GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

museumofdave Its odd how some gangster films from the 1970s and 1980s have dated more than those made in the 1930s and 1940s, probably because the pacing and the snappy dialog crammed into 80 minutes wears much better than long stretches of attitude and out-of-date clothes and second- rate music.The main reason folks seem to watch John Woo is for his grasp of kinetic gun play and maximum explosive violence, and that said, he does it infinitely better in his later films, mainly Hard Boiled, in which the last 30 minutes is absolute dynamite. There are a few scenes in A Better Tomorrow worth wading through in this film, and Chow Yun-Fat is persuasive as a silent gun man with a strong personal code, but you just want to smack the kid brother, whose petulance and whining grows tiresome after about ten minutes, and the final shootout, even though dozens of whirling bodies go flying through the air, is fairly predictable to seasoned viewers. This is a good film to watch to see where Woo was grounded, but I think his mature work shines in comparison

david-sarkies 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.

Alex An excellent movie. I love John Woo movies a lot because of the action. But A Better Tomorrow is one I didn't actually love for that reason. It does deliver action, and it's the graceful, balletic stuff that we expect from Woo, nothing less. But there isn't as much of it, and this is a good thing, because this is A Better Tomorrow, the story of two brothers, one a criminal, and one a cop, and how their different lives tear them apart. And then there's Chow Yun-Fat, who stars in the movie that practically started his entire career. This is one of his best performances, the charismatic, smart alec Mark. Did I mention, he is super, super cool. The movie isn't really even about him, yet he steals it completely. The script is well written, the melodrama that is now classic Woo may not be for everyone, but for devoted fans like me, it is just art in action. Everyone here does a great job acting, our two lovable gangsters Ti Lung and Chow Yun-Fat. Our young, bright spirited cop Leslie Cheung. The ever friendly Kenneth Tsang. And evil bad guy Waisse Lee (I hope I spelt that okay). All these characters are incredibly memorable, and the way they are at the end of the movie is quite different to how they were at the beginning. The story progresses at a nice pace, the action never intrudes, and comes in balanced doses. The story is the real star here, I just loved it, it's a shame that the sequel didn't love up to the grandness that is the original A Better Tomorrow. This movie made history, it would be a shame if you didn't go to your local video store right now and buy this movie.

Deniz Ziya Toroslu Unfortunately John Woo has never done another Hard Boiled. A Better Tomorrow was a big disappointment for me, because I had expected a real stylish action packed film but it was not. The director is John Woo, it has Chow Yun Fat and the hype says it is action, but the movie was too slow paced again (like The Killer) and the action scenes (if it has any real one!) were not that great or unforgettable like the master's some other movies. The attack to the restaurant scene and the final part were remarkable, but that's all. The restaurant scene was pretty stylish, John Woo style, but it was too short. What about the high rating then? Well, I don't know. Unfortunately, the problem is not only lack of action, also the movie was not stylish as I had expected, the cinematography was just OK and I am sorry to say that, but it was not neither a first class film, nor an entertaining B movie. It was like a third class TV movie. Some people say that A Better Tomorrow and The Killer are John Woo's best movies and they are also "art". Simply, I disagree with that opinion. However, I am still hopeful that John Woo will be back one day and make movies like Hard Boiled.