Which 2008 epic war film by John Woo centers on a famous Three Kingdoms battle? The answer is Red Cliff.
John Woo’s Red Cliff dramatizes the Battle of Red Cliffs, fought around 208–209 AD near the end of China’s Han dynasty. The conflict pitted the forces of warlord Cao Cao against an alliance associated with Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The battle is remembered as a decisive moment leading into the Three Kingdoms period.
The film features Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the strategist and commander Zhou Yu and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang. It draws on both historical accounts and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the celebrated novel by Luo Guanzhong. That literary source blends recorded events with legends, characterization, and dramatic embellishment.
Red Cliff was released in Asia as a two-part epic with a combined running time of about 288 minutes. International versions were shortened to roughly 148 minutes and were sometimes released under the title Battle of Red Cliff. It is distinct from Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, another 2008 film inspired by the same historical era but focused on a different story.