A Better Tomorrow (1986)

Before Broken Arrow hit the silver screen with John Travolta, and Christian Slater, there was this wonderful gem to come out of Hong Kong. Chow Yun Fat, was his absolute best when he starred in this gritty, and action filled segment about the criminal underworld. Two brothers... one a cop, the other brother is part of an organization that deals in counterfeiting, as well as drugs, and weapons. Lung Ti who plays the corrupted prince is betrayed, and sent to prison in Taipei for dealing in counterfeiting by one of his own men behind the curtains. Released after... he decides to try, and patch things up with his younger brother who had graduated from the police academy but things do not go to plan.Ostracized Sung Tse Ho tries to adapt back into the social status as a cab driver to make an honest living, but the dregs led by the new head of the criminal underworld (Waise Lee) or Shing who had betrayed him wants Ho back into the fold. Marred by his past Sung finally realizes his worth by protecting his brother at all costs by stopping Shing with damming evidence which he hands off to his younger brother. Mark (Chow Yun Fat) helps him regain his dignity through some heavy fire fighting, as well as taking a severe beating by Shing and his gang.For nineteen eighty six this was one of the most emotional films to date to come out of china. Nearly every movie that does hold a monotonous amount of one dimensional Kung Fu battles or gun fights to outweigh the story line. I found none of that nonsense in this rare movie. Chow, Lung, and Leslie Chung all had great parts to play. A trio in fantastic ranges of acting that made this wonderful tale one of my favourites. It then led on to other films for which Chow Yun Fat became as classic icon using his body style, and gracious persona to coat the silver screen with his incredible talent.For those who love good cop stories this one is it. Betrayal, deep bonding friendship, corruption, action, and emotional baggage for the more intellectual mind can appreciate in a great story. Ten out of ten stars.

A Better Tomorrow is the first true John Woo movie. It's the first film that he made where he felt that he actually had creative control over it. He made a few films prior to this such as The Young Dragons, Hand of Death, and Laughing Times but this is the first film that employed the John Woo trademarks that he's famous for. But with all that being said, does it still hold up after all these years? Let's find out!Firstly, the story. The story here is the usual John Woo crap about loyalty, friendship, honor, and redemption but the thing that makes it different is that our protagonist isn't actually Chow Yun-Fat despite him being in the DVD box cover. He's more of a supporting character this time and the main focus is on a character named Ho Gar, who is an ex- money counterfeiter who tries to reconcile with his cop brother, Kit after being released from prison. There's also a lot less action here than you expect. The film focuses more on its characters and I actually prefer it this way because I find these characters compelling.The drama in this film is what I latch on to because Ho is actually a very sympathetic and relatable character. He's a good man who cares for his brother but made some mistakes in the past that haunt his present. He could've just been played by some douchebag who just makes puppy dog eyes the entire time but Lung Ti just has this natural look on his face of guilt and remorse that makes you instantly feel sympathy towards him. His character in this movie goes through an arc where he learns that he has to use violence to deal with his problem. At first, he tries to just have a normal life since his mob days are over but when Shing(a mobster who was an apprentice of him) decides to ruin his life by hurting those he cares for, he has ultimately no choice but to fight them head on. It's a great arc for him because it makes him redeem himself in the most unconventional way possible which is by killing Shing and allowing himself to be arrested again showing that he is sincere about his desire for redemption. In other movies, he would just die protecting Kit as his redemption(which would've been horribly cliché) but here, it's unique and more touching as a result.The performances here are mostly great. As I've mentioned above, Lung Ti is great in this movie but everyone else is also great. Leslie Cheung plays his role well with determination, anger, but also a sense of youth and inexperience in his work. While Chow Yun-Fat doesn't get as much screen time as expected, he plays his role well with a sense of honor and chivalry. Listening to him deliver his speeches in this movie will make your balls drop. The one performance I'm not too crazy about is Emily Chu as Jackie. She's just really whiny and irritating the entire time and doesn't do much outside of just whining. Still, everyone else was great.The action sequences here aren't as big or as well-choreographed as his later films because of the budget limitations but they still work because you care for the characters and that's what's important. In Hard Boiled, I had a difficulty latching onto the characters so I didn't care about the results of the gunfights which made the action feel unexciting despite how well-choreographed they are. So the action in this movie still works for me despite not being as epic as The Killer or Hard Boiled.The score is great. I love how 80's the music sounds in this movie and it gives the film an identity. The theme for Mark sounds really awesome in the action scenes and the sad music for Ho adds a lot more emotion to the scene without feeling too melodramatic. All in all, the music in this film was great!However, I do have some issues with this movie. I feel the pacing is a little too quick at times and I wish they would slow down sometimes. Also, it isn't a very good-looking film because of the budget limitations. Lastly, I have some difficulty understanding Shing's motivation. He betrayed Ho in the past and got him in jail but now he wants Ho to work with him? I just don't get it.Overall, though I think this is a great film with good drama, good action, great score, and is just entertaining as a whole so I'll give it a 8/10.

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*** OK, to start this off; I saw this film after being gob-smacked after watching Hard Boiled. If this film helped kick start the heroic-bloodshed it must be good! So I picked it up and watched it and I must say, this is a great film! It's about a criminal brother who is siblings to an Inspector. But the next day takes a turn for the worse as he is betrayed by a counterfeit cash dealer in Taiwan, after a lengthy escape Sung Tse Ho finally gives up and is arrested by the Taiwanese police and jailed for 3 years. Later that night Ho's father is killed on orders of the Taiwanese dealer and Ho's true identiy unfolds. After Ho is released he starts working for a Taxi company. Later that day he discovers Mark (Ho's best friend and partner in crime)has become Shing(a once low ranking member of the organization Ho was in turned Boss)'s errand boy and is rewarded after cleaning his car HK$10. Ho later re-unites with Mark and they are around to take back their organization! Will they succeed?

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.