A Better Tomorrow

Rating:
Summary: The Destruction of a seminal action film
Review: What can I say? I love John Woo, and this is an incredible movie, but please do not buy this DVD. Buying this DVD will tell Anchorbay that what they did was forgivable, and it (I am referring to their God-awful remix of the soundtrack) is a travesty, a crime against mankind, and hell-worthy trespass. Words cannot express the anger I have towards whoever thought that it would be a good idea to remix (if this is indeed a remix or just a gross oversight) this film's soundtrack with music from Forrest Gump, Speed, and several other cute movies. Apparently they for saw this situation and planned for it by not including the credits on this DVD!... Be warned, and wait for a rerelease.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie is ruined!
Review: I have to say first and foremost that I love this movie and have loved it since the first time I saw it. The story is great, and it has everything I expect to see in a good John Woo movie. The performances by Leslie Chung, Chow Yun-Fat and Ti Lung are all great, and the action is stylish and exciting. This movie is a fantastic introduction for anyone who hasn't seen a John Woo movie before that he himself wrote.

But I give this DVD one star for the reason that on this DVD they completely ruin the movie by cheapening the moments which originally had no music by sticking in music from "Forrest Gump" and I'm pretty sure during one action sequence they REPLACED original music with music from "SPEED" which I find in notoriously bad taste since the music is so distinctive when you hear it. The music ruined it for me and my friends who hadn't seen this great movie before, but couldn't help but laugh at the terrible music that fades in with disgustingly absurd music cues and random fade outs.

Not only do they stick in random music, but they cut off the final song during the end credts which don't exist in this version of the movie! I wanted to see the name of the person(s) responsible for butchering this movie, but alas they felt it more fitting to cut straight to a screen saying who the DVD was authored by.

The menus write the headers in English letters made to look like Chinese characters which is pretty absurd, and the movie logo looks ridiculous.

However, the English language trailer gives a good sample of the absurdity of English dubbing, and what happens when you have badly written voice over for movie trailers.

Rating:
Summary: Anchor Bay DVD is defective-DO NOT BUY
Review: This DVD is defective. It has the wrong soundtrack not original to the movie. It is remixed from other American films. Do not buy it. Instead, write to Anchor Bay at [e-mail] to ask them to return the movie to its ORIGINAL soundtack.

Rating:
Summary: Anchor Bay DVD is defective - DO NOT BUY!
Review: BE ADVISED! This DVD includes the improperly remixed soundtrack that replaces the music from the film with music from SPEED, FORREST GUMP, T2, ALIENS and other films. Not only that, but all the sound effects are replaced and they sound WORSE!

Ironically enough, the included English dubbed soundtrack is all original, so you can easily hear the difference.

This release will likely be recalled and replaced, so AVOID until then and e-mail Anchor Bay at "[e-mail]" and ask that they do recall this and replace it with a version that has the original, unaltered mono soundtrack.

Thankfully, the sequel is just fine, so go ahead and buy that DVD and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: It Still Is One of the Best
Review: Has it ever occurred to readers that movies we watched when we were children were always better when we watch them again later? I watched "A Better Tomorow" 14 years ago & it instantly became my all time favourite movie. I did a test, wondering if it would withstand the test of time. Yes, Chow Yuen Fat was more plumb on his face then, John Woo had a limited budget then, & his skill hadn't refined to his present level but from there, you could witness the testimony of what would come from them almost 15 years later. Yuen Fatt was riveting & commanding as Mark, Ti Lung who played Leslie Cheung's elder brother & Yuen Fatt's best friend was already a veteran when he took this role & the chemistry between him & Yuen Fatt was obvious. He played a role, succinctly summarised by one of Al Pacino's movie, as quoted,"I want to get out, but they pull me back in". Loyalty, betrayal, family are under scrutiny here & readers might have learnt from Sopranos already that even with mafiasos, there are certain codes that they have to abide by. So, when the codes are broken, examples have to be set, grudges would have to be avenged or paid. Readers would have to look closely if they would want to witness John Woo and Tsui Hark in acting. John Woo played a Taiwanese cop who wanted to capture Yuen Fatt's character for a massacre that he committed after he avenged for Ti Lung's capture in Taiwan for a deal went wrong. That scene had become an instant classic & would look even more alluring with John Woo's present slow motion technique. Tsui Hark played a cameo role as a judge for Leslie Cheung's fiancee's cello audition. John Woo's lack of refinement then was compensated by the rawness & honesty of the whole movie. Even though the movie could be regarded as simplistic, the bond between the 3 main characters: Ti Lung, Yuen Fatt, Leslie Cheung was unmistakable. It still gave me the goose bump, or those tingly sensation watching this movie. Western readers might not realise that the theme song in this movie performed by Leslie Cheung was his all time favourite & it created quite a sensation in Asia then. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty cool movie, but you gotta see the sequel
Review: This movie's major source of disappointment rests in the fact that Chow Yun Fat gets hit with one of those rare bullets that does damage in the first fifteen minutes. It's hard to believe that this movie caused thousands of youths to imitate Chow's black trenchcoat, toothpick chewing style to the point that they were dying of heat stroke. He's very cool at the beginning and he's very cool after receiving about 3000 bullets to the chest that allows him to shoot half of the Hong Kong mob in one inspired barrage of gunfire, but in between he's kind of whiny. It's all about how he wants to do one big score. Etcetera etcetera.

Meanwhile his associate the other gangster has to deal with the brother the cop (Leslie Cheung) whose a silly little whiner. It is a rule in Hong Kong that every gangster must have an honest brother in the police force but does the cop have to be such a whiner.

The rest of the movie is a lead up to a big gunfight on the docks where a whole lot of mobsters get shot and the brothers finally reconcile. It's not bad as far as Hong Kong movies goes but compared to other John Woo movies, it's not great. A better movie to rent out is the sequel where Chow Yun Fat comes back as his twin brother, says "you don't like my rice" to Italian-British gangsters with Chinese accents in New York and then helps everyoen get revenge in THE gunfight scene of Hong Kong movies.

This is a pretty good movie, but if you have to make a choice between this one and the sequel, buy the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: A true action classic
Review: This is a 24 carat Hong Kong classic. The reviews that mention bad subtitles etc are referring to the HK Media Asia DVD and NOT this edition (written on 6th September 2000)!

Outside of "The Killer & "Hard Boiled" this is John Woo's best work for sure!

Rating:
Summary: no choice..
Review: there are no special features on this dvd except the trailer.the picture quality is sometimes really bad but if you want to own this nearly perfect movie,you just have to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: A Better Tomorrow
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Please don't ask me why you should see this.
Review: When one brings up "Hong Kong Cinema," it's a safe bet that a plethora of blank stares will result. Some might say, "Oh, like those Jackie Chan movies," and that's if you're lucky. Sure, there are some that keep an eye on the "trends du'jour" and might give you a reasonable answer. You might even be one of them. Well, if one has any interest at all in seeing John Woo's film prowess in his pre-bloated-American-movie days, along with a similar pre-wooden-American Chow Yun Fat, then fire up the one-click and obtain this DVD now. The movie tells a great story of mob glory, mob downfall, and mob revenge. Perfect for the Goodfellas enthusiast, as long as said person has no pre-conceived biases against HK cinema ("Those guys talk funny!" Whatever, Jethro.) It's a classic storyline that even the most mainstream American moviegoer can enjoy, as long as they don't mind some liberal use of gun violence (and what American ISN'T completely desensitized to THAT by now?)

There are some particularly "Asian" moments in the film (duh, it is from Hong Kong) but it doesn't distract from its greatness. Subtitles? They aren't as bad as some of these belly-achers make them out to be. Do me a favor: check out the movie-trailer for this film, included with the DVD, and try to decipher THOSE subtitles. Comparively, the DVD's subtitles are letter perfect! So go with a winner, the movie that catapulted both Chow Yun Fat and John Woo into acclaim. Remember the glory years of HK cinema, before Hollywood and the money-bearing fat-cats raped all of the quality talent from the scene. Probably the first movie you'll want to own, if you're beginning to have an interest in HK cinema.