John Woo + Tony Leung always translates to greatness. There could have been more action but it was well balanced all the same. Well directed and performed.

John Woo’s return to Chinese cinema isn’t one of his greatest movies but it’s still very solid

Arguably John Woo's best film (easily the two-part uncut version), Red Cliff is a dazzling and gripping historical epic chock full of captivating performances, stunning cinematography and pulse-pounding action sequences.

The panning of the camera every second is distracting. Not only was it hard to be in the moment but it actually made me dizzy. Not to mention , you tripped a horse to get a shot for your terrible movie. John Woo reminds me of the film students at the Art Institute. Worth a skip, how does it have 90%? I really think the people that are writing good reviews are just as pretentious as this film.

There's a lot of set-up for the main action set pieces of the second film but there are still compelling character dynamics and battles. Woo is mythmaking here, so it is best to view the movie in that vein.

this is part one of two but should be seen as a whole. Watch part one and two together and it is a wonderful experience.

"He knows how to lead an army, but he has no friends." Okay, I'm sure Cao Cao would be real embarassed if he was hanging out in the high school cafeteria commanding the imperial forces of 3rd century China. Red Cliff feels like John Woo was given a big budget but no real creative freedom; you've got his trademark doves and slow motion but they're each used in such strange ways, almost like they're obligatory to match audience expectations rather than genuinely interesting or fun. An enormous scale, impressive battle scenes, and fun fight choreography are strangely offset by weird character interactions and a plot that you could put on autopilot for long stretches. There are so many scenes intended to give off this sense of impressive military strategy or combat ability (observing changes in the wind, practicing swordplay, lots of strategy maps, whatever), enough that they run into each other and lose all signficance and begin to feel satirical. While the money seems to have flowed like a river on this project, it's massively bloated and uninspired, though there is still plenty of entertainment in the swordplay. This movie ends with a double rainbow for some reason. (2/5)

I enjoyed viewing the movie on my tv. The great music and spectacular battle scenes excite the senses! I enjoyed it.

The best adaptation (not necessarily most faithful) of this battle I have ever seen

There's a lot of set-up for the main action set pieces of the second film but there are still compelling character dynamics and battles. Woo is mythmaking here, so it is best to view the movie in that vein.

I wrote a much longer review of the combined American Theatrical Version of Red Cliff where they cut the full 5-hour runtime in half (you can find that on my Letterboxd reviews.) I adored that version, and was delighted to finally watch the complete two-part international cut of the film. I won’t go into some of the finer details of why I loved this film as I addressed that thoroughly in the original review, but let’s talk about what’s different about this first half of the story. It seems that the bulk of the content they cut for American audiences came from this part of the film. There is so much character development, and exploration of motivations that is fleshed out here. I love getting to know these people in a deeper way, and seeing what makes them tick. There was one character in particular whose connection to the war seemed out of place and odd the first time I watched. But with this complete cut I discovered details about her name, her family, and so much more. She went from a glorified extra, to one of the main characters. Some of the battle-strategy and tactics that I loved from the movie are present here, although Part 1 feels a lot like the preamble to the story. I’m glad all of this exists, but I don’t think each chapter would work well on their own. Part 1 just leaves you wanting to know so much more, and to see the completion of the war. But there are still some amazing battles depicted in this part of the film. I love how John Woo blends some of his more superhuman fighting moments with the gritty war footage. It does a great job of making the key combatants stand out in a crowd. All of them are given amazing skills that some viewers might consider a bit too powerful. But I like watching one guy take on a whole troop of soldiers and laying waste to all of them with his finely-tuned skill. Red Cliff: Part 1 is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the exploration of the art of war. I am excited to see all the rest in Part 2. As a piece of the puzzle, I’m delighted to have seen Part 1, but from now on I’ll always watch the complete 5-hour epic in one shot.

A well shot and and entertaining movie based on the characters of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Notice I didn't say based on a chapter, because John Woo took some big liberties with the plot and crafted something with his own spin. I can live with it and was often in awe of the spectacle of the war scenes, however, the female characters and what they've been given (ESPECIALLY Lin Chi-Ling) are overly sentimental and cheapened the entire experience. Lin can't act her way out of a paper bag and it is very distracting. Overall, still an epic tale that borders on 5 hours long.

Late in the eveing I started watching it on YouTube. 2:35 is a looong movie. Ha! I watched it all the to the end. Lots of action and fantastic camera work.

5.7/10 — "Mediocre"/"Passable"

It's a high budget Hollywood style movie by John Woo, who is well recognized director in many US Jet Li films. However, aside from historical inaccuracy, the fight scenes were pretty much ninja turtlesque... Come on, 5 guys defeat 10s of thousands of troops? Ridiculous. It just more a kungfu movie than "historical drama." but perhaps what is most ridiculous is the need to push modern SJW progressive lunacy in the plot line. Seriously, ancient China would not have allowed much of Zao Wei's character to run amok like that. Totally unrealistic and stupid.

Epic film of a battle from real life Chinese history.

I saw the short version and it thrilled me . A powerful story that is told in a powerful film. The scenery, the movement of the camera, the wonderful choreography of battles, the smart/ sharp/ some-times-funny dialogues/script, serve well to this masterpiece. I just obtained the original extended version and I'm more than longing to get a bucket of popcorn to just sit there and watch it.

Periodically things like amateurish cinematography or mediocre CGI would remind me that China's film industry is still in its adolescence. All things considered though, I'd say the kid has got potential! This turned out to be a big-budget epic period drama that was really quite good.

With beautiful cinematography and excellent battle sequences that are dazzling and entertaining, Red Cliff is one of John Woo's best works and should be required of action film fans.

The best movie on this planet!!! Everything about this movie is outstanding.