CRIEnglish.com reported:

The second installment of “Red Cliff”, reportedly Asia’s most expensive film, will premier in cinemas on Jan. 15, ten days ahead of China’s annual Spring Festival holiday.

The trailer for Taiwan and Hong Kong was available on-line on Friday, while the trailer for the mainland is to be released in December, according to the Beijing-based Legal Evening News on Friday.

Taiwan supermodel Lin Chi-ling, who said only a few words in the first part, will take the spotlight in the second episode, the paper said.

The first installment of the two-part epic, adapted from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, debuted in Asia on July 10.

On its first day, the movie took 17 million New Taiwan dollars and 2 million Hong Kong dollars.

Directed by Hollywood-based Hong Kong director John Woo, the cast features leading Asian stars, including award-winning Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro and mainland actor Zhang Fengyi.

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In a recent article on Daily Yomiuri, Kitagawa Ikuko interviews John Woo in regards to his film “Red Cliff”:

For director John Woo to realize his 18-year dream of filming the 13th-century masterpiece Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he would have to return to Asia. The veteran Chinese director, who was responsible for blockbusters such as M:I-2 and Face/Off, needed the knowledge and insight that only Asian writers and actors could provide. But most importantly, it was necessary for the director to get back into an Asian mindset.

“I had to start from the beginning. When I went to Hollywood, when I made a Hollywood film, I had to fully concentrate on the culture and society, about how people think, so I had to set aside my own culture for a while,” Woo told The Daily Yomiuri during an interview about his new film Red Cliff. This was his first feature filmed in Asia since moving his operations to Hollywood in 1992. “When I go back to Asia, I have to relinquish what I have done in the United States. So I have to start over again and I have to go back to learn the language, the thoughts, culture and everything.”

Although he was initially uneasy and confused, it didn’t take long to realize that filmmaking and working with actors are pretty much the same anywhere.

“No matter whether you are Chinese, Japanese, American…I think we all have the same kind of feelings and same kind of emotions. We have so many things people love, some things we don’t like, we all know the same kind of beauty of life. So when I handle American actors or Chinese actors, Japanese or Korean, it’s pretty much the same for me. So I didn’t have any problem. We just…learn from everyone,” Woo said.

Red Cliff is based on the Battle of Red Cliff, which occurred 1,800 years ago. The real event is detailed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. During the Han Dynasty, when the story takes place, China was divided into many warring states. The novel focuses on how three kingdoms–Wei, Wu, Shu–emerged through a century of fierce tactical battles.

Shrewd warlord Cao Cao (played in the film by Zhang Fengyi), de facto leader of the Han Empire, wages war on a western state led by Liu Bei (You Yong). Liu Bei has under his command great soldiers such as Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, as well as his deft military adviser, Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). To protect his subjects, Liu Bei sends Zhuge Liang to convince the southern Wu state led by young Sun Quan (Chang Chen) to form an alliance. During the process, Zhuge Liang lures away Wu’s viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), with whom he becomes friends. The two stand up to Cao Cao.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is still popular throughout Asia in the form of comics and video games, owing much to the distinctive characters of the warriors.

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Japantoday.com reported about John Woo’s “Red Cliff”, “The film is based on a famous battle in divided third-century China that saw 2,000 ships burned, and draws from a period in Chinese history that has spawned comic books and video games.”

“I will pay off my debts if the film is successful,” said Woo in Tokyo this week. He said he had invested a lot of his own money in the project due to budget issues. “That left me with enough for about two meals a day,” he joked. “Seriously, though, I think I’ve got something more valuable than money out of this production.”

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CRIEnglish.com reported, “John Woo’s historical epic “Red Cliff,” reportedly the most expensive film ever made in Asia, has earned 108 million yuan (US$15.78 million) in the Chinese mainland since its cinema debut on Thursday.”

“The opening weekend box office takings are a record for a Chinese film, compared to other domestic blockbusters such as Zhang Yimou’s “Curse of the Golden Flower”(96 million yuan) and Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported on Tuesday.”

“Red Cliff” beat the Dreamworks production, “Kung Fu Panda,” which earned about 50 million yuan in ticket sales on the opening weekend.

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BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: APIX ENTERTAINMENT
DVD reviewed by Dennis A. Amith
CAST: Starring Sandrine Holt, Ivan Sergei, Nicholas Lea, Rober Ito, Michael Wong and Jennifer Dale
DIRECTED BY: John Woo
PRODUCED BY: Wendy Grean
RATING: Rated R
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0116712
TYPE OF MOVIE: Action

Two expertly trained martial arts renegades break from their Hong Kong mob family to escape a life of crime.  Mac and his beautiful partner Li Ann escape to a top secret crime-fighting syndicate in America.  But the powerful Hong Kong crime lord and his empire reach across the ocean to settle the score.  The hyperkinetic action only stops to upload as a flurry of bullets and martial arts moves ignite the screen.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color
• Movie factoids

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I could find.

DVD REVIEW:

The original “Once a Thief” was a movie starring Chow-Yun Fat back in 1991 directed by John Woo.  It was a wonderful movie and at the time “Face Off” and John Woo’s name started to become popular in the US (not just among HK movie buffs), the TV networks wanted a John Woo movie they can show on television.

Of course, NBC couldn’t show the HK movies, so they redid the film with Asian Americans with one notable HK actor, Michael Wong, Ivan Sergei known for his TV appearances, Sandrine Holt known for her UK films, Jennifer Dale who has done many movies but notably known for her voice on X-Men: The Animated Series and Nicholas Lea known for his work on X-Files.

Will, I’m sure anyone would jump in a chance to star in a John Woo movie but since this was made for television, you are not going to see the typical John Woo magic.  No million bullet shots or blood.

The movie was definitely thinned out when it came to John Woo’s violence.  No particular attention to sounds such as the gun clicks but it did have a few usual slow motion scenes that he’s known for.

Of course, I recommend the 1991 version but those of us who watched this on television were hardcore John Woo fans, curious John Woo spectators or someone who had nothing to watch that night.

I purchased this DVD because it is lower priced than most DVD’s and I’m a John Woo fan. Also, the movie has this “Director’s Cut” logo on the top and it’s rated R.

OK…I may not remember the TV version but what was the director’s cut…I don’t know.  Why this got “Rated R” on it, I don’t know because there is no blood.  Oh, there is violence (ala gun shots) but maybe that’s what was cut from TV…I don’t know.

The video is pan & scan and the sound is not 5.1 of course.  As for the extra’s, there are none.  Movie factoids…change that to “factoid”.  Just one page mentioning the cast, directed by John Woo and that’s it.

Pretty much what you should expect is the typical movie of the night on DVD but in this case, directed by John Woo.

You really have to be a John Woo fan to buy this DVD.  Otherwise, not recommended.

THE MOVIE:  C-
THE DVD EXTRAS:  D-
THE DVD OVERALL:  C-