Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 20, 2009

John Woo's epic "Red Cliff" (2008/2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Entertainment in Video. This release contains the film's 147-minute version. A longer version of the film, running at approximately 286 minutes, labeled as a Special Edition, is also being distributed by Entertainment in Video. With imposed English subtitles. Region-Free (please see our technical analysis as there are certain limitations with this disc that could potentially affect viewers residing in Region-A territories).

General Cao Cao

The last days of the Han Dynasty. General Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) has gathered a massive 800 000 army in the wealthy North. He is planning to oust the leaders of the smaller Shu and Wu states in the South where the will of the weak Emperor is apparently questioned. Realizing that the Shu state will not be able to withstand a possible attack by Cao Cao’s troops, Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a military strategist and naturalist, asks the leader of the Wu state, Sun Quan (Chen Chang), to join forces with Shu. Sun Quan agrees and the armies of Shu and Wu gather at the strategic Red Cliff on the Yangtze River. Displeased by the news that the two Southern states have joined forces, General Cao Cao orders his army to attack Red Cliff.

After reaching a cult status in his native Hong Kong during the early 80s action guru John Woo came to Hollywood. More or less the plan was to popularize his flashy style amongst Western viewers while adding a brand new vibe to his work with a distinctively global appeal. Big name actors (John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Christian Slater, and Tom Cruise) were to assure that success would arrive quickly.

But it wasn’t meant to be. Despite strong studio backing, Face-Off (1997) and Mission Impossible II (2000) proved to be John Woo’s only big hits and did little to maintain his cult image after a string of disappointing projects followed up – Windtalkers (2002), Paycheck (2003), The Robinsons-Lost in Space (2004), etc. It was time for a change.

Red Cliff, a massive project based on a true story, marks John Woo’s return to what many believe is his forte – flashy, action-infused, cinema done with a touch of excess. The film recreates an important part of China’s history where the kingdoms of the South clashed with the North in a much overdramatized by writers, video-game developers, and as of late film producers battle for superiority. Stylishly embellished and carefully lensed, Red Cliff also creates the impression of being a project meant to challenge some of the best entries others have introduced to the genre it belongs to (Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China; Zhang Yimou’s Hero).

As expected, Red Cliff boasts a distinctively epic atmosphere where multiple characters are involved in multiple substories. Romance, action, and drama are blended into a mesmerizing panorama of visuals many, especially fans of the genre, will find difficult to resist. The terrifically staged battle scenes, for example, certainly overshadow a great deal of what has been achieved by other HK directors, and I feel that Red Cliff could well be what rekindles John Woo’s hurt career.

Structurally, however, Red Cliff is likely to present a few issues for Western audiences. The incredibly rich story relies on a number of characters that obviously play an important part in putting all of the scattered pieces of the script together. There are hidden feuds, unspoken arguments, and partially revealed historic “truths” that require one to pay very close attention if one is to fully appreciate what John Woo and team have delivered.

This is one of the key reasons why a substantially shorter version of Red Cliff was introduced for international consumption. Missing nearly 140 minutes of footage, the international version of the film eliminates a great deal of the secondary plots, key relationships, etc.

While I cannot list every single cut from the Hong Kong version of Red Cliff, there are a few that I believe completely change the entire complexion of the story:

First, key scenes addressing the nature of the relationship between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang are missing. The strong tension between the two, which was very effectively filmed in the longer version, is hardly detectable here.

Second, Cao Cao's fascination with Zhou Yu's wife is also difficult to understand in the international version. So, when she arrives at his camp, one could only speculate why Cao Cao immediately embraces her.

Third, there are small but crucial cuts around the time when the epidemic hits the armies of the allies. There is missing footage that makes it more difficult to understand how Zhuge Liang outsmarts Cao Cao's commanders as well.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Woo's Red Cliff arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Entertainment in Video. Please note that this is the international version of the film, which runs at approximately 147 min. The longer version of Red Cliff - which was released in Hong Kong some time ago, on two separate Blu-ray discs - is available in the United Kingdom as a Special Edition (see our review). The two Blu-ray releases have two very different covers.

The basics for this transfer look very similar to the ones used for parts I and II in the Special Edition of Red Cliff. Contrast is very strong, detail fantastic and clarity very impressive. Once again, compared to the Hong Kong release, the greens are slightly more prominent on this transfer. Macroblocking is not an issue of concern. I also did not detect any disturbing scratches, debris, stains, or dirt to report in this review. To sum it all up, the international version of Red Cliff looks very similar to the longer version of the film.

Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. However, before one could access its main menu, one must go through a number of forced trailers. The second trailer is problematic - it is in PAL, and will likely force many viewers in North America to get the following message on their monitors - "Can't Play Format". However, by pressing the SCAN button on the remote controls of two different Region-A players - SONY and Panasonic - I was able to get to the menu and access the main feature without a problem. I have also tested the disc on a Region-A PS3. To get to the main menu - so that you could access the film - once the first trailer (which is actually in 1080p) starts, press the green triangle button on your remote/controller and then select forward (120); the PS3 will skip over the PAL trailers and get you to the main menu. From there, one should know what to do.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. For the record, the British distributors have provided imposed English subtitles for the main feature. They do appear inside the image frame but are slightly smaller than usual.

Even though the British distributors have not ported the three outstanding audio tracks the Hong Kong Blu-ray release has - DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, LPCM 7.1, and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 - I am every bit as impressed with their Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. It is loud, incredibly powerful and with plenty of surround activity. To my ears, the battle scenes sound just as incredible as they did on the Hong Kong Blu-ray disc. Furthermore, the dialog is equally crisp, clear and very easy to follow. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features are encoded in 480/60i. Therefore, they are perfectly playable on Region-A PS3s and SAs. All special features are placed on Disc 2.

John Woo Interview - the director talks about his decision to film Red Cliff, the technical difficulties he and his crew had to overcome, as well as the film's message. The interview is in English. (16 min).

Behind the Scenes - a standard featurette focusing on the main characters in Red Cliff, many of the epic battle scenes, the true story the film is based upon, etc. In Mandarin with optional English subtitles. (21 min).

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The international, cut version of John Woo's Red Cliff currently has the exact same price tag the Special Edition of the film does, which contains part I and II that were released in Hong Kong not too long ago (the Special Edition also contains two Blu-ray discs). With other words, if you have any interest in this film, get the Special Edition. Pay close attention to the different covers!