I recently caught the Westernised version of RED CLIFF on television; there was no way I was going to pay to watch something that had been butchered down from a two-part film series into a single movie. I was entranced by what turns out to be an extraordinarily lavish, big budget war spectacle, with events and action taking place on an absolutely massive scale. If John Woo has made a few mis-steps in his directing career over the past decade, RED CLIFF is a film that more than makes up for them. But why oh why was it butchered so badly?
I still hope to get hold of and watch the original movies one day, so my complaints here are more to do with the editing-together process rather than the movie itself. From what I can gather, pretty much all exposition and characterisation sequences have been excised from the Western release, so we're left with battle after battle and little reason to care or get involved in the lives of the participants. It's a crying shame, because with the likes of Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro on board, I'd imagine the non-action scenes are as involving as the battles.
As for the warfare stuff, it's splendid. It starts off on an epic scale and only gets better from there, with huge fight scenes of crushing intensity. The only film I can think of that manages to rival the scale of these battles is LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING. CGI is used pretty heavily to animate various things, but it's doesn't ruin the film, rather supplementing what's already on screen. The martial arts-infused fight scenes are spectacular and inventive. In many ways this film reminded me of an old video game series for the Playstation 2 called DYNASTY WARRIORS, and that's a good thing; it takes you by the throat and throws you in the midst of a blockbuster ancient battle in a way that few films manage.
Review of the Chinese version, Part 1:
I've recently had the good fortune to get my hands on the two-part original version of John Woo's war epic and it's a whole different story. Part 1 is a slower story that mainly sets all of the pieces and main players in motion. The first half hour is amazing and has some jaw-dropping battle sequences. It then slows down for an hour in which very little transpires although the massive budget means that the sets, costumes, and sheer number of extras continue to impress. Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro play against each other very well, and then there's another action-focused climax to enjoy. I'm left looking forward to the huge naval battles of part 2, which is where the focus of the story really is.
I still hope to get hold of and watch the original movies one day, so my complaints here are more to do with the editing-together process rather than the movie itself. From what I can gather, pretty much all exposition and characterisation sequences have been excised from the Western release, so we're left with battle after battle and little reason to care or get involved in the lives of the participants. It's a crying shame, because with the likes of Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro on board, I'd imagine the non-action scenes are as involving as the battles.
As for the warfare stuff, it's splendid. It starts off on an epic scale and only gets better from there, with huge fight scenes of crushing intensity. The only film I can think of that manages to rival the scale of these battles is LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING. CGI is used pretty heavily to animate various things, but it's doesn't ruin the film, rather supplementing what's already on screen. The martial arts-infused fight scenes are spectacular and inventive. In many ways this film reminded me of an old video game series for the Playstation 2 called DYNASTY WARRIORS, and that's a good thing; it takes you by the throat and throws you in the midst of a blockbuster ancient battle in a way that few films manage.
Review of the Chinese version, Part 1:
I've recently had the good fortune to get my hands on the two-part original version of John Woo's war epic and it's a whole different story. Part 1 is a slower story that mainly sets all of the pieces and main players in motion. The first half hour is amazing and has some jaw-dropping battle sequences. It then slows down for an hour in which very little transpires although the massive budget means that the sets, costumes, and sheer number of extras continue to impress. Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro play against each other very well, and then there's another action-focused climax to enjoy. I'm left looking forward to the huge naval battles of part 2, which is where the focus of the story really is.