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A Better TomorrowRating:
Release Date: 27 November, 2000 Retail Price: $19.95 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (6 total) |
A Better Tomorrow Reviews
"It's easy to become a ganster, but it's hard to get out..."
"A Better Tomorrow" is John Woo's first tense, bloody gangster epic, and while it wasn't his best it certainly shows the potential that would be fully realized later. It's here that Woo started developing the themes that he later explored further in "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer." Like those movies, "A Better Tomorrow" is a compelling tale of honor, loyalty and devotion set against the unlikely backdrop of the criminal underworld. The movie's principal plot, the relationship between an ex-gangster and his detective brother, is ideal for the sort of Shakesperean moral conflicts that are always at the center of Woo films. And like any movie, this one benefits immeasurably from the brooding, intense presence of Chow Yun Fat, even if his character is often in the background in this movie. Fat isn't quite the indelible leading man he would become a few years later, but his Mark does have his moments, most notably when cutting down a room full of enemies early on and later during the obligatory climactic shootout.
Strangely, though, "A Better Tomorrow" isn't quite as violent as I was given to expect after having previously seen Woo's later classics. Aside from the two aforementioned shootouts, the film is generally pretty subdued for something with Woo's stamp on it. Fortunately, the plot and characterization are more than sufficient to carry things along during the down time. Much of "A Better Tomorrow" explores the relationships among its three central characters. There's Ho, the ex-gangster and extremely tortured soul who gets out of prison three years after being betrayed by his apprentice to find out that going straight isn't going to be easy. There's his detective brother Kit, the kind of guy that practically squeaks when he walks, sees everything in black and white, and still bears a grudge against Ho for his criminal past. And of course, there's Mark, crippled during the aforementioned shootout scene and none too happy about it. This guy's got plenty of rage bottled up inside him, and you know it's just a matter of time until some unfortunate people wind up on the receiving end.
Unfolding around these three guys, the movie's action is vintage Woo, plot twists and all, as Ho's cartoonishly evil ex-protege Shing tries to consolidate his power in the underworld. Allegiances shift, the line between good and bad is repeatedly blurred, and bullets fly everywhere. Played in a sufficiently brooding manner by Ti Lung, Ho eventually emerges as one of the most compelling characters in action movie history, a guy who struggles mighty hard to maintain his dignity and his principles even after his old life has been pulled out from under him. Kit's sanctimony occasionally gets so irritating that even I wanted to punch him in the face, but Ho still manages to remain loyal to his brother. The naive Kit doesn't want to see the world in shades of grey, but of course his brother knows better.
In any Woo movie, the plot is all but bound to be resolved with a frenetic shootout, and this one is no exception. Apparently, there's nothing to help two feuding brothers get over their problems like being in a sustained gunfight together. Anyway, while not as impressive as the legendary church battle in "The Killer" or the full-scale war in a hospital that ends "Hard Boiled," this movie's final standoff does provide an early glimpse at the talent for staging ultraviolent gun battles that would make propel Woo (and Fat) to international renown. At a mere ninety-four minutes, "A Better Tomorrow" is a bit on the short side, and occasionally somewhat amateurish, but it still showcases all of the elements that Woo fans would come to know and love. It was up to later movies to do a sleeker and more professional job, which they certainly did.
A Better Tomorrow
This is one of John Woo's first breakthrough film. It's full of action, with tons of bullets flying and explosions everywhere. The intensity of the movie keeps your attention. The movie combines two legendary Chinese stars in Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung, whose known more for his older Shaolin movies. This was one of the first movie to launch Chow Yun Fat's (Anna and the King, The Corruptor) career to make him one of today's hottest movie stars. Movie is a fast and furious onslaught of action of two brothers fighting for their lives. One's a rookie cop and the other is a gangster. But after promising a dying father that he would go straight and get out of the crime world, Ho (Lung) is threatened and has to battle is way out of the crime world. His younger brother, whose a cop, is also after his first big bust and is now endangered and Ho must not only free himself from a corrupt crime world, but also save his younger brother. While this is all going on, Chow Yun Fat's role is Ho's bestfriend and also a member of the gang. Although they are crimelords, so to speak, they are portrayed as the good guys in this blockbuster. The ending is one that is filled with action and filled with a stylish, supercharged finale. It is a must see for action fans.
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