John Woo Goes Back to China with 'The Battle of Red Cliff'

Everyone has said it, and they're right, John Woo went to shit when he went to America. 'Hard Target' had promise, 'Face-Off' aged terribly and things spiraled downwards to the laughable 'Windtalkers'. The kick-ass 'Hard Boiled', 'The Killer' and 'A Better Tomorrow' were distant memories.

The problem was this, John Woo's simple moral action tales could never work in a cynical Hollywood system. 'Red Cliff' is Woo's first project back home since he travelled to the new world and it's his first film that doesn't feature guns. It looks traditional, maybe a little cheesey, but it's big and sweeping and I hope to God that John Woo regains some of his lost credability.