2008 · action · drama · history
Red Cliff (2008)
Directed by John Woo2h 25m2008
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.
Our read: Red Cliff (2008) (2008) reads as a neutral, kinetic, grounded action · drama · history entry — extreme in intensity, epic-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.
Neutral, kinetic, extreme action / drama, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, epic, measured.
- brisk
- extreme
- epic-stakes
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Availability in the US · via JustWatch
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How Red Cliff feels to watch.
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What watching it is actually like.
“You want John Woo arrow-storm spectacle and ancient-China strategy at epic scale.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if Mandarin subtitles, war carnage, or two-plus hours of court intrigue exhaust you.
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