| Director | John Woo |
|---|---|
| Budget | $80 million |
| Box office | $250.1 million |
John Woo said in an interview with David Stratton that the film is only 50 per cent based on history. Woo decided to write the story to incorporate modern perspectives and his own feelings for a more worldly acceptance. According to Woo, historical accuracy was less important than how the audience felt about the battle.
The film is set in China in 208 AD towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao, the warlord who controls the figurehead Emperor Xian, leads the imperial army on a campaign to eliminate the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei, whom he denounces as rebels. After the emperor reluctantly approves the campaign, Cao Cao's mighty army swiftly conquers Jing Province. Cao Cao and Liu Bei's forces clash at the Battle of Changban. During the battle, Liu Bei's sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei lead their men to protect the retreating civilians and hold off Cao Cao's cavalry. Meanwhile, Zhao Yun, one of Liu Bei's warriors, fights bravely to save his lord's family but only succeeds in rescuing Liu Bei's infant son.
Following the battle, Liu Bei's adviser Zhuge Liang goes on a diplomatic mission to Jiangdong to form an alliance between his lord and Sun Quan against Cao Cao. Sun Quan is initially in a dilemma on whether to surrender or fight, but ultimately makes up his mind to go to war with Cao Cao after listening to Zhuge Liang and going on a tiger hunt with Zhou Yu, the frontline commander of his forces, and his sister, Lady Sun. Meanwhile, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, two naval officers from Jing Province, pledge allegiance to Cao Cao, who puts them in command of his massive fleet.
After the hasty formation of the Sun–Liu alliance, the forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan call for a meeting to formulate a plan to counter Cao Cao's army, which is rapidly advancing towards their base at Red Cliff via land and water routes. Lady Sun leads some riders to lure Cao Cao's vanguard force into the allies' Eight Trigrams Formation and defeat the enemy after a fierce battle. Unfazed by the loss of a small vanguard force, Cao Cao leads the bulk of his forces to the riverbank directly across Red Cliff and makes camp there. While the allies throw a banquet to celebrate their victory, Lady Sun leaves on a mission to spy on Cao Cao's camp, maintaining contact with Zhuge Liang by sending messages via pigeon.
Lady Sun, who has infiltrated Cao Cao's camp, secretly notes down its details and sends them to Zhuge Liang. Meanwhile, Cao Cao stages cuju games to boost his troops' morale. Sun Shangxiang befriends Sun Shucai, a soldier highly skilled at cuju. Soon after, Cao Cao's army is affected by a plague of typhoid fever that kills some soldiers. Cao Cao orders the corpses to be sent on floating rafts to the allies' camp in the hope of spreading the plague to his enemies. The allies' morale is affected when some unsuspecting soldiers let the plague in. Eventually, a disheartened Liu Bei leaves with his forces while Zhuge Liang stays behind to assist Sun Quan. Cao Cao is overjoyed when he hears that the Sun–Liu alliance has collapsed. At the same time, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun propose interlocking the battleships with iron beams to minimise rocking when sailing on the river and reduce the chances of the troops falling seasick.
leaves the alliance. From right to left: Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), Sun Quan (Chang Chen), Lu Su (Hou Yong).]]
Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang make plans to eliminate Cai Mao and Zhang Yun and produce 100,000 arrows respectively. They agree that whoever fails to complete his mission will be executed. Zhuge Liang's strategy of letting the enemy shoot 20 boats covered in straw brings in over 100,000 arrows from the enemy and makes Cao Cao doubt the loyalty of Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. On the other hand, Cao Cao sends Jiang Gan to persuade Zhou Yu to surrender, but Zhou Yu tricks Jiang Gan into believing that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are planning to assassinate Cao Cao. Both Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu's respective plans complement each other when Cao Cao is convinced, despite having earlier doubts about Jiang Gan's report, that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are planning to assassinate him by deliberately "donating" arrows to the enemy. Despite Cao Cao realising his folly, it comes too late and the two officers are executed.
Lady Sun returns from Cao Cao's camp with a map of the enemy formation. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang decide to attack Cao Cao's navy with fire after predicting that a special climatic condition will soon cause the winds to blow from the southeast – a direction to their advantage. Before the battle, Sun Quan's forces feast on tangyuan to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu's wife, Xiaoqiao, heads towards Cao Cao's camp alone secretly in the hope of persuading Cao Cao to end the war. She fails to convince Cao Cao and decides to distract him with an elaborate tea ceremony to buy time for her side.
The battle begins when the southeast wind starts blowing in the middle of the night. Sun Quan's forces launch their attack on Cao Cao's navy by ramming smaller boats that are set aflame into the larger enemy battleships. Meanwhile, Liu Bei's forces, whose departure from the alliance turns out to be a ruse, start attacking Cao Cao's forts on land. By dawn, Cao Cao's entire navy has been destroyed. The allies launch another offensive on Cao Cao's ground army and succeed in breaking through using the testudo formation despite suffering heavy casualties.
Although Cao Cao is besieged in his main camp, he manages to hold Zhou Yu at sword point after ambushing him with the help of Cao Hong. Xiahou Jun also shows up with Xiaoqiao as a hostage and threatens to kill her if the allies do not surrender. However, Zhao Yun manages to reverse the situation by rescuing Xiaoqiao with a surprise attack, while Sun Quan fires an arrow that grazes the top of Cao Cao's head and cuts his topknot loose. Cao Cao is now at the mercy of the allies, but they spare his life and leave.