Red Cliff represents a fortress that acted as the last outpost in a battle that occurred in the Han dynasty. It is meant to have happened around 208AD or something like that.  Apparently, this films is based on a book called Romance of the three kingdoms. 

We start off with some Emperor sitting down and waiting for something; maybe a bus all I care.  Then in comes the prime minister from a battle and he proceeds to request that the emperor allows him to attack two kings to the south, and off he goes.  The different characters are introduced until the inevitable battle ensues.  This film is predictable.

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	Chen Chang stared in movies like 2046, Hero and Memoirs of a Geisha.  She is an accomplished actress and is a little wasted in this movie if you ask me.  She plays the wife of Tony Lueng's character.
	If you have ever seen Shaolin Soccer or The Duel, you will know who this actress is.  She is the sister of one of the kings and is a tom boy.  She likes to cause trouble and decides to act as a spy for her brother.  the only trouble is that she doesn't tell him and wonders why he might be unset when she comes back.
	The person on the far right is John Woo
	I think this guy was also in Hero but I can't remember.  His name is Takeshi Kaneshiro.
	Tony Lueng has stared in many famous Hong Kong movies. Hard Boiled and Hero to mention a couple.  He is the general dude who works for the king.
	This dude here is one of the kings that must face up to the prime minister and his sister is above.
	I just liked the look of this piece of art.

This movie is nearly five hours long in total over the two parts.  I have heard that the version that will be released in the west will only be two and a halve hours long.  Trust me, you won't be missing much.  The trouble I had with this film was the fact that my knowledge of Chinese history is some what lacking to say the least.  I'm sure if I had learnt Chinese culture, the battle of the three kingdoms would have meant something to me.  The trouble was that as a film to show off the horrors of war, films like Born of the Forth of July did a better job.

The sets on this film are amazing and I found it surprising that it only cost $80,000,000, taking into account how much a movie would cost over in the States. 

There is a section near the beginning of part one, where a child is playing a flute.  He seems to have trouble playing it and one of the dudes cleans it out for him.  They act as if this shit means something.  I was just wondering, what the hell am I missing from this.  I'm sure if I came from China, the song would really mean something to me, but I'm not.

It is a little clichéd. For an example:  One person says, "No retreat, no surrender."  Where have I heard that from.  Another person says, "We must defeat the enemy, or die trying."  I'm sure this shit is serious to the people fighting but to me, I found it to be boring.  They even include a seen where someone dies, and the person has time to sit there and dwell over the fact that this person is dead and not a single person tries to kill them.  I just thought this is way to silly now.

This film also seems to follow the usual clichés regarding the generals, who are seriously bad assed compared to everyone else.  They can be stabbed a dozen times before that start to feel the effects of a battle.  For example:  Early on in the first part of the film, one of the men gets an arrow shot through what looks very close to his heart and he just pulls the thing out, and continues to fight as if it wasn't that serious.  I kept expecting him so say, "Tis but a scratch"

Overall I would say that the films heart is in the right place but, not having any knowledge of the history of the three kingdoms, this film was wasted on me. I would recommend you watching this film if you enjoy military movies.  Most of this film is spent fighting and some of the sequences near the end of the film are brilliant.

On another note.  I still don't understand why the Japanese are so interested in this particular part of Chinese history.  They have released a ridiculous amount of games based on this era called Romance of the three kingdoms.