Red Cliff Page #5

Synopsis: In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever.
Director(s): John Woo
Production: Magnolia Pictures
  13 wins & 43 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Metacritic:
73
Rotten Tomatoes:
90%
R
Year:
2008
148 min
$526,841
Website
1,044 Views


This Yinyang formation is not at all outdated!

Form up!

It's a trap!

I predicted this ambush

Damn! Now the advantage is theirs

Kill them

Get back in formation!

Break through the shields and attack the enemy!

Charge!

Signal the cavalry! Break through their encirclement!

I will kill Zhou Yu for this!

Turn!

Turn!

Charge!

Attack! Kill them!

Get back in formation!

Hang in there!

Hang in there!

Viceroy!

Viceroy!

Come on!

Attack!

Great! This is great!

Get out!

Reporting!

Your Honor,

Cao Cao's fleet is sailing towards Red Cliff

Prime Minister, our army was defeated!

Our cavalries have never lost a battle

It is only a slight setback. No need to panic

They managed to outfox this old fox

Look,

even though we came a long way on water,

not one allied ship was there to counterattack

Instead, they ambushed our ground forces

They were ready for us

The war against these rebels

shall not be underestimated

Prime Minister,

since they do not have an adequate naval defense,

let's send out our navy to destroy the allies!

I would rather spend more time

preparing my troops for the naval battle

Sooner or later, we will get across the river

I am still waiting to carve my poetry onto that cliff

Right there!

Make camp

right across from Red Cliff

Victory! Victory!

So many ships

If we used them as firewood,

it would take a hundred years to burn them all!

How can we beat them?

Cao Cao claimed to have an army of eight hundred thousand

It looks like he really does

So what if he has eight hundred thousand troops?

With only one tortoise, we stalled his army

Exactly!

The delay has taken away their momentum

What do you think?

Rather than attack directly with his navy,

Cao Cao tried a rear sneak attack with his cavalry

He made a mistake

Now, he will change his tactics

and begin using his navy

Cao Cao used only two thousand

troops, to discover our strengths

But we know nothing of our enemy

We can only wait for their next attack

How is your arrow wound?

Fine

It's only a slight wound

I owe you this one

Take it easy

Victory!

They are cheering for victory much too early

With such good morale what is there to fear?

We need good spirits to win this war

Your Honor!

This medicine will cure the wound very quickly

Please bear with the pain

Let me do this

Let me do something for a wounded soldier

How does my bandage look?

You wrapped me up like a rice ball

It seems that Cao Cao isn't as fierce as he seems

He is indeed fierce

He is a seasoned military commander

He will do anything within his power to gain victory

He knows how to command an army,

but he has no friends

Cao Cao is unlike you

This toast

is for Viceroy Zhou!

To Viceroy Zhou!

Me too! For Viceroy Zhou!

I hope he can recover soon

We joined forces under pressure

but were successful beyond our wildest dreams

Our brilliant victory shocked Cao Cao!

Duke,

I have a difficult favor to ask of you

One hundred thousand refugees

followed us from Xinye City

I have no land on which to settle them

After defeating Cao Cao,

I would like you to let me use Jingzhou to settle the people

Jingzhou is the heartland of the Yangtze

and a most valuable strategic location

How could you?

Only a righteous leader

owns his land

Indeed,

a righteous leader

may only need a small piece of land

The Kingdom is vast,

vast enough to shelter all refugees

But I am only afraid that

once soldiers settle in, they will never leave

Those in arms are all our own men

If a Lord is righteous, then all the Kingdom's men are his to lead

Come,

let's drink up!

Toast!

The princess is a true heroine!

Lord Liu,

my younger sister,

has always admired great gentlemen

But since she is so fierce,

I have always worried about her marriage,

as it is difficult to seek a suitable gentleman for her

Brother,

what are you talking about?

If the Liu and Sun families become relatives,

Then it wouldn't matter how we

divided the land and men, would it?

The war has only just begun

I...

have never thought of re-marrying,

but...

Brother,

you must be drunk

What do you take me for!

I have found you a fine match

What's wrong with that?

Fine

Then, I will have

a hundred of my armed maids

guarding my door,

and I dare you to step in...

and...

Oh, no

Big Brother!

Big Brother!

How rude!

How outrageously rude!

Brother!

You have never learned to respect me!

That's strange

What did I do wrong?

Big Brother's acupuncture points are locked

Wake up!

Whatever you do, don't kill my pigeons

Their acupuncture points are different from those of men

I hope I didn't hurt your Lord

He wouldn't blame you, even if you hurt him

Was I outrageously rude?

I think you are unique

it is the unique ones who are the most misunderstood

I hate those arranged marriages

Women are pushed around

like chess pieces

You are feeding them too much

They won't be able to fly anymore

If only I was like them

You want to...

fly?

I have been living in the palace all my life

It is such a bore

Your talents exceed those of others,

yet you hide them

Only you can see them

I used to go hunting with my brother across the shore

Back then, the field was full of people dancing and praying

Now, it has all become dark and mysterious

Everything has changed now that Cao Cao has come

Before they come here,

I will go over there

to take a peek

and stir up some trouble

Take care

The weather has turned cold

I have served the Prime Minister

for three days already

Yet, Your Highness still does not know my name

My name is...

Can you serve tea?

I can

Do so

Prime Minister,

we can start the therapy today

Doctor,

what's the matter?

Tea, Your Highness

Incorrect,

try again

Tea, Your Highness

That's the way

Xiao Qiao,

I have always admired the way you serve tea

He started this war

all because of a woman?

What are you doing?

I just gave them a bath

and am drying them off

What if they catch a cold?

How is your wound?

It's fine

I heard last night was quite entertaining

Last night's celebration made me realize

that we may becomes enemies tomorrow

When that day comes,

you and I

will each serve our own sides

I cannot stand the thought

of a stand-off with you

I hope it never will happen

You are a brilliant commander

Fortunately, you are not on Cao Cao's side

Otherwise, you will be a big trouble

You've been looking across the shore for two days now

What do you see?

I must remain calm

How about you?

I also need to remain calm

Cao Cao has no experience in naval affairs

To cross the river,

he must rely on Cai Mao and Zhang Yun

They are both Southerners

They know all the rocks and currents in the river

If we can eliminate them,

half of the Cao navy will be paralysed

That...

would be rather difficult

Cao Cao is always very wary of assassins,

just as his followers are wary of his deadly temper

They have interesting fleet formations

Every formation has its weakness

It's only up to us to find it

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John Woo

John Woo SBS (Ng Yu-Sum; born 1 May 1946) is a Chinese-born Hong Kong film director, writer, and producer. He is considered a major influence on the action genre, known for his highly chaotic action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and frequent use of slow motion. Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992), and Red Cliff (2008/2009). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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