Red Cliff is the latest John Woo film and I must admit up front that I'm a John Woo fan. I think he does wonderful work including The Killer, The Blind Assassin, Mission Impossible, Broken Arrow, and Face Off. I think he just has a great ability to keep you entertained and this is perhaps his most entertaining movie yet. It's set 1,800 years ago in China with two opposing factions in the north and the south and it will remind you of Kurasawa in Ran at his most proficient. This is a guy who has a great feeling for spectacle, for epic, for action, and you care about the characters. The battle sequences are breath taking. Everybody in the theater at one point turned around and said we need these dudes in Afghanistan. The military strategy is amazing. This is a five star movie. It's really terrific. It is almost three hours and it will fly by. It's a wonderful movie.

Joy Meter: 5