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Red Cliff

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Red Cliff (2009)

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92 %
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Reviews Counted: 25

Fresh: 23

Rotten:2

Average Rating: 6.8/10

Consensus: Featuring some impressively grand battlefield action, John Woo returns to Asia and returns to form in the process for this lavish and slick historical epic.

Rated: Rating Pending

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: After directing stylish action films such as THE KILLERS and FACE-OFF, director John Woo turns to Chinese history for inspiration with RED CLIFF. The Han Dynasty is facing its death in third... After directing stylish action films such as THE KILLERS and FACE-OFF, director John Woo turns to Chinese history for inspiration with RED CLIFF. The Han Dynasty is facing its death in third century China, and the emperor raises a million-man army against two kingdoms that are hopelessly outmatched. This war film stars Tony Leung, the beloved actor best known for LUST, CAUTION and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. [More]

Starring: Tony Leung, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Chi-Ling Lin

Starring: Tony Leung, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Chi-Ling Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Hu Jun

Director: John Woo

Director: John Woo
Screenwriter: John Woo, Khan Chan, Kuo Zheng, Sheng Heyu
Producer: John Woo, Terence Chang

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Red Cliff

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Camp, over-the-top and entirely unbelievable: in short, the best thing John Woo has made in years.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
06/16/09
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine

It’s all technically impressive, but with none of the characters having much personality, it rarely stirs your senses.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment Comment
06/16/09
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)

With some of the best battle scenes since Peter Jackson's The Two Towers, a smattering of 1980s love scenes and all the far eastern promise of a Twinings advert, you can't really beat Red Cliff as the classiest and most fabulous blockbuster of the summer.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
06/16/09
Jason Solomons
Observer [UK]

The numerous battle scenes, culminating in the famous Battle of Red Cliff, prove Woo is an action director par excellence.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
06/16/09
Derek Malcolm
This is London

As old-fashioned mythic entertainment, ‘Red Cliff’ succeeds in solid, sometimes magnificent fashion.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/12/09
Tom Huddlestone
Time Out

A highly impressive historical epic, Red Cliff shows just how John Woo got his mojo back after a bumpy ride in Hollywood. Full of stunning action sequences, the only shame is how the international version leaves westerners wanting more.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
06/12/09
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film

After 15 years expertly playing the Hollywood game, the Hong Kong director John Woo returns to his roots, and to form. And what a relief it clearly is for the world’s slickest action director to spill copious amounts of blood.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
06/12/09
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]

At two and a half hours, it's a long haul. But there's entertainment and fun along the way.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
06/12/09
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

Red Cliff makes brutal violence look gracefully balletic. In this period war film he's managed to temper the stylistic indulgences that Hollywood encouraged.

Full Review Source: Digital Spy | comment Comment
06/12/09
Simon Reynolds
Digital Spy

With superb planning and execution from Woo, his stuntmen and the backroom boys, the action unfolds like a game of Risk played on the grandest scale.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
06/12/09
Elliott Noble
Sky Movies

A sweeping, stirring breath-snatcher that finds the director on his finest form since Face/Off. Even half-cut, it’s a whole lot of epic.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
06/12/09
Matthew Leyland
Total Film

Woo has created a resounding epic, blending a distinctly Chinese ethos with a Hollywood sense of scale.

Full Review Source: Uncut Magazine [UK] | comment Comment
06/12/09
Uncut Magazine [UK]

A bloodthirsty costume epic directed for maximum gruesomeness.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
06/12/09
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

His period war spectacular Red Cliff may be better than several of his American blockbusters, but it falls some way below the absurdly entertaining Face/Off.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
06/12/09
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph

With battle scenes to rival those of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, this is a beautiful piece of cinematography.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
06/12/09
Sun Online

Red Cliff gets everything right – sensationally right – except this one vital pulse of engagement.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
06/12/09
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

The battle choreography is superb, and Woo's Peckinpah-style slo-mo violence ensures that every lopping and skewering gets our full attention. The film could do with some lopping itself – at least half an hour – but the effect is dizzyingly grand.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
06/12/09
Anthony Quinn
Independent

The script is leaden but the action speaks volumes as Woo delivers an efficient spectacle of naval battles, slow-motion combat, death-defying stunt work, daredevil espionage, noble deeds, self-sacrifice and more plotting than a Labour Cabinet meeting.

Full Review Source: Daily Express | comment 1 Comment
06/12/09
Allan Hunter
Daily Express

Thrilling, beautifully shot and superbly acted, this is a return to form for director John Woo.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
06/12/09
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

John Woo applies his whizzing, sweeping visual style to Chinese history, making this film one of the most hugely entertaining battle epics in recent memory. Utterly riveting, we barely feel two and a half hours pass.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
06/12/09
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Red Cliff

May 19, 2009: Sydney Film Festival Gets Wooed
Hong Kong action maestro John Woo will appear at this year's Sydney Film Festival to present his latest epic, Red Cliff, which has its Australian premiere on June 9. The... More...

July 09, 2008: Is On-Set Safety Still First? Opens in new window
A rash of on-set accidents -- some ending in death -- has the Los Angeles Times asking: has safety become an afterthought for filmmakers? More...

July 03, 2008: Nine Minutes of Woo! Opens in new window
After posting a low-quality nine-minute long promo reel for John Woo's upcoming historical epic, Red Cliff, Twitch got ahold of the finalized, high-quality version and posted it... More...

June 10, 2008: Tragedy Strikes the Set of John Woo's Red Cliff Opens in new window
A bizarre boating accident has claimed the life of a stuntman working on the Beijing set of John Woo's latest movie, Red Cliff. More...

See More Topics...

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