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Red Cliff
EMAILPRINTMagnet Releasing (Magnolia Pictures)

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Drama | War
Written by:
Terence Chang
John Woo
Khan Chan
Kuo Cheng, Sheng Heyu
Directed by: John Woo
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 18, 2009
DVD: March 23, 2010
Running Time: 148 minutes, Color
Origin: China
Language(s): Mandarin
Summary
RATING: R for sequences of epic warfare
Starring Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Chang Chen, Zhao Wei, and Hu Jun
Red Cliff opens as power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao seeks permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords who stand in his way, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. As the expedition gets underway, Cao Cao's troops rain destruction on Liu Bei's army, forcing him into retreat. Liu Bei's military strategist Zhuge Liang knows that the rebels’ only hope for survival is to form an alliance with rival warlord Sun Quan, and reaches out to Sun Quan’s trusted advisor, war hero Zhou Yu. Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s brutal, fast-approaching army, the warlords band together to mount a heroic campaign – unrivaled in history – that changes the face of China forever. A massive hit in Asia and the most expensive Asian film production of all time, Red Cliff is a breathtaking war epic that marks the triumphant return of John Woo. (Magnolia Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Amy Biancolli
Anyone who enjoys stylized hyper-violence should be enthralled by this long, sweeping, murderously vivid dramatization of ancient Chinese warfare, circa A.D. 208.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The immensity encompasses such variety, subtlety and intimacy that you may find yourself yearning for more.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
This is magnificent filmmaking, and a magnificent film.
Read Full Review >Washington Post John Anderson
Red Cliff is a dichotomous beast: The computer-generated imagery that makes so much of it possible is served up in heaping, state-of-the-art portions, but the results occasionally border on the cartoonish. At the same time, Red Cliff is a classic tale that gets a classicist's treatment.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Woo's hand is sure and his eye, as ever, finds beauty in everything, even death.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The spectacular battle scenes are the engorged heart of the delirious adventure. But Woo also gets maximum romantic value from Tony Leung as a war hero married to Chiling Lin as the tea-pouring beauty.
Read Full Review >Empire Ian Nathan
Camp, over-the-top and entirely unbelievable: in short, the best thing John Woo has made in years.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
Balances character, grit, spectacle and visceral action in a meaty, dramatically satisfying pie that delivers on the hype and will surprise many who felt the Hong Kong helmer progressively lost his mojo during his long years stateside.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Scott Foundas
Red Cliff exudes a physical grandiosity that few movies of the past 20 years have attempted--no matter that Woo, even at his best, is still more at ease with down-and-dirty action than epic pageantry.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
It's a movie on the Hollywood scale that has so much of the Asian spirit. It has drawn the Asian audience back to the movie theater.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
As expected, it has gaping holes where back stories used to be. Still, it's a historical war movie with impressive sweep, strong characterizations and the kind of idiosyncratic flourishes that made Woo such an irresistible storyteller.
Read Full Review >St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams
We are reminded: War is hell. But at their best, war movies can be cool and beautiful.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Any war picture in which the heroine stalls the villain with a quiet, painstaking tea ceremony until the wind shifts direction and the good guys can firebomb the bad guys into oblivion is too ineffably Zen not to love.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Maggie Lee
A prelude that provides the beams and columns for the narrative framework, but with a few decisive and spot-on action spectacles, it sufficiently kindles expectations for the climactic clash in Part 2.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Mike Hale
While handsome and intelligent and perfectly easy to sit through, never really approaches the visceral tug of Mr. Woo’s Hong Kong hits.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Returning to his roots after a stint in Hollywood, Woo has made the most expensive film in mainland Chinese history, a pleasantly traditional picture that marks a new direction for one of the world's premier action maestros.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
The film is both traditional and modern: austere in its engagement with history, and insistent in its showy action beats.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
You may have the biggest flat-screen DLP monitor in the city, but Red Cliff will never look half as spectacular as it will on the big – and I mean really big – screen.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Even at 148 minutes (and viewed twice!), you still feel as if you’re watching the longest coming attraction ever for a John Woo movie.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Overlong but ambitious, Woo proves he's as good at tactical maneuvers as he is at close-quarters combat.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Joshua Rothkopf
For all his brilliance with choreography, Woo is flummoxed by the thousands of actual human extras, though there’s no denying his commitment to the finer points of battle tactics (yawn).
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Linda C gave it a10:
Bravo John Woo, cast and crew! War can never be made beautiful, romantic though many government and its leaders try to. However, the experience that human beings can have despite war can be beautiful, romantic; John, cast and crew achieve that in a mesmerizing way.
TDKinDallas gave it a6:
Major disappointment after waiting for so long for it to come to Dallas! I still recommend seeing it, but it is really only for people who enjoy HK movies. I was expecting a new type of movie by Woo combining the techniques he learned in the US with his HK style. Another notch up in movie making like when he came to the US. Instead, it is as if he changed to someone else HK style devoid of his usual kinetic energy. There was not one moment in this movie that said "John Woo" has been here to me. For a HK movie it is pretty friggin' incredible and I have to admit that my score, instead of being weighted a little higher because it is a HK movie, is weighted a little lower because of my disappointment in the new Woo. Have a Merry Christmas!
Roger J gave it a5:
Over exaggerated martial art. didn't stick to the history as we know from costume to item.
