A Better Tomorrow | 
 enlarge | Actors: Leslie Cheung, Yun-fat Chow, Emily Chu, Waise Lee, Yangzi Shi
Studio: Republic Pictures
Category: Video
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $0.93
You Save: $9.05 (91%)
New (5) Used (10) Collectible (3) from $0.93
Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 48840
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 95
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 630320984X
UPC: 017153026337
EAN: 9786303209845
ASIN: 630320984X
Theatrical Release Date: 1986
Release Date: January 2, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New! Mint in box. Factory sealed.
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
The John Woo gangster classic that started it all, a romantic, violent, swirlingly stylish melodrama about dueling brothers--with a mesmerizing lead performance by Hong Kong's favorite actor, Chow Yun-Fat. In repose, Chow's sleepy magnetism recalls the glory days of Robert Mitchum, Steve McQueen, and Takakura Ken; when he's stepping high, Chow has a unique, ebullient star presence, a man who embraces life so unselfconsciously that he becomes vulnerable to all kinds of suffering and heartache (he endures masochistic megadoses of violence here). The sequence in which Chow's Mark avenges his betrayed best friend---by blasting his way into, and then out of, a Chinese restaurant, twin .45s blazing---is a swashbuckling standout. Woo's film technique may have been more polished in later efforts, but Tomorrow has a direct emotional power that is still unique. Kung fu star of the 1970s, Ti Lung is also terrific here as the 40ish established mobster, relied upon by all, who allows conflicting loyalties toward Mark and toward his younger brother, now a cop, to undermine the stability of his position. --David Chute
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 The most influential Hong kong ganster film, and an Action-cinema masterpiece. March 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The best introduction i can think of for this 1986 all-time classic action thriller that started the true Hong Kong ganster genre, and its influence over the movie industry, is this: In Quentin Tarantino's own words, this film, along with Ringo Liam's "City on fire", was the true influence and reference behind his first masterpiece "Reservoir dogs", film that turned the independent ganster film genre upside down, and changed the style of movie-making forever. On top, this is Quentin's favorite movie along with Sergio Leone's masterpiece "The good, the bad, and the ugly". My friends, this is way more than cheap magazine trivia, it's a about a whole universe that this movie and Asian action-cinema in general, started and openned for many filmakers untill today. Or were did Martin Scorcesse found "Infernal Affairs" to make his oscar winning re-make "The departed"? Were did "Infernal affairs" came from? A-ha!
John woo: A great true Art director, much more than the action director people think. He is all about drama, moral struggle and human values, packed of course in the most violent scenarios ever recorded on film. But why is he such a master? Let's view the character profiles in this movie, john woo's specialty in order to give depth to his films:
-Tse Ho (Ti Lung): A corrupt but honorable detective who loves his brother Kit, father, and best friend Mark, but runs a counterfeit dollar ring. When he gets double-crossed in a trade deal by the rival gang (The POW incident), he got arrested and throwed in jail for 3 years, and his father got murdered in front of his brother in revenge. After that time, he got release and search for an honest life. But now, his brother hates him, his best friend has fallen in disgrace, and he gets pressured and black mailed by the new syndicate boss, his former subordinate Shing. He represents the moral struggle and redemption.
-Mark Lee (chow yun Fat): After the POW incident, the honorable and loyal stone-cold killer detective Mark avenges his best friend Ho, in one the most bloody scenes: "the staged dinning assasination table" in wich Mark alone slaughters a whole gang, but got seriously injured. Now a useless crippled, after 3 years he's the humiliated janitor in the Shin organization. His re-encounter with his friend Ho gives him hope to recover his former glory, but Ho declines. He represents the spirit and the ambition to overcome anything.
-Sung Tse Kit (leslie chung): Ho's kid brother was an innocent joyful police academy student, until the POW incident, when his brother was exposed and his father killed. 3 years later, he became violent and bitter, lost every chance to get a promotion and became obsessed in arresting his brother and Shin, to prove himself decent. His girlfriend is the only real backup for his development as a character (the "stupid" love story that everybody hated). He represents dissapointment and anger over betrayal.
-Shing (lee chi-hung): The former shy subordinate became boss after the POW incident, in wich both fouding members of the counterfeit syndicate, Ho and Mark, fell in disgrace. He's not a powerful character as the 3 previous ones, but he serves a purpose. He only helps putting the story togheter. A better villan in this movie was the major critic.
This Hip and elegantly violent tale is, as you can see, a powerful drama. Rousy, stylised, tense, urbane and visceral style is serving a complex emotional story, and we can feel the moral struggle of the characters in order to survive. The loyalty and self sacrifice are implied from spaghetti westerns and martial arts movies, John Woo's influence along with Akira Kurosawa. Even in the criminal world were violence is a mean to achieve golds, brotherhood and honor are everything. That emphasis elevates drama to high levels.
The music score is not only too 80's, but too hong kong for some. Cheesy as it may sound, it tries very hard to set the moods, making it very valuable as an effort. At that time and in these kind of movies, original music scores didn't have the importance they deserved. I hope you could hear what's really important here, and don't get irritated by what you know consider cheesy. I'm talking about the explosion and bullet sounds, just like old days in spaghetti westerns. Yee-haw!
In this masterpiece, we can expect elegant tracking shots, slow motion pyrotechnics, an emotional resonance in the visual beauty over the action sequences. Spectacular tear jerking melodrama and jaw dropping action. A true cinematic show in humanity and violence. And let's not forget the trenchcoat and sunglasses sporting lone hitman legend that was born here: Chow Yun Fat, the killer.
This DVD edition i don't know, i have another one, sorry.
My only intention is to invite you guys to witness such a classic masterpiece, and please pick any DVD edition you may have in hand, cause this classic will blow your minds, and hearts. Hurry!
Woo's International Calling Card March 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the Hong Kong action/crime film that kick started the flagging careers of director John Woo and actor Chow Yun Fat. Prior to this, both were relatively small players in the Hong Kong New Wave, Woo at one point was even seconded to Taiwan to direct desultory comedies and romances, similarly Chow was hardly box office gold. The success of the film lies in its energetic synthesis of local allegorical concerns (the 1997 handover to China, and urban dystopia), its aesthetic merits (Woo's balletic, beautifully composed action sequences) and its referential attitude to western forms (the French new wave, the Hollywood action film.) This potentially unwieldy and fragmented fabric to the film is masterfully controlled by a director and cast who rise wonderfully to the hyper-kinetic challenge of the film. "A Better Tomorrow" single-handedly created a new generic hybrid known as "the hero" film, as well as presenting action in a new and innovatively edited way, the film also weaves in a nostalgic subtext which endeared it to local audiences. The themes of friendship, loyalty, forgiveness and reconciliation are strong in the film, especially in the light of the familial and institutional breakdown that the films protagonists are surrounded by. The themes of social and urban dissolution are taken to further extremes in later films, most notable "Hard Boiled". One could argue that Woo made more polished later examples of "the hero" film, but for me "A Better Tomorrow" has a special original quality of its own, which has been remarkably popular in the global exchange of filmic images.
Anchor Bay's DVD is devoid of the special features one has become accustomed to from this fine company, however slight compensation is made by the picture and sound restoration. A definitive release of this Hong Kong classic is still required.
My favorite of John Woo October 18, 2006
I still have to see Bullet In the Head but this movie is just flat out awesome. Ti Lung starts out as a guy who prints fake money. He ends up getting screwed over by somebody and has to go to jail for 3 years. When he gets out he is expecting a warm reception from his brother(Leslie Cheung)but he doesn't know that his release from prison is jeopardizing his brothers job as a cop. He then meets his gangster friend again and things have changed big time. His friend(Chow Yun-fat)who was on the top of world with him now has a brace fom a leg after a great shootout where Chow went to take revenge for Ti. He is a bum now that earns money by opening the door for the new boss of their crime business to his car. He then goes home at to a parking garage. Ti Lung ends up being the most miserable person on the planet after finding all of this out. Literally nothing will go right for him. Finally after being harrassed over and over again by the gangsters on top of evrything else, Ti has had enough. The finale is one of my favorite pieces of cinema history. I am not really a big Chow fan though I always thought he was OK but he puts on one of the greatest performances ever in this movie.
The DVD is not remastered but still has MUCH better picture quality than pretty much every Hong Kong movie released from this time. It even has an English dub on it though it is not recommended.
"It's easy to become a ganster, but it's hard to get out..." August 22, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"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.
One of John Woo's best!!! December 30, 2003
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This classic Hong Kong flick is one of John Woo's best films!!! 2 sequels followed!!! This is the first and the best of the series!!! The action is intence!!! Anchor Bay did a top notch job with this DVD!!! I'ts in 16:9 Widescreen and has multiple language tracks and great subtitles!!! Some trailers and production notes round out this awesome DVD!!! Two thumbs up!!! A+
|
|
|
