Red Cliff

By seraph | January 29, 2009 at 1:06 am | No comments | Movies | Tags: John Woo, Movies, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Zhao Wei

Another take on the famous chinese historical novel Romance of The Three Kingdoms, however this time the story is a specific one, focusing solely on the battle of Red Cliff. The challenge to recreate one of China’s famous historical battle was taken up by John Woo this time, so you can expect some great things from this film.

With a cast of big names such as Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhao Wei further increases the expectations of the film. So how does the film actually fare? Split into two parts, Red Cliff is an action fest, with huge battle scenes involving massive armies on wide open battlefields, as well as the superb kung fu moves of the generals will keep you glued to your seat. An engaging story of war tactics, honor, love and deception keeps the plot interesting, though anyone who has read the novels before would already be familiar with the unfolding events, the blend of action and story keeps a classic story interesting and engaging still.

Overall I’d say the movie is a good watch, though do not expect it to follow faithfully to historical events, it’s not a history lesson! Though if you are planning to watch Red Cliff II, I would strongly advise you to watch the first part before doing so to better understand the story. For those who missed part one of the movie, you can now watch it at GSC at a promo rate of RM5 only, though the showtimes are limited, for those who have watched it before, heck just watch it again to refresh your memory, it’s a fun watch anyway. Watch the trailer below to get a feel of both movies, you won’t regret it.

*Viewers outside of Asia will be treated to a single 2 1/2 hour film which will be released in 2009.