STUDY IN CHINA GLOBAL (SCG)Red Cliff — Chìbì
Red Cliff (Chinese: 赤壁, Pinyin:Chìbì )is a Chinese epic war film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208-209 AD) and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The film was directed by John Woo, and starred Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, Lin Chi-ling and Zhao Wei.
Director: John Woo(M)
Within Asia, Red Cliff was released in two parts, totaling over four hours in length. The first part was released in July 2008 and the second in January 2009. Outside of Asia, a single 2½ hour film was released in 2009, though the two-part version was later released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom. With an estimated budget of US$80 million, Red Cliff is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date. The first part of the film grossed US$124 million in Asia and broke the box office record previously held by Titanic in mainland China.
The Western release trimmed the length of the film from 280 minutes to 148 minutes. An opening narration in English is provided to set the historical context whereas in the Asian release, a more brief description of the context of the political situation appears in scrolling form 10 minutes into the film. Notable cuts include the background and motivations behind Zhuge Liang’s plan to obtain 100,000 arrows, including the threat to his life, and the early parts of Sun Shangxiang’s infiltration. The tiger hunting scene was also cut from the Western release.
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Both parts were later released together as a two-disc set in North America by Magnolia Entertainment in their original length on both DVD and Blu-ray disc formats on 23 March, 2010.
Western critics reacted positively to the film when the two parts were released as one film (148 minute version) in June 2009. The film received an 89% rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 106 reviews, the general consensus being that the film had “impressively grand battlefield action” with the majority of critics agreeing that director John Woo “returns to form” with Red Cliff.
