Film Review: Red Cliff
Bottom line: A formidable prelude to an epic battle with resplendent effects and action spectacles.
July 11, 2008
By Maggie Lee

HONG KONG -- As the first film to re-create the 208 A.D. Battle of Chibi, the most famous military feat in Chinese history, John Woo's "Red Cliff" is a Pan-Asian project with the word "monumental" written all over it. The 140-minute first half that opened across major Asian territories is only a prelude that provides the beams and columns for the narrative framework, but with a few decisive and spot-on action spectacles, it sufficiently kindles expectations for the climactic clash in upcoming Part 2. The Western version will be a shorter, condensed one.

Costing $80 million and years in the making, "Red Cliff" is the most expensive Chinese-language picture ever mounted. Its investors likely are to recoup most of it from the Asian market, where the story has infiltrated school curriculum, computer games and manga.

Although this is hailed as Woo's "homecoming" after his Hollywood tenure, hardcore disciples of his Hong Kong oeuvre will be straining hard to find the all-stops-out passion and sinewy machismo that ignited his bullet ballets such as "A Better Tomorrow" or "The Killer." Such signature themes as male bonding and David-and-Goliath face-offs still drive the action, but the functional script has dismantled much of the original story's dramatic intricacies and character complexities, then reassembled it into a easy-to-follow three-act structure.

The epic opens with ambitious Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) browbeating the emperor of Han into authorizing a campaign to crush his enemies, Liu Bei and Sun Quan (Chang Chen) in their southern strongholds. In the first big action scene, most reminiscent of Woo's earlier SFX-free brute heroics, Gen. Zhao Yun (Hu Jun) single-handedly battles whole armies to save Liu's infant son.

The middle act replaces action with character interaction, focusing on Liu's strategist Zhu-ge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) persuasion of Sun Qun to ally with Liu and his elaborately built-up meeting with Sun's viceroy, Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). The men's chemistry flickers but does not sparkle. Most of this section, notwithstanding a gratuitous sex scene plus some comic capers, lacks a gripping atmosphere. The modernized dialogue is accessible but lacks eloquence and gravity.

A change of tone and tempo at 105 minutes into the film brings a welcome catharsis with a 20-minute extended battle sequence that has the speed and grandeur of Akira Kurosawa's samurai classics. As the troops of Liu and Sun unite in a strategic formation against Cao's 200,000 cavalry assault, masterfully varied cinematography captures an astounding array of military pageantry, martial arts sequences and ancient weaponry that could be a war game geek's wet dream.

With an ensemble of key figures to introduce, the main roles physically look the part but still need to warm up to each other. The pivotal Zhu-ge and Zhou have been apocryphally depicted as rivals, but Woo's decision to follow history and turn them into potential soul mates weakens dramatic power. More of a romantic, melancholy heartthrob, Leung has the acting chops but not the physique or the commanding presence of a martial hero that would be the equivalent of Charlton Heston or Toshio Mifune.

Eschewing the ornate Orientalism of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Curse of the Golden Flower," production and costume designer Tim Yip goes for historical accuracy and creates a period look that is imperious and dignified.

影评:《赤壁》

概要：一部令人敬畏的史诗般的战斗前奏曲。效果灿烂夺目，打斗场面壮观。

2008年7月11日
作者：Maggie Lee
From The Hollywood Reporter
摘自:《好莱坞报道》
作为重现公元208年赤壁之战——中国历史上最有名的军事壮举——的首部力作，吴宇森拍摄的电影《赤壁》是一个泛亚工程项目，足以用“丰碑” 一词加以形容。在亚洲一些主要地区上映的《赤壁Ⅰ》，时间长达140分钟，只是为故事框架填梁加柱的前奏戏，但上集所展现出的一些重要的和精妙的壮观打斗场景，足以激起观众对即将袭来的《赤壁II》中的巅峰对决寄予厚望。不过，在西方国家上演的版本将会相对较短和简洁。

耗资8000万美元和制作历经数年的《赤壁》是有史以来最为昂贵的华语电影。影片投资者可能将要从亚洲市场获取大部分票房收入。因为在亚洲，赤壁之战的故事早已被编写到学校课程、电脑游戏及连环漫画之中。

尽管《赤壁》被誉为吴宇森在好莱坞发展后的“归家之作”后，但对其香港作品崇拜的坚定追随者正不遗余力地挖掘自身的热血豪情和盛气凌人的男子气概，诚如《英雄本色》或《喋血双雄》中的子弹芭蕾。吴宇森的招牌风格，诸如兄弟情意和以弱胜强的对抗仍在影片中占有主导地位，但为实用而编写的剧本对原故事大部分戏剧性的错综复杂的情节和人物角色多变难控的关系有所改动，重新改编成易于遵循的三幕剧结构。

影片以野心勃勃的丞相曹操（张丰毅饰）挟天之以令诸侯，镇压割据南方的宿敌刘备和孙权（张震饰）为开始。在第一幕打斗现场，大将赵云（胡军饰）孤身百万军中夺阿斗。此幕最易令人想起吴宇森早期作品中不采用特技的豪壮行为。

影片中场则是以个性的作用取代了动作打斗，侧重点放在刘备的军师诸葛亮（金城武饰）说服孙权同刘结盟，及其同孙权的大都督周瑜（梁朝伟饰）精心设计的联盟会面。两人惺惺相惜，但却英雄气短。尽管无缘无故地增加些性爱片段和幽默的恶作剧，但本节大多情节缺乏一种吸引住人的气氛。适应现代需要的对白方便观众理解，但气吞山河的雄辩和浩然正气的严肃元素却荡然无存。

在剧情上演到第105分钟时，出现一段具有黑泽明武士经典之作中速度和气魄的战争场景，时间持续长达20分钟。语调和节奏上的改变给观众带来一种颇受欢迎的宣泄。在孙刘形成战略结盟，对抗曹操全副武装的20万大军时，各式各样的摄影片段极为专业地捕捉到数副令人震撼的壮丽的战争场面，以及武术镜头和古代兵器，而这或许正是一个战争游戏迷所梦寐以求的。

随着一系列关键人物出场，主角虽然短暂相互会见，但仍需一段磨合期。关键人物瑜亮曾被虚构为敌手，但吴宇森尊重历史令两位私下成为知音的编写削弱了戏剧性效果。颇为浪漫而又忧郁柔情的梁朝伟有打斗戏份，但其缺乏类似于查尔顿•赫斯顿（Charlton Heston）或三船敏郎(Toshir Mifune)等武术英雄的体格或威严。

制作兼服装设计的叶锦添追求历史的精准性，成功避开了《卧虎藏龙》和《满城尽带黄金甲》所表现的装饰华丽的东方主义，并展现出一个专横跋扈和庄严文雅的时代面貌。