Review of Red Cliff (2008) by David H — 15 Mar 2011

In Asia this film was filled in 2 parts, which clocks in at 4 hours! God, getting through this film was like a chore. The western release is 2 hours and a half long and by the 1 hour 30 min mark, the film felt like it had been on for just over 2 hours. It was a slow, frustraighting, impatient 2 and a half hours as I was impatiently waiting for those end credits to come up.

I was really confused with the plot, some scenes didn't make any sense and most of the film was 4 or more people discussing battle tactics - which had me yawning. What I could make out of it was these 3 generals where rebelling against their Prime Minster (for some un-known reason) and the whole film is this big build-up to an epic battle at the end. I didn't grasp to any of it and just found it well boring.

John Woo could of really expanded these characters, all they talked about was battle this battle that and I was tempted to turn it off around the half way mark. But no I said "I am getting through this film. I bought it, I must finish it!". The acting in all fairness was very bland, because I don't think the actors had a good enough script to work with; the lack of emotion in their eyes just didn't help me connect. But yeh Tony Leung is in this film fresh from 'Lust, Caution' and yeh he has done much better performances.

However, what Red Cliff should be admired for is it's simply out of this world set design. I love epic films like this where they take you to a different era and century (208 AD). The final battle scene is on a scale that I haven't seen since The Lord of the Rings films and it is simply epic to watch. The cinematography is also simply stunning, capturing the epic scope of the film and those battle scenes.

Overall; I was excited to see this, but I was let down by its uneven and confusing story, really slow pacing and the blandness of the characters. I do what to give it a lower score but I haven't seen epic sets like this before and that final battle scene is on a scale of mind-blowing proportions. I really don't think though I can sit through it again, it was bum numbing sitting through this!

4.2/10.

BBFC rating: 15 - For strong battle violence.