Red Cliff (赤壁 -2008)

Starring:
Tony Leung Chiu Wai - Zhou Yu
Takeshi Kaneshiro - Zhuge Liang
Chen Chang - Sun Quan
Wei Zhao - Sun Shangxiang
Koyuki
Shido Nakamura - Gan Ning
Fengyi Zhang - Cao Cao
Jun Hu - Zhao Yun
Chiling Lin - Xiao Qiao
Yong You - Liu Bei
Dawei Tong - Sun Shucai
Jia Song - Li Ji
Yong Hou - Lu Su
Chun Sun
Qingxiang Wang - Kong Rong
Jiang Tong - Li Tong

It's A.D. 208 China. Rival states Shu and Wu join hands against their common enemy, the evil and ambitious General Cao Cao of the Wei kingdom, but are seriously outnumbered by his million-strong army. But with the charismatic leadership of Gen. Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), the perfect strategy of scholar Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), and the support of emperor Sun Quan (Chen Chang), they manage to declare a small victory. While Cao Cao scoffs at this as no big deal, it adds fuel to his fury.



Wow! Stunning art work from master director John Woo. Totally spectacular.

I've been reading and reading and evidently this is an all-time grossing film and most money ever spent on a Chinese masterpiece. Yeah, masterpiece. I said it. Chinese and masterpiece usually doesn't spill out of my lips. So you'll probably won't hear me say it again.

From the beginning till the end....end would be figuratively because this movie isn't over. Yeah, a number two is coming out. How do I know? Because at the end....it says "To Be Continued." Duh! That my friend really pissed me off because I want to see the end....NOW!!!! Why should I have to wait any longer for this?

I was pleasantly shocked to see Nakamura Shido in this. First, he's Japanese and I didn't know he could speak Chinese. Woooooah Nelly! Yeah, yeah. I know that don't mean nothin' cuz Takeshi-kun speaks it fluently too. But then, he's half Taiwanese, so he's got the handicap, ya know?

Back to the movie......It was visually stunning. The action was abundant. The acting was expectedly top notch. The only gripe other than the ending is that Takeshi-kun had not one fighting scene. Okay, he's a scholar/strategist in the movie but that shouldn't stop him from kickin' ass. So maybe Part Two he'll get that chance. Oh yeah, another thing that bugged me....this was supposed to be A.D. 208. It seemed like this era could have been more along the lines of somewhere along the lines of 1300-1500's. I'm no historian so I could be absolutely wrong.....ehh.

Other than that this movie is really worth sitting down, eating popcorn, and chillin'. Definitely a really good movie.