Red Cliff
Magnet Releasing | Release Date: November 18, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
Anyone who enjoys stylized hyper-violence should be enthralled by this long, sweeping, murderously vivid dramatization of ancient Chinese warfare, circa A.D. 208. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The immensity encompasses such variety, subtlety and intimacy that you may find yourself yearning for more. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
This is magnificent filmmaking, and a magnificent film. Read full review
88
Washington PostJohn Anderson
Red Cliff is a dichotomous beast: The computer-generated imagery that makes so much of it possible is served up in heaping, state-of-the-art portions, but the results occasionally border on the cartoonish. At the same time, Red Cliff is a classic tale that gets a classicist's treatment. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The spectacular battle scenes are the engorged heart of the delirious adventure. But Woo also gets maximum romantic value from Tony Leung as a war hero married to Chiling Lin as the tea-pouring beauty. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Woo's hand is sure and his eye, as ever, finds beauty in everything, even death. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Nathan
Camp, over-the-top and entirely unbelievable: in short, the best thing John Woo has made in years. Read full review
80
VarietyDerek Elley
Balances character, grit, spectacle and visceral action in a meaty, dramatically satisfying pie that delivers on the hype and will surprise many who felt the Hong Kong helmer progressively lost his mojo during his long years stateside. Read full review
80
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Red Cliff exudes a physical grandiosity that few movies of the past 20 years have attempted--no matter that Woo, even at his best, is still more at ease with down-and-dirty action than epic pageantry. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
It's a movie on the Hollywood scale that has so much of the Asian spirit. It has drawn the Asian audience back to the movie theater. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A scrumptious war movie. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
As expected, it has gaping holes where back stories used to be. Still, it's a historical war movie with impressive sweep, strong characterizations and the kind of idiosyncratic flourishes that made Woo such an irresistible storyteller. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
We are reminded: War is hell. But at their best, war movies can be cool and beautiful. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Any war picture in which the heroine stalls the villain with a quiet, painstaking tea ceremony until the wind shifts direction and the good guys can firebomb the bad guys into oblivion is too ineffably Zen not to love. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMaggie Lee
A prelude that provides the beams and columns for the narrative framework, but with a few decisive and spot-on action spectacles, it sufficiently kindles expectations for the climactic clash in Part 2. Read full review
70
The New York TimesMike Hale
While handsome and intelligent and perfectly easy to sit through, never really approaches the visceral tug of Mr. Woo’s Hong Kong hits. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Returning to his roots after a stint in Hollywood, Woo has made the most expensive film in mainland Chinese history, a pleasantly traditional picture that marks a new direction for one of the world's premier action maestros. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The film is both traditional and modern: austere in its engagement with history, and insistent in its showy action beats. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
You may have the biggest flat-screen DLP monitor in the city, but Red Cliff will never look half as spectacular as it will on the big – and I mean really big – screen. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Even at 148 minutes (and viewed twice!), you still feel as if you’re watching the longest coming attraction ever for a John Woo movie. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
For all his brilliance with choreography, Woo is flummoxed by the thousands of actual human extras, though there’s no denying his commitment to the finer points of battle tactics (yawn). Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Overlong but ambitious, Woo proves he's as good at tactical maneuvers as he is at close-quarters combat. Read full review
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