The first part was the highest-grossing film shown in China last year, taking more than 300 million yuan across the country and 700 million yuan around the world, and it seems that the second part will do the same or more this year. “Red Cliff 2” which centers on the epic Battle of Red Cliff during China's Three Kingdoms period (220-265) is John Woo’s ambitious epic that has featured impressive battle scenes, including one in which 2,000 ships are burned. The second part movie also has rushed past the 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) threshold in its five-day opening weekend in China only. It was very clearly that this "M:I II" director wanted to make a Chinese-language blockbuster that rivaled the Hollywood productions he worked on. And the Hong Kong native filmmaker obviously succeeded to putting the "epic" in "historical epic" in the second installment of his two-part series based on the famous ancient Chinese battle of the same name. Following a legendary story about a fight between the imperial army and two allied warring states, which won because of their superior military strategy despite being outnumbered. Now, the epic historical film is ready to purchase on the DVD version, so get ready to re-experiencing the "Red Cliff" part 2 with its more battles, more drama, and even more jaw dropping action.
The ambitious Prime Minister Cao Cao, by using the Emperor as his puppet, waged war on a kingdom in the west, Xu, ruled by the emperor’s uncle, Liu Bei. Cao Cao’s ultimate goal was to wipe out all the kingdoms and install himself as Emperor to a unified China. Liu Bei sent his military advisor Zhuge Liang as an envoy to the Wu Kingdom in the south, trying to persuade its ruler Sun Quan into joining forces. There he met Wu’s Viceroy Zhou Yu, and the two became friends amidst this uneasy alliance.
Enraged to learn that the two kingdoms have become allies, Cao Cao sent an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers and two thousand ships down south, hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Cao Cao’s army set up camp at Crow Forest, across the Yangtze River from Red Cliff, where the allies were stationed.
With the food supply running short, and the army vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s, the allies seemed doomed. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang had to rely on their combined wisdom to turn the tide of battle. Numerous battles of wits and forces, on land and on water, eventually culminated into the most famous battle in Chinese history, where two thousand ships were burned, and the course of China’s history was changed forever. That was the Battle of Red Cliff.
While the first part was inclined more on storytelling, launching and interlacing together a colorful cast of characters, in this sequel, it pointing the focus on the final showdown, the epical battle that showed off Woo's mastery of some of the largest and most complex scenes in modern Chinese cinema. The war scenes are as impressive in scale as in detail. It probably the biggest, the longest, and the most extended battle scene you have ever seen in a Chinese movie. One of the most entertaining parts in this film is also seeing some cunning tricks played by both opponents, including the famous 'Borrowing the arrows using the scarecrows', which was one of the main highlight in Three Kingdoms. It also showed the rebel soldiers making bombs by packing explosives into clay urns, and extracting the oil from fish to use as an accelerant.
With facilitate from California-based CGI company, The Orphanage, Woo captures the splendor of the combat sequences best known to Chinese audiences — like the rebels burning the imperial army's fleet and sending in boats staffed with straw dummies to attract a sea of arrows.
The only pitfall is that the battle's dazzleness overshadows Woo's characters, executed by strong presentations by Cannes-winning Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the rebel leader Zhou Yu; China's Zhang Fengyi as the imperial prime minister Cao Cao; and Japanese-Taiwanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro as the rebel military strategist Zhuge Liang.
The director also shows a penchant for melodrama when he sends Zhou's wife, played by Taiwanese model Lin Chi-ling, to seduce Cao. But the side plot only serves to bog down the narrative and delay the spectacular climax.
In conclusion, everyone should give Red cliff a try. It is entertaining with the intensity in it. It also quite exceptional, somewhat different from other war films. Those, who had experienced the previous part, absolutely should watch this because you will see Woo’s signature stamped in a lot of action sequences, which were muffled somewhat in the first installment.
BUY "RED CLIFF 2" DVD AT YESASIA
The ambitious Prime Minister Cao Cao, by using the Emperor as his puppet, waged war on a kingdom in the west, Xu, ruled by the emperor’s uncle, Liu Bei. Cao Cao’s ultimate goal was to wipe out all the kingdoms and install himself as Emperor to a unified China. Liu Bei sent his military advisor Zhuge Liang as an envoy to the Wu Kingdom in the south, trying to persuade its ruler Sun Quan into joining forces. There he met Wu’s Viceroy Zhou Yu, and the two became friends amidst this uneasy alliance. Enraged to learn that the two kingdoms have become allies, Cao Cao sent an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers and two thousand ships down south, hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Cao Cao’s army set up camp at Crow Forest, across the Yangtze River from Red Cliff, where the allies were stationed.
With the food supply running short, and the army vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s, the allies seemed doomed. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang had to rely on their combined wisdom to turn the tide of battle. Numerous battles of wits and forces, on land and on water, eventually culminated into the most famous battle in Chinese history, where two thousand ships were burned, and the course of China’s history was changed forever. That was the Battle of Red Cliff.
While the first part was inclined more on storytelling, launching and interlacing together a colorful cast of characters, in this sequel, it pointing the focus on the final showdown, the epical battle that showed off Woo's mastery of some of the largest and most complex scenes in modern Chinese cinema. The war scenes are as impressive in scale as in detail. It probably the biggest, the longest, and the most extended battle scene you have ever seen in a Chinese movie. One of the most entertaining parts in this film is also seeing some cunning tricks played by both opponents, including the famous 'Borrowing the arrows using the scarecrows', which was one of the main highlight in Three Kingdoms. It also showed the rebel soldiers making bombs by packing explosives into clay urns, and extracting the oil from fish to use as an accelerant.
With facilitate from California-based CGI company, The Orphanage, Woo captures the splendor of the combat sequences best known to Chinese audiences — like the rebels burning the imperial army's fleet and sending in boats staffed with straw dummies to attract a sea of arrows.
The only pitfall is that the battle's dazzleness overshadows Woo's characters, executed by strong presentations by Cannes-winning Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the rebel leader Zhou Yu; China's Zhang Fengyi as the imperial prime minister Cao Cao; and Japanese-Taiwanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro as the rebel military strategist Zhuge Liang.The director also shows a penchant for melodrama when he sends Zhou's wife, played by Taiwanese model Lin Chi-ling, to seduce Cao. But the side plot only serves to bog down the narrative and delay the spectacular climax.
In conclusion, everyone should give Red cliff a try. It is entertaining with the intensity in it. It also quite exceptional, somewhat different from other war films. Those, who had experienced the previous part, absolutely should watch this because you will see Woo’s signature stamped in a lot of action sequences, which were muffled somewhat in the first installment.
BUY "RED CLIFF 2" DVD AT YESASIA
0 Comments: