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Red Cliff battles Hollywood
《赤壁（下）》
英国人看到了什么
作者：DAVID BARTRAM,
21ST CENTURY
ST 时间：2009-01-20
来源：21世纪英文报第788期
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。
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
ambitious Asian-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 spectacular
battle 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 tension has 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.
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