A Better Tomorrow [Blu-ray]

Overview

John Woo established himself as one of Hong Kong's premiere action directors with this ultra-hip, ultra-violent action classic. The film centers around the complex relationship between two brothers: Sung Tse-kit (Leslie Cheung) is a recent graduate of the police academy while Tse-ho (Ti Lung) runs a massive counterfeiting ring along with his gangland associate, Mark Lee (Chow Yun-fat). Tension between the two brothers comes to a head when their father is murdered after a crime deal goes sour and Tse-ho lands in jail after being double-crossed. In perhaps the most influential scene in Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s, Mark avenges his friend by staging a dinner table assassination. As Mark tries to shoot his way out of the restaurant, pulling a series of hidden pistols from potted plants and alcoves, he gets horribly injured. With both founding members of the counterfeiting syndicate incapacitated, the operation falls into the hands of Shing (Waise Lee Chi-hung), Tse-ho's former underling who has little of his boss' élan or experience. When Tse-ho gets out of jail, he reunites with his now-crippled comrade, Mark, to take out Shing and to protect Tse-kit whose life is in danger for investigating their former subordinate.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/08/2016
UPC:	4897048061829
Original Release:	1986
Source:	Imports
Language:	English
Sales rank:	6,036

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Chow Yun-Fat	Mark 'Gor' Lee
Leslie Cheung	Sung Tse-Kit
Ti Lung	Sung Tse-Ho
Waise Lee	Shing
Emily Chu	Jackie
Kenneth Tsang	Ken
John Woo	Detective
Feng Tien	Sung's Father
Shing Fui On	Assassin
Young Pao I	Actor
Lee Tse Ho	Shing
Tsang Kong	Actor
Joseph Koo	Composer

Technical Credits

John Woo

Leung Suk-wah

Chan Hing-Kai

John Woo	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Tsui Hark	Producer
Wan Ka Man	Executive Producer
Leung Suk-wah	Screenwriter
Chan Hing-Kai	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

The film that launched a thousand action spectaculars, A Better Tomorrow established John Woo as Hong Kong's preeminent action director and started the Hong Kong gangster flick boom of the 1980s. Reworking themes of loyalty and self-sacrifice found in Italian spaghetti westerns, Jean-Pierre Melville films, and early martial arts movies, Woo envisions a criminal world where violence is the only way of life and honor and brotherhood means everything. Woo's flamboyant style and sheer bravura earned him acclaim from both the press and the public. His elegant tracking shots, staccato edits, and slow-motion pyrotechnics introduced a new level of emotional resonance and visual beauty to the action sequence, as his baroque visual style and intense emphasis on brotherhood elevated the film's drama to almost Wagnerian proportions. In addition to its two eventual sequels, A Better Tomorrow greatly influenced such American directors as Quentin Tarantino and established Chow Yun Fat as one of Asia's leading stars, as the image of Chow as a trench-coat-and-sunglasses-sporting-lone-hitman became an icon of Hong Kong cinema. A Better Tomorrow is a dazzling spectacular full of tear-jerking melodrama and jaw-dropping action sequences -- a cinematic feast. Jonathan Crow

All Movie Guide

The film that launched a thousand action spectaculars, A Better Tomorrow established John Woo as Hong Kong's preeminent action director and started the Hong Kong gangster flick boom of the 1980s. Reworking themes of loyalty and self-sacrifice found in Italian spaghetti westerns, Jean-Pierre Melville films, and early martial arts movies, Woo envisions a criminal world where violence is the only way of life and honor and brotherhood means everything. Woo's flamboyant style and sheer bravura earned him acclaim from both the press and the public. His elegant tracking shots, staccato edits, and slow-motion pyrotechnics introduced a new level of emotional resonance and visual beauty to the action sequence, as his baroque visual style and intense emphasis on brotherhood elevated the film's drama to almost Wagnerian proportions. In addition to its two eventual sequels, A Better Tomorrow greatly influenced such American directors as Quentin Tarantino and established Chow Yun Fat as one of Asia's leading stars, as the image of Chow as a trench-coat-and-sunglasses-sporting-lone-hitman became an icon of Hong Kong cinema. A Better Tomorrow is a dazzling spectacular full of tear-jerking melodrama and jaw-dropping action sequences -- a cinematic feast.

All Movie Guide - Jonathan Crow