summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2009-12-05 12:00 am
summercomfort) wrote2009-12-05 12:00 am
RED CLIFF
OMG SO AWESOME!!
Jono now understands Chinese tactical formations.
- They had to change the story a bit to make it more standalone, but the adaptation is pretty good. They also managed to keep some of my favorite scenes (or homages thereof) from the book. (I used to have SUCH A CRUSH on Zhao Yun when I was in 4th grade).
- I really like how no one really had that "Hollywood glow". Like, faces with pockmarks and stuff. Well, okay, Xiao Qiao and Kong Ming were kinda glowy, but Zhu Yu, Zhang Fei, etc -- just normal guys who KICK ASS.
- SO MUCH BADASSERY. Great fight scenes where they're just grabbing enemy spears and then spearing people left and right. When Zhu Yu gets shot, he rips the arrow out and STABNATES the enemy general with it. However, I think I like it better than the LotR stuff because it shows a lot of the chaos of war -- lots of the fight scenes you can't really tell who's on which side -- it's just lots of people burning and dying. Also, not so many crazy Legolas stunts. There's stunts, but they're within the realm of possibility.
- OMG so much Zhou Yu/Kong Ming slash opportunities. They were totally SEXING IT UP with all that zither playing. Sadly, they don't do the "Fire" comparison thing, and Zhu Yu doesn't get sick, so Kong Ming doesn't get to visit him.
- Um... Zhou Yu/Xiao Qiao sex? Kinda weird. I mean, I'm glad there's women in here (nominally 3), but... the pacifist crooning didn't work for Arwen, and it doesn't work for Xiao Qiao. (Come to think of it, the other chick is a nice parallel to Eowyn)
- The Cao Cao/Xiao Qiao thing is also kinda weird.
- Full of little cultural nods, like "tea!" and "soccer!" and "Calligraphy!" and there's a really cute scene where Guan Yu teaches little kiddies -- BADASS on the battlefield, scholar off the battle field.
- Nice notes of nationalist messages -- "We rule with honor and benevolence" "We do things for the sake of the people, which is why they follow us." "We're fighting in self defense, but don't mess with us" "We must band together for the sake of the nation" "Harmonious alliance!!" Thank you, Chinese Government.
- The speaking style was sort of clunky -- waxing elegant one moment, and then using modern speak the next. It was a bit jarring at times. It's like hearing "Thou speakst words of wisdom. I wanna be your friend!!"
- John Woo was really into the close up face pan. Kinda got annoying by the end. He's like "wide shot action!" and then "close up on face showing emotion!" and then "mad action cuts!"
- The ending is kinda ... different? I wonder what Red Cliff 2 is about...
In general, great movie. Lots of fun. If you liked LotR (especially Two Towers), I would definitely recommend it. Lots of armies and fighting and strategery. If you've read the book, just be prepared for them cutting out about 80% of the plotting and strategery to streamline the movie. Warning: there's lots of fighting between a bajillion Chinese people, where it's hard to keep people straight. Tip: keep track of facial hair and helmet style.
Jono now understands Chinese tactical formations.
- They had to change the story a bit to make it more standalone, but the adaptation is pretty good. They also managed to keep some of my favorite scenes (or homages thereof) from the book. (I used to have SUCH A CRUSH on Zhao Yun when I was in 4th grade).
- I really like how no one really had that "Hollywood glow". Like, faces with pockmarks and stuff. Well, okay, Xiao Qiao and Kong Ming were kinda glowy, but Zhu Yu, Zhang Fei, etc -- just normal guys who KICK ASS.
- SO MUCH BADASSERY. Great fight scenes where they're just grabbing enemy spears and then spearing people left and right. When Zhu Yu gets shot, he rips the arrow out and STABNATES the enemy general with it. However, I think I like it better than the LotR stuff because it shows a lot of the chaos of war -- lots of the fight scenes you can't really tell who's on which side -- it's just lots of people burning and dying. Also, not so many crazy Legolas stunts. There's stunts, but they're within the realm of possibility.
- OMG so much Zhou Yu/Kong Ming slash opportunities. They were totally SEXING IT UP with all that zither playing. Sadly, they don't do the "Fire" comparison thing, and Zhu Yu doesn't get sick, so Kong Ming doesn't get to visit him.
- Um... Zhou Yu/Xiao Qiao sex? Kinda weird. I mean, I'm glad there's women in here (nominally 3), but... the pacifist crooning didn't work for Arwen, and it doesn't work for Xiao Qiao. (Come to think of it, the other chick is a nice parallel to Eowyn)
- The Cao Cao/Xiao Qiao thing is also kinda weird.
- Full of little cultural nods, like "tea!" and "soccer!" and "Calligraphy!" and there's a really cute scene where Guan Yu teaches little kiddies -- BADASS on the battlefield, scholar off the battle field.
- Nice notes of nationalist messages -- "We rule with honor and benevolence" "We do things for the sake of the people, which is why they follow us." "We're fighting in self defense, but don't mess with us" "We must band together for the sake of the nation" "Harmonious alliance!!" Thank you, Chinese Government.
- The speaking style was sort of clunky -- waxing elegant one moment, and then using modern speak the next. It was a bit jarring at times. It's like hearing "Thou speakst words of wisdom. I wanna be your friend!!"
- John Woo was really into the close up face pan. Kinda got annoying by the end. He's like "wide shot action!" and then "close up on face showing emotion!" and then "mad action cuts!"
- The ending is kinda ... different? I wonder what Red Cliff 2 is about...
In general, great movie. Lots of fun. If you liked LotR (especially Two Towers), I would definitely recommend it. Lots of armies and fighting and strategery. If you've read the book, just be prepared for them cutting out about 80% of the plotting and strategery to streamline the movie. Warning: there's lots of fighting between a bajillion Chinese people, where it's hard to keep people straight. Tip: keep track of facial hair and helmet style.
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But, yes! Guan Yu teaching the kiddies, Liu Bei making sandals... lots of fun. I also liked the opening scene with Cao Cao, because you really got a sense of how powerful he's supposed to be. The later stuff with him mooning over Xiao Qiao was disappointing, though.
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Maybe one of them is close to you?
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