UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Drama >

Red Corner

Red Corner (1997)

October. 30,1997
|
6.3
|
R
| Drama Thriller Crime

An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Matcollis
1997/10/30

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

More
Marketic
1997/10/31

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

More
InformationRap
1997/11/01

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

More
Sabah Hensley
1997/11/02

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

More
Patrick Bateman
1997/11/03

I came across this movie on Hulu last night by accident, after failing to stream two other movies, and am overall glad I decided to "settle" for it. It definitely could have been better in several ways, but the historical/legal aspect of it, set in transitional 90's Communist China is actually pretty outstanding and memorable. As one other user commented, the Chinese acting is perfectly convincing and even frightening in how realistic it is, but unfortunately Richard Gere's character is a little too...I don't know, idiotic? for my liking. Still, I wouldn't say he single-handedly ruined the movie.Reading the production notes and trivia on here is interesting to me because it shows how the producers really did capture the reality of what goes on in Red China. I visited all over China and Lhasa, Tibet, right after the olympics and can vouch that the same legal situation still exists there today. In Beijing, we drove by a large, concrete and windowless court-building with the CCP emblem (seen many times in the film, and omnipresent in China in general) and when asked what the building was, my tour guide just responded plainly, "That's where you go to die." For a foreigner, yeah, it might take a murder or espionage charge to keep you imprisoned indefinitely over there, but for Chinese citizens, many crimes are still punishable by execution without a fair trial, just as the film accurately portrays.So, if you're into Chinese history or culture, then this is definitely worth watching, even more than once. If not, then don't watch it.

More
Aristides-2
1997/11/04

I wish Gilbert and Sullivan were alive to adapt "Red Corner" into one of their operettas. Preposterous story lines, unintentionally amusing dialogue and actions that G.&S. of course, would intentionally make into comedy (unlike what the writer of Red Corner and the hack director achieved), though perhaps I should give it another star because of the dozen or so laughs I did have. You praising folks want an example of the unintentional comedy? The scene where Richard Gere suddenly transforms from media executive to action hero after a seasoned hit man impossibly bungles shooting Gere and Bai Ling in a stalled limo. The un-hit man flees the scene with Gere in full pursuit, Gere loses sight of him but continues chasing something through a maze of alleyways; the big laugh of this scene is when Gere, riding a bicycle (with handcuffs on yet) is being pursued by a motorcycle cop who is closing in on him rapidly but eludes capture when the cop, apparently riding a motorcycle for the first time, slides on something in the street and wipes out. The truly grandest comedic moment in the movie though was the big production number at the end when the court proceedings become a shambles of story rabbits being pulled out of Bugs Bunny's body. It made me think of adding Perry Mason to the stateroom scene in "A Night At The Opera". A laugh a minute.

More
FlashCallahan
1997/11/05

Jack Moore, a high-profile international lawyer, is in China for business. Moore sleeps with a young woman, and wakes up to find her dead in his bed.Falsely accused of murder, Moore's only chance is his Chinese advocate Yuelin.The rules and laws are different, and Moore must convince Yuelin of his innocence and unravel the chain of events that entrapped him...One cannot deny that Gere is very good in this movie, it's one of his best roles without Julia Roberts being involved, but the whole thing is a little overlong, and very boring.It's not Geres fault, it's the script and the narrative just plods on and focuses too much on him alone and complaining that his earphone/telephone isn't working.But it wouldn't hurt to just have a couple of exciting scenes? The one scenes with him running toward the embassy is a little too late, another case of a deceptive trailer.so all in all, Gere is good, film isn't, and it all has a 'Rising Sun' feel to it

More
quickiesonthedinnertable
1997/11/06

I picked this movie late one night as I was having trouble falling asleep and because of the mostly negative reviews I had read about it, thought it would soon put me to sleep.I am a fan of neither Richard Gere nor Bai Ling but found myself soon being drawn into the unfolding drama and getting more alert and interested, instead of drowsy, as the movie progressed.Both leads turned in solidly strong and very believable performances (Bai Ling really surprised me) and I really loved the handling of the developing relationship between their characters. Instead of taking a turn into romance or eroticism(an easy and tempting directorial path) the focus instead was on how they come to understand and truly appreciate each other for what each is, and isn't, to the point that both don't hesitate to take great risks for the other's sake.The depiction of mainland Chinese bureaucracy and corruption (at the time) is by all accounts, accurate. I found the courtroom drama tense and riveting. The ending is poignant and fitting, though in the end you can't help but wish they stay together.An under-appreciated movie. See it if you get the chance; you could do far, far worse.

More