Red Cliff

Having watched quite a few epic battle films. I can safely say this, has the best, and I can't really see anything topping it. It rises above films like Gladiator, Lord of the rings, and Troy, because of the sheer creativity of the battle scenes.

John Woo helms an ambitious, crowded depiction of large-scale military actions at the end of China's Han Dynasty. While its epic, sweeping scale might be the film's greatest strength, I was too preoccupied with discerning the encyclopedic subtitles to appreciate the visuals as much as I'd have liked. Even at a long hundred-thirty minutes, the plot seems breathless and anxious as it hurries through back stories, character moments and closed-door strategic debates at a breakneck pace. There's just so much story to tell, with none of it deemed dispensable, that even two lengthy motion pictures don't seem like enough to do everything justice. While the planning and execution behind Red Cliff's sublime fight scenes (which often boil down to a Dynasty Warriors-style plan of "just send one man to wipe out the infantry") may be flashy and memorable, I found more value in the thoughtful musings and observations of the calm, collected diplomatic envoy Zhuge Liang. His carefully considered strategies are profound and moving, like a delicate flower growing amidst the ruins of a spent battlefield. Though one-sided in nature, with an enemy master as vaguely evil and simple as they come, it still leaves us with the perfect setup for what I can only presume will be the mother of all epic skirmishes. Deep and dedicated, this first chapter is often far more verbose than it needs to be.