Red Cliff

I’ve been watching a lot of Asian historical fiction recently.  “The Warlords” and “Mongol” were good movies and I’d recommend them but after watching both versions of “Red Cliff”, if you only have the patience for one epic, go with “Red Cliff”.

BOTH versions you ask?  Why would you do such a thing?  There is a one disc Theatrical version available on NetflixDemand and a two disc International version.  I had to see what was missing between the two versions.  Remember, I’m the guy that set up two televisions side by side and watched the  “(OT) Star Wars” DVDs simultaneously against the VHS versions… I like to know my films.

The longer version borders on five hours but if you like grand sweeping epic tales, it’s well worth it.  If all you want is Chinese battle-porn, the two and a half hour American release is a fine movie on its own.

It tells the story of the battle that signified the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginnings of the Three Kingdoms era.  Three factions united against the evil empire and when the empire was defeated, the three factions went to war with each other.  The movie ends right after the empire was defeated.  The three leaders part in good company and even as friends, though they know they will eventually go to war with each other.

The extended version had many scenes in it that showed the depth of the characters and their motivations.  The small things that move us are often unseen and when someone tells a story you can watch as every significant thing unfolds before your eyes.  Something we don’t have the luxury of knowing in real time.  Most of the missing scenes were the parts I liked the best.  There was a lot of drama and humor that didn’t make it into the shorted version.  Without the additional scenes, you miss out on a lot of the characterization and richness that I found critical to enjoying the overall plot.

There was one scene that is worth mentioning even though it wasn’t plot-critical, I just loved it so much…  In the midst of battle an important commander is shot with an arrow.  His troops see he is shot and he can not afford to lose morale or momentum.  So he rips the arrow from his shoulder (blood spray) and stares at the horseback warrior that shot him.  The man on horseback begins to draw his sword as the commander runs toward him.  Ten feet from the horse, the commander jumps into the air, does a spin move and thrusts the arrow into the back of the warrior’s neck and out the front.  He lands on his feet and without so much as a glance backward, he picks up a spear and continues his hand to hand combat.  That just kicked sooo much ass…

Other than that, there’s not much to say.  It was a detailed and beautiful account of an underdog victory that left me doing research on the Three Kingdoms era of China just so I could follow up on the characters.

9 of 11 Skulls