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A Better Tomorrow
1986
John Woo's forays into Hollywood cinema have revealed just how childish a lot of his material can feel when it is delivered without the clouding medium of subtitles. In his earlier Hong Kong movies it is possible to allow that the melodramatic, risible and at times confusing dialogue--a disgruntled gangster exclaims "Nobody .. Read more
| Starring | Chow Yun Fat, Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung, Emily Chu |
|---|---|
| Director | John Woo |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema |
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A Better Tomorrow
John Woo's forays into Hollywood cinema have revealed just how childish a lot of his material can feel when it is delivered without the clouding medium of subtitles. In his earlier Hong Kong movies it is possible to allow that the melodramatic, risible and at times confusing dialogue--a disgruntled gangster exclaims "Nobody dares not give me face!" and after being shot about 43 times two of the heroes concede "Yes. We're not right"--is at least in part due to clumsy translation. However, when added to a complex plot of twin brothers, undercover cops and honourable gangsters in A Better Tomorrow II, it can often be quite difficult to keep track of what is going on, especially if you haven't seen the original. Restaurant owner Ken (Chow Yun Fat), "secret" twin brother of the dead main character of the first movie, leaves New York and returns to Hong Kong after an old friend's daughter is murdered. There he re-assembles the group of four heroes from the original movie to exact revenge and bring down a counterfeiting ring. The film loosely addresses Woo's pet themes of loyalty, betrayal and honour but, as always, any exposition is merely the excuse for a series of violent and over-the-top shoot-outs. Here the action is a long time coming, but delivers much as you would expect--violent, explosive and with a nice line in tongue-in-cheek humour. Yun Fat is cool as ever, with shades and a toothpick, gliding through scores of faceless, blood-splattered henchmen with a gun in each hand. In fact, the final bloodbath is so frenetic that it seems to lack the deliberate and graceful choreography of other Woo classics, such as Hard Boiled and The Killer, but A Better Tomorrow II is typical enough of his work to easily satisfy all but the most unforgiving action fans. --Paul Philpott
| Starring | Chow Yun Fat, Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung, Emily Chu |
|---|---|
| Director | John Woo |
| Studio | MIA VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LTD |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 30 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Cantonese |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 06 Sep 1999 Production year: 1986 |
| Format | DVD |
A Better Tomorrow (1986)
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Critics' reviews (2)
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Woo's career was at its nadir when Tsui Hark brought him into Film Workshop and proposed this 'remake' of Patrick... read more on Time Out
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"...A welcome jolt....Ridiculously exhilarating..." -- Rating: A-
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Most helpful member's review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Chow Yun Fat Owns
This film's subject isn't new, gangster gets in trouble with rival mob, gets arrested , his family are threatened. However the script is excellent and the gangster really wants to proove he's changed, his reluctant brother rejects him as the death of their father was caused by his mob involvement. But the mob won't let go of the gangster and soon the brother is in trouble too. Some of the climaxs are expected and some aren't but the end certainly doesn't disapoint and theres plenty of action. Chow Yun Fat prooves even with 1 good leg he can be a 1 man band, and he prooves a great juxtaposition.
John Woo does it again, If you like foreign films or are a big fan of john woo or chow rent this film. -
Most recent members' review
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4 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Definately worth the hype!
This film is slightly melodramatic (due to Chow Yun Fat and particularly Leslie Cheung) though the film has a strong emotional undercurrent running through it which beats not only John Woo's US work but most dramatic films in general. For those who like low-key and subtlely played yet heart-felt performances, I'd say that Ti Lung's is the best in the film.
Ti's performance as a man caught up in a dilemma is fascinating whereas Leslie overdoes some of it, with Chow lingering somewhere in between being subtle and over the top!
The action is groundbreaking for the time although somewhat rigid as it was John's 2nd contemporary action film (i.e. guns, pyrotechnics and car chases) so it doesn't compete with his later works (which is why the action scenes in Schwarzeneggar's Raw Deal {released if not completely made in the same year as ABT} is on par with this, which is funny given the common perception that Hong Kong action films are superior to anything put out by anywhere else, films like Raw Deal and Drive prove likewise).
Yet, the originality and style of the restaurant shootout is what makes up for the loose nature of the gun battles that precede and follow it.
The two sequels to A Better Tomorrow are very underrated. The first sequel was originally 2 hours & 40 minutes long so John Woo & Tsui Hark (the producer) had to cut the film seperately under a very limited period of time due to pressure from the studio and distributors to trim the film down to get more screenings in cinemas. Therefore, the film had suffered terribly causing Woo to disown it.
People usually ignore or don't realize the themes which are at work in ABT 2; besides the usual symbolism and metaphors, the film develops John Woo's themes of religion with Chow's character being resurrected in the form of a twin brother called Ken (think of Jesus Christ resurrecting before going back into heaven and you'll see amazing parallels with Ken - especially given the final line of dialogue that's uttered in the film).
Also the sequel shows Woo's ingenious strokes of irony: Dean Shek's character Lung is a godfather to Ken - making Ken a younger disciple/underling but when the former becomes shell-shocked, the latter ends up being the father to the childish former. However, it's when Ken is in peril that Lung jumps back into reality to take on the foes who have threatened his life.
Both John Woo's sense of irony (usually with his trademark juxtaposition sequences) and religion is pushed to the fore as we see the death scene of Leslie Cheung played out alongside the birth of his son thus making way to the Buddhist belief of being reincarnated. Henceforth John Woo contrasts two different ideologies of what happens after when you die.
Another thing which is overlooked in the sequel is John Woo's insidious sense of humour (he used to make comedies before going into action movies), especially here in the form of self-deprecating humour (which can also be found in his film Just Heroes which makes references to ABT) thus making ABT 2 a semi-parody of the first film.
A Better Tomorrow 3 is a prequel set in war-torn Vietnam that was directed by Tsui Hark which was underappreciated by fans & critics for being very different to Woo's films. Also, many complained that Anita Mui (famous Hong Kong singer/actress) teaching Chow how to fire guns was like Madonna teaching Bruce Willis to fire guns in a Die Hard prequel set in Vietnam where she plays a French femme fatale (which makes sense given the French occupation of Vietnam at the time of the war).
Besides going over to the IMDB to check out some trivia, try going here first: http://www.hkfilm.net/abt.htm -
News and features
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Red Cliff
- 15 Jun 2009
A mere slip of an epic at 146 minutes (you think I’m kidding, but I watched the original two-part, five-hour Asian-market version), John Woo’s first Chinese film in nearly two decades is both a triumphant homecoming and too much of a good thing. When Woo went to Hollywood in the run up to the handover of Hong Kong in the early 90s he was riding the crest of a wave: hyper romantic urban thrillers like The Killers, A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled had earned him a reputation as the... Read more
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A Better Tomorrow
John Woo's forays into Hollywood cinema have revealed just how childish a lot of his material can feel when it is delivered without the clouding medium of subtitles. In his earlier Hong Kong movies it is possible to allow that the melodramatic, risible and at times confusing dialogue--a disgruntled ...
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