Movie Review: The Red Cliff

Courtesy of Red Cliff website

A little disclaimer first. This movie was release internationally in 2009 as a single film unlike in Asia where it was release in two parts - Part 1 in 2008 and Part 2 in 2009.

Red Cliff is based on a 208 A.D. battle that ended the Han Dynasty.  The movie begins with Prime Minister turned General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeks permission from Emperor Xian (Wang Ning) to eliminate the southern warlords Sun Quan (Chang Chen) and Liu Bei (You Yong) which the emperor reluctantly agrees to. With a massive army, Cao Cao attacks Liu Bei's town. Liu Bei's generals Guan Yu (Basen Zhabu), Zhao Yun (Hu Jun) and Zhang Fei (Zhang Jinsheng) tried to hold off Cao Cao's advances as Liu Bei facilitates the retreat of his people. Sensing a defeat, Liu Bei's strategist, Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) orders a retreat and to protect the people.

After the battle, Zhuge Liang heads to the Southlands to convince Sun Quan to join forces to defeat Cao Cao. After some convincing, Sun Quan decreed that they will join forces with Liu Bei to defeat Cao Cao's army. He sends his army along with his best men, Gan Xing (Shido Nakamura), Huang Gai (Zhang San), and Grand Viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). After getting his army defeated by the alliance on a ground attack, Cao Cao decided to do a naval assault. And they targeted one place - Red Cliff, where the alliance is making a stand. Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu must devise strategies in order to defeat the vast army of Cao Cao and drive them back to the North.

This movie is amazing and kept me glued you to your seat. And with John Woo at the helm, you know that the movie would be just packed with action and adventure. The storyline, which is Mr. Woo based on Records of Three Kingdoms, was easy to follow and straight-forward which won't confuse movie goers with any twist in its subplots. The acting was superb with most of the major characters giving a A-plus effort in the roles that they play. Of course, the action sequence was just amazing and remain realistic. The setting and landscape were breathtaking especially the scene to which Cao Cao's navy set sail towards Red Cliff. If you are an action-adventure junkie, then I highly recommend that you watch this movie.

I give this movie: 5 Stars

Red Cliff website