“Red Cliff” (2008) is Chinese historical war film loosely based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (AD 208–209) and events at the end of the Han dynasty preceding the Three Kingdoms period in imperial China. The film was directed by John Woo, and stars Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Wei, Hu Jun, and Lin Chi-ling. There’s plenty of action-oriented costume epics from China but few come close to Red Cliff in terms of acting, screenplay, direction, special effects, and other criteria.
