2008/2009 - Red Cliff

[katwoman64]

Sorry, the youtube channel was "yh2z".
Kisses
Kat

[hamberger362]

[summertime]

'Red Cliff II' to Premiere Earlier than Planned

2008-12-26 14:33:55 Xinhua


The sequel to "Red Cliff", a popular Chinese war epic, will debut on Jan. 7, 15 days ahead of schedule.

The state-owned China Film Group Corp. (CFGC), distributor of the film, made the decision after discussion with cinema managers in six cities including Beijing and Shanghai, the Beijing News reported on Friday.

The first installment of the two-part series, adapted from the Chinese classic novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", debuted in Asia on July 10.

It made about 320 million yuan (US$46.85 million) within a month, the paper said.

"I am confident that the second episode will beat the first one at the box office," said Weng Li, spokesman of the CFGC.

Directed by John Woo, the cast features Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Fengyi.

"Red Cliff" has an investment of 80 million U.S. dollars.

The story revolves around the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD. It involved a famous military underdog victory as the 50,000-strong allied forces of southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated 800,000 troops of the northern warlord Cao Cao.

The largest scenes involved 2,000 actors and crew, along with a wide range of special effects.

The period from December to early February, known as prime pre-Lunar New Year film season, is usually the busiest time of the year at China's box office. It's when many domestic films debut.

Advancing the screening date is a common practice during the season. "If You Are the One", a work of famed director Feng Xiaogang, debuted on Dec. 18, four days earlier than scheduled.

Besides "Red Cliff", another 11 movies are set to premiere next month.


http://english.cri.cn/6666/2008/12/26/1261s436664.htm



Sneak View of 2nd Half of 'Red Cliff'

2008-11-14 18:07:03 CRIENGLISH.com

Watch a trailer of the second part of John Woo's epic film 'Red Cliff'.

Watch a newly-released bilingual trailer of the second part of John Woo's epic film "Red Cliff," which will be released in January for Asian audiences. The first part of the film opened in July and soon became the most lucrative Chinese film ever made.

http://english.cri.cn/6666/2008/12/10/1261s431301.htm

[summertime]

'Red Cliff' Sequel Premieres

2009-01-05 11:31:09 CRIENGLISH.com Editor: Xie Tingting


The fervor over the war epic "Red Cliff" is building to a crescendo with director John Woo set to present a sequel to the most bankable Chinese film in history.

Woo on Sunday led cast members of "Red Cliff II" at its premiere in Beijing.

The sequel will open in theaters on Wednesday, roughly five months after the previous film bagged over 300 million yuan (US$43.97 million) to set a new record for Chinese-language films.

A survey conducted earlier by Sina.com.cn shows that 93 percent of the respondents expected the sequel.

John Woo shot the two films as a whole with a hefty investment of US$80 million. However, he decided to release the production in two segments, saying that by doing so it allows enough space for character development.

The "Red Cliff" series revolves around a well-known water battle in 208 A.D., and the biggest scenes involve at least 2,000 actors and crew members.

The first segment focuses on the eve of the battle and the sequel reprises the actual battle in which thousands of ships are burnt. Movie-goers can expect to see magnificent battle scenes in the upcoming film.


http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/01/05/1261s439463.htm


http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/01/05/1261s439463_1.htm

[hamberger362]

Red Cliff 2 (Thai poster)

[summertime]

John Woo Takes Chinese Epic 'Red Cliff' to Western Audiences

January 08, 2009 11:24 Asianbite

John Woo is preparing to introduce his first Chinese-language film in 16 years to foreign audiences after the historical epic proved a massive success in Asia.

The Hong Kong native said Tuesday he has finished editing an international version of "Red Cliff" and is offering it to American distributors. It has already been picked up in Europe and South America.

The $80 million epic, based on an ancient Chinese battle, was split into two installments lasting a combined five hours for Asia, but a single movie lasting two hours and 25 minutes has been prepared for audiences elsewhere.

"For Western viewers, watching a foreign-language movie and reading subtitles is very tough," Woo said.

The war epic is set in the Three Kingdoms historical period, which Woo said is familiar to Asian audiences.

The first installment of the "Red Cliff" project was a big hit when it was released across Asia in July, earning more than $100 million thanks to a $50 million performance in Japan and $47 million earned in mainland China.

In South Korea, it drew more than 1.6 million viewers - about 130,000 more than the Batman sequel "The Dark Knight."

The second installment will debut in China on Thursday and across the rest of the continent later this month.

Woo said the international version of "Red Cliff" focuses on the main characters and eliminates peripheral ones. But, he says, both Asian and Western versions are more down-to-earth than their contemporary Asian rivals, concentrating on grounded battle scenes over far-fetched gravity-defying kung fu fighting sequences.

"I wanted to make Asian audiences feel it's a familiar story but also make Western audiences feel they're watching a love story like 'Troy' or an Asian version of 'Gladiator,'" Woo said.

Woo also said he will start shooting another Chinese-language film, "1949," later this year.


http://www.asianbite.com/default.asp?display=2393

[katwoman64]

Dear Summertime,
Red Cliff is a beautiful, heroic story like the Termopiles's Massacre, badly filmed in "Three Hundred", but more great and amazing because there's a naval battle involved (you know, the charm of the few that defy the many). What I fear is that the reduced (western) version is going to be less appealing than the original (five hours, asian) version. And given the way we carefully dub films it really is a pity.
Moreover, this is above all a images, visual film. The text gets a far second place.
I hope that someone reconsiders this policy that in the end keeps our worlds apart.
Bye,
Kat

[summertime]

Hi katwoman64,

Yeah, it's too bad that everyone else is getting the truncated version. There is an audience out there that doesn't mind reading LOL

[summertime]

Red Cliff 2 A Smash Hit

2009-01-13 09:25:40 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Liu Wei

The second part of John Woo's epic "Red Cliff" proved to a big hit in Shanghai on its opening weekend. Most Popular


By Xu Wei

The second part of John Woo's epic "Red Cliff" proved to a big hit in Shanghai on its opening weekend.

Shanghai United Cinema Lines said the movie had taken more than 8.4 million yuan (US$1.2 million) at the box office since its release last Wednesday.

"We took more than 32.6 million yuan from the first part of 'Red Cliff' last year," said Wu Hehu, deputy director of the cinema chain.

"We are confident to get more revenue from the second part. It will attract bigger crowds during Chinese Lunar New Year holiday." The week-long holiday starts on January 25 this year.

The first part was the highest-grossing film shown in China last year, taking more than 300 million yuan across the country and 700 million yuan around the world.

The Yonghua Cinema at Xujiahui, the city's top grossing theater last year, has so far taken in more than 670,000 yuan at the box office from film fans keen to see the second installment.

The cinema said the film might face some competition from Friday's debut of domestic cartoon film "Pleasant Boat and Big Big Wolf" and Ning Hao's new comedy "Silver Medalist" which is to be released next Tuesday.

Starring Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Taiwan's Takeshi Kaneshiro and Chinese mainland actor Zhang Fengyi, "Red Cliff" centers on the epic Battle of Red Cliff during China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD).

Part two of the film features impressive battle scenes, including one in which 2,000 ships are burned.


http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/01/13/1221s443085.htm

[summertime]

Red Cliff II sweeps Chinese box office

Sen-lun Yu

13 Jan 2009 17:40

John Woo's war epic Red Cliff II earned $14.8m (RMB101.5m) in four days in mainland China to become the first film in 2009 to break the $14.6m (RMB100m) mark, according to the film's mainland China distributor China Film Group.

Released on January 7 with 1,400 prints, Red Cliff II took in $2.2m (RMB15m) on its opening day, similar to the opening gross for Red Cliff I in July, 2008.

Weng Li, spokesperson for the China Film Group, has predicted that Red Cliff II will take $58.5m (RMB400m) in mainland China and break the first Red Cliff film's record.

That film grossed $45.6m (RMB312m) in mainland China to became the highest grossing Chinese-language film on record.

In November 2008, Red Cliff I also broke the box office record for Chinese-language films in Japan, taking more than $53m (Y4.8bn). In total, Red Cliff I took in more than $100m in Asian territories.

Weng also predicted that Red Cliff II will help raise the box office takings of the 2008 to 2009 year-end movie season.

The year-end movie season in China normally starts in late November and ends in mid-February of the next year, which combines the Christmas and Chinese New Year holidays.

To date, box office earnings for the 2008-2009 year-end season have reached $73m (RMB500m). With strong sales for Red Cliff II, the total box office gross of the season could reach $146m (RMB1bn), according to Weng.

Red Cliff II will open in Hong Kong and Taipei on January 15.

http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=42643&Category=

[summertime]

"Red Cliff 2" smashes past Chinese B.O. milestone

Written by Clifford Coonan VarietyAsia

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Helmer John Woo’s “Red Cliff 2” actioner, which opened in China on Wednesday, has rushed past the 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) threshold in its five-day weekend.

It was “like printing money,” Weng Li, spokesman for producer-distrib China Film Group, wrote of the pic on its website.

The first installment of the $80 million two-part series, Asia’s biggest-budget project, bowed in Asia in July and took in $46 million within a month.

Together, the two pics come in at over five hours. A shorter version combining the pair is set for release in Europe next month and in the U.S. in March.

http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7829/1/

[summertime]

"Red Cliff II"

Written by Derek Elley

Monday, 12 January 2009

"Red Cliff II"

("Chi bi: juezhan tianxia")

(China-Japan-Taiwan-South Korea-U.S.)

A China Film Group Corp. (in China)/Avex Entertainment (in Japan)/CMC Entertainment, 20th Century Fox (in Taiwan)/Showbox (in South Korea) release of a China Film Group, Chengtian Entertainment Intl. Holdings (China)/Avex Entertainment (Japan)/CMC Entertainment (Taiwan)/Showbox (South Korea)/John Woo presentation of a Lion Rock production. (International sales: Summit Entertainment, Los Angeles.) Produced by Terence Chang, Woo. Executive producers, Han Sanping, Masato Matsuura, Wu Kebo, Ryuhei Chiba, Dennis Wu, Ryu Jeong-hun, Woo. Co-producers, Anne Woo, Zhang Daxing, Yeh Ru-feng, David Tang, Wang Wei, Cheri Yeung. Directed by John Woo. Screenplay, Woo, Khan Chan, Kuo Cheng, Sheng Heyu.

Zhou Yu - Tony Leung Chiu-wai
Zhuge Liang - Takeshi Kaneshiro
Cao Cao - Zhang Fengyi
Sun Quan - Chang Chen
Sun Shangxiang - Vicki Zhao
Zhao Yun - Hu Jun
Gan Xing - Shido Nakamura
Xiao Qiao - Lin Chi-ling
Liu Bei - You Yong
Lu Su - Hou Yong
Sun Shucai - Tong Dawei
Li Ji - Song Jia
Guan Yu - Basenzabu
Zhang Fei - Zang Jinsheng
Huang Gai - Zhang Shan
Cao Hong - Wang Hui
Jiang Gan - Shi Xiaohong

Simply the second half of an almost five-hour movie rather than a self-contained pic in its own right, John Woo's costume actioner "Red Cliff II" delivers in spades for auds left hungry for more by last summer's first seg. With characters already established, this half is expectedly heavier on action, though nimble editing and charismatic perfs still pack beaucoup human interest prior to the final hour's barnstorming battle. Pic opened bracingly in China Jan. 7 and fans out this month through major Asian markets (with Japan in April), where biz should rank with that of "Red Cliff."

Given the success of Woo's high-stakes undertaking -- at $80 million, the most expensive Chinese-language movie ever -- it remains a crying shame that the two films may never be seen outside Asia on the bigscreen. (For hardcore buffs, the first pic is already available on DVD in Asia.) Non-Asian auds are meant to be content with a planned 2½-hour "international version," which cannot hope to replicate the impressive detail and sheer epic sweep of the 280-minute original.
Rapid, two-minute recap of "Red Cliff" (beneath the main titles) serves more to get auds' pulses racing again than to educate newcomers. The year is 208 A.D., near the end of the 400-year-old Han Dynasty, and the opposing forces of prime-minister-cum-general Cao Cao (mainland vet Zhang Fengyi), repping the Emperor in the north, and a relatively small coalition led by Zhou Yu (Hong Kong idol Tony Leung Chiu-wai), repping "rebellious" southern warlords, are about to face off in a decisive battle at Red Cliff on the Yangtze River.

The north-south divide, symbolized by the river that runs through China's middle, is even more strongly emphasized here: Cao Cao's massive but lumpen army is uneasy on water and tiring after campaigning southward, while Zhou Yu, typical of more wily, faster-thinking southerners, is determined to hold what he sees as a line in the sand. Script doesn't push the allegory of a northern-based government trying to unify China by force, but it's there for the taking, with Zhou carefully stressing at one point that he doesn't oppose the Emperor per se, only Cao Cao and his brutal methods.

Though the first film's cliffhanger ending had an eve-of-battle feel, "Red Cliff II" actually spends well over an hour detailing each side's plans, as Cao Cao's initial confidence in his numerical supremacy is undercut by an outbreak of typhoid among his troops.

After Cao Cao manages to infect Zhou's troops with the disease, Zhou, aided by master strategist Zhuge Liang (Chinese-Japanese thesp Takeshi Kaneshiro), realizes this is as much a psychological war as it is a simple numbers game. When warlord Liu Bei (You Yong) politely deserts Zhou, the latter is left with only 30,000 men vs. Cao Cao's several hundred thousand.

There's considerable fun, and not a little humor, in the resourceful southerners' wheezes, aided by secret messages sent back from Cao Cao's camp by undercover princess Sun Shangxiang (petite mainland actress Vicki Zhao). After some clever tactics by Zhuge Liang to undermine Cao Cao, the scene is finally set for the decisive David-vs.-Goliath engagement, with Zhou Yu's wife (Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-ling) playing a crucial role.

The massive battle, on land as well as sea, has no single standout sequence (such as the trap of shields into which Cao Cao's troops were lured in the first pic), but there's the same balance between the mechanical aspects of ancient warfare and acts of individual heroism. Finale, with its personal standoff, plays fast and loose with history and comes closest to the feel of a regular Hong Kong actioner, but makes sense in dramatic terms after well over four hours of buildup.

As in the first pic, Zhang is a powerhouse presence as Cao Cao and is easily the richest character in the whole pic, as the script refrains from reducing him to a pure villain. Leung is slightly less imposing this time, though his chemistry with Kaneshiro is fine, drawing a friendship between equals. Zhao again supplies some spunky humor, and Lin, largely decorative before, has a couple key scenes in which she holds her own against Zhang.

Taro Iwashiro's rousing score again complements the fluid editing (especially clever in keeping a large number of characters in the game) and the gritty but not unattractive widescreen lensing. Visual and special effects do their job just fine.

Outside China, pic has a secondary title that roughly means "The Decisive Battle of All Time." In this 280-minute, two-part version, helmer-producer Woo and fellow producer Terence Chang have indeed crafted one of the great Chinese costume epics of all time.

Camera (color, widescreen), Lu Yue, Zhang Li; editors, Daniel Wu, Angie Lam, Yang Hongyu; music, Taro Iwashiro; production designer, Tim Yip; art director, Eddy Wong; costume designer, Yip; sound (Dolby Digital), Roger Savage, Wu Jiang, Wen Bo; sound designer, Steve Burgess; visual effects supervisor, Craig Hayes; visual effects/animation, the Orphanage; stunt supervisor, Dion Lam; assistant directors, Thomas Chow, Richard L. Fox; second unit directors, Zhang Jinzhan (army battles), Patrick Leung (naval battle). Reviewed at Shaw Lido 1, Singapore, Jan. 9, 2009. Running time: 140 MIN.
(Mandarin dialogue)

http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7818/

[katwoman64]

Dear Summertime,

as you now kow we wouldn't have to read (ha ha ha)!
But if this was the case, well, I've seen it subtitled and I didn't scare.
AND POSSIBLY I WOULDN'T WANT TO MISS A THING!

Spoiled Kat

[summertime]

Yes katwoman64 - I know

[summertime]

International Herald Tribune

Woo shows mastery of epic genre in 'Red Cliff II'

The Associated Press

Thursday, January 15, 2009

HONG KONG: John Woo's ambitions were clear when he announced the $80 million two-part Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff."

The "Mission: Impossible II" director wanted to make a Chinese-language blockbuster that rivaled the Hollywood productions he worked on.

In "Red Cliff II," it's clear that the Hong Kong native succeeded, putting the "epic" in "historical epic" in the second installment of his two-part series based on the famous ancient Chinese battle of the same name.

The film is about a fight between the imperial army and two allied warring states, which won because of their superior military strategy despite being outnumbered.

While "Red Cliff" thrived in storytelling, introducing and weaving together a colorful cast of characters, its sequel, which focused on the final showdown, showed off Woo's mastery of some of the largest and most complex scenes in modern Chinese cinema.

The Chinese market has been rife with historical epics in recent years, wowing audiences with sheer scale and the manpower involved in their fighting scenes. But Woo one-ups his rivals with a gigantic battle fought on several fronts — both land and sea — and keen attention to detail.

With help from California-based special effects company, The Orphanage, Woo captures the grandeur of the battle scenes best known to Chinese audiences — like the rebels burning the imperial army's fleet and sending in boats staffed with straw dummies to attract a sea of arrows.

The war scenes are as impressive in scale as in detail.

Woo shows the rebel soldiers making bombs by packing explosives into clay urns, and extracting the oil from fish to use as an accelerant.

The only pitfall is that the battle's magnificence overshadows Woo's characters, anchored by strong performances by Cannes-winning Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the rebel leader Zhou Yu; China's Zhang Fengyi as the imperial prime minister Cao Cao; and Japanese-Taiwanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro as the rebel military strategist Zhuge Liang.

The director also shows a penchant for melodrama when he sends Zhou's wife, played by Taiwanese model Lin Chi-ling, to seduce Cao. But the side plot only serves to bog down the narrative and delay the spectacular climax.

Woo is only releasing a single, condensed version of the movie — halving the total five-hour running time of the two-part series — for markets outside of Asia. It's a welcome opportunity to cut out the fat and focus on the main characters and technical sophistication of his battle scenes.

The film is currently playing in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and is due out in South Korea on Jan. 22.

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=19384677