SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I had already fallen in love with Chow Yun Fat from seeing the incredible Hard Boiled, Full Contact, The Killer and many others back in the early 90's. So I was quite late in seeing the film that really helped launch him as the heroic bloodshed action star!An absolute gem of a film that will always be remembered and loved by many fans of Asian (and non-Asian) films. From the first time I watched it, right up until the last, A Better Tomorrow stands proud as a classic piece of entertainment. Action packed, fun, gritty and beautifully directed – this film is recognized as the one that put Chow Yun Fat on the action map, and it's easy to see why…His stunning performance as 'Mark' gave cinema one of its most memorable characters, which paved the way for a collection of tributes and spoofs from other HK film-makers that still runs to this day. The awesome Ti Lung (I find) doesn't usually receive the same amount of credit for his role, yet plays his part flawlessly, delivering beautiful action to lump-in-the-throat drama, as he carries the story between his best friend (Mark) and his brother, played by the late, Leslie Cheung.At first, I wasn't too keen on Leslie Cheung as Kit – but after warming to him in other movies, and repeated viewings of ABT you soon see that Woo and Hark made the right choice in putting these 3 together on- screen. This is, without a doubt, one of John Woo's finest moments, and one of my all time favorite movies.It should be one of yours too!

Its odd how some gangster films from the 1970s and 1980s have dated more than those made in the 1930s and 1940s, probably because the pacing and the snappy dialog crammed into 80 minutes wears much better than long stretches of attitude and out-of-date clothes and second- rate music.The main reason folks seem to watch John Woo is for his grasp of kinetic gun play and maximum explosive violence, and that said, he does it infinitely better in his later films, mainly Hard Boiled, in which the last 30 minutes is absolute dynamite. There are a few scenes in A Better Tomorrow worth wading through in this film, and Chow Yun-Fat is persuasive as a silent gun man with a strong personal code, but you just want to smack the kid brother, whose petulance and whining grows tiresome after about ten minutes, and the final shootout, even though dozens of whirling bodies go flying through the air, is fairly predictable to seasoned viewers. This is a good film to watch to see where Woo was grounded, but I think his mature work shines in comparison

This movie brought John Woo to the attention of the filmmakers, while The Killer made him a legend (though I feel that A Bullet in the Head is a far better movie). What is really weird is that all of these superb movies come from the mind of somebody whose greatest desire is to make a musical. Weird.Anyway, A Better Tomorrow has a lot of themes ranging for sibling struggles, to redemption, to betrayal. I don't really want to say sibling rivalry because it suggests that it is a crappy American comedy. The rivalry is not about two brothers bickering but instead it is about the burden of the family. Anyway, the themes that we see here are similar to themes that we see in other Woo movies, (Face Off = Redemption; A Bullet in the Head = Betrayal; The burden of the Family = To Catch a Thief). This movie sort of started it all off, and Chow Yum Fat dies (as is expected in most Woo movies, except for Hard Boiled).This movie is based around three people, two brothers, Kit and Ho, and a friend, Mark. Kit is an ambitious police officer while Ho and Mark are members of the triad and are ambitious there. Ho is connected with a major counterfeiting ring and knows a lot of contacts while Mark is Ho's partner and in a way, bodyguard. Ho travels to Tiawan and when he is there he is betrayed by the bosses son and spends the next three years in gaol. News about this gets back to Hong Kong and Kit is denied a promotion because of the connection that his brother has with Triad. Mark, angered at Ho's betrayal, storms the a Triad controlled restaurant and kills everybody there, but is seriously injuring him in the leg and leaving him a cripple.This is not a bright movie. Each of the characters are struggling with their weaknesses rather than basking in their strengths. Mark cannot walk without a brace while Ho simply wants to lead a good life while is past is constantly trying to pull him back into the world of crime. Kit desires to be a great cop but is held back because of his brother and holds a great amount of anger towards him. This becomes the focus of the movie as Ho attempts to reconcile with his brother while his brother not only continues to reject him, but also tries to let go of a past that refuses to let go of him.This is a very bleak movie and there seems to be little way of solution. There is a huge gunfight where the bad guy is killed, but Ho is still wanted by the police and is still looking at a long time in gaol. The only redeeming feature is that his brother finds forgiveness in his brother, and this is revealed by Mark, who gives his life so that the broken relationship may be mended.As I write this, I come to see some huge reflections of Christianity here. It is subtle but it is there. We see that Ho is constantly seeking forgiveness but his brother refuses to give it to him, and no matter what he does Kit is blind to Ho's pleas. We see here the reflection of the fact that no matter what we do, we cannot get into God's good books. We have sinned and because of our sin we have angered God and nothing that we can do can wipe out these sins. Also the death of Mark reflects the fact that Christ, a third party, died for the sins that we have committed. Christ's death, like Mark's death, brings us into relationship with God. After Mark dies, Ho kills the Triad boss that is forcing him to return to a life of crime, thus removing that side of his life. This reflects us as well for without God sin is constantly trying to drag us back down into our old way of life. No matter how hard we try we cannot escape sin. It is not until we accept Christ's death that we can do something about sin, and we see it here with the death of the Boss.We must also look at the title of the movie as well because sometimes the title reflects what the movie is about (actually the title should tell us what the movie is about, though sometimes it is pointless). Here the title reflects Ho and Mark's desire to flee their life of crime and to find fulfillment in a straight life where one does not fear betrayal, prison, or death. A better tomorrow is what they seek, but tomorrow never comes so it seems to be a goal that is unreachable. Mark becomes little more than a window cleaner who must pick his earnings off of the side walk while Ho drives taxis and has a criminal record.Some of the lines of the movie really drive these ideas home (though the subtitles on this version sucked - they seemed rushed and were full of spelling errors). The strongest line is when Ho is told that a bad guy for a day will never be good again, once you sin you can never get back to righteousness. Ho does, but Mark had to die for it to happen. And then he is told that his sin not only affects him, but also his brother. He cannot go from Black to White, but by what he does he drags his brother from white to black.A Better Tomorrow is an awesome movie, but what would one expect from John Woo. It is deep and simply not a movie that one can casually watch. One needs to concentrate to understand the concepts that Woo is pushing through the movie, and the deep characters remove the need for action.

Since Bruce Lee reinvented Hong Kong and material arts cinema Hong Kong's film industry became one of the biggest in the world. Hong Kong cinema became well known for doing through different phases, from Jackie Chan comedy action, John Woo's heroic bloodshed films, historical material arts films and Hollywood influenced films like the Infernal Affairs series.In the mid-eighties John Woo, one of the most popular action directors in the world, reinvented Hong Kong cinema with producer Tsui Hark to create the heroic bloodshed genre, bloody action films set in the world of organised crime. A Better Tomorrow is the first of it kind, and became a popular in film in both Hong Kong and internationally.A Better Tomorrow tells the story of Sung Tse-Ho (Ti Lung), a captain within the Triads and running a successful counterfeiting operation. He is aided by his loyal lieutenant and best friend Mark (Chow Yun-Fat), he is handy with guns. Ho's younger brother Kit (Leslie Cheung) is training to be a police officer, and the two love each other every much. They both help take care of their sick father. But Ho's life of crime is destroyed when he gets arrested in Taiwan. His father is murdered in front of Kit, and when Mark gets revenge he is crippled. Three years later Ho tries to go straight, getting a job as a taxi driver. But his younger brother, now a rising cop hates him and Mark is a low ranking Triad member, forced to work for Shing (Waise Lee), Ho's replacement. Shing asks Ho to rejoin the Triads, and run the counterfeiting operation. When Ho refuses Shing threatens Kit and Mark, forcing Ho to take action to safeguard his loved ones.The mid-eighties and early nineties was when John Woo was at his creative powers, making very well known films and ended up getting calls from Hollywood. He because a director respected by his peers like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarrantino. A Better Tomorrow shows Woo's skill. He crafts out some every exciting, through, bloody action scenes. There are well managed gun and fist fights, and this should be shown to editors in Hollywood to show how to cut and action sequence. Woo also knows when to slow things down to allow the plot and characters to develop. The plot is a simple affair, it's an action film with gangsters, not a gangster film. But the plot is done well enough to keep you interested, and character are developed to give the story drive. Ho is an decent man who wants to pay for his crimes and forced back into action, whilst Kit starts off as a clumpy kid who turns into overzealist cop.A Better Tomorrow does start with some physical humour, but that quickly dies down and the film takes a more serious tone. It was also refreshing for me to see a John Woo film without his usual trademarks, the only one is a character using two guns.The acting is decent, Ti Lung was good lead, and Leslie Cheung was showed some range in his supporting role. This was Chow Yun-Fat's first major role and obvious this leads to bigger things for him. He too show's his skills as an actor. Waise Lee was also perfectly sinister as the villain of the piece.However, when the film does show English speaking characters, the dubbing makes them sound so fake, especially compared to the Cantonese characters.A very entertaining film and a must see for action fans. 8.3 out of 10.