Red Cliff (Chi Bi) Reviews and Ratings


  • tequilamockingbird82
    January 4, 2010
    tequilamockingbird82
    I haven't decided yet whether the thin character development is that big a flaw. The movie is about war: tactics, weaponry, all the hows and whats of warfare in 200 AD China (though I have no clue how historically accurate it is). We might actually wind up being thankful that t...( read more)here is not more of the human element (especially since what is there is not so hot).
  • maxxtng
    January 2, 2010
    maxxtng
    Epic style movie for this classical wonder...
    Leave your blood boiling
  • 366weirdmovies
    December 30, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    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...( read more) 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.
  • kingmob6
    December 29, 2009
    kingmob6
    John Woo knocks it out of the park with this sweeping historical epic. Sorry to go the lazy route and just throw that out to coin a phrase, but it's pretty much the only way to describe a film of this scope.

    The visuals are gorgeous and Woo gives everyone their turn in the spot...( read more)light, each character has their own moment, no lead actor is left playing second fiddle to anyone else.

    Well worth a look.

    Recommended.
  • mistershinobi
    December 27, 2009
    mistershinobi
    An epic war film starring Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro?!

    Count me in!
  • gaerniak
    December 26, 2009
    gaerniak
    John Woo's exhilarating war epic plays like a tale one hears from generation to generation as told by a wise old sage. The incredible set pieces on the field of battle are positioned like a conundrum on a chess board commanded by two genius players. The film plays like a legend o...( read more)f yore despite the fact that it's less stylized than other Chinese wuxia films like Crouching Tiger, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers, yet it's still just as beautifully rendered and just as poetically told. I have to admit that the steadfast narrative headed by Woo's exorbitant, ambitious, yet cautious direction is quite impressive. He constructs the tale in the form of a fable except it's actually historically accurate, while demonstrating the Discovery and History Channels how they must present their history lessons without having anyone fall asleep, and actually jump from the thrills and even analyze the historical facts with excitement.

    The visual presentation is absolutely flawless. I took note of the impressive art direction and the shots of ancient China are beautifully captured in the film's cinematographic splendor.
    Don't label this as typical wuxia fare because you'll be doing yourself the disservice of skipping Woo's most exciting and greatest adventure yet. It reminded me of another movie I saw this year called Sword of the Stranger, since it was just as impressive and as exciting.
  • banzaibrother
    December 23, 2009
    banzaibrother
    Red Cliff is amazing! A beautiful, well-produced film with visuals that will take your breath away. This should be nominated for Best Foreign Language film. Legendary director John Woo takes a break from his Hong Kong cop films and American blockbusters to display a period piece ...( read more)set in 3rd Century China. If you love battlefield strategy...you will love this film. I really enjoyed seeing both sides trying to out do each other with creative battlefield formations, sneak attacks, and diversionary tactics. One side even uses weather patterns. I rarely use the word "epic"...but I will do so here. A can't miss film of 2009.
  • 76Majikat
    December 22, 2009
    76Majikat
    Rec by Scott & Lorenzo, Byron
  • kitchieteh
    December 20, 2009
    kitchieteh
    i really love martial arts..yeah baby..
  • gor41
    December 20, 2009
    gor41
    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...( read more) 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.
  • eryri
    December 20, 2009
    eryri
    Outstanding war movie chronicling the events leading up to the Battle of Red Cliffs near the end of the Han Dynasty in China. A compelling historical story by John Woo with the highlight being the battle sequences which are absolutely amazing. If you thought Hollywood did impress...( read more)ive battle scenes then you've seen nothing yet.
  • saifudin01
    December 13, 2009
    saifudin01
    great film... like it...
  • ahs15
    December 13, 2009
    ahs15
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  • holliewoodby
    December 11, 2009
    holliewoodby
    I really like this film! I enjoyed the acting and cinematograhy the most. Most stories of Epic battles are slightly predictable, but there were enough surprises to keep it interesting and move the plot along.
  • hypathio7
    December 10, 2009
    hypathio7
    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...( read more) (?), 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!
  • stratjas9
    December 7, 2009
    stratjas9
    Great action and really interesting and well acted story. Some great effects and super storyline. In the beginning I thought oh no not a martial arts stupid movie but then it developed well with it's charachters and was really entertaining. I liked how un-hollywood the ending w...( read more)as with "No one is a victor here" comment...nicely done. Great scenery too in China.
  • Dracula787
    December 5, 2009
    Dracula787
    Much the way the Indian film industry has kept the musical alive long after Hollywood stopped caring, Chinese filmmakers have been keeping alive the large scale swordplay epics that Hollywood?s abandoned in favor of superhero-fare and movies based on toy-lines. The Chinese Wuxia...( read more) genre, characterized by beautifully photographed fight scenes set in ancient China, has been one of the most popular genres of world cinema. Some of the most popular examples of this genre are Ang Lee?s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou?s Hero and The House of Flying Daggers. I?ve got to say that I?m a sucker for these movies; they?re action movies that have some real ambition being made in a time when Hollywood action movies seem to be made by people who don?t really seem to take their craft seriously. I?m not sure if John Woo?s Red Cliff strictly qualifies as a Wuxia movie, but it has all the elements that have made me dig the genre to begin with.

    Set at the end of the Han Dynasty (around 200 C.E.), this film tells the story of the legendary Battle of Red Cliff. Ostensibly this is about a civil war between the Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), whose taken power through brute force, and a pair of southern warlords named Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). The movie opens with Liu Bei trying to defend civilian refugees from the oncoming army of Cao Cao, he?s able to escape but with massive casualties including his own wife. Knowing that he cannot beat Cao Cao alone, Liu Bei sends his chief strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to convince Sun Quan into an alliance. Eventually Sun Quan agrees to the alliance and the forces decide to hold fort at the City of Red Cliff and prepare as Cao Caos massive naval fleet slowly approaches.

    There is of course a lot more to this; in fact I didn?t even bring up Tony Leung?s character, Zhou Yu, who?s a warrior who takes part in a lot of the action scenes. The film is not meant to be a historically accurate take on the battle; it?s more like the recounting of an exaggerated legend. It also isn?t exactly a complex study of the politics at hand, it?s basically a battle good guys who are really good and bad guys who are really bad. This is old fashioned storytelling in many ways, which is just sort of something that has to be accepted in order to enjoy the movie. While this material isn?t exactly Shakespeare, there also isn?t anything about it that?s irritating, I don?t mind an action movie story that exists just to string together action scenes as long as it isn?t actively bad, and the story here is mostly decent.

    What?s really important here are the battle scenes which are some of the best of their kind since Ridley Scott?s Kingdom of Heaven. Woo does need to uses some middling CGI for the wide shots of massive armies, which are not really the movie?s fortes, but for a lot of its duration the movie uses real people for its action scenes and during the medium shots the action is very strong. The fighting is very stylized with warriors able to engage in elaborate combat in the midst of the battlefield. That said, the fighting is not quite as stylized as it is in some of these movies like Hero, in which the characters are able to engage in extra-super-human moves like bating arrows out of the air with swords and you won?t see much wire-work either. This is a war movie first and a martial arts film second, there are scenes where great warriors will pair off and fight mano-e-mano, but for the most part this is about fights between large armies. Also, because the Chinese had access to gunpowder in their ancient warfare, some stuff blows up really good towards the end.

    The film was released in two parts in China, and the first part?s release was made to coincide with the 2008 Olympics so as to show the world the country?s power in filmmaking. In this sense they?ve mostly succeeded, the action and production values in this are every bit as good as anything coming out of Hollywood. For its international release the film?s two parts have been spliced together into a single film, consequently, more than two hours have been cut from the film. These cuts are not invisible, there?s an English language voice over at the beginning that sets up the conflict, and captions have been added to help audiences keep the characters straight. The movie does feel rushed and the cuts may explain the simplicity of some of these characters, but I think the story mostly holds up. I hope to someday see the two part original version which will inevitably be available on DVD and Blu-Ray, but this is a movie that should be seen at least once in theaters and I understand the problems with bringing the original version to western theaters. This version will have to do.

    This is the first movie which director John Woo has made in China since he left for Hollywood since his 1992 magnum opus Hard Boiled. I don?t think Woo?s best Hollywood works are really as different from his Hong Kong movies as some people think they are, in some ways I think he was the victim of the higher standards people seem to have for American action movies than they do for the exotic Asian ones. Still, his last couple of projects in Hollywood were undeniably poor, and he clearly was never allowed to make anything on this scale by the studio system. This is a return to form. I?m not going to call this a perfect movie, and if Hollywood had been making something other than half-assed CGI-fest as of late I might not have been as enthusiastic about this, but the movie delivers everything you?d expect out of it.
  • MagicButterfly
    December 4, 2009
    MagicButterfly
    So apparently John Woo liked the Dynasty Warriors games so much he decided to make a movie about them. This also dispels any notion I may have had that he's a genius as long as he isn't making Hollywood movies. Because it's set during 3 Kingdoms era China, I'm interested in the...( read more) plot, as that's a fascinating piece of history. However, ignore the historical backdrop: this is just an action movie. So in the beginning I thought "Well this was kind of cool" and at the end was thinking "Man, this is fucking stupid". Instead of developing characters, he just spreads a thin veneer of pop-philosophy over a terrible script and uses it to link together action scenes. Which would be fine, except the action scenes aren't particularly great and the film runs way too long. Watch Hero instead; that's what he was going for here, and that's what he failed miserably trying to make.
  • her69eyes
    December 1, 2009
    her69eyes
    After spending much time in Hollywood (where he completed such pictures as "Face/Off" and "Mission Impossible II"), director John Woo has returned to Asia with his first feature since the early 1990s. The film, "Red Cliff", claimed the box office championship that "Titanic" forma...( read more)lly held in China. With soaring cameras, bodyparts hurled, and Woo's trademark doves fluttering in close up, "Red Cliff" further elaborates on Woo's enormous skills as a director of action.

    Set near the end of the Han Dynasty in 208 AD, the movie introduces us to the fearsome General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), a man deadset on ruling all territories. His first battle is with southern defectors, led by Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). An alliance is soon formed with Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) after a visit by southern strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), as the two bond with a good-old fashioned third century jam session.

    The climactic battle is of a monumental scale - fire is thrown, fortresses are demolished, and hundreds (maybe thousands) of extras are multiplied to hundreds of thousands with digital effects. As impressive as this war is, however, perhaps Woo was too invested in this filmmaking challenge. The first battle of the film is a glorious one - innovative swordplay, impressive battle formations - whereas the last is a familiar spectacle of dark hellfire. Oddly enough, only in the final conflict did I begin to feel the two and a half hour runtime (condensed from a five hour cut released in two-parts elsewhere).

    I have not seen the original cut of the film, but this American cut certainly peaks my curiosity to see how much further the characters are developed in the Asian cut. The performers, particularly Tong Leung and Zhang Fengyi, are all excellent. Despite their efforts, however, many of the faces are blurred by the film's frenetic, rushed pace.

    The film is largely wall-to-wall war, but beyond the spectacle of the battlefield the film takes pleasure in showcasing the era's militaristic strategies. In one of the film's most successful episodes, Cao Cao's army sends dead bodies to their opposition in a cruel form of chemical warfare.

    "Red Cliff" is big, loud, and a lot of fun. The last battle perhaps hogs too big of a portion of the American cut of the film, but nevertheless Woo has undoubtedly made an epic on a scale that we don't often see.
  • DrZeek
    November 27, 2009
    DrZeek
    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 a...( read more)mazing 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.
  • SpunkyJamez
    November 27, 2009
    SpunkyJamez
    I'm giving four and a half to the original version of this (Red Cliff I). In asia, Red Cliff was released in two parts, 6 months apart - with a total running time of 4 1/2 hours. An international version was released in west - and they pretty much cut it down to 2 1/2 hours, they...( read more)'ve combined the two films into one and shortened it. I saw the original (better) version before the international - and the international just sucks balls!

    Review of Original Film:
    John Woo brings to us a brilliant work of art - the first part of Red Cliff. the plot is very interesting and it does have a lot of depth. The asian cast is lovely. There are actors from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Mongolia - all creating wonderful characters, most notably Takeshi Kaneshiro's Zhuge Liang. The battle scenes are all staged so well, and they're visually stunning. That's another thing to love about this - it looks terrific, it's just such a visually impressive movie. I loved the sets, props and costumes - all very beautiful. 4 1/2 stars to the orignal Red Cliff I.

    Review of International Version:
    I can just tell you that this is crap! Sure, we have the same stuff from the original but they've cut out so much of it. All the substance has been taken away from the original such as character development. It just ruins it. This is just like saying that you'll show a shorter version of the Harry Potter series or Lord of the Rings. It's so bad - and you can tell that there's something of rascism here - why do this to a chinese movie? This only has one good part - and that is the battles. They're still good, but they've been edited up so it would be much more better to see the original battle scenes. I'm only giving this 1/2 a star because I'm a big fan of the 2 original films, and to see this combined, shorter version of both is insulting to me and "I'm offended by that". Just watch the 2 complete films and i assure you will have a better time with them that with this punk ass version!
  • MovieGuruDude72
    November 26, 2009
    MovieGuruDude72
    Ancient Chinese wars and John Woo? Um, yeah, I'll see this.
  • TheMysteryLlama
    November 17, 2009
    TheMysteryLlama
    a beautiful looking film, but VERY slow,showing the delicacies of anceint Chinese politics.the 2 battle scenes are great, but be warned this is a film in 2 parts & after your 2.5hrs stops abruptly before the battle of red cliff,making you feel quite cheated as I didnt know this w...( read more)as in 2 parts.Im a bit John Woo fan but this is a bit over indulgant & could do with some pruning to speed things along.
  • Claraity
    November 14, 2009
    Claraity
    It was alright. I thought some scenes were unnecessary and the pacing a little off. Other than that, the story wasn't bad and the acting was good. I also liked the costumes and the music.
  • g1ngolf
    November 14, 2009
    g1ngolf
    Prendi un film epico, aggiungi la dose necessaria di arti marziali, una storia d'amore struggente, una regia sul filo del delirio, sangue a fiumi, strategia militare... ne otterrai un eccellente prodotto!
  • rika1
    November 14, 2009
    rika1
    can't wait to put my hands on the 4 hrs version
  • EddieGunner
    November 8, 2009
    EddieGunner
    so fuckin good, i love those movies about china dynasty's and their fight's wars etc...
    it's damn good movie with great battle's love it

    oh part in middle of movie when they playin those insturments, that sound like guitar is so fuckin great sound there was brilliant thumb UP fo...( read more)r that part of movie
  • tpb0
    October 27, 2009
    tpb0
    Wonderful - great acting and superb footage.
  • Jordan770
    October 18, 2009
    Jordan770
    Was alright. I could see it again.
  • jimmandele
    October 16, 2009
    jimmandele
    i like it..no questions ask
  • Nawya
    October 15, 2009
    Nawya
    Ovo je povijesni spektakl, ali mudri povijesni spektakl ,) Zanimljiva su mi sva ta nadmetanja .. ;)
  • juanchi119
    October 13, 2009
    juanchi119
    John Woo's best film since face off. but still, the movie is too americanized. Is not as poetic as HERO or House of Flying dagger. but then again... i enjoy it and I really want to see the second part. :)
  • rainshineday
    October 12, 2009
    rainshineday
    I expected it to be overrated but it's not. It was actually quite epic and visually stunning.
  • mannly
    October 11, 2009
    mannly
    This is a completely epic war movie... Visually stunning with amazing characters. The battle sequences are second to none, apart from the fact you can get confused as to which side you are watching, or which section of the allies is fighting. That does make it more confusing. The...( read more) various ways in which each side strikes an attack, from sending their typhoid-inflicted dead, to collecting the oppositions arrows by getting them to shoot at them, were just sheer utter genius. This movie is a sensory tour de force.
  • steven544
    October 5, 2009
    steven544
    Bravo to john woo, he made the Chinese movie like Hollywood style.. people can see amazing visual effect which is like we see on Hollywood movies. We see mostly visual effect used in like futuristic cinematography but this one is used with historical cinematography which made peo...( read more)ple obsessed to watch it... The story itself is not bad though i don't know any history of three kingdom but the red cliff made me keep watching the movie to learn the story itself...I must say this is entertaining Hollywood style move but not kind of Oscar type movie...Cant wait to see the 2nd part.. Anyway is this movie a box office in Asian continent (especially hongkong, taiwan, and china).
  • Ghanjaspawn
    October 4, 2009
    Ghanjaspawn
    Not bad. IThe Dynasty Warrior games are one of my secret pleasures. But this film manages to breath new life into the Three Kingdoms story and put the historical context back into perspective.
  • threefolddado
    September 9, 2009
    threefolddado
    A powerful piece for John Woo's triumphant return to Asian cinema. Fantastically choreographed battle scenes complement an intriguing peace of Chinese history. One again the characters stand out especially Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung and Wei Zhao. A spectacle not to be missed!
  • kunam88
    September 5, 2009
    kunam88
    more of "dynasty warrior" approach rather than "romance of three kingdom" style,.which is great
  • misslittlesara
    September 1, 2009
    misslittlesara
    i couldn't relax during movie because i was distracted by my sore foot (stung by a wasp/bee)....and so the movie felt like it was hours and hours and hours long....but i still enjoyed it...so that says a lot.
  • eleninthehouse
    August 25, 2009
    eleninthehouse
    love it the cute and handsome face takeshi kaneshiro hahahahhaha . his strategic is pretty amazing
  • stormerswe
    August 18, 2009
    stormerswe
    What will trike you the most about this movie is itīs beauty and stylistic flourishes. Itīs a huge undertaking and John Woo is today one of few who can deliver such a stunner. The battles are original in itīs use of weather knowledge for strategy which I think hasnīt been used in...( read more) other movies as well as it is here. The major fault is the pantomime villain, seen all too many times before.
  • nyoluvcupcakes
    August 16, 2009
    nyoluvcupcakes
    if u love playing Dinasty Warriors, u'll love this movie much
  • 2ArtistsUnknown
    August 13, 2009
    2ArtistsUnknown
    The first part of Red Cliff was kind of boring but very realistic.
  • gackt0312
    August 8, 2009
    gackt0312
    One of the best Chinese films ever
  • GaryRen
    August 2, 2009
    GaryRen
    Red Cliff is a very and simply beautiful movie, and I don't just mean the visuals however there are stunning; the cinematography has been done so well. The scale of this film is so huge, as well as huge action (of mass battles involving thousands of man), and for that matter real...( read more)ly everything is huge, now that could have blown up in John Woo's (director) face if he hadn't of done everything so well. I've never been the biggest fan of Chinese movies, and if you're not well this would be the film to win you over, trust me, and if it doesn't well then there is no hope for you. This is john Woo's first film back in the Chinese cinema in almost eighteen years, after directing film such as Face /off, Mission Impossible II, and Paycheck, but it was well worth the wait, and the numbers well they really speak for themselves with Red Cliff becoming the highest grossing Chinese movie to date. The only issue I had with it was the fact that they were talking so fast, as a result the subtitles weren't displayed all that long, but that is a minor problem which means that you may end up skimming a few line here and there, and that is a bit of a shame. Despite from talking to fast the actors all delivered truly great performances, everything just flows, and falls into place from the epic battles to battles of wit or the art of tea, this is truly a film that deserves you're up most attention. However myself I was lucky to see the full original two part version (play time over four and half hours) of the film and not the compressed international version (just over two hours) the international version really does no justice to an epic in my eyes, I've heard it being compared to trying to compress the Lord of the Rings trilogy into three hours long, which is but the length of just one of three parts of the trilogy, in my opinion it's like telling an artist he/she can only display half of their painting at an exhibition, a truly appalling act. So if you're planning of seeing Red Cliff then do yourself a favor and try to get your hands on a copy of the original two part version, and watch it in its up most glory.
  • MagnusMagica
    July 30, 2009
    MagnusMagica
    "The weather has cast decision before. Whoever can interpret the weather is victorious."
    A good epic movie with some great battle and martial art scenes.
    Great cast with among others Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Wei Zhao, Chiling Lin, Chen Chang, Fengyi Zhang and Tekeshi Kaneshiro.
  • dionkitchener
    July 25, 2009
    dionkitchener
    Absuletely stunning. One of the best war movies ever. John Woo is back to his best.
  • olechristian
    July 21, 2009
    olechristian
    Watched the Hollywood Highlights version. Fine if you just want to see Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu kick huge amounts of ass, but the battles would have had more weight if they didn't cut out all the political stuff.
  • rose888
    July 20, 2009
    rose888
    i realy loved this movie ... martial arts , wise men , my fave stars , good performances ... what else i may need ?

Summary

Red Cliff (Chi Bi) Summary