Red Cliff (2009) - Review by James Bentley

The film Red Cliff is based around the year 208 during the Three Kingdoms; it was released in 2009 and was directed by John Woo. The length of the movie varied depending on where it was being viewed. In China, the film was split into two parts totalling a four-hour-long movie, while in Western countries, it was only two and a half hours duration. The film's main focus was to bring this historical battle to life through the fantastic work of CGI, which was described as “eye-popping” and became the most expensive movie ever made within Asia.

The film's historical context and similarity were held very dearly as they did not stray from the historical context very much. They used the information provided through historical analysis and understanding to do the best they could in bringing a battle and time period from the second century and bringing it into the modern 20th century with very little change. It truly captures the essence of the magnitude of the battle while also capturing the attention of both the Asian viewers who already had prior knowledge of the period and even in Western societies where it may not have been as well known. It still captured the viewer's attention and provided a movie that, even with little context, could always be enjoyed, along with providing a learning experience for all of those who watched.