This is the first part of the two part Red Cliff saga directed by John Woo. This movie is a masterpiece, the battle scenes are epic and in particular, the choreography of the Yinyang/Tortoise formation was awesome and the high expectation for the final battle is something to look forward to but that will be in the second part of the movie. I loved all the war scenes in both movie. The overall plot of the Red Cliff saga is similar to the American movie Troy, a host of invading army lead by an ambitious but love struck general will try to conquer 2/3 of China because of a girl. This first part covers the forming of the alliance of the 2 neighboring countries, and shows of human frailties and strengths of the defending leaders. The cast were likewise outstanding, especially Takeshi Kaneshiro as the strategist who have a little knowledge of a lot of things. Rewatch value is 10, well worthy of a second viewing.