Red Cliff

[SPJ]

1. Zhao zi long using the long spear and rode the white horse--

2. Zhang Fei was with great force and loud voice. He may grab weapons from the enemy and defeat several people at the same time with empty hands.

3. Guan Yu using the da dao.

4. Liu Bei stringing the straws to make a shoe.

5. Cao Cao loves Zhou Yu's wife xiao qiao.

--

these are all accurate.

growing up hearing tales from story tellers in front of the temple, on the radio, reading all the novels.

the romance of the three kingdoms.

I think I like the stories too much.

and of course, would like the movie a lot.

[SimonM]

Sanguo Yanyi is such a rich and varied story. I was not raised on a diet of it and yet, discovering the novel at the age of 25 it has become one of my favorite stories.

[GeneChing]

John Woo is back on his game with Red Cliff. I loved it. I can hardly wait for part 2.

[TaichiMantis]

John Woo is back on his game with Red Cliff. I loved it. I can hardly wait for part 2.

"Outside of Asia, a single 2½ hour film will be released in January 2009"

is this true?

[Zenshiite]

http://www.campusist.com/video/red-c...ie-english-sub

There you go. Watch it online. There're also torrents somewhere.

[doug maverick]

thats illegal dude. we're trying to get people to go see this film in the theaters so hollywood ould make more of these types of films, and here you are catering to illegal downloads which btw make ticket prices more expensive. please erase your post. thank you and go see the movie when it comes out in theaters like everyone else.

[Zenshiite]

Good lord. You act like you can't already get this flick in Chinatowns all over the country or something.

FYI, I'll go see it in the theater just like I went to see Hero and House of Flying Daggers in the theater even though I'd already gotten copies of the DVDs in Chinatown.

It's a matter of wanting to see the film ASAP, I'm betting alot of people who like these sorts of movies WILL go to theaters to see it because it's worth going to the theater to see even if you've already seen it via some other means. Either scoring the DVD in Chinatown video shops or streaming it online.

[GeneChing]

Aren't there already some Three Kingdom operas?

'Red Cliff' Adapted to Peking Opera
2008-11-13 15:34:17 CRIENGLISH.com

Imagine a Peking opera performance telling the story of John Woo's "Red Cliff" while reminding you of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

Zhang Jigang, assistant director of the August 8 spectacular, will make his Peking opera directorial debut when his version of "Red Cliff" premieres at the end of the year, the director announced on Wednesday.

The battle of Red Cliff, a well-known historical event in China, tells the story of a magnificent water battle which occurred around 208 AD. In John Woo's smash-hit film, the biggest scenes involved more than 2,000 cast members.

Such scale leaves a doubt as to whether Zhang will be able to tell the story on the limited theatrical stage.

Yet the director, who seemed to want to keep details under wraps, declined to elaborate on what the audience can expect from this show.

However, Zhang did say he would create more opportunities for the beauty Xiao Qiao, a role previously downplayed by male-dominant operatic adaptations.

In John Woo's star-studded film, Xiao Qiao is played by Taiwan model-turned actress Lin Chiling.

Like Woo's film, Zhang's opera will also feature well-known stars. The director says the cast will include Yu Kuizhi and more than a dozen first-class Peking opera masters.

The play is set to premiere at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts on December 22.

Zhang Jigang, whose works also include the well-received "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" dance, confessed that he was not a Peking opera fan. The upcoming show is partly for his 92-year-old mother, who the director says has shown him the necessity of promoting traditional Chinese art.

[SimonM]

Yeah,

a few....

If by few you mean so many you'd have trouble counting them all.

[GeneChing]

Like I said before, I can hardly wait...

Part Two of "Red Cliff" to Premiere in Jan.
2008-11-15 18:13:32 Xinhua

Related: Sneak View of 2nd Half of 'Red Cliff'

The second installment of "Red Cliff", reportedly Asia's most expensive film, will premiere in cinemas on Jan. 15, ten days ahead of China's annual Spring Festival holiday.

The trailer for Taiwan and Hong Kong was available on-line on Friday, while the trailer for the mainland is to be released in December, according to the Beijing-based Legal Evening News on Friday.

Taiwan supermodel Lin Chi-ling, who said only a few words in the first part, will take the spotlight in the second episode, the paper said.

The first instalment of the two-part epic, adapted from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, debuted in Asia on July 10.

On its first day, the movie took 17 million New Taiwan dollars and 2 million Hong Kong dollars.

Directed by Hollywood-based Hong Kong director John Woo, the cast features leading Asian stars, including award-winning Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro and mainland actor Zhang Fengyi.

It attracted public attention for the 80-million-U.S.-dollar investment, said to be the most expensive Asian movie of all time.

The story revolves around the epic Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD in China's Three Kingdoms period. It was a famous military case of an underdog victory, when the 50,000-strong allied forces of southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated the 800,000 troops of the northern warlord Cao Cao.

The biggest scenes involved 2,000 actors and crew, and a wide range of special effects.

[GeneChing]

I'll have to be sure to watch the part one again before Jan 14th.

"Red Cliff 2" makes battle plans for Asia
Written by Marcus Lim
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

HONG KONG – The second installment of John Woo's $80 million period epic "Red Cliff" will premiere in China on January 15, 2009 and mark the first step in a tightly coordinated release campaign across the Asian region.

The film's finalized release date is more than a week ahead of the main Chinese New Year holiday, which in 2009 falls on Jan 26, and is intended to maximize its B.O. potential with holiday auds.

Pic will also open in Taiwan and Hong Kong on Jan 15, with three territories, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore getting a Jan 22 release. Malaysian audiences will see the Tony Leung-starrer a day later, on Jan 23.

"Red Cliff" was financed by a pan-Asian consortium of companies from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

The first part of "Red Cliff" was released in July this year grossing a cumulative $62.7 million in the same six key Asian territories. Part one was released in Japan earlier this month and has taken $26 million to date from 2 million admissions. Japanese release of second part is now set for mid-April 2009.

Competition for audience share during the Chinese New Year season is robust and it is unlikely that "Red Cliff" will get the holiday period all to itself.

In Singapore, local crowd-pleaser Jack Neo is prepping his latest Chinese-language comedy "Love Matters" to open wide on Jan 22, while in Hong Kong "Red Cliff" will battle it out with the latest star-studded entry to the comedy franchise "All's Well End's Well." "All's Well" production company, Mandarin Films is targeting a Jan 22 release in Hong Kong.

"We don't see any problems [with competition] because the films target different subject matter," Christy Choi, assistant distribution manager of Mandarin Films, said.

"Red Cliff" is distributed in Hong Kong by Mei Ah, in collaboration with Edko Films.

[GeneChing]

January is here... I gotta watch part 1 again soon...

'Red Cliff' Sequel Premieres
2009-01-05 11:31:09 CRIENGLISH.com

The fervor over the war epic "Red Cliff" is building to a crescendo with director John Woo set to present a sequel to the most bankable Chinese film in history.

Woo on Sunday led cast members of "Red Cliff II" at its premiere in Beijing.

The sequel will open in theaters on Wednesday, roughly five months after the previous film bagged over 300 million yuan (US$43.97 million) to set a new record for Chinese-language films.

A survey conducted earlier by Sina.com.cn shows that 93 percent of the respondents expected the sequel.

John Woo shot the two films as a whole with a hefty investment of US$80 million. However, he decided to release the production in two segments, saying that by doing so it allows enough space for character development.

The "Red Cliff" series revolves around a well-known water battle in 208 A.D., and the biggest scenes involve at least 2,000 actors and crew members.

The first segment focuses on the eve of the battle and the sequel reprises the actual battle in which thousands of ships are burnt. Movie-goers can expect to see magnificent battle scenes in the upcoming film.

[SimonM]

W00t!!!1!

So hyped for this to come out.

[GeneChing]

another race for the first review?

Red Cliff 2 A Smash Hit
2009-01-13 09:25:40 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Liu Wei
By Xu Wei

The second part of John Woo's epic "Red Cliff" proved to a big hit in Shanghai on its opening weekend.

Shanghai United Cinema Lines said the movie had taken more than 8.4 million yuan (US$1.2 million) at the box office since its release last Wednesday.

"We took more than 32.6 million yuan from the first part of 'Red Cliff' last year," said Wu Hehu, deputy director of the cinema chain.

"We are confident to get more revenue from the second part. It will attract bigger crowds during Chinese Lunar New Year holiday." The week-long holiday starts on January 25 this year.

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.

The Yonghua Cinema at Xujiahui, the city's top grossing theater last year, has so far taken in more than 670,000 yuan at the box office from film fans keen to see the second installment.

The cinema said the film might face some competition from Friday's debut of domestic cartoon film "Pleasant Boat and Big Big Wolf" and Ning Hao's new comedy "Silver Medalist" which is to be released next Tuesday.

Starring Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Taiwan's Takeshi Kaneshiro and Chinese mainland actor Zhang Fengyi, "Red Cliff" centers on the epic Battle of Red Cliff during China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD).

Part two of the film features impressive battle scenes, including one in which 2,000 ships are burned.

[GeneChing]

halving the total five-hour running time of the two-part series — for markets outside of Asia

Woo shows mastery of epic genre in 'Red Cliff II'
The Associated Press
Published: January 15, 2009

HONG KONG: John Woo's ambitions were clear when he announced the $80 million two-part Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff."

The "Mission: Impossible II" director wanted to make a Chinese-language blockbuster that rivaled the Hollywood productions he worked on.

In "Red Cliff II," it's clear that the Hong Kong native succeeded, 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.

The film is about a fight between the imperial army and two allied warring states, which won because of their superior military strategy despite being outnumbered.

While "Red Cliff" thrived in storytelling, introducing and weaving together a colorful cast of characters, its sequel, which focused on the final showdown, showed off Woo's mastery of some of the largest and most complex scenes in modern Chinese cinema.

The Chinese market has been rife with historical epics in recent years, wowing audiences with sheer scale and the manpower involved in their fighting scenes. But Woo one-ups his rivals with a gigantic battle fought on several fronts — both land and sea — and keen attention to detail.

With help from California-based special effects company, The Orphanage, Woo captures the grandeur of the battle scenes 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 war scenes are as impressive in scale as in detail.

Woo shows the rebel soldiers making bombs by packing explosives into clay urns, and extracting the oil from fish to use as an accelerant.

The only pitfall is that the battle's magnificence overshadows Woo's characters, anchored by strong performances 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.

Woo is only releasing a single, condensed version of the movie — halving the total five-hour running time of the two-part series — for markets outside of Asia. It's a welcome opportunity to cut out the fat and focus on the main characters and technical sophistication of his battle scenes.

The film is currently playing in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and is due out in South Korea on Jan. 22.