Rating: 
Summary: Refined a review's comment.
Review: Come on, every real movie fan knows that many hollywood directors are inspired by John woo's mexican stands and gunplay sequences, notably Quentine Tarantino and Wachowski Bros. It is so apparent, reservior's dog was produced in 1992 while A Better Tomorrow II was produced in 1988 and Quentine talked about that he is a big fan of Woo himself, so do Wachowski Bros.
Rating: 
Summary: Violent to absurdity...but still fun...
Review: First off, this is, in my opinion, no way better than the original A Better Tomorrow. I mean the plot is really all over the place, or non existent depending on perspective. The character development is nothing really if you've seen the first one. I mean, the relationship between the two brothers isn't any different than in the first movie. It's nice to see the characters revisited, but there's nothing new here. It takes a minute for the signature John Woo style of action to really kick into gear, but when it does, man he goes all out with this one. Seriously, they must've killed like 100 guys in the final shootout alone. It was surreal, hilarious and exhilirating all at once. There were moments where about 15 men would walk out of a room and all get mowed down with machine gun fire abruptly. And of course there's plenty of sliding, diving, two gun action we've all come to love from John. Chow Yun sliding down the stairs was great. Speaking of Chow Yun, his acting's great as always. You can tell he's just having fun with this part, though. Like, after the first one he told John "I don't want a really serious character." His character, Ken, means business, but he's not like in the first movie when he was Mark. Mark was the cool killer turned lackey with a limp, and you sympathized with him. That original story was about as tearjerker as an action film gets with exceptions to The Killer and The Professional. In this sequel it's not taken quite as seriously, in spite of moments that in a less outrageously violent movie would be considered tragic. And I'll always love how John Woo isn't afraid to kill any main character. You never know who's gonna get it. Bottom line, it's good fun. Not great fun, but good fun.
Rating:
Summary: "Better" than the original
Review: For the fans of Woo, Fat, and this series you all know the facts. For those who don't it's simply Ti Lung and Fat taking on the mobb. The shoot-outs and action surpass the ones in the original and the story is much more powerful and intriguing, a must have for action fans.
Rating:
Summary: Just enjoy the ride.
Review: From the accounts I've read, A Better Tomorrow II was a reluctant endeavour on Woo's part to cash in on an extremely personal and extremely successful film (the first A Better Tomorrow) which had made his career and hadn't been intended as a franchise. But a franchise it became, and the corny, nearly nonsensical plotting of this sequel (the comic-book artist is especially ludicrous -- it's the same guy who had been the counterfeit engineer in the first film!) is the result. But where this film good-naturedly flubs on logic, it makes up for in spectacle and just pure entertainment. Chow Yun-fat must have had a ball filming this, with his extended English monologue, almost godlike action choreography, and a mischievous character which taps into one of his most effective traits as an actor, a goofball sense of fun which makes his romantic moments all the more engrossing. Ti Lung's character is somewhat passive this time though the actor does a good job. Dean Shek's over-the-top portrayal of a mind unhinged isn't for all tastes, but his performance in the not-crazy scenes is tip-top, and Leslie Cheung had grown greatly as an actor since the first film. In the end, this film is about an exaggerated staging of the trademark gunfights of A Better Tomorrow, and this sequel delivers on that front in grand style. Once again Chow Yun-fat steals the whole show, dominating both key action sequences (the final demolition of the house and the New York battle against over-the-top slimy mafiosi). The DVD transfer of this film is not all that great. As with the first A Better Tomorrow DVD on Anchor Bay, the trailers are not that remarkable -- this DVD offers "Hong Kong" and "American" trailers, but the Hong Kong trailer has already been available on the pristine Criterion Collection edition of Hard Boiled, and the American trailer is pure trash. There is no commentary, not surprisingly, but the most bothersome thing is that the picture transfer is really not that great. Unbecoming scratches mar the picture, and I suspect it's on the master used by Anchor Bay, not a one-off on my DVD. The film is still lots of fun to watch. Turn off your logic circuit and indulge.
Rating:
Summary: Rent it for the rice scene
Review: I don't think a sequel to "ABT" should have been made. The first one is a classic...so good that it was hard to top. Furthermore, since Mark Gor(Chow) is already dead in the first one, it makes the story involving him as a twin brother in "ABT-II" sound kind of stupid. A good movie must not only come with good directing, but also a good plot-which this lacks. However, it is worth to watch for the scene in which Chow forces a guy to eat his fried rice. Chow's facial expression is funny, and his performance in that scene shows real talent. It also gives a sneek peek at what he can do in comedy movies, which is often overshadowed by his action movies. It is not worth it to buy the whole ABT set, because the series is not connected well. I would only recommend buying "ABT-I", but renting the other two for all you Chow Yun Fat fans. By the way, his last name is Chow, not Fat.
Rating:
Summary: The Even Better Tomorrow
Review: I liked this one better than the first. Bringing back Yun Fat's character as a distant twin from America was a little campy, but the overall plot was a lot of fun. I especially love the scene where Yun Fat rubs the mobster's face in the rice telling him to respect the rice. Yun Fat plays a very cool character, with much less angst from the first one. Finally, if anything is worth watching, it is the final 15 minutes, a great action scene with plenty of guns, grendades, dynamite, and even the random katana thrown in. Great action poetry.
Rating:
Summary: Review of Anchor Bay's DVD
Review: I recently watched Anchor Bay's version of A BETTER TOMORROW II, and I am quite pleased with it. I say this mainly because it has a good transfer and great subtitles. The visuals are very good, especially for an "older" Hong Kong film. The picture is fairly sharp, the colors are vibrant, and there is not a lot of grain apparent. Occasionally there was a brief glitch with the picture, but it didn't amount to much and was only for a second (this happened maybe two or three times). Compared with Fox Lorber's THE KILLER and HARD BOILED DVDs, this Anchor Bay disc has a superior picture, and by a pretty good margin, too. The subtitles were great. They were in yellow (thank God!) and also had a good translation. It was not like some of those Tai Seng products where they seem to have been translated by a third grader. Also, the subs come up at a good pace so you don't have to worry about not being able to keep up. There is the option to listen to an English dub, but I haven't checked it out. For the sound, well, let's just say there isn't a whole lot to say. If you're looking for 5.1 surround sound to blow you away, better pop FACE/OFF back into your DVD player, because you're not getting it here. Sorry. There are no problems with the sound from a technical standpoint. I thought it was fine. Now there are not many extras on this disc, as you can tell above. I saw no "extra footage." Just a couple trailers and some talent bios. The talent bios are actually not bad. They read like an article on Woo and Chow. They contain some worthy insights, too. Better than what you find on most DVDs. So ... not many extras, and no 5.1 sound -- what I am doing giving this 4 stars? Well, the picture means a lot to me, as do the subtitles, and like I said, those are both of high quality. That's why I give it a thumbs up and a worthwhile buy, for sure. As a film, I don't think it is one of Woo's great works, but it's still pretty good. I found the film and also the action to be slightly overrated by the other reviewers here. I also think it demands a second viewing before I can fully judge it. Like ABT1, I found the plot to be a litle on the confusing side. Nevertheless, if you're a Woo fan, I would definitely recommend this DVD to you.
Rating:
Summary: A Better Sequal
Review: I think this is the only sequal to a movie that is better than the first. Don't get me wrong, a better tomorrow was a great film. But this sequal is a much more action packed emotional masterpeice. (If you can belive it?) It is unfortunate that some for whatever reason do not grasp or realize the power and excellence of this film. Being a former (note: REFORMED) drug dealer/buisness man, there were a few scene's which were riviting. The first (im not going to spoil it!) being when uncle lung calls his enemy's who think he's dead, and proceeds to calmly tell them he is in town, and is fine. And sublimily stating I am going to come over there and take care of all of you for selling me out. And the other being the shoot out between chow yun fat and the sunglass wearing hitman. This was truly the greatest gun fight in movie history. John Wayne could take a lesson from that. Enough about the movie, now the DVD: I am used to a grainly bootleg VHS of this movie. This DVD is an outstanding high quality version of this great film. If you like this movie or are a chow yun fat/john woo fan, then its a must hae. One note, in order to see this film in it's pure state, do not watch it with english dubbing. Use the sub titles. The english dubbing is often corny and desicrates the entire film. Finally this great film is on DVD, viewed in my opinion as John Woo's 3rd greatest film (Killer #1, Hardboiled #2,) it will not leave you disapointed. Unless you are over demanding, and exspect every DVD to have every little perk and a chow yun fat video game in it.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive sequel to an excellent film
Review: I was completly blown away the first time I saw A Better Tomorrow . Masterfully directed by the John Woo , it focused on the HK gangster life. Sequels, I've learned from experience , are generally [poorer] and just an excuse to make money. Not so with ABT 2.
The plot is arguably paper-thin and just an excuse to get the characters all [upset] so they can have sweet gunfights with tons of underworld scum. Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung fit nicely back into their roles as former gangster and HK cop. The whole Mark Gor "twin brother" thing was kinda cheesy , but It gives the movie so much more credibility to have Chow Yun-Fat center stage. Dean Shek did a great job as a traumatized father who eventually regains his sanity in the most stylish way possible.
Onto the DVD...
The picture quality was great , and aside from some weird one-second scratches across the screen , extremely watchable. For the soundtrack , take your pick of Cantonese or English mono. Defineltly check it out in Cantonese so you can hear the intensity of Chow-Yun's voice ...great stuff. I was unusually suprised by the English mono . I find it has an overall stronger sound , and superior music mixing. You see , they occasinally moved around the music ,a bit (1 min , behind or ahead) , and It does wonders for the movie. Especially when Fat is with Shek in the hotel , and he starts blasting with his shotgun , the sweet main theme cuts in faster , and boy , it's heaven.
Bottom line , definetly buy this one (it's the best version out there).
Rating: 
Summary: Superb show let down by inferior audio
Review: I was looking forward to the DVD version of this movie which purportedly boasted of dolby digital 5.1. The quality of the audio was really inconsistent. Dialogue became soft suddenly and sound effects were almost non-existent. The effects from the shooting scenes were therefore disappointing. I had to strain to hear the dialogue at times. To be fair, I heard the Cantonese version. I don't know how the Mandarin version will fare. Other than the inferior sound quality, this is a superb movie, as good as part 1. Chow YF returns as "Ah Mark"'s twin brother who runs a restaurant in the USA. The cheekiness and the don't-care-less attitude portrayed by Chow is unsurpassed.
|
