Red Cliff (Chi bi)

"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..."

"Woo aimed for “an Asian Troy”, but any similarities to Wolfgang Petersen’s schlockbuster are purely coincidental – this is a sweeping, stirring breath-snatcher that finds the director on his finest form since Face/Off. Even half-cut, it’s a whole lot of epic."

"To anyone who has never seen an epic Chinese screen production outside last year's Olympic Games ceremony, this might be a good place to start. It has spectacle, scenery, history, legend and an impressive array of Asian stars bundled into one grand banquet. But it could have been grander."

"Although this is hailed as Woo's "homecoming" after his Hollywood tenure, hardcore disciples of his Hong Kong oeuvre will be straining hard to find the all-stops-out passion and sinewy machismo that ignited his bullet ballets such as "A Better Tomorrow" or "The Killer"..."

"Camp, over-the-top and entirely unbelievable: in short, the best thing John Woo has made in years."

"With Red Cliff, Woo manages to do what his Hollywood contemporaries could not do with Troy or Alexander; he has made the historical epic fun, credible, and a Brad Pitt- and Orlando Bloom-free zone."