Camp, over-the-top and entirely unbelievable: in short, the best thing John Woo has made in years.
Comment
06/16/09
Red Cliff (2009)
87
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:55
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Featuring some impressively grand battlefield action, John Woo returns to Asia and returns to form in the process for this lavish and slick historical epic.
Theatrical Release:12-06-2009
Synopsis: After directing stylish action films such as THE KILLERS and FACE-OFF, director John Woo turns to Chinese history for inspiration with RED CLIFF. The Han Dynasty is facing its death in third... [More]
Reviews for Red Cliff
Top CriticIt’s all technically impressive, but with none of the characters having much personality, it rarely stirs your senses.
06/16/09
With some of the best battle scenes since Peter Jackson's The Two Towers, a smattering of 1980s love scenes and all the far eastern promise of a Twinings advert, you can't really beat Red Cliff as the classiest and most fabulous blockbuster of the summer.
06/16/09
The numerous battle scenes, culminating in the famous Battle of Red Cliff, prove Woo is an action director par excellence.
06/16/09
As old-fashioned mythic entertainment, ‘Red Cliff’ succeeds in solid, sometimes magnificent fashion.
06/12/09
Top CriticA highly impressive historical epic, Red Cliff shows just how John Woo got his mojo back after a bumpy ride in Hollywood. Full of stunning action sequences, the only shame is how the international version leaves westerners wanting more.
06/12/09
Top CriticAfter 15 years expertly playing the Hollywood game, the Hong Kong director John Woo returns to his roots, and to form. And what a relief it clearly is for the world’s slickest action director to spill copious amounts of blood.
06/12/09
Top CriticAt two and a half hours, it's a long haul. But there's entertainment and fun along the way.
06/12/09
Top CriticRed Cliff makes brutal violence look gracefully balletic. In this period war film he's managed to temper the stylistic indulgences that Hollywood encouraged.
06/12/09
With superb planning and execution from Woo, his stuntmen and the backroom boys, the action unfolds like a game of Risk played on the grandest scale.
06/12/09
A sweeping, stirring breath-snatcher that finds the director on his finest form since Face/Off. Even half-cut, it’s a whole lot of epic.
06/12/09
Woo has created a resounding epic, blending a distinctly Chinese ethos with a Hollywood sense of scale.
06/12/09
A bloodthirsty costume epic directed for maximum gruesomeness.
06/12/09
His period war spectacular Red Cliff may be better than several of his American blockbusters, but it falls some way below the absurdly entertaining Face/Off.
06/12/09
Top CriticWith battle scenes to rival those of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, this is a beautiful piece of cinematography.
06/12/09
Red Cliff gets everything right – sensationally right – except this one vital pulse of engagement.
06/12/09
The battle choreography is superb, and Woo's Peckinpah-style slo-mo violence ensures that every lopping and skewering gets our full attention. The film could do with some lopping itself – at least half an hour – but the effect is dizzyingly grand.
06/12/09
The script is leaden but the action speaks volumes as Woo delivers an efficient spectacle of naval battles, slow-motion combat, death-defying stunt work, daredevil espionage, noble deeds, self-sacrifice and more plotting than a Labour Cabinet meeting.
06/12/09
Thrilling, beautifully shot and superbly acted, this is a return to form for director John Woo.
06/12/09
John Woo applies his whizzing, sweeping visual style to Chinese history, making this film one of the most hugely entertaining battle epics in recent memory. Utterly riveting, we barely feel two and a half hours pass.
06/12/09
Latest News for Red Cliff
November 19, 2009:
Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
This week at the movies, we've got hot teen vampires (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson); a football family (The Blind Side, starring... More...
October 16, 2009:
John Woo Prepares to Unleash Flying Tigers 
His "Red Cliff" is finally reaching American theaters next month, but John Woo is already on to his next project, a war drama to be titled "Flying Tigers." More...
October 04, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
More...
May 19, 2009:
Sydney Film Festival Gets Wooed
Hong Kong action maestro John Woo will appear at this year's Sydney Film Festival to present his latest epic, Red Cliff, which has its Australian premiere on June 9. The... More...
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