A Better Tomorrow

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Leprechaun K The OG that started it all. The one movie that made John Woo and Chow Yun Fat. Great cast that included Leslie and Ti Lung. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/27/25 Full Review Audience Member The originator of Gun-Fu Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/25 Full Review Dick C It's an marvellous motion picture with great actors with good scripts... Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/05/25 Full Review Matthew D John Woo makes a name for himself with a film full of raw emotions and stylish shootouts! Director John Woo’s Hong Kong crime drama A Better Tomorrow (1986) is really beautiful and super cool. Woo’s ultra stylized sequences of Triad counterfeit money dealings and the police pursuing them are intertwined cleverly between brothers on opposing sides of the law. Woo delivers a hail of bullets as was the case in The Killer and Hard Boiled as well. His heavy rainfall as characters cry or are obscured in dark Hong Kong nights are breathtaking. Editor David Wu’s slick cuts between the law and lawbreakers are thrilling. A Better Tomorrow feels like a huge influence on anything from Infernal Affairs to Goodfellas. Producers Tsui Hark and John Woo are awesome for getting A Better Tomorrow made. It’s a landmark of killer Chinese cinema and a gunshot entrance for John Woo’s filmography. Writers John Woo, Leung Suk-Wah, and Chan Hing-Kai’s crime narrative is brilliant and moving. Centering this Triad crime drama around two brothers, an older brother criminal who seeks to repent, and a younger brother cop who seeks justice, is simply fascinating. A Better Tomorrow feels incredibly mature and confident for Woo being so young when he directed this phenomenal feature. I’ll never tire of John Woo characters lighting cigarettes with style, money burning, white birds flying upwards, and machine guns firing endlessly in his pictures. Would you do anything for your blood brother or your brother in arms? A Better Tomorrow shows loyalty deeper than blood, forgiveness, and the law in a whole new way. Ti Lung is excellent as the mournful crook Sung Tse Ho, who desperately wants to turn over a new leaf, but has trouble leaving the Triad. He’s very moving and compelling. Leslie Cheung is powerful as the furious younger brother Sung Tse Kit, who wants to arrest his criminal older brother. His overbearing grief and hatred consume him in a very emotionally volatile performance. You can see Leslie maturing as an actor here. Emily Chu is quite sympathetic as Leslie’s loving girlfriend Jackie. She’s so gorgeous and considerate, even though Leslie’s quest for the law overtake his love for her. Chow Yun-fat is cool, funny, and touching as Mark Lee, a Triad counterfeiter and hitman with a loyalty to Lung’s Ho. Chow feels assured and calm with a mature dramatic acting style already developed here in A Better Tomorrow. Amazing this was before he went onto act in The Killer, Hard Boiled, Replacement Killers, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Curse of the Golden Flower. Waise Lee is ruthless and relentless as the treacherous Triad boss Shing Dan. Shing Fui-On is intense as Shing’s right-hand man. Kenneth Tsang is very fun and kind as the amiable cab company owner Kin. Tien Feng is great as Ho and Kit’s concerned father Mr. Sung. John Woo looks super young in his cameo as Taiwanese Inspector Wu, hunting down Ho. Sek Yin-Tsi is wise and cautious as older Triad boss Mr. Yiu. Wang Hsieh is very good as Boss Wang. Hing-Yin Kam’s stern Inspector Mok is excellent as a foil for Leslie. Tsui Hark gets a funny cameo as the unimpressed Music Judge. Cinematographer Horace Wong Wing-Hang’s wide shots of Hong Kong’s piers and hills are stunning. Woo’s use of dark shadows, moody lighting, bloody wounds, and constant rain all give A Better Tomorrow a striking visual aesthetic. Stunt performers Stephen Tung Wai and Blackie Ko Shou-Liang nail chases, deadly jumps, and ferocious shootouts alike. Composer Joseph Koo’s film score is electrifying with jazzy drums, pulsing synth lines, and pretty delicate melodies. Leslie Cheung’s songs are wonderful with his lovely singing and melodies that complement the score’s sorrowful tone. In all, A Better Tomorrow is easily one of the greatest crime dramas ever made and a shining example of a director’s style elevating excellent acting into something special. It’s only 95 minutes, but A Better Tomorrow is so enthralling that it felt like 5 to me. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/25 Full Review Julian G This program really saved and keep saving my life. The housing is new and clean and its proffessionals really do care Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/25 Full Review Sams K Great movie! Everything's just insane. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/24/24 Full Review Read all reviews

A Better Tomorrow

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