Red Cliff

“Spectacular” is the word to describe Hong Kong writer-director John Woo's epic historical adventure, set in China in the early third century, near the end of the Han dynasty, after the empire has been divided into districts ruled by warlords. Ruthless in his intimidation of everyone, including the emperor, the ambitious leader of the Imperial Army, General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), is determined to reclaim the independent territories, so he heads south with 850,000 soldiers to confront the “insurgents” led by benevolent Liu Bei (You Young) and his younger rival, Sun Quan (Chang Chen). The villainous Cao Cao also desires the beautiful bride (Taiwanese model Chiling Lin) of Sun's commander, viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). Many skirmishes and clever spying by Sun Quan's sister (Zhao Wei) set the stage for the film's centerpiece—a massive naval clash on the Yangtze River at Red Cliff, a site as memorable in China as Gettysburg is in America. The meticulously detailed battle scenes are thrilling, and the military strategy is fascinating. In one sequence, foot soldiers foil cavalry charges by blinding the riders with highly polished shields, then reassemble in a tortoise formation, creating an inescapable maze; in another, the vastly outnumbered and undersupplied Zhou Yu devises an ingenious way to acquire the 100,000 arrows he needs directly from the Han warriors; and even a tea ceremony and a graceful string duet serve ulterior purposes. Edited down from the original two-part, five-hour version (also available separately on DVD and Blu-ray), this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a “making-of” featurette (28 min.), an interview with writer-director John Woo (5 min.), an “HDNet: A Look at Red Cliff” behind-the-scenes featurette (5 min.), storyboards, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a stirring historical action epic.] (S. Granger)