Red Cliff

Episode 1
The film opens with a scene in the Imperial Court of the Han Dynasty in Xuchang in the summer AD 208. The Prime Minister Cao Cao requests for the Emperor Xian's permission to launch a campaign against the warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan in southern China, whom he considered to be rebels against the Han Dynasty. The Emperor hesitated, but reluctantly agreed after Cao Cao spoke of his contributions and loyalty to the Han Dynasty (rescuing the Emperor when he was in exile, uniting northern China). A court official Kong Rong openly challenged Cao Cao, denouncing him as a traitor with the intention of usurping the throne. Kong also claimed that Liu Bei and Sun Quan had no intentions of rebelling, especially when the former was the Emperor's uncle. Subsequently, Kong Rong was executed and Cao Cao was put in command of the Imperial Army and set forth on his campaign.

Cao Cao's mighty army conquered the southern lands with the force and speed equivalent to that of a tidal wave sweeping over the shore. Meanwhile, Liu Bei had abandoned the city of Xinye and was leading his army and civilians who were unwilling to be under Cao Cao's rule on an exodus. However, Cao Cao's calvary caught up with Liu Bei and a great battle ensued near Changban. Zhang Fei, sworn brother of Liu Bei, had personally led a small group of soldiers armed with reflective shields to hold off the enemy while buying time for the civilians to escape. As the enemy soldiers approached, Zhang's troops used their shields to reflect sunlight into the eyes of the enemy's horses, throwing them into chaos and seizing the opportunity to strike back. At the same time, Zhao Yun set off in search of Liu Bei's wives and son, whom were separated amidst the chaos. Zhao Yun found Lady Mi, who was desperately trying to protect the infant Liu Shan from being seized by enemy soldiers. She was severely wounded and commited suicide by drowning herself in a well after entrusting Liu Shan to Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun fought bravely and managed to break out after being surrounded by the enemy.

At the same time, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei's chief advisor, managed to bring Guan Yu, sworn brother of Liu Bei, to assist Zhang Fei. Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu bravely held off the enemy until the last group of civilians had evacuated. Guan Yu stayed on alone to hold off the enemy and was surrounded by several enemy soldiers. He threw his halberd towards Cao Cao, barely missing the latter by an inch. Later, Cao Cao gave orders to let Guan Yu off, saying that Guan Yu could have killed him earlier but decided to spare him.

After the battle at Changban, Zhuge Liang set forth for Wu on a diplomatic mission to negotiate for an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Sun Quan was in the midst of a dilemma, unsure whether to oppose Cao Cao or surrender. His advisors had been desperately trying to persuade him to surrender, while his military officers were advocating war. Zhuge Liang urged Sun Quan to form the alliance with Liu Bei against Cao Cao, but Sun Quan replied by putting his hand on Zhuge Liang's shoulder and saying that he needed more time to think about it. Lu Su then brought Zhuge Liang to meet Wu's great viceroy and chief commander of Wu's army Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu was busy training his troops at Chi Bi with Gan Ning. Zhuge Liang had a short discussion with Zhou Yu about war. A scene was featured in which Zhou Yu demonstrated his appreciation for music and the strong discipline enforced in his army.

Later, Zhou Yu went home where his horse had just given birth to a foal. His wife Xiao Qiao was overjoyed as though she had a child of her own. Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu had a music duet in which their ideas were conveyed by playing the zither. Zhuge Liang understood that Zhou Yu supported war against Cao Cao. Meanwhile in Cao Cao's camp, he had just recruited two new generals named Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, both of whom were surrendered generals and well-versed in naval warfare. At the same time, Cao Cao also boasted of his army's might and expressed his desire to possess the beautiful Xiao Qiao. At the same time, Sun Quan had finally made up his decision to form an alliance with Liu Bei and launch a war against Cao Cao after a tiger hunt. He drew his sword and sliced off a corner of the table, saying to his subjects, "Whoever who speaks of surrender shall end up like this table!" Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Cheng Pu as the main commanders of his army.

Zhou Yu and his generals went on a tour of Liu Bei's camp, exchanging ideas and having insights into Liu Bei's army. They formulated a plan to engage Cao Cao's army, which was moving towards Wu on both land and water. The first battle started, with Sun Shangxiang, Sun Quan's younger sister, luring Cao Cao's vanguard army into the Eight Tiagrams Formation, where Cao's army was utterly defeated by the allied forces. Cao Cao learnt of the defeat, but showed no disappointment at all. He proceeded to lead to his army to camp on the opposite side of the river, directly facing the allied army's camp at Chi Bi. At the same time, the allied forces were throwing a banquet to celebrate their victory.

Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang had a discussion on the new plan to combat Cao Cao's forces. Zhou Yu stated that Cao Cao's next move was still unclear although they had scored a victory against Cao Cao's vanguard army. Zhou Yu then said to Zhuge Liang that he hoped they would not become enemies in the future, and if that is so, they would each serve their respective lords. By sending a pigeon he had cared for the past few days to scout Cao Cao's army, Zhuge Liang discovered the enemy's formation. The film ends with Zhou Yu lighting his minature-sized ships on a map based on the battle formation with a torch.

The plot continues in episode 2.

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Differences between the movie and the novel

• Kong Rong was sentenced to execution by Cao Cao after he spoke ill of the latter before an emissary from Sun Quan, whereas in the movie he was executed for openly challenging Cao Cao and denouncing him as a traitor with the intention of usurping the throne before the emperor.


• In history, Lady Gan of Liu Bei's two wives survived the Battle of Changban unlike in the movie where she was killed by enemy soldiers amidst the chaos. In addition, Liu Bei had numerous sons, and the son portrayed in the story was not his only "remaining bloodline". In reality, his two daughters were captured in the battle.


• Zhang Fei and a few soldiers met Cao Cao's troops at a bridge where Zhang Fei bellowed at the enemy, striking fear into them such that they did not dare to advance. In the movie, Zhang Fei led an army of 1000 to engage the enemy head on.


• Guan Yu only arrived to reinforce Liu Bei's retreating army after Zhao Yun had rescued Liu Shan. He did not stay behind to hold off the enemy forces alone like in the movie.


• Zhuge Liang met Sun Quan personally and discussed about the alliance with him in a private conversation unlike in the movie where the duo met during an assembly of all the subjects of Wu.


• Zhou Yu was training his troops at Chaisang prior to the Battle of Red Cliffs and not at Red Cliff.


• Zhuge Liang first met Zhou Yu at the latter's residence unlike in the movie where they met at the military training grounds.


• Cao Cao had never met Xiao Qiao before in his entire life. However in the movie he mentioned that he had "never forgotten her" since he first saw her with her father Qiao Xuan.


• Cai Mao and Zhang Yun had surrended to Cao Cao before the Battle of Changban along with their lord Liu Cong but in the movie they came to serve Cao Cao after the battle.


• Zhou Yu and his generals did not visit Liu Bei's camp in history. In fact, they only had a brief meeting which was fictionalised in Romance of the Three Kingdoms in which Zhou Yu attempted to have Liu Bei assassinated.


• Sun Shangxiang had not met Liu Bei before their marriage, which was a politically-arranged marriage to strengthen ties between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. In the movie, Sun Shangxiang met Liu Bei at the banquet to celebrate the victory.


• The battle scene in the movie with the Eight Tiagrams Formation was a fictional one. The forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei did not actually fight side-by-side with each other in any battle. Also, the Eight Tiagrams


• Formation was only put into use long after the Battle of Red Cliffs.


• Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang did not become enemies in the future as Zhou Yu had said towards the end of the film. However, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the duo became bitter rivals after the Battle of Red Cliffs.

Cast

• Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Zhou Yu
• Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang
• Zhang Fengyi as Cao Cao
• Chang Chen as Sun Quan
• Zhao Wei as Sun Shangxiang
• Hu Jun as Zhao Yun
• Lin Chi-ling as Xiao Qiao
• Nakamura Shido as Gan Xing(甘興) (based on Gan Ning)
• You Yong as Liu Bei
• Song Jia (宋佳) as Li Ji(驪姬) (fictional character)
• Tong Dawei (佟大為) as Sun Shucai(孫叔財) (fictional character)
• Hou Yong (侯勇) as Lu Su
• Ba Sen Zha Bu (巴森扎布) as Guan Yu
• Zang Jinsheng (臧金生) as Zhang Fei
• Zhang Shan (張山) as Huang Gai
• Shi Xiaohong (師小紅) as Jiang Gan
• He Yin (何音) as Lady Mi
• Li Hong (李鴻) as Lady Gan
• Menghe Wuliji (孟和烏力吉) as Guan Ping
• Wang Yuzhang (王玉璋) as Cheng Pu
• Zhang Yi (張毅) as Zhang Zhao
• Wu Qi (吳旗) as Gu Yong
• Chen Changhai (陳長海) as Qin Song
• Wang Ning (王寧) as Emperor Xian of Han
• Zhao Chengshun (趙成順) as Xun You
• Wang Zaolai (王早來) as Cheng Yu
• Wang Qingxiang (王慶祥) as Kong Rong
• Xie Gang (謝剛) as Hua Tuo
• Yi Zhen (一真) as Cai Mao
• Jia Hongwei (賈宏偉) as Zhang Yun
• Wang Hui (王輝) as Cao Hong
• Jiang Tong (姜彤) as Li Tong
• Guo Chao (郭超) as Yue Jin
• Cui Yugui (崔玉貴) as Xu Chu
• Xu Fengnian (徐豐年) as Zhang Liao
• Ma Jing (馬京) as Wei Ben(魏贲) (based on Wen Pin)
• Hu Xiaoguang (胡曉光) as Xiahou Jun(夏侯雋) (based on Xiahou Yuan)
• Ye Hua (葉華) as Tian Tian(田田) (fictional character)

Movie Info
Directed by John Woo
Produced by Terence Chang, Han Sanping, Lion Rock Entertainment, China Film Group
Written by John Woo, Chen Han, Sheng Heyu (Based on Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms)
Music by Taro Iwashiro
Cinematography Lü Yue, Zhang Li
Distributed by Mei Ah Entertainment, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures,Avex Entertainment, Showbox, Summit Entertainment
Release date(s)
part 1: 10 July 2008 China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea
part 2: January 2009 Asia
Language Mandarin Chinese
Budget US$80 million


source: wikipedia