Review of Red Cliff (2008) by Carole S — 15 Oct 2012

Well, where to begin?

I was enchanted with this movie! I can always tell when John Woo has anything to do with a movie. He has a certain magic in his directing or producing. It's hard to describe, but it's there. My first John Woo movie was "Windtalkers" and even though they used the female side of the language in that film, I still liked it. Yet again, I fell in love with one of his movies. The way he put the movie together was seamless! Even though I have the cut up American version, I loved it!

I'm a little angry that the American version squished both Part I and Part II together into one film. Yes, so there is no sequel. When I found this out, I was absolutely devastated! Someday I might try and get my hands on the Asian versions. Someday. I doubt that they'll have English subtitles though. Perhaps it will, I purchased a completely Asian movie and it had English subtitles (Mulan), so there is still hope. Or I could learn Chinese. Whichever is easier.

Anyways, I loved learning about Ancient China. I learned a little about Ancient China and all the different dynasties in my Humanities class. However, we didn't get into too much depth. This movie shows a different world and you don't feel alienated, somehow it sucks you into their culture and helps you understand. I was confused at a couple points about what was going on, but thats bound to happen if you never heard of any of those people (which is me). The dialog was easy to follow, so that's not an issue. Even though you can watch the dubbed version, I couldn't without laughing, so I changed the audio to Chinese and read the subtitles. That was personally easier for me to do. Also, I loved how they added the element of nature and music to the theme of the movie. It wasn't just a war movie, it had deep meaning and it focused on the true love between Zhou Yu and his wife Xiao Qiao (played by Lin Chi-ling).

There was a couple things I didn't like though... For example, I found some parts to be kind of cheesy, like the ending. I chuckled and roll my eyes. Personally, I would've picked a different ending, but I do understand the symbolics behind it. I really do, but it was still VERY cheesy. Also, AGAIN my favorite character dies. SPOILER: Gen Xiang dies in the big battle at the end and sacrifices himself, which didn't happen in real life. SPOILER END What the heck? I think people are seriously out to get me. When that occurred I was very upset and was bitter. Maybe that's why I didn't really like the ending...who knows. I was especially mad when I found out that in real life he didn't die until years after Battle of Red Cliff. Come on John Woo! In my mind he lived, but maybe he was injured or something so they didn't show him. That's about it; there's nothing else I can really complain about.

Overall, I really loved this movie. I know I'll be watching it a few more times! There's magic in it, I swear. If you have a love of movies, you should check this out. You should especially check it out if you love history, like me! Out of fives stars this one will receive the full 5 stars! Yayy! ^.^.