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Zorachus Reviews Part One Of John Woo's RED CLIFF!
Beaks here...
I haven't read much on John Woo's RED CLIFF since Variety's Derek Elley posted his mostly positive review back in July. Since then, I've just been waiting for the film to get U.S. distribution and a firm release date. So far, nada.
While I'd prefer to see this projected on a big screen, the 16x9 one in my living room might very well suffice - especially since the Hong Kong DVD/Blu-ray release is evidently region free. Gonna have to look into that. In the meantime, here's Zorachus's take on Woo's latest...
Zorachus here.
Even though I was first introduced to new-wave Hong kong flicks by watching the Killer and Hardboiled, I’ve never been the world’s biggest fan of John Woo; I loved all the blood and gore in his movies, but the histrionics struck me as unintentionally funny, and things rarely made any sense. Once I got more knowledgeable, I came to prefer Ring Lam (who really puts the hurt on you and doesn’t rely on bombast) and Johnny To, whose characterization is plausible, and whose gunfights are actually superior. When Woo came to America, they wouldn’t let him really cut loose with the splatter, and his films got far less interesting...although, I must say I enjoyed Broken Arrow and Face Off.
Anyway, he went back to China to do his dream project, “Red Cliff”, and I just saw Part One. Story is based on “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which has inspired a bunch of video games; the flick also covers a bunch of the same ground that was in “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon” that recent Andy Lau movie....”Red Cliff” is much better, though it’s got some flaws.
It’s greatest strength is the source material, and the adaptation is pretty sound. Story is set at the end of the Han Dynasty...the evil but cool Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) wants to keep two southern breakaway provinces in line, and plans to head up the Yangtze River with a vast armada. The two rebel dukes, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei, unite to stop him...much slaughter and male bonding ensues. The focus is primarily on Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony-Leung Chiu Wai, who play the main rebel generals, although there’s also a plucky warrior-princess played by Vicki Zhao, who is, as always, cute as a bug. Part One concludes with all the pieces in place for the big naval showdown with Cao Cao...I’m looking forward to part two, although as I said, Part One isn’t perfect.
Its two biggest drawbacks are the CG and just plain wackiness. If this flick is any indication, John Woo really isn’t a good special effects director...if you compare the CG work in this movie to the stuff in Hero or even Curse of the Golden Flower, it just isn’t up to snuff. It’s frequently muddy when it needs to be sharp, and there are really ridiculous scale problems...there’s this one scene with a dove (yes, this is a Woo movie, and there are many doves) where the bird is cruising along above these CG ships at jet-fighter speeds...you’ll know it when you see it. The spectacle is at its most impressive when Woo is simply and sensibly making use of huge crowds of actual extras...those shots are far superior to the FX work..
As far as just plain wackiness goes, if you’ve seen a lot of HK movies, you know just what I’m talking about. Some action directors, such as Ching Siu Tung, can overpower your commonsense because the images are so ravishing and the effects are so well done....but Red Cliff, at least so far, doesn’t command willing suspension of disbelief. There’s this truly crazy scene involving a military formation called a “tortoise” which is a genuine show-stopper, and not in a good way either...let’s just say it involves a lot of extremely complicated maneuvers.
The stuntwork in the film is impeccable though, handled by Corey Yuen...the photography is wonderful...the costumes and the trappings are all deadon, very good reconstructions. The budget is enormous, and it shows. The leads demonstrate a lot of star power, and the character actors are all craggy and nifty...I particularly like the guy they’ve got playing Kwan Ti. Overall, the movie has a good epic feel with a lot of scope, it’s moving right along, it’s building nicely, and we haven’t even gotten to the really big fight yet...a Chinese friend saw it in Hong Kong and was most pissed off when they didn’t have the second part of the movie...I can see why. Take a look.
Even though I was first introduced to new-wave Hong kong flicks by watching the Killer and Hardboiled, I’ve never been the world’s biggest fan of John Woo; I loved all the blood and gore in his movies, but the histrionics struck me as unintentionally funny, and things rarely made any sense. Once I got more knowledgeable, I came to prefer Ring Lam (who really puts the hurt on you and doesn’t rely on bombast) and Johnny To, whose characterization is plausible, and whose gunfights are actually superior. When Woo came to America, they wouldn’t let him really cut loose with the splatter, and his films got far less interesting...although, I must say I enjoyed Broken Arrow and Face Off.
Anyway, he went back to China to do his dream project, “Red Cliff”, and I just saw Part One. Story is based on “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which has inspired a bunch of video games; the flick also covers a bunch of the same ground that was in “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon” that recent Andy Lau movie....”Red Cliff” is much better, though it’s got some flaws.
It’s greatest strength is the source material, and the adaptation is pretty sound. Story is set at the end of the Han Dynasty...the evil but cool Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) wants to keep two southern breakaway provinces in line, and plans to head up the Yangtze River with a vast armada. The two rebel dukes, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei, unite to stop him...much slaughter and male bonding ensues. The focus is primarily on Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony-Leung Chiu Wai, who play the main rebel generals, although there’s also a plucky warrior-princess played by Vicki Zhao, who is, as always, cute as a bug. Part One concludes with all the pieces in place for the big naval showdown with Cao Cao...I’m looking forward to part two, although as I said, Part One isn’t perfect.
Its two biggest drawbacks are the CG and just plain wackiness. If this flick is any indication, John Woo really isn’t a good special effects director...if you compare the CG work in this movie to the stuff in Hero or even Curse of the Golden Flower, it just isn’t up to snuff. It’s frequently muddy when it needs to be sharp, and there are really ridiculous scale problems...there’s this one scene with a dove (yes, this is a Woo movie, and there are many doves) where the bird is cruising along above these CG ships at jet-fighter speeds...you’ll know it when you see it. The spectacle is at its most impressive when Woo is simply and sensibly making use of huge crowds of actual extras...those shots are far superior to the FX work..
As far as just plain wackiness goes, if you’ve seen a lot of HK movies, you know just what I’m talking about. Some action directors, such as Ching Siu Tung, can overpower your commonsense because the images are so ravishing and the effects are so well done....but Red Cliff, at least so far, doesn’t command willing suspension of disbelief. There’s this truly crazy scene involving a military formation called a “tortoise” which is a genuine show-stopper, and not in a good way either...let’s just say it involves a lot of extremely complicated maneuvers.
The stuntwork in the film is impeccable though, handled by Corey Yuen...the photography is wonderful...the costumes and the trappings are all deadon, very good reconstructions. The budget is enormous, and it shows. The leads demonstrate a lot of star power, and the character actors are all craggy and nifty...I particularly like the guy they’ve got playing Kwan Ti. Overall, the movie has a good epic feel with a lot of scope, it’s moving right along, it’s building nicely, and we haven’t even gotten to the really big fight yet...a Chinese friend saw it in Hong Kong and was most pissed off when they didn’t have the second part of the movie...I can see why. Take a look.
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You suck.
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Can't wait to see this. Very excited.
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the only good woo flicks had chow yun fat!
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Haven't you seen Bullet in the Head?
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I like the dove flying at jet-fighter speed. I don't even need to see the movie to envision it rocketing above the ships. I bet its poop would be lethal at that speed, too.
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Really, so long as Zhang Fei is awesome crazy, and Kongming is crazy awesome, I'll be pretty good with this. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any news about them; but maybe that will change
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Loved it but I actually liked Three Kingdoms better. Three Kingdoms was a bit less artsy, more like Braveheart or Gladiator. There is a mind blowing scene with Andy Lau charging the enemy camp on Horseback in Three Kingdoms that is worth the price of admission alone. Both are fucking amazing visually on Blu-Ray. HKflix has them both as well as Warlords with Jet and Andy Lau. One thing for sure Hong Kong blockbusters on Blu-ray is a godsend
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It didn't say Part 1 on the poster in English and I had the same reaction. I thought I heard Weinstein was editing parts 1 and 2 together into one film.
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Well it's not like being first but it's a pretty good number I think.
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Woo lost me years ago - especially with Payback (I won't even mention MI2) which should have been a cool as hell sci fi movie, but large portions of it looked like it was made for TV esp the end fight. Hope this turns out ok though
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could have commented a bit more on the story for those of us not not in the chinese legendary knowhow, though. woo's certainly gifted, sounds like he's outdone himself here. but when he gets silly boy does he get silly.
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And if you know the history, it's just torture.
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woo has been floating on past success for too long... all his hollywood films are shithouse. hardboiled and his hong kong films i've seen are alright, not my cup of tea but i still appreciate them... but he's just so damn heavy handed and forceful. i mean seriously, the doves in every freakin movie?? it seems every single sentiment or emotion he wants to portray will be illustrated by some stupid slow motion shot of a dove flying... it's ludicrous. i know i'd get flamed for saying he's got no talent, so i'll just say he's got no talent left, he used up all he had a decade ago BEFORE he came to hollywood
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I would love it if Woo would go back an make a sequel to Hard Boiled. Playing "Stranglehold" on my xbox360 has made the feeling worse. I need more Tequila in ore ways than one.
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really
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This movie knocked it out of the park. I had zero problems with the CG, the supersonic doves, the battle formations or anything else.Three Kingdoms was OK but Sammo Hung and Maggie Q were underused. Here, Leung and Kaneshiro are used to perfection as is the supporting cast.Beaks, don't worry about watching this in the theater, Pick up the Blu-ray today. And grab the BR of Warlords and Assembly while you're at it, two movies that will get no love over on these shores.
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not sure today's no attention span kids will get it. F'em if they dont.
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don'..t hate the player, hate the game
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