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Tagged ‘War‘

Movie Review: Red Cliff (Chi bi)

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Red Cliff

This review is for John Woo’s original 4 hour vision: Red Cliff parts 1 and 2, NOT the butchered 2 and a half hour Western release.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Directed By: John Woo

Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Fengyi Zhang, Chen Chang

Plot Synopsis:

After directing stylish action films such as The Killers and Face-Off, director John Woo turns to Chinese history for inspiration with Red Cliff. The Han Dynasty is facing its death in third century China, and the emperor raises a million-man army against two kingdoms that are hopelessly outmatched. This war film stars Tony Leung, reuniting with John Woo since Hard Boiled.

Review:

John Woo can be considered a legend of Asian Cinema.  Unfortunately, his dive into Western Cinema was more of a splat.  After the awesomeness of Hard Target and the success of Face-Off, he delivered clunkers such as Windtalkers, Mission Impossible II, and Paycheck.  People wondered where the magic went.  With Red Cliff, John Woo proves that his magic lies in China.  Red Cliff is John Woo’s most ambitious and visually stunning film to date.

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Movie Review: The Hurt Locker

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The Hurt Locker

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Directed By: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

Plot Synopsis:

When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn and Eldridge by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James’ true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever. [Uncredited, WorstPreviews.com]

Review:

Finally, we’re starting to hit the real films of 2009.  This summer has been plagued by pretty lousy “event” films.  Most of the pretty horrible and underwhelming.  While I enjoyed G. I. Joe for what it was, The Hurt Locker arrives and shows us what a real war movie is.  Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Point Break) gives us her best work to date with The Hurt Locker, bringing us the best modern warfare film since 2001′s Black Hawk Down.

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Movie Trailer: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is the first Iraq War Film that actually takes place 100% in Iraq.  This looks interesting, I’m really looking forward to seeing this on the big screen.  Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Point Break)from a screenplay by Mark Boal and starring Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Renner, and Evangeline Lilly.  Full Synopsis and stills after the jump.

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