A Better Tomorrow

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: Starts off bad, concludes well.
Review: Better Tommorrow starts off as a horrible film. It seemed like John Woo was trying to make it into a comedy. Then, after the first 30-40 minutes, the film starts getting a lot more dramatic and gets better. Excellent performance by Chow Yun-Fat.

Rating:
Summary: Best Hong Kong drama ever..
Review: Chow Yun Fat is one hell of an actor and that can't be any more evident than in this 1986 Hong Kong classic, A Better Tomorrow. This is probably John Woo's best movie and definately one of the best Hong Kong action thrillers of all time. John Woo is a director that certainly deserves his reputation and Chow Yun Fat is a prolific and talented star. Jet Li, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan have nothing on Chow Yun Fat. It's foreign actors like him that are fully deserving of all the overseas exposure they get.

Here's to hoping that he makes more great movies.

Rating:
Summary: must see..
Review: Chow Yun Fat, Leslie Cheung, Lung Ti, and etc. made this movie great and memorable. sure, there may not be many shootouts like the killer or Hard-Boiled, but this movies got everything. Loyalty, romance, hope, btrayal, code of a tru gangsta. This movie started it all.

if you just wanted to see action, this movie is ahnananaa...... but if watch for everything...this movie is as good as scarface, goodfellas, etc.

"kid, dont point gun at my head, if you got the guts why dont you just shoot me??"

Rating:
Summary: a brilliant masterpiece
Review: Chow Yun Fat,Ti Lung,and Leslie Chung all deliever great performances in this film. From the heartful confrontation between bothers behind the bar to Chow Yun Fat hiding 9mm's in flower pots, this film is superbly done. The acting was great, the movie is just resonating with heart and soul. From the ideals of brotherhood to strong comradery, this film has it's own spirit to it that cant be re-created.

Rating:
Summary: John Woo delivers the goods.
Review: Chow Yun Fat- Hong Kong Classic..John Woo delivering some of his best work. Must see for those who loved Chow Yun Fat and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This is "CLASSIC" John Woo right here and classic Chow Yun Fat back in the making. For those who think that Chow Yun Fat started acting in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you need to step back and take a look at classics like Hard Boiled, The Killer, A Better Tommorrow I, II, Hong Kong 1941 and an impressive list of movies to his resume. Chow has been performing for years and he's definately one of China's premiere actors. This is one movie you definately don't want to miss him in.

Rating:
Summary: Good Action Movie
Review: First of all I'm 14 not 12 like it says above this review. This is a great John Woo movie and as always in a great action movie there are excellently choregraphed action scenes.The only downside is I think they could of enjected alittle more gunfights hence 4 stars instead of 5. I mean compare this to The Killer or Hard Boiled. Both those movies had tones of action, while this one does not. Sure the scene at the end and the one in the restraunt were good but that is the only two that resemble any of the hardcore action that The Killer and Hard Boiled are great for. If you are REALLY looking for tones of action watch The Killer or Hard Boiled. And if you already own those movies THEN buy this one. And if you are new to Hong Kong action movies then you should check out the The Killer (its in my opinions is Woo's best work.)
Anyway happy viewing!

Rating:
Summary: What happened to the original soundtrack?
Review: First off, I LOVE this movie in its original form (Cantonese version way back in the 80s). The DVD version suffered from a few FATAL flaws: the Cantonese version had a different soundtrack for a few scenes, the Cantonese version had a mis-dubbed Mandarin dialogue (the scene in the bar with Mark, Ho and Shing was in Mandarin!).
Good thing is, the English version had the original soundtrack but nonetheless, the dubbed version never captured Mark's (Chow Yun Fat) outstanding use of tones and pitches.

This re-release really disappointed me, and destroyed a masterpiece that I loved.

Rating:
Summary: A Better Desicration
Review: First off, I would like to say that I love this movie. The movie is very dramatic, and full of action. This film revolutionized action movies, and lifted John Woo and Chow Yun Fat's career to new heights. It also exsploded the heroic bloodshed genre up through the underground to the main stream. Perhaps without this movie to start it all, there would be no Killer or Hardboiled, ect. So the movie itself is not in question. With that being said this DVD is very disapointing. I am easy to please, to have this film on DVD is enough for me, BUT.....Anchor Bay or whoever changed the audio tracks on this film. At first this seemed like an ok idea, I actually liked how they did the beginning. But that is about it. Part of the greatness of this film is its soundtrack, the hypnotic, dramatic scores John Woo uses are sensational. When you change them, you change the feel of the entire movie. They took out crucial musical scores in certain scene's and added them in ones where it was not needed. After watching this I was throughly disapointed instead of exilarated as I usaully am. (I've viewed this movie about 25 times in the past.) Fortunatly, the changed audio is only on the cantonese lanuage version so the English dubbed version is the original. Being somewhat of a purist though, I hate the lack of realizm and feeling dubbed verions portray. I recently showed The Killer to my girlfriend in the English dubbed version (I was lazy and didn't feel like reading) and regreted that I didn't select the original launage with subtitles because it lacked the emphasis and power that the pure language brings. The picture quality is fine and the sound on this English version is good, the sound on the Cantonese version has ALSO BEEN CHANGED! Why? I have no idea, I was going to give this a 3 star but I am changing it to a 2. I highly doubt that John Woo was for these changes, and the bottom line is that you cannot change a masterpiece, that is like painting stick figures on one of Michaelangelo's paintings. Avoid this DVD unless you like the English Version. Mark D rates this movie a 2 out of 5 on the hypeness meter.

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.