Released in two parts in Asia, the first half of John Woo’s homecoming overtook Titanic to become China’s all-time box office champ. It’s easy to see why.
What right-minded patriot could resist a celebrated period from national history told as a rip-roaring action adventure packed with bloodshed, romance and intrigue, driven by enough cunning plans to make Baldrick’s head spin and boasting an arrow count to rival Zhang Yimou’s celluloid pin-cushion Curse Of The Golden Flower?
Running just shy of two and a half hours, this single edit initially hits Western audiences with a confusing array of characters yet pleasingly never quite tips over into incoherence.
To cut a still-lengthy story short, the end of the Han dynasty is nigh and sneaky prime minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) is about to take absolute power in his dithering emperor’s name.
Unfortunately, rebel leaders Liu Bei and Sun Quan have just formed an alliance through their right-hand men - super-strategist Zhuge Liang (Japanese star Takeshi Kaneshiro) and combative viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung).
To further complicate matters, Cao Cao has the hots for Zhou Yu’s missus and, like most prime ministers, has no interest in making himself popular or listening to reason.
When diplomacy fails, it can only mean war. But despite being vastly outnumbered, the allies prepare to launch an assault on the formidable imperial navy, immovably positioned beneath the Red Cliffs of the Yangtse River.
Drawing parallels with the legend of Troy, this is an intriguing, battle-hardened saga awash with acts of heroic selflessness and despicable skulduggery (Cao Cao even resorts to biological warfare).
Some events have obviously been skimmed over for this abridged version – though crucial to the story, little time is spent with Sun Quan’s feisty sister Sun Shangxiang as she spies for the allies in Cao Cao’s camp. The two-by-two-hour DVD will undoubtedly plug the gaps.
But with superb planning and execution from Woo, his stuntmen and the backroom boys, the action unfolds like a game of Risk played on the grandest scale.
Woo stamps his trademarks with gleeful regularity, creating balletic havoc in CG and slo-mo, finding a key role for one of his beloved doves, and even squeezing in a Mexican stand-off despite having no guns to play with.
Taro Iwashiro’s music adds to the sweep, and further serves to define character, as when Zhou and Zhuge show their creative and competitive edge with an impromptu bout of duelling zithers.
But as the title suggests, this is all about the final showdown - and Woo duly delivers with a Lord Of The Rings-style skirmish that makes the Battle of Helm’s Deep look like a hobbits’ tea party.
It's how all great adventures should end - in a blaze of glory.
Elliott Noble
