Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie Review

You’re really only climbing half of the cliff here, but the view is still mighty fine.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater March 28, 2010

For fans of John Woo’s Hong Kong films of the late 1980s and early 90s, enamored with the choreographed “gun-fu” of A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, the director’s subsequent career in the U.S. has been, if not outright disappointing, at least underwhelming. Sure, Face/Off was fun and Mission: Impossible II had its share of ridiculously over-the- top action set pieces, but Mr. Woo’s Hollywood output in general has seemed disinterested, unoriginal, and even tame. Need I mention Paycheck, perhaps the most aptly titled film in the director’s commercial canon? Well, ladies and gentlemen, after nearly twenty years of slumming it through dull actioners for the big Los Angeles studios, John Woo has returned to China to make his best film since 1992’s Hard Boiled. Strictly speaking, Red Cliff isn’t exactly a return to form—there’s no frenetic gangster vs. cop gunplay in Hong Kong’s seedy underbelly—but it is a return to passionate filmmaking and turning toward a new form for Woo: the historical wuxia epic, China’s answer to the sword ‘n’ sandal genre.

Released overseas in two parts, the nearly five-hour Red Cliff was the highest budgeted and highest grossing Chinese film ever, even box-office besting Titanic and The Dark Knight in several Asian territories. A two and half hour cut, overseen by John Woo, also appeared stateside in selected cities, generating strong reviews. Magnolia Home Entertainment has seen fit to release both cuts on Blu-ray—giving consumers the choice of the full shebang, via the two-disc “Original International Version,” or this single-disc truncation. Personally, I prefer the longer experience, with its subtleties and more fully developed story and characters. Still, considering the fact that the runtime has been cut almost cleanly in half for this single-disc iteration, it manages to feel quite whole—until, that is, you finally get around to watching all five hours.

The battle of Red Cliff is as well known to Chinese audiences as Gettysburg is in the U.S., but let’s stop the comparison right there. For one, we’re talking about warfare on a scale that’s almost unimaginable, and two, it all happened nearly 2,000 years ago. The film opens in 208 AD, as Chancellor Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) leads the imperial army on a search and destroy outing to quell the rebel southern warlords Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). As in Star Wars, the rebels are the good guys here, and Cao Cao—a friendless, vindictive, and overly ambitious upstart—is on the warpath to further his own power-hungry agenda. Liu Bei sends his smart-as-a-whip military advisor, Zhu-ge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro, House of Flying Daggers) to reluctant leader Sun Quan’s court to request an alliance, and under the leadership of Viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung, In the Mood for Love)—getting overwhelmed with names yet?—Liu Bei and Sun Quan’s small armies amass at Red Cliff, on the bank of the Yangtze River, prepared to repel Cao Cao’s 800,000 soldiers. After a massive land battle filled with tactical trickery and enough arterial bloodletting to overflow several Olympic-sized pools, Cao Cao readies his navy and Sun Quan’s spunky tomboy sister (Zhao Wei) sneaks into the enemy encampment on a self-ordered spy mission.

With all the whos, whats, and whys established, the second half progresses toward the end-game in a series of increasingly clever chess moves by strategist Zhu-ge Liang, who is so attuned with nature that he can forecast an incoming fog bank by feeling for the sweat on the underside of a turtle. (Move over, Al Roker.) As a whole, the film is like watching a cinematic version of a game of Risk between a good player and a great player. Cao Cao’s brawn-over-brains attacks are no match for Zhu-ge Liang’s preternatural intuition, and John Woo devises several satisfying comeuppance sequences that are as smart as they are brutal. Shields with mirrored backsides are used to blind incoming cavalry charges, the supposedly outdated “tortoise” formation becomes a mousetrap for Cao Cao’s minions, and a fiery naval battle turns on Liang’s predicted change in the wind. In his most brilliantly outsmarting maneuver, Liang figures out a way for the undersupplied rebel alliance to “harvest” arrows from the enemy, using little more than some sly, military sleight of hand. The frequent battle scenes are frenetic and sometimes a little overwhelming, but unlike other directors, who might’ve given the material the overused, shakey- cam, I can barely tell what the hell is going on approach, Woo stages the action with his characteristic gracefulness, a blood ballet where we can actually make sense of the dancers’ moves. It’s not a faultless presentation, as I’ve yet to see one of these epic warfare films that doesn’t succumb to what I like to call “Braveheart Syndrome”—extras waving their swords around willy-nilly in the background—but if you can suspend your disbelief, Woo and his 100,000 soldiers on loan from the present-day Chinese army will have you believing you’re in the middle of a truly epic ancient conflict.

While he can’t quite muster the poetry and pathos of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or House of Flying Daggers—he’s working with way too many characters—John Woo knows that in a film of this scale, the human drama has to be just as important as the action. To this end, he has Cao Cao motivated by an obsession over Viceroy Zhou Yu’s tender and beautiful wife Xiao Qiao (Lin Chi-ling), who easily bests Helen of Troy with a face that launches over 2,000 ships. Our modern sensibilities tell us that it’s completely insane for countless foot soldiers to die over one man’s desire to steal another man’s wife—another country’s oil is a whole different matter—but we’re in the realm of the epic romance here, and it doesn’t play as falsely as you might think. Woo also convincingly brews the friendships that develop between the characters, especially the mutual respect and admiration shared by Zhou Yu and Zhu-ge Liang. Though they were the dual protagonists of Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung didn’t share any real screentime, so it’s good to see them leading the cast and formulating tactics together in Red Cliff. Both actors play off of one another marvelously, giving subtle and commanding performances that draw on reserves of quiet power.

Even in its 288 minute iteration, Red Cliff rarely sags, buoyed by some of the most massive action scenes ever set to celluloid and a David vs. Goliath drama with relatable themes of honor and courage. So, it makes sense that this shortened version feels quite brisk for a two and a half hour film. The U.S. theatrical cut essentially does away with the unessential, pruning away many of the subplots and back-stories, trimming battle sequences, and generally paring the film down to its narrative and thematic trunk. You still feel like you’re getting the complete story, but it’s lacking the accoutrements and embellishments. Major sequences that get the ax include a tiger hunt with Sun Quan, which exemplifies his initial hesitancy as a leader, and the full story of his sister’s infiltration into Cao Cao’s encampment. Numerous character-developing moments are dropped as well, as are the motivations behind certain actions and strategies. I watched this shortened U.S. theatrical cut first, so when I finally saw the full-length version, I definitely had a few oh, so that’s why they did that and yeah, that totally makes sense moments. There’s also been a slight amount of dumbing down for American audiences, with Zhu- ge Liang’s name changed to “Kongming” for some reason—presumably to avoid confusion with Zhou-Yu—and a lengthy voiceover at the beginning of the film explaining the context of the war. Naturally, the guy who does the English voiceover sounds like he’s narrating an overdramatic trailer. No, he doesn’t start with “In a world where…” but you get my drift. Still, if you don’t think you’ll be able to handle a full five hours of swordplay and tactical maneuvering, and you don’t mind losing some of the story’s depth and breadth, this John Woo-approved U.S. theatrical cut will more than meet your epic adventure needs.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This two and half hour cut of Red Cliff sports a 1080p, VC-1 encoded transfer that looks identical to the presentation of the nearly five hour 2-disc set also released by Magnolia Home Entertainment. This is the kind of transfer that really makes you appreciate the film's production design and costume work, as each plate of armor and link of chain mail is remarkably detailed, the intricate threading on regal clothing proudly appreciable, and the ornate sets looking believably lived-in. In close-ups, facial texture is so defined—pores, wrinkles, whiskers—that you'd swear the actors themselves were peering out from behind your TV screen. The picture is sharp and clean, without ever showing evidence of misguided edge enhancement. Color is equally impressive, vibrant with bursts of fire and red battle banners waving, while earth tones are selectively and slightly desaturated to achieve that appropriately gritty epic warfare aesthetic. Skin tones are warm and largely consistent—though there are a few candlelit scenes where Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung's faces look almost comically orange—and black levels rarely waver from a deep inkwell shade, with contrast that's pleasingly pushed for a look that, if not entirely natural, offers lots of pop, depth, and presence. Topping it all off is a thin layer of untouched cinematic grain that only spikes during a few of the darkest scenes and a handful of landscape and aerial shots that might've been sourced from stock footage. Even at 148 minutes, with plenty of smoke and dust cluttering the frame, compression artifacts are almost wholly absent, and I didn't spot any overt instances of banding or other technical troubles.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This single-disc U.S. theatrical version of the movie defaults to an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 dub which, to be fair, sounds excellent, but let's face it—when was the last time you heard truly good voice acting in a dub? That said, if you don't want to read subtitles, this is the release for you, as the two-disc set drops the English language track altogether. For a more authentic experience, though, go into the menu or hit the audio button on your remote to access the Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, a bombastic experience that should keep most audiophiles' ears very happy. There were a few moments when I felt the sound could have been bigger and more immersive—times when the clamor of battle didn't feel as clamorous as it could've been—but in retrospect, I think I was just being greedy. Really, there's not much more you could ask for here. From the slightest sound, like the rattle of the beads on Sun Quan's headdress, to the biggest earth-quaking explosion, this track is detailed, lively, and dynamically intense. Arrows zip through the rear speakers against a sonic backdrop of reverberating war drums, gooey, flesh-rending sounds of piercing spears, and the clang of metal on metal. The LFE channel rumbles to life frequently with a stampeding cavalcade of horses, rippling fire, and black, billowing clouds of smoke. When quieter times prevail, you'll hear the whisper of wind and the soft patter of rain. Taro Iwashiro's score surges from bellicose war anthems to sweeping lyrical refrains, and the duet played by Zhou Yu and Zhu-ge Liang on the qin—a koto-like stringed instrument—is beautifully textured. If you speak Mandarin, the dialogue should be easily discernable, even in the heat of battle, and for the rest of us, the subtitles appear in clean white lettering.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Making of Red Cliff: The Long Road (SD, 2:25:50)
When they say long road, they mean seriously long road, as this production documentary runs nearly two and a half hours long, fitting, I suppose, for the largest film China has ever produced. One of the producers claims that somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people were directly involved with the making of the film, which seems to have had a troubled shoot judging by all the craziness we see here. "We're lucky if things go according to plan," says John Woo in one of the many talking head segments. Budget problems, ships floating away, even locals coming on set and demanding—for what reason we never find out—that the crew stop using "borrowed horses," there's no end to the big-budget insanity. The documentary isn't structured very well—or at all, really—but there's a lot to see here, mostly in the form of endless amounts of B-roll footage and interviews with many of the key players.

A Conversation with John Woo: The Heroism and History of Red Cliff (1080i, 27:03)
I found this section to be much more concise and informative. Talk show host Leo Quinones conducts a half hour interview with John Woo, who explains the research and attention to detail that went into the film, discusses the scope of the project, and talks about the prominent use of CGI armies and landscapes. A longer version of this interview is featured in the two-disc set.

HDNet: A Look at Red Cliff (1080i, 4:35)
A brief promo for the film, featuring John Woo, who explains the film's scope and themes.

Storyboards (1080p)
Here we get a self-directed gallery—with a very classy interface—containing 98 storyboard drawings, complete with camera directions.

Also From Magnolia Home Entertainment Blu-ray (1080p, 8:10)
Includes trailers for The Warlords, District 13: Ultimatum, Ong Bak 2, and Wonderful World, as well as a promo for HDNet.

Red Cliff Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Woo frames Red Cliff's conclusion in a "there's no victor in war" message, but it's clear that with the famed director back in top form, we're the real winners—no matter which cut of the film we choose. Obviously, the two-disc set is more bang for your buck—more action, more romance, more drama—but this single disc edition will suffice for those who don't mind the Reader's Digest Condensed Book version of the film. Either way, the film looks and sounds fantastic on Blu-ray, and comes warmly recommended.