Red Cliff 2

[AcueMedia]

Truly one of my best epic film. What you say film buffs?

[Hobbes00]

I liked it but I didnt love it.. I wouldnt buy the DVD though..

[photographique]

Download Blu-ray!!!

haha...cuz I don't think I can find it in SG.

I was sleepy during the intense ending sequences...but I felt the movie is not too bad but the story too dramatic and 'anyhow' as compared to the original novel or previous Three Kingdoms shows.

[AcueMedia]

Originally Posted by Hobbes00 I liked it but I didnt love it.. I wouldnt buy the DVD though..

some ppl will prefer seeing pt 1 & 2 together if available in DVD. Heard they also screen the full version and a shorter full version or something like that.

[vee5]

Originally Posted by photographique Download Blu-ray!!! haha...cuz I don't think I can find it in SG. I was sleepy during the intense ending sequences...but I felt the movie is not too bad but the story too dramatic and 'anyhow' as compared to the original novel or previous Three Kingdoms shows.

Ya loved the movie on the whole, but the end battle is dragging it out a bit too much. Too much unrealistic movements. Tot the battle scenes in the 1st part is much better.

The scene where Sun Quan say "Ni Men Bie Zai Shang Lai Le" was so laughable. To think it was featured so heavily in the radio ads.

In short, loved the movie, but some parts are just too drama and unreal.

[sgfriend]

Watch it last night.... a mixture of Lord of the Ring's battle scene and Saving Private Ryan

[AcueMedia]

Originally Posted by sgfriend Watch it last night.... a mixture of Lord of the Ring's battle scene and Saving Private Ryan

not forgetting Anthony and Cleopatra too

[raymondluo]

I thought the navy battle was really bad, all over the place and made no sense. For something that is the defining moment of the movie, it was just ugh. I lost my sense of space and kinda made me feel that all this was done with stage and props (which is the case, but again- shouldn't be).

The effectiveness of the trebuchet from long up to close (at the gates) is just unreal. I can put aside the heroes invulnerablity, but i really cannot ignore the trebuchets since it's been like one of the greater focuses in the battle.

All in all, I only liked the humour. Red Cliff 1 was much better though.

[Arterra]

The film didnt actually followed history, isnt it? Where's pang tong?

[AcueMedia]

Originally Posted by Arterra The film didnt actually followed history, isnt it? Where's pang tong?

Didn't think so did cao cao wage war for a women and was defeated due to a cup of tea

[Limsgp]

where to download?

Originally Posted by photographique Download Blu-ray!!! haha...cuz I don't think I can find it in SG. I was sleepy during the intense ending sequences...but I felt the movie is not too bad but the story too dramatic and 'anyhow' as compared to the original novel or previous Three Kingdoms shows.

[doomace]

Did Gan Ning really sacrifice himself in the movie as well as written in the history books?

[poondq]

yup anyways too much computer effects see till eyes pain esp the fire part see till.... eyes rolling..

[de_stan]

I didnt like Red Cliff 1 & 2.
Simply becos the 2 movies are exploitative without being sensitive to historical facts.
Maybe the producers are more concerned about recouping their investment back, but that does not mean they should distort facts, especially when they ARE making a historical epic battle in Chinese history.

Several scenes I can tell are added into the movie to prolong its duration so as to warrant a 2 episode feature (for the U.S release, they will combine the 2 movies to make it a single movie feature). But several of the scenes are draggy, unnecessary and simply out of place.

Another major upsetting thing about part 2 is, Zhuge Liang went through all that trouble stealing Cao Cao's arrows and predicting the arrival of the East wind to aid them in the naval battle. But SURPRISINGLY, they did not use a single flaming arrows to shoot Cao's navy ships. Instead they used smaller boats to ram and burn the enemy's ships. I felt so cheated !!!

In all, both movies were disappointing. John Woo clearly cannot handle a historical epic production like this. He be better off making gangster movies and have them dancing in slow-mo. But to be fair, I doubt any Asian production company can truly make a 'Romance of the Three kingdoms' faithful to its historical facts and still make it entertaining for moviegoers.

[Limsgp]

Actually, in the original story, the collection/manufacture of the arrows is a plot by Zhou Yu to create some "mission impossible" for Zhuge Liang, and then use it as an excuse to impose some military punishment on Zhuge Liang when he can't deliver.

It's not meant to be a critical part in the fire attack, as the east wind would carry the fire forward from the smaller burning boats. (Although the effect might be spectacular or entertaining from a movie goer's point of view)

Originally Posted by de_stan I didnt like Red Cliff 1 & 2. Another major upsetting thing about part 2 is, Zhuge Liang went through all that trouble stealing Cao Cao's arrows and predicting the arrival of the East wind to aid them in the naval battle. But SURPRISINGLY, they did not use a single flaming arrows to shoot Cao's navy ships. Instead they used smaller boats to ram and burn the enemy's ships. I felt so cheated !!!

[Likalikalu]

Originally Posted by de_stan I didnt like Red Cliff 1 & 2. Simply becos the 2 movies are exploitative without being sensitive to historical facts. Maybe the producers are more concerned about recouping their investment back, but that does not mean they should distort facts, especially when they ARE making a historical epic battle in Chinese history.

Agree. The Hua Rong Dao scene was totally omitted where Guan Yu let Cao Cao go. The beating of Huang Gai deemed necessary as a ruse was totally distorted in the movie.

[hanqiang1011]

Now guys,

Let's put it this way. You are paying S$10/- a ticket to watch a blockbuster movie or history documentary? If you want a muti-million dollar film to follow exactly the same as a history facts or from the novel, isnt it better off buying ''三国演义'' (which I very much like the series) from Commerical Press bookstore?

Below is an extract from a similar review in CS:

Dear all,

I beg to differ. This is my 2 cents worth of opinion on this 2 films:

''Romance of the 3 Kingdoms'' is based on the ''Record of the 3 Kingdoms'' by Zhou Yu. The latter is a historical record. In addition Sima Quan also recorded the events. The "Romance" is basically a novelization, meaning "romanticization" on actual events. The ROTK is actually written in the 14th Century during the Ming Dynasty, more than a millennia after the 3 Kingdoms occurred. When John Woo's directing this film, he chosed to follow some events happened in the ''Record of the 3 Kingdoms''.

Personally, I think the battle scenes are well-fought and simply marvellous and well-constructed. The battle scenes are almost comparative to those of Lord of the Ring: Part 2 & 3, where the latter used mostly CGI. Thus, I view this movie more as an epic production rather than historical records. Perhaps now let's see this ''Red Cliff series'' as a movie by itself but not as the series of Romance of the 3 Kingdoms or from any actual events happened in 3 Kingdoms' history. If you guys want a 100% historical accuracy, then I think it might be better of watching a documentary, isnt it?

My verdict --- Its an epic. Never in the history of Asian movie industry has filmed movies of this magnitude. To film movies of this calibre required massive amount of investments and experienced crews. Partly beause of his years of experience in the movie industry as well as Hollywood filming experiences, I am able to see the emerge of an oriential movie as well as western style of filming effects. Every movie does have its drawbacks. The only flaw in this movie is that the naval battle was not as great as those being fought on land. However, despite this minor flaw, I am giving this movie a 4 stars out of 5.



The link is here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461819

Come on guys, let's give credit for the fact that we have an epic afterall. Anyway, I think the 'best way' to enjoy this movie is to forget the original history facts and the novel, just enjoy the movie as a 'story' by itself. I did. And the fact is that the history and the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms is not the same as well, so I myself, watch this 2 parts as a viewer of great movie.

Cheers

[hanqiang1011]

Originally Posted by doomace Did Gan Ning really sacrifice himself in the movie as well as written in the history books?

Nakamura Shido as Gan Xing (甘興) (fictional character based on Gan Ning (甘寧). Gan Ning was an Eastern Wu general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_Ning

[hanqiang1011]

Originally Posted by AcueMedia some ppl will prefer seeing pt 1 & 2 together if available in DVD. Heard they also screen the full version and a shorter full version or something like that.

In Northern America and Europe, the movie is reduced to a mere 2 hrs instead of the combined 3 hrs plus.

[lenrek]

Originally Posted by hanqiang1011 Now guys, Let's put it this way. You are paying S$10/- a ticket to watch a blockbuster movie or history documentary? If you want a muti-million dollar film to follow exactly the same as a history facts or from the novel, isnt it better off buying ''三国演义'' (which I very much like the series) from Commerical Press bookstore? ...

Quite true, if I gonna watch a movie, I want it to be fun to watch, not very keen to be heavy history class.

Though, just one nitpick, 三国演义 is a romanticized story of the actual historical events. It is not really a history book. Read 三国志 for history.