John Woo's Red Cliff Outshines Gladiator and Braveheart

John Woo's Red Cliff, released in 2008, is a lavish excursion into Chinese history that grossed $250 million on an $80 million budget. It was Woo's first big-budget film since 2003's Paycheck, a project critics panned so poorly that he did not make another American-produced feature until 2023's Silent Night, and his first Chinese-language feature since 1992's Hard Boiled.

Set around the decisive Battle of Red Cliffs (Chibi), the film chronicles Cao Cao's campaign to eliminate the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Woo translates his signature action choreography to ancient warfare, delivering grand, balletic battle sequences and a sumptuous use of color.

The movie weaves themes of brotherhood, heroism and loyalty into scenes rich with historical detail, from a vow to produce 100,000 arrows under penalty of execution to a testudo-like formation and soldiers celebrating the Winter Solstice with tangyuan dumplings before battle.

China, Red Cliffs (Chibi)

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