Red Cliff is John Woo's first Chinese film since 1992 and it reteams him with star Tony Leung who was with Woo in that final Chinese film and action fan classic Hard Boiled. Of course, it wasn't originally intended to be so, as Leung actually stepped in for Chow Yun-Fat who dropped out of the film only three days into shooting.

Yun-Fat said he only received a final script a few days before shooting and was not sure he would do justice to the character, while a China Film Group source said Chow had made "unreasonable demands" exceeding industry standards. Either way Leung was in and strangely enough it was a return to the film for him after originally being cast, and having to drop out due to scheduling difficulties. At that time Leung was replaced by Takeshi Kaneshiro whom you may remember as Jin from House of Flying Daggers.

When Red Cliff began production back in April 2007 it was budgeted at $70 million, the biggest budget Chinese film ever made. In the film Leung plays opposite to Kaneshiro in the role of Zhou Yu in the epic historical drama set based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty.

Red Cliff will premiere on VOD, XBOX Live and Amazon Oct. 22nd and opens in theaters November 20th. You can check out the trailer below or click here to watch it in high definition at Apple. I have placed the complete synopsis below the trailer and you can check out 28 pictures from the film in our gallery here.

Legendary action cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic HARD BOILED with this epic historical drama set based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. RED CLIFF opens with power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeking permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush two troublesome warlords that stand in his way, Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). As the expedition gets under way, Cao Cao’s troops rain destruction on Liu Bei’s army, forcing the latter to retreat. Liu Bei’s military strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) knows that their only hope for survival is to form an alliance with rival warlord Sun Quan, and reaches out to Sun Quan’s trusted advisor, war hero Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s fast approaching, brutal army, the rebel warlords band together to mount a heroic campaign unrivalled in history that changes the face of China forever. A massive hit in Asia and the most expensive Asian film production of all time, RED CLIFF is a breathtaking war epic that marks the triumphant return of John Woo.

Related post categories: Visit to the Trailer Park : Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo, Tony Leung Chiu Wai

Permalink   |   RSS Feed | 4 comments so far