Review of Red Cliff (2008) by James H — 24 Apr 2010

If you have nothing to do during a Sunday afternoon watch the long version which is divided in two parts. One thing which make me reluctant to watch Chinese movie is that they are quite soporific & in some way there is a non occidental way to shoot (3 different angle of view for the same scene .

.. so a scene which can length 2 min, in a Chinese movie will length 10 min) a movie which bring me a headache quite often. So in a way the director tried to reduced those defaults but ... it lengths more than 4 hours yet.

But the story itself deserves a such treatment. The 1st part is more story oriented contrary to the 2nd part which develop all the strategies which will be used & the battle itself. I can see the will of the director to respect the story & historical details: costumes, sets, machines, strategies, people .

.. this is simply impressive. A clear demonstration how far Chinese were advanced in this time (In 200 AD ...) as the Beijing's Olympic Game opening ceremony. I'm not a particular fan of the specific Chinese movie scenes fight: people flying like a cartoon far away after a small chock, so J.

Woo did an exploit to do a movie clearly identified & still watchable for non-Asian public.