WITH its budget of $80 million (547 million yuan), John Woo as director, and an all-star cast, Red Cliff is the most expensive and ambitiousAsian-financed film ever. Last week saw the release of the second part, and boy oh boy does it show. The highlights of Red Cliff 2 are undoubtedly the spectacularbattle scenes, which rival just about anything I have seen in terms of action, excitement and pure "wow" factor. But watching the film as a foreigner I felt I was missing out on something. Not knowing my Cao Cao's from my Zhou Yu's, I was not even sure whom I wanted to win. Raised on Hollywood epics, perhaps I am too used to having "good" and "evil" clearly defined for me. Certainly after the opening scene, in which Cao Cao is seen watching a game of Cuju, an ancient Chinese variation of football, I knew who had my support. After all, any man who enjoys his football is someone after my own heart. But after Cao Cao resorted to some unscrupulous tactics against his enemies in the south, I wasn't so sure he was the man I should be rooting for. The film was not a million miles away from the Lord of the Rings series. This was certainly the case in the stunning final battle, which includes a flaming fleet of war boats, millions of arrows and thousands of soldiers. I almost expected Gandalf to intervene at some point, but this was the middle Kingdom, not Middle-earth. But there is a lot more to Red Cliff 2 than just extravagant battle scenes. In one great sequence, Cao Cao's officers are tricked into giving away their arrows by firing at empty boats. Indeed the fighting only begins in earnest more than halfway into the film, when the tensionhas almost reached breaking point. The film does not take itself too seriously. This is important in making scenes that could otherwise be seen as a little melodramatic. Conversations between leaders are littered with one-liners, many of which had the audience in laughter. There is even enough to keep fans of more romantic entertainment happy too. This includes a charming relationship between a southern spy and a hapless northern soldier. The characters' interaction provides some genuinely heart-warming moments in the middle of the battle. But at the end of the day, Red Cliff 2 is still about the action, and this is where it excels. The scenes are gripping, and match anything produced by Hollywood in recent years. Clocking in at around two hours, the film certainly does justice to the epic story. When I walked out the cinema, I felt as drained as Cao Cao's soldiers must have 1,800 years ago.
英语词汇解析 bicker斗嘴 clock in at 结束于 drain耗尽 fleet 舰队 gripping 引人注意的 hapless 不幸的 huddle 挤作一团 litter 间杂着 melodramatic 情节剧的 point a finger at 指责 resort求助 root for 支持 unscathed 未受伤的 unscrupulous 无道德的 strife 斗争 variation 变异 winger〈足球〉侧翼运动员 write off 撞毁 BONUS Expression one-liner 俏皮话，打趣的话 The TV drama is popular among the youth because it's filled with the latest one-liners. 这个电视剧在年轻人中很受欢迎，因为它里面有很多时髦的俏皮话。 do justice to 使(人,物)的价值充分发挥 This photograph does not do justice to the beauty of the scenery. 这张照片没有将景色之美完全展现出来。整理