the authority of the emperor. First off is the south that is governed by Sun Quan(Chen Chang) and Liu Bei(Yong… More
  "Red Cliff" starts in 208 A.D. as Cao Cao(Fengyi Zhang) has just become Prime Minister. That is only the beginning for him, as he seeks to consolidate power under the authority of the emperor. First off is the south that is governed by Sun Quan(Chen Chang) and Liu Bei(Yong You). In battle, they are roundly beaten by Cao Cao's forces, even while they try to protect as much of the peasant refugees as they can. Their only hope consists of forming an alliance with Zhou Yu(Tony Leung). While it is the first movie John Woo has filmed in China in some time, "Red Cliff" is still something of a departure for him, as to my knowledge, it is the first pre-20th century period piece of a such an epic stature that he has made.(For the record, this review refers to the deluxe international version.) His lack of experience in this genre shows. For example, Woo's strength has always been with stylish action sequences and there is no shortage of them here.(My personal favorite is the arrow trick.) But these are inappropriate when attempting to depict a war, as one character puts it, where there are no winners. However, Cao Cao is the clear villain, as he seeks only power for himself and spends most of the movie stroking his beard while the other side is an underdog, ragtag operation. That's not to mention all of the misplaced sentimentality on display. On the plus side, nobody flies during the movie

• Byron B

  
  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… More
  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!

• Christopher J

  
  Rating : &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733; This visually stunning 5 hour massively scaled epic is absolutely mind-blowing and stands as one of the greatest films of all time. With intense long battle sequences that stand tall next to those of the Lord of the… More
  Rating : &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733; This visually stunning 5 hour massively scaled epic is absolutely mind-blowing and stands as one of the greatest films of all time. With intense long battle sequences that stand tall next to those of the Lord of the Rings series and a score that is simply breathtaking this film is an amazing achievement. The story of the film goes as followed. It is the autumn of 208AD and 100,000 peasants flee with their leader Liu Bei from Cao Cao's million man army. With aid of allied heroes they escape across the Great River to take refuge with the leader of the south, Suan Quan. As Cao Cao prepares his huge navy to innvade Southern China and destroy them all, the allies devise a grand strategy to destroy Cao Cao's thousand ships with fire upon the river. This film incorporates, Happiness, Sadness, Death, Treachery, Military Strategy and other features and themes to produce what I would like to call a perfect war epic. The acting standard in the film is excellent with stand out performances from Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang, military strategist who's clever tactics and mind are able to sway battles whilst being aggressively outnumbered and also Zhao Wei as Sun Shangxiang, Sun Quan's feisty and tomboy sister. Each character stands as their own hero with all characters getting their fare share of screen time in order for the viwer to connect with each and every single hero. Taro Iashiro does a masterful score that greatly effects the emotions of the viewer to give a stunning cinematic feel to the film. It is a real shame that the international release is a little 2 1/2 hours in length once this amazing version is a little short of 5 hours. Do not let the length turn you off this version as it is easily the definitive version with every scene as important and beautiful as the last. The film contains three main battle sequences all with varying length but all a stunning achievement were the tension, special effects, acting and epicness are all cranked up to 11. A personal favourite is the battle towards the end of the first half in which the southern forces battle Cao Cao's troops using the tortoise formation. A lot of thought has gone in to this film and everything comes together to craft a film of art and beauty. I really could not have hoped for a better film and it was one in which exceeded my expectations by a huge margin. I urge all to view this masterpiece and hope that directors of future war films take not of John Woo's creation in order to inspire and allow other tales and stories to be produced with great amounts of depth, emotion, character development and most important of all and extremely enjoyable viewing experience.

• Luke E

  
  Outstanding Chinese Epic to be the most expensive film the country has produced. John Woo Finally make a film that could match up to some of the greatest directors he studied.

• Chihoe H

  
  When Peter Jackson mentioned 'battle fatigue' in the LOTR Appendices, John Woo should have paid heed. Excessive the martial arts fights are, they were sometimes quite interesting to watch. I watched the 2-films version that was released in Asia which included more of the… More
  When Peter Jackson mentioned 'battle fatigue' in the LOTR Appendices, John Woo should have paid heed. Excessive the martial arts fights are, they were sometimes quite interesting to watch. I watched the 2-films version that was released in Asia which included more of the stories of these historical figures that I had read growing up, and they gave more of a storyline to it. The epic proportions, the cinematography and the cast are good enough reasons to give this a try.

• Steven V

  
  <i>John Woo</i> acknowledged parallels between characters in his movies, and characters from the <b>Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon</b> era. The fight sequences were pure spectacle, with old school wire work combined with technological wizardry to… More
  <i>John Woo</i> acknowledged parallels between characters in his movies, and characters from the <b>Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon</b> era. The fight sequences were pure spectacle, with old school wire work combined with technological wizardry to showcase some large scale battle sequences at a macro level, or to highlight the immense naval numbers that <i>Cao Cao</i> brings to battle. There's the usual bellowing cape and slow motion in <i>John Woo</i>'s signature style, but these were kept to a minimum, as are the pigeons. Perhaps it is the success of the fight sequences that had left some lamenting for more, but bear in mind this is just but the first half of the movie, setting things up. The major war sequences of course are left in the second movie which we will get to see come early next year. Like <b>The Matrix Reloaded</b> and <b>The Matrix Revolutions</b>, expect the next movie to go on an all out assault.

• Lesley N

  
  Oh my... big big BIG story (four hours and counting if you take both parts) of the battle of the Red Cliffs (well two battles - a land one and a sea one), when the vastly outnumbered Chinese tribes of the south and east come together to prevent the Prime Minister taking over the… More
  Oh my... big big BIG story (four hours and counting if you take both parts) of the battle of the Red Cliffs (well two battles - a land one and a sea one), when the vastly outnumbered Chinese tribes of the south and east come together to prevent the Prime Minister taking over the whole kingdom and some other blokes bird. The downsides are the speedy speedy hard-to-readey subtitles, and well, that it's two two-hours-a-piece battles. The upsides are the carefully explained and tricksy military tactics, the visual splendour, the charismatic actors(particularly a rather attractive Orlando-Bloom-like Takeshi Kaneshiro) and the whole underdog taking on the big guy plot. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/carlosoliveira/jinchengwu/birdy_bird.jpg"> .

• Justin F

  
  Ive only seen a few John Woo films (the Holywood ones) and ive never been that a big a fan so I watched this with relatively low expectations. What I found however, was an Epic story that was totally gripping. It looks fantastic, the score is also superb and the production is very… More
  Ive only seen a few John Woo films (the Holywood ones) and ive never been that a big a fan so I watched this with relatively low expectations. What I found however, was an Epic story that was totally gripping. It looks fantastic, the score is also superb and the production is very lavish. All of this lends to huge scale battles that are on a par with the likes of 300 & LOTR (of which there are a number of other similarities). You cannot but help warm to the main characters in the Aliiance but also get to see that the Tyrants\Bad guys are equally driven by their beliefs and are (at times) every bit as determined. A number of sub plots and issues are explored throughout including womans role in war, the fragility of Alliances and long term friendships being divided by war. Highly recommended.

• Andre T

  
  Absolute spectacular, powerful and ambicious epic movie by John Woo.In my oppinion this is his masterpiece.Red Cliff is a Chinese epic-war film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208-209 AD) and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three… More
  Absolute spectacular, powerful and ambicious epic movie by John Woo.In my oppinion this is his masterpiece.Red Cliff is a Chinese epic-war film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208-209 AD) and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China. The cinematography sometimes looks like paintings, and the incredible computer visual effects are so natural that looks real.Exciting music and genous screemplay makes this movie a great surprise.

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