Red Cliff

You know the trademark John Woo camera set-up where the guy shooting his gun empties the chamber and removes the clip. We see the clip falling out the bottom of the gun in slow motion from a low angle. For the massively entertaining Red Cliff Woo has another way of rearming. This 3rd century story of a civil war that ended the Hun Dynasty contains some of the most exciting battle sequences ever filmed. Woo uses a signature shot where we see a warrior impale another soldier with a spear, then said warrior gallops by, pulls the spear out of the soldier's back and proceeds to use it again as a weapon.
Woo has spent years on this project and Red Cliff (Chi bi) was released as two films in Asia while the film playing domestically is a combined version lasting roughly two-and-a-half hours (or ten minutes less than 2012). Anyone familiar with Chinese history will recognize this story of the three kingdoms and the battle of Red Cliff, but if you're not familiar with the story you'll never forget it after seeing this amazing movie. Woo pulls out all the stops for action sequences. Whether we're witnessing a massive naval battle, or land warfare involving formations taken from nature (the turtle, the goose) we're drawn to the screen like glue. Red Cliff has such a compelling sense of its own story that it easily rates among the best action films of its kind, films like Seven Samurai or Das Boot. One sequence literally sends you flying over first the water and then the land in a single lengthy take seen from the point of view of a dove. The bird it turns out has a secret message attached to its limb and Woo reveals the person who retrieves the fowl as a spy.
Woo spends time delineating ancient instruments of weather (barometer) or music (zither) and how they relate to the multitude of characters. Be they warlords, ex-pirates or generals, or their women, we have a sense of their personality through the way they practice art as well as their ability for strategic thinking. At one point the protracted strife inflicts casualties using germ warfare. That's in addition to a psychological standoff over a femme between two particular leaders.
The large cast includes Tony Leung, familiar to American audiences for roles in everything from Hard Boiled to In the Mood For Love. Red Cliff is an amazing film experience that will no doubt be overshadowed by films spending more and playing wider. Red Cliff is currently unwinding exclusively at the Angelika.