Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, Disappointing DVD
Review: This movie is the best of the "Better Tomorrow" trilogy and one of John Woo's best Hong Kong releases after "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer". It takes off right after "A Better Tomorrow" with Chow Yun Fat returning as Mark's twin brother Ken. It starts off a little slow, but it's essential to character development (which most action films of this genre lack). The ending has one of the best and bloodiest shootout sequences in the series. Some of the scenes in this end sequence you may remeber being shown in Tarentino's "True Romance".The two stars keeping this movie from getting a five star rating was due to the quality of the DVD. Although the packaging of the DVD was nice, the booklet inside was merely an advertisement and had no information for this movie. To my disappointment there was NO EXTRA FOOTAGE or BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE as advertised and it left me feeling ripped off. The DVD just merely contained actor's and director's files which looked like it was taken directly from the IMDB (www.imdb.com). The subtitles were poorly translated with constant grammatical, spelling and timing errors, which made most the dialogue confusing. The colors were muted and in some of the dark scenes, what was supposed to be black turned a bright blue - yuck!. The only real difference between the DVD and the VHS version was the remastered Dolby Digital sound and widescreen letterboxed aspect ratio (1.85:1). The only reason that I didn't return this version of the DVD is that the only other version is on VHS and it's $13 more than the DVD. So if you are planning on purchasing this, I'd wait, there are plans for a superior version to be released in the fall.
Rating: 
Summary: John Woo at his best
Review: A Better Tomorrow II focuses mainly on Mark Gor's twin brother, Ken Gor, instead of the emotional storyline of the original, the brother-brother relationship (Ti Lung & Leslie Chueng, about 15 year difference in age). Ken Gor works in a New York Chinese restaurant, frequently visited by a racist Italian mob. In one of Chow Yun-Fat's most famous scenes, Ken has had enough of the scumags and stands up to them in an honorable, tough-guy way not even Robert De Niro could match. The whole movie goes in the same tone from there. About honor and loyalty. It has less emotional acting and dialogue than ABT1, but the gunfights are more tense and bloody, and Chow Yun-Fat's performance nearly equals that of his previous, classic character Mark Gor. One particular, long death sequence surpasss in the film surpasses that of Mark Gor's death in the original, in emotion and in intensity. The final gunbattle at the end is the conclusion to the trilogy, (ABT3 is a prequel) and three main characters sit down on couches, with literally thousands of bodies and tons of blood stacked around them. You don't know what will happen next to them, but the story has come to an end completely (other action films never seem to come to a complete end and generate endless sequels). John Woo at his best. You won't see an honorable film like this again, you'll see huge-budget popcorn movies like Mission: Impossible II and absolute cr*p like Replacement Killers which never gets anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: great gunfights and great movie
Review: This movies is cool. I like the scence when chow yun fat is about to shoot a man in the head if he does not eat the rice.The last 40 or 30 minutes is when it start to get good. If you love voilence as much as I do buy this movie. The one I brought is not in english but it has subtitles. There is to parts where chow yun fat speakes in english in this movie. I like when he take the shotgun and start blow the men all away. then he takes the pistols slides down the stairs shooting a man. There are two good action scence but they last for 3o minutes. The last 15 minutes will have you supised it is the best part of the movie.That about all.
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: John Woo at his best
Review: A Better Tomorrow II focuses mainly on Mark Gor's twin brother, Ken Gor, instead of the emotional storyline of the original, the brother-brother relationship (Ti Lung & Leslie Chueng, about 15 year difference in age). Ken Gor works in a New York Chinese restaurant, frequently visited by a racist Italian mob. In one of Chow Yun-Fat's most famous scenes, Ken has had enough of the scumags and stands up to them in an honorable, tough-guy way not even Robert De Niro could match. The whole movie goes in the same tone from there. About honor and loyalty. It has less emotional acting and dialogue than ABT1, but the gunfights are more tense and bloody, and Chow Yun-Fat's performance nearly equals that of his previous, classic character Mark Gor. One particular, long death sequence surpasss in the film surpasses that of Mark Gor's death in the original, in emotion and in intensity. The final gunbattle at the end is the conclusion to the trilogy, (ABT3 is a prequel) and three main characters sit down on couches, with literally thousands of bodies and tons of blood stacked around them. You don't know what will happen next to them, but the story has come to an end completely (other action films never seem to come to a complete end and generate endless sequels). John Woo at his best. You won't see an honorable film like this again, you'll see huge-budget popcorn movies like Mission: Impossible II and absolute cr*p like Replacement Killers which never gets anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: John Woo's best volume 2!!!
Review: This is another one of John Woo's finest films!!! This is the second volume of the Better Tommorrow series and it's action packed!!! Will make a great companion to volume 1!!! Anchor Bay's DVD of this clasic Hong Kong film is awesome!!! 16:9 widescreen,2 trailers,multiple language tracks,great subtitles and production notes round out this grea DVD!!! A+
Rating:
Summary: A MUST OWN
Review: The Hong Kong Godfather. Without a doubt this movie proves that John Woo is the best action director of all time, the vision, style, and the sher genious that he (Woo) uses in the direction of this movie is what sets it apart from and american action movie ever made. The action in this movie plays out like a ballet, a dance with bullets and blood. So put down those typical american action movies and pick up the movie that they want to be. You will not be dissaponted by this movie, one of if not the best hong kong action movie.
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: 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: Delivers little action, generic plot, and monotony.
Review: I watched the trailer for this film and was expecting lot of action. Unfortunatley, there were only two real action scenes. The rest of the film is filled with a rather boring and generic plot--fighting the Italian mob, trying to take back the business, etc. etc. Chow-Yun Fat's character seems confused--at times he's quite tough and at others sentimental and other times simply stupid. Also, the film's first action sequence is wonderful but the second get boring after a while and is dull.
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