It's been too long since we all had some John Woo in our lives. DVD viewings of [movie id="111940"]"Face/Off"[/movie] and the second [movie id="139900"]"Mission: Impossible"[/movie] flick can only do so much to quell the need for insane, "How in the world did they do that?" action sequences. Where has this guy been? Why has it been six years since American audiences last got a glimpse of his work in the theaters?

The answer is now clear: Woo spent five years creating a ridiculously elaborate war movie, mind-boggling in scale, adrenaline-raising in action. Behold [movie id="309596"]"Red Cliff,"[/movie] a retelling of a key point in Chinese history that ushered in the end of the Han Dynasty in the second century, a battle between an undersized army that overcame a vastly more powerful force.

"I wanted to introduce an American audience to a rich part of Chinese history," the director told MTV News. "I wanted to show, for the first time on the screen, the Asian battle tactics and strategy and formations. Audiences have never seen anything like it."

It's hard to argue with that statement. "Red Cliff," which opens on Friday (November 20), features thousands of extras, massive sets and tremendous battle sequences teeming with flaming arrows and catapults and bodies -- all seen with breathtakingly beautiful cinematography. It was made possible because Woo shot the film in China with vast assistance from the Chinese government, including the use of enormous soundstages and the work of thousands of soldiers, who actually built roads to remote locations for some sequences.

"I have wanted to make this project for over 20 years," Woo said. "I grew up with this story -- so many heroes I admired. I also wanted to make an epic like 'Lawrence of Arabia,' 'Seven Samurai,' 'Spartacus,' 'Gladiator' -- that kind of thing. But it was really hard to make that kind of movie in Hollywood. While I had been working in Hollywood for over 16 years, I had learned so much from so many talented people. I had learned from the technology, the working system, everything. I think it's about time to bring what I have learned from Hollywood -- the new experience -- into Asia, to let young people share it, to learn something about it. And that's one of the biggest reasons I go to China for 'Red Cliff.' "

Check out everything we've got on "Red Cliff."

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