Dont even think to miss this one!. Review on Red Cliff Movie

Never Never Never I have seen such a splendid and a great film which is based on warfare! Simply an outstanding work of superb cinema!

Now why am I praising this film so much? The reason behind this is the film's cinematography and the way of portraying it. This epic movie is made with full heart and with great zeal. Very minute details are considered and are captured extremely well. The sequences are well thought out and are placed in a great chronological order. The result is you keep watching the movie enjoying it frame after frame. Along side you keep learning with it the con games of guerilla warfare. There are strategies, allies, army formations, navy formations, arrows and bows, artillery, cavalry, epidemics, use of wind, fire, land, water, directions of war...... the list is endless where the director has given a great attention - KUDOS! After showing so many things in one film was a gigantic task and hence the film was released in two parts. It’s a more than 4 hours movie in a stretch and trust me you wont be bored at all at any point of time if you see it in one go . I saw this movie on the computer (downloaded) and was very pleased with the effort and skill with which John Woo (Director) has directed this film. I read this thing on Wiki that this film is costliest film made in the Asian region. The total cost involved was around $80 million. And I bet you will see that money's worth in the movie!

Some background of the Red cliff and its context with the movie:

Red cliff or battle of Red cliffs were fought in China between the WarLords of the Southeren lands lead by Liu Bei and Sun Quan and Warloads of Nothern lands lead by Cao Cao. The final war was on the banks of Yangetz River with a target of conquering the the banks of Yangetz River and thereby establish an unparallel supermacy over the region.

The war was very very furious and had tremendous blood sheds from both the sides. It was in itself a challenge to cover each and every aspect of this mammoth war in a movie and also to show the very insights of each element that is considered while waging a war against the enemy. It takes a considerate analysis before each decision and this film concentrates on those areas as well. This movie is the best example of peeping into before and after of a war. It is more of HOW AND LESS OF WHY.

I recalled the serial - Tipu Sultan as well wherein the artillery chief places his cannons in the directions where the wind will carry the bombs to the required locations when they are fired . This element and attribute of wind is taken into consideration and shown so well that has never been shown in any movie till date --- You watch it and decide.

The dimension of the flick is totally different than the conventional war movies that we see now and then. Normally, we see two armies fighting and one wins over the other. But this one shows as to how an army is raised and what an army should be like. What is a King and his responsibilities? When to retreat and when to plunge in a war? How to use the climate to your benefit? How to develop different formations in the army and to develop the counter attack strategy?

So many things happening at the same time and you are left with an experience of a life time - PERSONAL GUARANTEE.

The performances of all the characters is world class and all have them have acted very very well. There are 3 many characters in the film viz., Zhou Yu played by Tony Wai, Zhuge Liang played by Takeshi Kaneshiro and Cao Cao played by Fengyi Zhang. All three of them have acted extremely well. My world was only upto JAckie Chan and Bruce Lee when it comes to Chinese movies/Hollywood movies that have Chinese actors in them. But now after watching these 3 actors, I am very much impressed and know that there are many actors beyond the 2 I mentioned. There expressions, dialogues delivery (I saw it in Chinese language with English subtitles) maturity towards their roles was worth applauding.

I can write pages on this movie, but it would be better for you all to give this one a shot for sure. Many people have seen the second part directly and must have liked the actions sequences or the climax scenes. But the actual essence of this epic movie is in its first part. So do watch it for sure because the first part sets a good projection and interest for the sequel . Don’t miss this experience.

The best scenes in the film:

1. The opening scene

   
   




2. Zhuge Liang approaching Zhou Yu to be an ally

   
   




3. Zhou Yu training his army - Just superb.

   
   




4. Cao Cao army and his fleet.

   
   




5. Birth Breach

   
   




6. Zhuge Liang getting One Lakh arrows in 3 days - This is what effective use of brain is all about.

   
   




7. War Strategy as regards Wind.

   
   




8. All war scenes.

   
   




9. Use of Epidemic

   
   

10 Climax.

I have tried my level best to get you the best scenes in the film but there are just many more that you will surely love and relish.

Full credit goes to the Director John Woo for having that eye for detail and keeping the focus throughout the whole assignment. The screenplay department was suppose to be of top class so that the audience may not loose interest and full marks are gained in this department too. Its more than 4 hours in a stretch and it was still interesting and happening till the very end.

My personal experience after watching this film is also affecting my natural thinking and my approach towards life too. Because its just not a movie but rather a self learning art of survival.

Do watch this movie on a DVD since such movies don’t come often.

Thanks for reading and do let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

Dinesh