7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.6 |
Chinese history in the 2nd and 3rd Century, during which China split into three kingdoms following the fall of Han Dynasty, and after decades of war and peace, reunified under a new dynasty: Jin.
Action | 100% |
Foreign | 75% |
Martial arts | 60% |
Epic | 58% |
History | 55% |
War | 54% |
Drama | 51% |
Period | 46% |
Adventure | 45% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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 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 truncated version of the film, edited down to two and a half hours for U.S. audiences, also appeared stateside in selected cities, generating strong reviews. Magnolia Home Entertainment has seen fit to release both cuts on Blu-ray—we’ll have a review of the single-disc U.S. theatrical edition up shortly—but this two-disc “Original International Version” is the one you’ll want.
Tony Leung as Zhou Yu...
An epic look for a truly epic pair of films. Spread across two discs, Red Cliff—the complete version—scales the summits of Blu-ray in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with a 1080p, VC-1 encoded transfer that give an untainted vista into John Woo's ancient Chinese world. This is the kind of transfer that really makes you appreciate a 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 two and a half hours per disc, 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. Also, for those that might be interested, I didn't see any discernable differences between this two-disc set and the single-disc U.S. theatrical version of the film.
While the single-disc U.S. theatrical version of the movie includes an original language track as well as an English dub, this two-disc international set is Mandarin-only, saving you the trouble of having to decide between the film as it was meant to be heard and the film as envisioned by inevitably hokey American voice actors. Trust me, unless you're the sort that simply can't abide subtitles, you're not going to miss the dub. The Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that we get here is 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.
Disc One
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, 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.
Storyboarding Red Cliff from Script to Screen with John Woo (1080i,
18:02)
Here, John Woo explains the importance of storyboarding in such an epic production, and then we
see storyboard to film comparisons of three scenes—The Tortoise Formation, The Carrier Pigeon
Flight, and The Plan to Get More Arrows.
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.
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.
Disc Two
A Conversation with John Woo: The Journey of Red Cliff (1080i, 45:34)
Talk show host Leo Quinones conducts a forty-five minute 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 truncated version of this
interview appears on the single disc U.S. theatrical version of the film.
Storyboards (1080p)
Here we get a self-directed gallery containing 98 storyboard drawings, complete with camera
directions. A very classy interface as well.
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.
If you're trying to decide which version of the film to get, definitely stick with this full-length, two- disc version, as the single-disc U.S. theatrical cut is seriously pared down, basically reducing the story to its bare essentials. Nearly all of the character-developing subplots get the ax, including Sun Quan's tiger hunt, leaving some of the actions and motivations conspicuously unexplained. (Plus, there's a significant amount of dumbing down for us U.S. dullards.) I watched the U.S. theatrical cut first, so when I finally saw the full-length version, I had more oh, so that's why they did that and yeah, now that totally makes sense moments than you can count. So, pop some popcorn, dim the lights, settle in for nearly five hours of quality martial arts entertainment, and prepare yourself for and audio/visual experience that's just as epic as the film. Highly recommended.
Red Cliff Part I / Chinese Theatrical Version
2008
赤壁 / Chi Bi / Western Theatrical Version
2008
Red Cliff Part II / Chinese Theatrical Version
2009
Tau ming chong
2007
Jing mo fung wan: Chen Zhen
2010
Aoki Ôkami: chi hate umi tsukiru made
2007
天将雄师 / Tian Jiang Xiong Shi
2015
2002
花木蘭 / Hua Mulan
2009
2003
Director's Cut
2005
Jí Jié Hào
2007
夜宴 / The Banquet / Ye Yan
2006
2003
마이웨이 / Mai Wei
2011
Xinhai geming | Collector's Edition
2011
Huo Yuanjia | 霍元甲 | Theatrical, Unrated, & Director's Cuts
2006
Tóng Què Tái, 銅雀台
2012
るろうに剣心
2012
2000
十月围城
2009
天地英雄
2003