Four and a half hours of pure, unfiltered awesome. That's pretty much my conclusion after watching Redcliff, a John Woo film unlike any I've seen before.
The film is set during the ever popular and ever licensed Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga (for those who haven't come across this yet, its the hugely involved story of how the warring provinces of China were eventually brought together after much intriguing, deception, legendary battles and heartache).
As you might expect, the film (OK, films plural, the extended balls-out edition is actually separated into two films) only deals with a single set of events within the saga, namely the pivotal battle at Redcliff, where a vastly outnumbered force relies on a blend of tactical acumen, deception, the courage of the assembled heroic generals (for "heroic" read "lethal at twenty paces and regard dying as something that only happens to sissies") and one very adept spy...
Beautifully, impossibly, you see it all- everything. Nothing is cut out (unlike the theatrical release, which I suppose is understandable, especially in the US market), leaving the audience with a fuller understanding of the plot developments; this gives a greater sense of scope and in turn a better all over experience, especially if you are new to the RTK saga.
It's impossible to distil a single cohesive reason why this is so very good. It might be the huge set piece battles, it might be the characterisation, the fact that non-verbal acting is so strong here or perhaps just because it oozes so much style. I just don't know. Just grab a fistful of snacks and some like minded friends and invest the time to find out for yourselves!
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