Red Cliff (Theatrical Version)

While Red Cliff isn't a true story, it is based on actual events in Chinese history. If you like war and strategies - then there are a lot taken from Sun Tzu's Art of War. And the Art of War is still in use today in modern combat and in running a business as well.The cast and crew did a perfect job with this movie. And of course credit to John Woo who made it possible.From the intro, I thought this would be English dubbed as the narration is in English. But thankfully - all the dialogues are retained in Chinese. Foreign films should remain in their original foreign language - the emotions each character expresses in their words are very crucial to showing the true emotions of the film.And even though this is based on historical events, it is unfortunate that we have to be reminded that similar events are happening right now. That there are leaders who are too full of ambitions and take over other territories that are trying to live in peace. And there are leaders who will fight to the end to protect that peace.This arrogant, evil, narcistic leader should be PUTIN their place. Or PUTIN jail...or buried!

great action show

The low rating is... sort of for the inaccuracy.Now, I know this is a fantastic take based on the romance of three kingdom novels, which is not historically accurate. Of that, I have no issues, it is pretty much the norm for three kingdom works.What I have a problem with is how biased this take is. Now, romance itself is biased because it needed to create a protagonist and more or less picked Liu Bei as that faction. As such, it tend to paint Liu Bei in a good light while the others in bad. But this takes it even further than that.First and foremost, the warlords are all just that, warlords. None of them are "good", they are all grasping for power at this stage(well, since earlier but let's not). Of them, Liu Bei is considered the more benevolent for the people, but that is more due to his lack of decisiveness than anything else. Calling him and Sun "peaceful southerners" are so far off the mark that it's not even funny.Of the three remaining primary warlord, if anything, Cao Cao was and probably still is(at this point in the story/history) the most loyal to the emperor(or rather the royal line). In fact, he started off as a loyalist and did not seek control until he pretty much lost hope in that course because Han dynasty was collapsing every which way and the princes were... not quite up to task.Don't get me wrong, Cao Cao is no saint. But whatever difference there is between the warlords would be extremely minute in reality, marginal in Romance and vastly exaggerated here.I understand that for the sake of dramatic tension and the ease of storytelling you need a good guy and a bad guy but.... this goes too far. The general accepted practice is to merely show a relative good/bad between them without making any faction appear as absolutely bad. Well, not those three, a couple of the factions that are already eliminated at this point are, in fact, frequently portrayed in a strictly negative manner.P.S. I see some reviews comparing Cao Cao to Putin. While in absolute terms, he is probably worse, in relative terms (to people of their respective time), he is a lot better. Always keep in mind what we consider to be the standard changes. People of today are rather used to the civilized life and peace and, quite frankly, grown quite squeamish. It's 1800 years ago, back then, massacre and genocide happens all over the world and is considered the norm. Chinese internal wars are, if anything, pretty mild because at least it's between people of the same ethnicity so it tend to be conquer as opposed to slaughter. If anything, the famine that tend to be caused directly and indirectly by the unrest causes far more civilian death than any military actions. That's not to say China is super civilized compared to others or anything, when it's between the Han and people of other ethnicity, it gets as bad as anywhere else.

PICTURE IS NICELY DONE.. FIGHT SCENE ARE NICE AND WAR STRATEGIES.

I first watched this film as the two and a half hour theatrical version, and I watched it with the English subtitles. I thought that the movie was so good, that I went on-line to see how much it would cost to buy it. To my surprise, there are two releases of this movie. This version (which comes with the English dub track), and then there is also the original international Cantonese version which when released overseas, it is actually two movies. A Part One and a Part Two.Well, since I thought that this movie was so good, I don't think I'd mind to have this story made available with more material and more detail. To watch both these original international films, the story nearly runs about five hours. I then watched both parts one and two over a two day period, and I got to love all that missing detail, and all that additional character development, and all that additional explanation of the intricate war strategies that added common sense realism to the successful win of the smaller two countries of the Southland.I, at first, was disappointed that this full 5 hour saga wasn't available with the English dub track that the single theatrical version did, but after watching this shorter version again and WITH the English dub, I am actually disappointed with the less-than-pleasing English dubbing. The English dubbing lacked the emotion of the original language, plus it sounded like the English dubbing actors were reading as they were speaking. I was rather uncomfortable with it.But, I guess, all this disappointment that I have with this shorter English dubbed version, is because I now have the full five-hour original language version to compare it to, so I will always wish to watch the two-disc version from now on. The shorter single disc version also has the original Cantonese dub track, which is how I would recommend people to watch the film (with the English subtitles, instead of the dub). So this shorter single disc version will just be the disc that I will loan to friends or take to holiday parties with my family. If they like it, I'll then let them borrow my full five-hour version.Believe me, if you liked this 2 and a half hour theatrical version, and if you don't mind reading subtitles, then get the two-disc five-hour version. It is so much better.

Excellent period piece about an invading army, two brilliant strategists, and a beautiful woman. Spectacular battle scenes. The plot is simple but the action keeps you interested. After all, it's John Woo.

I really enjoyed the movie, story line, and of course Tony Leung.

It is truly an art of war. Thanks for the enjoyment.

Very good entertainment movie. I am a fan of Zhan Yimou movies, and this is the first John Woo that I have seen. Spectacular battle scenes, great special effects, not bad chinese acting, and a reasonable plot line. 5.5 hours is a long time, but two discs spread over two weeks, its enjoyable. If you want good value for money, great battle scenes, and pure escapism during lockdown, this is great.

Es hätte so schön sein können....RED CLIFF ist ein gerade auf dem asiastischen Markt sehr populäres historisches Film-Epos von Niemand anderem als John Woo – erzählt wird der Untergang einer ganzen Dynastie, drei Königreiche werden, auch durch Intrigen und untätige Herrscher, in einen erbarmungslosen Krieg gerissen.Wer auf epische Historienfilme mit jeder Menge (teils auch sehr cinematischer) Action steht sollte mit RED CLIFF eigentlich gut bedient sein, denn technisch ist an der DVD Umsetzung nichts auszusetzen, und optisch sowie akustisch liefert RED CLIFF, auch durch einen ganz charakteristischen Look, einige echte Schmankerl ab. Hinzu kommt, dass einige sehr populäre Namen des Asia-Kinos mitwirken und der Film also vor und hinter der Kamera einige echte Stars hat.Allerdings kann ich dennoch zum Kauf dieser DVD kaum raten, denn all die genannten positiven Aspekte können nun mal nichts an dem Umstand ändern, dass die hier rezensierte Version sage und schreibe um die Hälfte (!) gekürzt ist.Trotz der amtlichen Laufzeit von über 2 Stunden wird also die gesamte Story um RED CLIFF nur fragmentarisch widergegeben, die Handlung ist auf die Action reduziert und es ist kaum möglich, dieser wirklich zu folgen. Die Motivation vieler Protagonisten bleibt nebulös, und viele Entwicklungen der Geschichte sind gerade in der zweiten Hälfte oftmals komplett schleierhaft. Im Prinzip konnte ich diese Version von RED CLIFF nur zu Ende sehen, in dem ich mein Hirn quasi ausschaltete und mir keine Gedanken mehr um die Handlung machte… was wohl kaum im Sinne der Macher war.Man merkt schlichtweg an allen Ecken und Enden, dass diese Version von RED CLIFF den Film nur verstümmelt zeigt, und natürlich funktioniert dies einfach nicht.Ich kann nur feststellen: solche Versionen wie diese hier braucht im Grunde genommen kein Mensch. Wer RED CLIFF mag und mit Untertiteln klarkommt sollte sich die ungeschnittene Fassung besorgen, die hier rezensierte Version kann ich, trotz vieler guter Ansätze, einfach nicht empfehlen. In dieser Version funktioniert RED CLIFF einfach nicht gut, man merkt eben, dass einem eine vielschichtige Handlung vorenthalten wird… und das den Verantwortlichen offenkundig ziemlich egal war, ob das Endresultat als Film Sinn macht.

A long and very involved film that deserves all the accolades heaped on it. If you just want a slash-em-up samurai film, forget it. If, on the other hand, you want complex plots, double cross, conniving, devious twists, supported by fantastic camera work and brilliant battle scenes, then this is the film for you. Don't be put off by the TV showings of this film, they have been hacked to hell and back to fit the schedules. This two disc set includes all the bits that make the film make sense. At just over four and a half hours it's a long film but I do strongly recommend that it is seen all in one go to get the best out of the experience. So get the popcorn ready, plenty of fizzy drink and turn off the mobile. Happy viewing.

Without repeating other reviews here I can only say words like, amazing, beautifully shot, great characters, historical in-depthness etc. etc. etc.You must get the 5 hour film otherwise as one review here has already said, it just won`t make sense. My wife did comment that she thought it went on a bit in certain places, but that really is the whole idea of a 5 hr film in the first place, to explore the ` nitty grittys` of characters and events leading upto the main battle of `Red Cliff`.Buy the blu ray it`s just amazing and worth every penny! Just make sure you`ve got a whole night to appreciate it, because It`s like a full English breakfast with two of everything on the plate, it takes ages to eat and digest!!!

If the Western view of cinematic war is centred on morale courage and physical strength (see GLADIATOR) RED CLIFF shows the Chinese pleasure in clever ruses, self-sacrifice and culture. The section of the film surrounding the change in the wind being very well sketched. Of course they still have their fighting cliches; if THE PATRIOT showed the revolutionary war as a huge free-form bayonet fight then RED CLIFF sees the generals as heroes in the same mould as the Iliad. The result is closer to TROY than ALEXANDER THE GREAT; especially the chap who shoulder-charges the horses. This is popular cinema but I found it full of interesting event within the confines of its heroic form.It's also a ripping yarn.