John Woo's Red Cliff has been picked up by Magnolia/Magnet for US distribution with a catch: the version going to theaters is the condensed 2.5 hour version instead of the full two-part, 4 hour thing. This isn't unexpected, since that's the version Woo's people were known to be shopping around, but it's a shame nonetheless. Didn't Che do really well in limited Roadshow engagements? Isn't that treatment owed to the highest grossing mainland Chinese film in history? Won't the same people averse to reading subtitles wait for video anyway, regardless of length?

Viewers in the US can see the whole thing VOD or on disc only. I know plenty of people, myself included, who've seen it on import Blu-rays during the long wait for someone to pick it up in the US. The cost is prohibitive (something like $40 a Blu) to import, so I borrowed rather than buy them myself. As a purist, I'm glad I got to see the full thing first, but I'll still go see the shorter cut if only to see most of Red Cliff on the big screen. I wish I could see the whole thing that way.