Based on a novel by Chen Shou, the story revolves around a ruthless general who, using the Chinese premier as no more than a puppet, commands the entire Chinese army and wants to rule all of China himself. To do this he must remove the two remaining warlords that remain in his way and capture their kingdoms, hence the tagline. Severely outnumbered and outgunned, the two warlords and their generals must use superior tactics and military precision to be victorious. After a few, relatively small battles, the fate of China comes down to the battle at Red Cliff.

If one were to simply look at John Woo’s Hollywood career of, most notably, Face Off and Mission Impossible II then one would not hold out much hope for this film. However, with Red Cliff Woo seems to take what is great about American film, namely the big budget and amazing effects, and combine it with some classic Chinese story telling and action scenes. Although some of the cliche American narration makes its way into the film, Woo seems to stick predominately to his Chinese roots with and produces what can only be described as an epic, edge of your seat war film. Although clearly a different genre to films like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon, Red Cliff has what all great war movies have. It possess the blistering fight scenes but still remains true to its emotional core. With this film John Woo has done a brilliant job to encapture the audience in what is quite literally a foreign atmosphere and hopefully this film spells a new chapter for Woo and his films.

The entire cast of the film are phenomenal, from the lowly foot soldier to the commanding general. They all combine to create a terrific atmosphere which truly pulls in the viewer and forces them to connect with the film. It also means that you care when the good guys die. Despite the language barrier of the film the emotion of the characters comes across in the faces of those portraying them and so you never miss a beat.

Unfortunately the story line is extremely basic and often entirely predictable and childish, but for this film fan that does not matter. This film is about the classic struggle between good and evil and is made not by the specifics of the story but instead by the absolutely stunning visuals and spectacular battle sequences. The fighting scenes are gripping and as entertaining as anything that Hollywood can produce from gargantuan armies raging to one on one karate style action from the main adversaries. Slow motion, matrix style, sequences are used regularly but never too often and almost always to great effect. Often with this style of film you are presented with quite airy battles with people floating on tree tops, but with Red Cliff you simply get the intense fighting and brutality that is war. The scenes seem to simultaneously present massive scale battles and lock onto the personal issues within them. You are constantly whisked amongst the battle from huge scale tactical maneouvres to personal conquests, and yet despite the free-flowing movement of the camera and the action, the viewer never feels lost or confused. Simply thrilling.

Although like Gladiator or you may find yourself skipping through the boring monologues and static conversation to find the epic battles, once you get there it will be truly worth it. A must see for all film fans and especially for those of this genre. Definitely worth more than one view and so definitely worth a purchase.