Red Cliff thread 2

[lovevicki]

July 02,2008
[glow=red,2,300]Beijing Premiere[/glow]

[lovevicki]

[lovevicki]

[lovevicki]

July 03,2008
[glow=Purple,2,300]Chengdu Press Conference[/glow]

[lovevicki]

[lovevicki]

[lovevicki]

Red Cliff Set to Lift Quake Gloom
2008-07-03 09:02:48 China Daily




Director John Woo (L) and actress Zhao Wei at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, July 2. [Photo: sina.com]

By Liu Wei

Films have a very important social role to play. That view will be consolidated tonight when China's most expensive blockbuster premieres at an iconic venue in Chengdu.

The country's film community has done much to help the May 12 earthquake survivors in Sichuan province. But the opening of $80-million Red Cliff (Chibi) could well be the most helpful.

Directed by Hong Kong-born veteran John Woo, Red Cliff opens Wendesday night in Chengdu's Wu Hou Shrine - the first time such an event will be held in a top cultural heritage building.

Woo, who has worked in Hollywood too, is also the first person to organize a big public event in the capital of Sichuan province after the quake.

The shrine, built in AD 223, consists of memorial halls and mausoleums of warlord Liu Bei and his strategist Zhuge Liang - both of whose characters play leading roles in the film - and ministers and generals of the Shu kingdom, one of the three kingdoms that co-ruled China from 220 to 280.

About 2,000 people will watch the film tonight, but before that they have to pass through six security checks.

And the grand stage in front of Jianxin Hall in the shrine complex will see about 2,000 actors perform live.

Elementary school students will recite an ancient poem about history, traditional Sichuan mask-changing performers will show their electrifying skill, and musicians will play the ancient instrument, guqin, an important prop in the film too.

The film's behind-the-scene footage will also be screened, as will be its 10-minute trailer.

Woo has invited 100 doctors, nurses, soldiers, volunteers and journalists who experienced the quake and helped with the rescue and relief work or reported about them to attend the ceremony. Ten of them will walk the red carpet with the stars.

Xie Hui, head of the Wu Hou Shrine, says the premiere will show people that Chengdu is recovering from the quake.

Mainland actor Hu Jun, who plays a fearless general in the film, says he will be more than delighted if the film can help people forget their pain and regain courage even for two hours.

The local government has supported Woo's effort wholeheartedly. The film that has grabbed Asia's and the world's attention even before being screened is considered by many as an excellent vehicle that can promote Chengdu.

Grand opening ceremonies have become more of a norm with Chinese blockbusters after Zhang Yimou's Hero premiered in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing six years ago.

For his Curse of the Golden Flower, about 50 million yuan ($7.3 million) was spent on its premiere two years ago. And the opening ceremony of Chen Kaige's The Promise cost 20 million yuan ($2.9 million).

Red Cliff hits the screen on the Chinese mainland, and in Hong Kong and Taiwan, on July 10. Its global release is scheduled for next year.

[lovevicki]

July 03,2008
[glow=purple,2,300]Chengdu Premiere[/glow]

[lovevicki]

[lovevicki]

First Press Review³à±ÚµÚÒ»¸öÓ°ÆÀ - 'Red Cliff': Megastars Bring Mega Action (07-03-2008 º«¹úthe Korea Times) (ÎÄÕ Article)
by Wee (Ì©¹ú), Sunday, July 06, 2008, 11:55:13

Post reply(»ØÌû)


By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Finally. Asian cinema sees the birth of a movie with the grandeur ¨D in both budget and inspiration ¨D of epic franchises like ``The Lord of the Rings.'' ``Mission Impossible II'' and ``Face/Off'' helmer John Woo brings ``Red Cliff'' (``Chi Bi'' in Chinese), a pulsating, two-part battle flick based on the historical tome ``The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.''

To drive up the heat, it stars not one but three iconic actors: Tony Leung (``Lust, Caution''), Takeshi Kaneshiro (``House of Flying Daggers'') and Chang Chen (``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.'').

This $80 million co-production by South Korea's Showbox/Mediaplex is yet another story about the three warring ancient Chinese states. Recently, there was another domestic production geared for a pan-Asian audience, ``Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon'' with Andy Lau and Maggie Q. ``Red Cliff'' not only satisfies those who grew up reading the novel, but will also appeal to a wider audience.

One thinks of the term: ``man's reach exceeds his grasp.'' The efforts of the director to push on ¨D even after surpassing the original budget halfway through the shoot and pouring every penny of his own funds into the project ¨D bear fruit because the movie is built upon a strong foundation. A classic story comes to life through a beautiful, well crafted mise-en scene with memorable characters and a believability that stems from a delicious mix of realism and fantasy.

At first, the string of characters and crisscrossed political tensions may baffle those unfamiliar with the original tale. But it's quite simple. The evil and ambitious Gen. Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) manipulates the puppet king of the Wei Kingdom to wage war against the rival states of Shu and Wu. The latter two join hands against their common enemy, but are seriously outnumbered by Cao Cao's million-men army.

But with the charismatic leadership of Gen. Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), the strategic thinking of scholar Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and the support of fiery emperor Sun Quan (Chang Chen), they manage to declare a small victory. While Cao Cao scoffs at this as no big deal, it adds fuel to his fury. Beneath Cao Cao's reunification efforts is a Helen of Troy-like tug of war; he lusts after Gen. Zhou Yu's beautiful wife (played by model-turned-actress Li Chiling) and is determined to claim her as part of his conquest.

Now, the climactic maritime battle by the Red Cliff will determine their fate.

Breathtaking, state-of-the-art battle formations fill the screen. Think of the computer game ``Starcraft'' supersized in real action plus alpha. You're inspired to cheer for your favorite hero; each with their own distinctive fighting personalities. One hero dives headfirst into a group of soldiers unarmed, siezes a spear in mid-trajectory and kills the enemy with it.

But the film ensures quality as well as quantity. Hefty action sequences are knit together with delightful detail, including poetic animal imagery. While the Asian-ness of movies like ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' caters to a Western audience, ``Red Cliff'' captures the heart and soul of the Asian philosophy with a more universal appeal.

In addition to Woo's Hollywood-perfected directorship, the movie brings together more talent from the West: Craig Hayes, computer graphics guru of ``Pirates of the Caribbean,'' ``Superman Returns'' and ``The Matrix''; Corey Yuen, action director for ``X-Men''; and Timmy Yip, set and costume of ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.''

``Red Cliff'' opens in Asian theaters July 10 and the second part of the movie will follow in December. 15 and over. 132 minutes. In Chinese with Korean subtitles. Distributed by Showbox/Mediaplex.

www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2008/07/141_26959.html

[lovevicki]

Review from watching the footage, (ÎÄÕÂ Article)
by Wee (Ì©¹ú), Sunday, July 06, 2008, 12:07:59 @ Wee

Post reply(»ØÌû)


New Red Cliff Footage

* By Adam Campbell
* Published 07/3/2008


John Woo¡¯s return to China has been heavily hyped. For years, fans have been begging him to walk away from unrepentant rubbish that he was making in Hollywood. And eventually, he did. After the release of Paycheck, John Woo has not shot another feature film in the past five years. Thank God, many would say. Well, John did return to China but the project he picked up there was not quite what was expected. Rather than return to his Hong Kong roots of gangsters and guns, Woo set about making an historical epic. And my eyes just about rolled out my mouth when I first heard that.

My fear was that the success of films like Crouching Tiger and so on would lead to some Wu Xia indulgence. Zhang Yimou, the celebrated dramatist, certainly had no problem leaping into wu xia productions with Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower. Was John Woo going to take a fifth hand pass at this international revival now? After Andrew Lau had his Storm Riders in the 90s, after other celebrated directors like Ang Lee, Wong Kar Wai, Zhang Yimou, Tsui Hark and Chen Kaige, was John Woo really going to throw his hat into the ring so much after the fact?

Well luckily that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case, based on the new extended footage of his new film, Red Cliff. The first film of this two-part, hugely expensive Chinese production will open in China a week from today and a load of new footage as been released just in time for the movie's opening just before the Beijing Olympics (a funny coincidence). Interestingly the widely reported incident of the stunt man killed on set happened only last month, the cause of some very late third unit work presumably thought needed to buff up the final battle, glimpsed in these clips.

The film itself is based on the Chinese historical period of the Three Kingdoms, and not the popular novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms which took history as the stepping stone, and was then repeated in numerous other books, comics and games. As such Red Cliff is rather a fresh telling, in that it cuts out the bias and contrived heroes settled upon by the author of the Romance so many ancient years ago. My ignorance of this period (mostly limited to other films and Dynasty Warriors) is part of the reason I¡¯m keen on this film.

In it, Tony Leung Chiu Wai plays Zhou Yu, a military strategist for the young warlord heir Sun Quan, played by Chang Chen. The ageless Taiwan/Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro (what is this guy¡¯s secret?) plays Zhuge Liang, the other most prominent military strategist of his era. Though I knew he would be appearing in this film, I was surprised to see Japanese actor Shido Nakamura appear so often in the promotional material, though I don¡¯t know much about his part in the story of Red Cliff, I know he plays a character called Gan Xing and is seen in the clips experimenting with fire, probably leading to one of Zhou Yu¡¯s famous moments.

When I wrote my post about Tadanobu Asano a few weeks ago, I actually mentioned Shido Nakamura, an actor I¡¯m fond of. I also mentioned Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who I believe, with Asano, is one of the most talented actors working today. Many people were disappointed when Chow Yun Fat left this production to be replaced with Tony Leung. I have a soft spot for Chow Yun Fat that comes from a lifetime of watching his pictures, but him being replaced with Tony did not hit me hard. The replacement doesn¡¯t just change the actor, it changes the mood of the whole picture. I believe that with Chow Yun Fat, we would have seen a much different picture, the relationship with Takeshi Kaneshiro would have been different at least, it could not have played out the same way it will against his Chungking Express co-star Leung.

Though I¡¯m primarily interested in this film for the actors involved, another part of me is concerned for John Woo. I know he doesn¡¯t need my sympathy, but as a long-time fan, I¡¯d like to see him back in successful pictures. John Woo did need to come back to China. Unfortunately, Woo is a great example of a director who was battered by Hollywood, either through his own judgement or the urging of producers. I assumed his inevitable return to China would play it safe. Maybe that remake of Le Cercle Rouge he often talked about before Johnnie To seemed to take it over. But instead, he went bigger than before, more than anything he¡¯s done before. And it¡¯s been about 30 years since he¡¯s done any kind of Chinese historical picture, never mind those he started with were not particularly successful.

So for most films these days, the long trailer is a kind of trick. It shows a good opening sequence (or it tries to) in order to get a reluctant audience to change their mind by seeing so much of the picture. But for Red Cliff, it¡¯s a kind of reassurance. The 9 minute promo is not the first 9 minutes of the film, it¡¯s an extended trailer from an epic production. The first trailer made the film look like a picture about warriors, here the 9 minutes betray it as a movie about strategists. Not that it¡¯s not action packed, it is, to an incredible extent. I love the series of sequences that sow new tactics and new weapons being used in various battles. There¡¯s even a filming of what looks like an ancient Chinese football match somehow!

The film is coming from an historical source but it is far from dry. Nor does it want to put its foot in with the fantasy wu xia pictures either. Though they may look similar in rapid glances, the more paced 9 minute promo delivers the difference. But that¡¯s not to say the incredible elements have been entirely exorcised. Zhuge Liang is thought by some ot have called down a wind that helped Zhou Yu¡¯s famous fire attack. In the new footage Woo seems to want us to go either way, with a shot of Kaneshiro waving his fan and the wind picking up around him.

Most of all what Red Cliff shows is that despite the drips of CGI shown here and there, there is no substitution for lots of extras and especially for amazing sets. Perhaps these days China is the only country in the world who can make films like this today.

If you¡¯d like to check all the new footage out, you can see the trailer and the 9 minute promo over at Twitch. The official websites of the film in various Asian territories are also running trailers, but I think only the short Japanese one has the stones to say ¡°From the team that brought you MI:2 and Pirates of the Carribean¡± in a positive manner.

chud.com/articles/blogs/849/New-Red-Cliff-Footage.html

[lovevicki]

'Red Cliff' opens well in Hong Kong John Woo film gets positive critical reaction (Variety) (ÐÂÎÅ&ͼƬ News & Photos)
by Wee (Ì©¹ú), Friday, July 11, 2008, 07:08:10 @ Wee

Post reply(»ØÌû)


By PATRICK FRATER

HONG KONG -- Early signs indicate John Woo's "Red Cliff," the most expensive Asian film ever, is off to a strong start in Hong Kong.

According to unconfirmed sources at Edko, epic scored more than HK$1.7 million ($218,000) on Thursday, the first day of release in Hong Kong. Edko is assisting Mei Ah release the pic in the territory.

Pic received a generally positive critical reception. Online bloggers and commentators liked the action scenes and said that the movie did not feel as long as its 2-hour 20-minutes run time. But others also said that pic was weighed down with heavy expectations.

In Hong Kong pic has to deal with stiff competition from "Kung Fu Panda" and "Hanthingy" still playing on large numbers of screens.

In China, the path has been largely cleared for "Red Cliff's" outing with considerably less competition -- and numbers are expected to be many times higher.

Throughout Asia the pic is being released in two parts, with the second part skedded for January.

China Film will not release mainland figures for a couple of days but expectations are high, according to projections on local websites and media commentary.

www.variety.com/article/VR1117988742.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

[lovevicki]

Full house for "Red Cliff" on opening day (CRI) (ÐÂÎÅ&ͼƬ News & Photos)
by Wee (Ì©¹ú), Thursday, July 10, 2008, 15:44:05 @ ±±·ç´µÑã

Post reply(»ØÌû)


The costliest Chinese film seems to have the potential to be the most profitable as well. John Woo's "Red Cliff" opened on Thursday, attracting a full house at almost every theater screening the film.

Theaters in Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and many other cities reported unusually high attendance for the opening of the historical epic shortly after midnight on Thursday, Sohu.com reports.

Despite its grand premiere last week, it was the first time the two-hour and 20-minute film was screened in its entirety.

An audience member in Beijing told Sohu that she heard that John Woo had spent five years making "Red Cliff," which aroused her curiosity in the film.

Moviegoers were also impressed by the film's magnificence, Sohu says. "Red Cliff" is based on a well-known historical battle in 208 AD in which thousands of ships were burnt. The biggest scenes involved 2,000 actors and crew members, and around 1,300 special effects are used, an earlier report on Shanghai Daily says.

A few viewers on Thursday voiced disappointments that the lines spoken by these ancient characters were too modern, but Sohu found in a survey that generally speaking, the audiences gave the film a thumbs-up.

The lengthy film also left some fans feeling exhausted, yet John Woo has done his best to cut it short. The current release is just half of the "Red Cliff" series. Woo said before that it's very difficult to condense the story into two hours so he split it into two parts to allow more room for character development.

The second part is set for release in Asia in December, when Western audience will also get to see a single, condensed release.

The US$70 million "Red Cliff" is said to be the most expensive Chinese-language film ever made. Its star-heavy cast spans talents from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland, including Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Lin Chi-ling, Zhao Wei and Hu Jun.

www.chinadaily.com.cn/showbiz/2008-07/10/content_6835030.htm

[lovevicki]

Most expensive Asian film, "Red Cliff", set to be red hot at box office (Xinhua ) (ÐÂÎÅ&ͼƬ News & Photos)
by Wee (Ì©¹ú), Thursday, July 10, 2008, 15:58:44 @ ±±·ç´µÑã

Post reply(»ØÌû)


by Xinhua Writers Miao Xiaojuan, Wang Cong

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Reportedly Asia's most expensive ever film, the widely anticipated "Red Cliff", debuted in Beijing on Thursday with thousands staying up to see the first showings just after midnight.

Normally early-retiring Beijingers set aside their reservations about the midweek late night to sit through the two-and-a-half-hour first installment of the two-part battle epic -- and most gave it a warm welcome.

The 80-million-US-dollar historical drama opened in 48 Beijing cinemas under the Chinese title "Chi Bi" and was still drawing cinemagoers later on Thursday.

The Capital Times Cinema sold 186 tickets for the first show, compared with fewer than 10 tickets for the midnight opening of the Hollywood blockbuster Ironman in late April, said a security official surnamed Liu.

About 1,000 seats in UME Huaxing International Cineplex were taken, and New Capital Cinema sold all 1,730 tickets, most of which were bought by an IT company.

"I think the movie is worth watching," said 18-year-old Zhen Li, who sat the national college entrance examination last month. "The grand martial scenes and the heroes' integrity are really impressive. But I found some minor mistakes concerning historical facts and I hope next time the director will pay more attention to detail."

The first episode of "Red Cliff" opened across Asia on Thursday, and its second episode is set to be released in December. By then, a condensed version covering both episodes will also be released outside of Asia.

"I am looking forward to the second episode, for sure," Zhen said.

A woman surnamed Zhang expressed concern that the heroes' characters failed to match historical accounts. "Maybe the style is more likely to be favored by young people, because of its humor and all-star cast," she said.

New Capital Cinema manager Yu Chao said the film was sold out again on Thursday morning. "We'll screen the movie so long as enough people want to see it and we'll arrange the schedule according to the market," said Yu.

The movie revolves around the epic Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD, a decisive battle, immediately prior to China's Three Kingdoms period, between allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and the numerically superior forces of the warlord Cao Cao.

The allied victory of Liu Bei and Sun Quan at Red Cliffs disrupted Cao Cao's plot to conquer the lands south of the Yangtze River. Liu and Sun's force of 50,000 defeated Cao's force of 800,000 and burnt 2,000 boats in the final battle.

The biggest scenes in the movie involved 2,000 actors and crew. Around 1,300 special effects were used, according to earlier media reports.

Award-winning Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Taiwan supermodel LinChi-ling and Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro are among the movie's A-list cast.

The China News Agency on Thursday quoted Xie Weijia, manager of the state-owned China Film Group Corporation, the main investor in the production, as saying, "The 80-million-U.S.-dollar investment makes Red Cliff the most expensive Asian-financed film ever."

"Generally I think the movie is okay, but the performance of Lin Chi-ling is a bit unnatural," Zhang Liangbei, author of several film-related books, including a biography of Taiwan director Ang Lee.

Zhou Liming , a critic for Movie Review magazine, doubted Red Cliff would win many fans in either the mainland or international markets.

"The story wasn't so interesting in the first episode. The actors and actress didn't perform so well either, but those special effects are good," said Zhou.

On July 2, the film premiered in Chengdu's Wu Hou Shrine, a top cultural heritage building, as part of campaign to raise public morale in the quake-hit region.

Hollywood-based Hong Kong director John Woo had told media he hoped it would be "a global blockbuster" and that Western cinemagoers would have a better understanding of Chinese culture, which was "more than Kungfu".

With "Red Cliff", Woo "shows he is still a masterful director to be reckoned with", Associated Press critic Min Lee wrote.

However, Lee noted it remained to be seen if Woo's story could win non-Asian audiences who are less familiar with the Chinese history.

Woo, 62, returned to depict the legendary battle of Red Cliff after he got his fame in Hollywood for his box-office hits like "Face/Off"(1997) and "Mission Impossible II"(2002).

news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/10/content_8524002.htm

[lovevicki]

Creative to introduce limited-edition Red Cliff Zen X-Fi (Cnet) (ÐÂÎÅ&ͼƬ News & Photos)
by Wee (Ì©¹ú), Thursday, July 10, 2008, 10:05:55 @ ±±·ç´µÑã

Post reply(»ØÌû)



In conjunction with the premiere of the epic movie Red Cliff in Singapore, Creative, together with Scorpio East Pictures, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and Golden Village Pictures, today launched a limited-edition Red Cliff Zen X-Fi media player.

Aside from the Red Cliff external packaging, the limited-edition model will also include photos of the movie cast as well as the official movie trailer. Available only in the 8GB and 16GB models, the Red Cliff Zen X-Fi will be sold in Singapore at selected retail outlets and Creative stores and its Web site. Pricing will be the same as the non movie versions, though the limited-edition unit will bundle in a free Zen X-Fi armband.

Directed by acclaimed director John Woo, Red Cliff is set during the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. It stars renowned actors Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

The Zen X-Fi is Creative's first media player to sport the company's patented X-Fi audio technology as well as wireless LAN. Read our full coverage of the company's launch of its Zen X-Fi in Singapore.

asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/07/10/creative-to-introduce-limited-edition-red-cliff-zen-x-fi/