Red Cliff 1 & 2 (2008 & 2009)

As the title clearly says, this movie is about the battle for red cliff. This epic war movie set in 208 AD describes the events at the end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the three kingdoms in ancient China. It was a decisive battle and very known in Chinese history where Liu Bei and Sun Quan battled the northern warlord Cao Cao. The film is visually stunning, the acting is good and the story deep. I would watch it if I were you ;)

In Asia the movie was released in 2 parts, covering over 4 hours of film. It was later released as 1 film in the UK. I will talk about the 2 part version from now on, since I've seen that one and I've heard that the long version was better. Not necessarily meaning that size matters, on the contrary, I think there a lot of films that could've told the story in much less time. In this case, it's just that you'll miss a lot of background story which could make the film very complex if you're not familiar with the war.

Although many complain about the fighting scenes, I liked them a lot. They don't match scenes from Hero or anything, but it is all very tastefully filmed. The colors are perfectly balanced and the sets look gorgeous. Plus the fights aren't the only interesting thing about the film. I mean, they created so many novels, TV series and movies about this war. The background story is truly interesting and the role of every character (and there are a lot of characters) is very well played.  They are a bit on the funny side sometimes (there aren't many politicians that are able to make jokes) but they make the film more entertaining.  Red Cliff needs these funny moments, because the pace of the film is very slow. So make sure you don't watch this when you are tired ;) 

All together Red Cliff has some very nice moments and makes you want to be a general fighting for the future of China. Being a hero you'll want to chop of heads with your awesome looking sword, be a great leader, be funny and look good all at the same time. Who doesn't want that?

Watch Red Cliff here: http://www.gooddrama.net/chinese-movie/red-cliff-2008 and Red Cliff 2 here: http://www.gooddrama.net/chinese-movie/red-cliff-ii-2009

Enjoy!!

PS. Replicas of the swords are for sale. Not practical, quality is questionable, but they sure look good :)