Red Cliff

[James Compton]

This was one entertaining film. Many of the scenes still resonate in thoughts, now. The first jam session between Zhou Yu and Kongming- where Yu gives his pledge to fight through music. Seeing the warrior scholar aspect of those characters was very cool. Guan Yu was the man! I like how John Woo intermingled elements from the Art Of War through the characters and story.

 

The one time the Digital Intermediate became ugly, was when a green cast bled into skintones in midday desert scene. I'm almost certain it was 5205 and not a Fuji stock. The pyrotechnics were very good, and CG flames had layers of movement and shape. HATCH did a fair job on the digital matte paintings-except for the final shot with dual rainbows over the mountains. That one matte looked too fake. I very much wish the film had been shot anamorphic or at least a 4K DI. Oh well, I still got my money's worth.

Edited December 6, 2009 by James Compton