characters' psychology and life events." Release Production is helmed by Lion Rock Entertainment and China Film Group Corporation. Distributors were fast to clinch the deal before shooting even began. Distributors include Chengtian Entertainment (China), CMC Entertainment / 20th Century Fox Taiwan Branch (Taiwan), Mei Ah Entertainment (Hong Kong), Avex Group/Toho-Towa Co. (Japan), Showbox (South Korea), the Los Angeles-based Summit Entertainment (international), and Magnolia Pictures (United States). Home media The full-length two-part version was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2009, and in the United States and Canada on 23 March 2010. In the United Kingdom, it was 2012's fifth most-watched foreign-language film on television with 280,000 viewers on Channel 4, and the year's most-watched Asian film (above the Indian film My Name is Khan). Critical reception Western critics also reacted positively to the film when the two parts were released as one film (148 minute version) in June 2009. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 91% "fresh" rating based on 116 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus states: "Featuring some impressively grand battlefield action, John Woo returns to Asia and returns to form in the process for this lavish and slick historical epic." Metacritic reports a 73 out of 100 rating based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". First part During the first part of the film's Asia release, Variety reported that the film enjoyed a tremendous start to its theatrical run across East Asia since its release date on 10 July 2008. The film scored a record-breaking opening weekend across six Asian territories. Variety also reported that the film received a generally positive critical reception in Hong Kong, China. In South Korea, the opening day of Red Cliff knocked Hancock down to 79,000 admissions Thursday, or an estimated gross of $550,000. The film also drew more than 1.6 million viewers in South Korea – about 130,000 more than the Batman sequel The Dark Knight. At a budget of US$80 million, along with media scrutiny over its lengthy and troubled shoot, including the death of a stunt man and the hospitalisation of its producer, the film was thought by many a big financial gamble, but industry insiders reported that good word-of-mouth and positive reviews appeared to be paying off for the film's strong box-office revenue. The Associated Press (AP) gave the film a glowing review,