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.