The suspense stems from a rivalry of wits among Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao, the major characters of the film. It's a human chess game that Woo said could reflect the natural feelings people have, like happiness after a victory and wisdom gained from the fact that the weak can defeat the strong.

Since the successful movie A Better Tomorrow, made in 1986, Woo has cemented his position in Hong Kong's film circle, and brotherhood has always been a central theme of his films. Red Cliff will continue this style.

"Although Red Cliff will present audience with grand war scenes, the film is more about humanity," Woo said. "How can a small and weak alliance deal with a strong power? It will have all the elements of friendship and of course a love line between the beauty and the hero."

Woo believes there is a connection between the respected figures in history and the chivalrous spirit, personality and contribution they made to society, with the world we live in today. People still feel the impact of a nation's heroes, he said, adding that "when we deal with war scenes, we need to express bearing, sentiment and nobility of people."

Talking about the war and fight scenes in Red Cliff, Woo stressed that although he has made several American commercial action films, here he has paid more attention to merge action and emotion using more visual techniques to express heroism. Even for the hard action scenes he will be seeking a fresh approach.

Woo said that many Chinese people who have read the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms may know about the history of the Battle of Red Cliff, but few people know how the war was actually fought. "What we will do is to visualize what people cannot imagine," he explained.

He hopes to reproduce the spectacle and atmosphere of the award-winning Hollywood blockbuster The Longest Day in Red Cliff.

Movie to motivate

"But I don't want to make a heavy movie," Woo emphasized. "Instead, I hope to make an epic that shows the positive meaning of life, and I don't want to make these heroes into gods."

He intends to tell audiences how some ordinary people do extraordinary things. From this point, according to Woo, Red Cliff can convey a positive and optimistic attitude toward life.

"We hope Red Cliff will make more people believe in friendship and love and be more positive about life," Woo said. He cited ancient heroes like Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu (both were generals loyal to Liu Bei), who were passionate, loyal, idealists, as good role models for today's generation, who often succumb to stress and often elect to opt out of society. "We really need to learn something from ancient people," Woo said.

Stellar cast

"It's more suitable to describe the movie as a dream cast, rather than a dream film," Woo said, talking about the star-studded cast he has assembled and who he introduced to the media in Beijing in early May.

Cannes-award winning actor Tony Leung (from Hong Kong) will play Zhou Yu, Takeshi Kaneshiro (from Taiwan) will play Zhuge Liang, Chang Chen (from Taiwan) will play Sun Quan and Zhao Wei (from the Chinese mainland) will play Sun's sister. Besides this talented group of actors, the production team, led by Woo and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon art director Timmy Yip, are also a mouth-watering cinema prospect.

The shooting of Red Cliff will last about six months and the film is slated to premiere in 2008. The movie is planned to run for four hours and will be screened in two parts.