Rating: 
Summary: Hong Kong action packed punch!
Review: It's plain to see that this is a rather old film, but there is no challenging the fact that it has stood the test of time. A Better Tomorrow is simply a good guns ablaze kill-fest, which although is not the most friendly ideology there is an added and certain comedic value due to the need to finally re-load ones gun after the millionth shot is fired.
Standout performance would have to be that of veteran international action superstar Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching tiger hidden dragon, Anna and the King, The Replacement Killers, The Killer and Hardboilded... to name a minute portion of his filmography). This film set the standard for all other Hong Kong action films to come, as it was one of the most original storylines to screen in HK cinemas for a long time, as Kung-Fu films had been most prominent up till this cinematic turning point.
Director John Woo, proves himself time and time again that he knows the intricate workings of crime, violence and honour among theives and all codes these imply. There is nothing more than a high bodycount, billions of bullets fired and the possiblity that the bad guy might not win... or will they? John Woo's Hollywood productions have not come anywhere near the perfection in action he was allowed to attain in Hong Kong cinema, which is unfortunate, but the cultural divide will slowly learn to part and free reign will eventually be granted to Woo, allowing him to retain and continue outstanding work such as and hopefully similar to that of A Better Tomorrow for the American masses.
There is nothing glamerous about violence and crime as most normal humans realise, and this is made perfectly clear toward the films 'fire and brimstone' climax... will crime have paid after the dust and the smoke settles?
Followed by A Better Tomorrow 2 and A Better Tomorrow 3 (prequal). Parts 1 and 2 are must sees, back to back if possible!Question: What do Hong Kong action and soft toned midday soap opera's have in common? (Give up?)
Answer: Twin Borthers!!
Rating: 
Summary: Quintessential John Woo.
Review: John Woo has made better films since (The Killer, Bullet in the Head), but A Better Tomorrow epitomizes everything about him that has captured the imagination of both Hong Kong and America. The influence of this film has been felt in films as far-ranging as Reservoir Dogs, Dead Presidents, Desperado, and The Matrix. In terms of filmcraft, there are still rough edges to this film that make it less than perfect. The romance between Jackie and Kit is silly and the humour not as funny as it thinks it is. Emily Chu overacts badly and all of her dialogue is soullessly overdubbed, and Leslie Cheung has not yet gotten in touch with the simmering complexity that will eventually make him into a fine actor. He is embarrassing in the first half of the film. But these flaws are easily negated by the full-grown, powerful mythology that Woo crafted out of his experience in martial-arts film. Chow Yun-fat and Ti Lung's characters, loosely related to the characters in Woo's best martial-arts film Last Hurrah for Chivalry, are heroic swordsmen trapped in the bodies of gangster gunmen, and in this film Woo debuts the balletic gunplay which becomes his trademark. The first occurrence of this -- Mark (Chow)'s hit on a traitorous business partner -- is simply exhilarating, both because of its historical context and the meticulous execution, which rivals the best rhythmic action scenes of Akira Kurosawa and Sam Peckinpah. And Chow and Ti's performances, early corny humour aside, are terrific, sustaining the ultra-romantic sense of honour, friendship and loyalty which is directly interpreted from historical martial-arts epics in Chinese literature and film. Woo's mentor Chang Cheh was a master at these stories, and Woo himself has enriched it greatly by successfully adapting them to a modern setting. This DVD edition, despite cheap presentation (Anchor Bay should be ashamed for the chop-suey DVD menu design), is somewhat decent. Unlike the VHS editions which bear the same artwork, this DVD *does* contain the original dialogue and music track. A very good thing, for the earliest American VHS editions of this film had godawful dubbing. Not a danger here, though, and the picture and sound quality I heard on this disc seem quite okay. A key film for anybody even remotely interested in Hong Kong cinema, or action films in general.
Rating:
Summary: Quintessential John Woo.
Review: John Woo has made better films since (The Killer, Bullet in the Head), but A Better Tomorrow epitomizes everything about him that has captured the imagination of both Hong Kong and America. The influence of this film has been felt in films as far-ranging as Reservoir Dogs, Dead Presidents, Desperado, and The Matrix. In terms of filmcraft, there are still rough edges to this film that make it less than perfect. The romance between Jackie and Kit is silly and the humour not as funny as it thinks it is. Emily Chu overacts badly and all of her dialogue is soullessly overdubbed, and Leslie Cheung has not yet gotten in touch with the simmering complexity that will eventually make him into a fine actor. He is embarrassing in the first half of the film. But these flaws are easily negated by the full-grown, powerful mythology that Woo crafted out of his experience in martial-arts film. Chow Yun-fat and Ti Lung's characters, loosely related to the characters in Woo's best martial-arts film Last Hurrah for Chivalry, are heroic swordsmen trapped in the bodies of gangster gunmen, and in this film Woo debuts the balletic gunplay which becomes his trademark. The first occurrence of this -- Mark (Chow)'s hit on a traitorous business partner -- is simply exhilarating, both because of its historical context and the meticulous execution, which rivals the best rhythmic action scenes of Akira Kurosawa and Sam Peckinpah. And Chow and Ti's performances, early corny humour aside, are terrific, sustaining the ultra-romantic sense of honour, friendship and loyalty which is directly interpreted from historical martial-arts epics in Chinese literature and film. Woo's mentor Chang Cheh was a master at these stories, and Woo himself has enriched it greatly by successfully adapting them to a modern setting. This DVD edition, despite cheap presentation (Anchor Bay should be ashamed for the chop-suey DVD menu design), is somewhat decent. Unlike the VHS editions which bear the same artwork, this DVD *does* contain the original dialogue and music track. A very good thing, for the earliest American VHS editions of this film had godawful dubbing. Not a danger here, though, and the picture and sound quality I heard on this disc seem quite okay. A key film for anybody even remotely interested in Hong Kong cinema, or action films in general.
Rating:
Summary: THERE IS NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Review: Less explosive than later Woo epics like "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled," "A Better Tomorrow" is still a winner thanks to fine all-around performances from a quality cast and the underlying questions of honor, loyalty, and family that keep the bloody action scenes from being merely gratuitous. The first major effort from director Woo and ace actor Chow Yun Fat, "A Better Tomorrow" has everything fans of Hong Kong thrillers have come to expect from Woo, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. A tempestuous mix of gangster politics, love & hate, pathos, guns & flying bullets, "A Better Tomorrow" is so electrifying it will give your VCR a meltdown.
Rating: 
Summary: Where did the FORREST GUMP MUSIC come from??????
Review: Let me just say, I love this film. Now that that's out of the way , let's talk about this DVD.I had seen this film many times before buying it on disc, and I was very dissapointed by two things. One. They changed alot of the original music and replaced it with movie themes from, yes, Forrest Gump, Speed, and one or two I couldn't recognize. This is unforgivable. Second. In an attempt to take advantage of DVD Dolby Digital sound, they've remixed the gunfire to constantly come from the rear channels, which is both unrealistic and extremely dissorienting. As much as I love hearing a great stereo mix, this film was not meant to be heard this way, and this is a very sloppy attempt to create true stereo sound.The picture, on the other hand looks better than previously available, but I found myself having to turn my black level all the way down to make the picture look natural. It is very bright, to the point of washing out color.So the 2 stars is for this DVD presentation, not the film. A Better Tomorrow is the movie that launched a thousand two fisted gun battles, and caused every actor in Hollywood to secretly want to be Chow Yun Fat.
Rating: 
Summary: What's up with the subtitles?
Review: Let me say that I liked this movie. It's not the best thing ever or anything, but it's a solid film which I enjoyed. I liked some of the gun fighting scenes, although, as has been mentioned below, it's not as refined as John Woo's later stuff. Just note that this film is not wall-to-wall action. You only get a few sequences of action. There's a lot of drama. Now, I saw the letterbox VHS version (Tai Seng Video Marketing) with the subtitles, and let me tell you: The subtitles are horrible! First, they give you two lines: English AND Cantonese. I got used to this, but I don't see the point to it. Second, the translation is absolutely horrendous. The guy who translated this clearly didn't know English. There are tons of words spelled wrong, improper grammar, the list goes on. It's bad. Real bad. Third, the text is in white, which means when there's a white background (or, say, someone wearing a white shirt), you can't read the subtitles. Finally, for long sentences words are chopped off from the sides. If this sounds bad, wait until you try and watch the film like this. It is watchable, but it's certainly not the way to maximize your entertainment. This is an extremely atrocious job. If you can track down a dubbed version, I'd recommend you do so, simply because the subtitles are such a disaster. Otherwise, "A Better Tomorrow" is a worthy effort that's must-viewing for John Woo fans.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfying Gangster Film
Review: My first viewing of this just blew me away. Ti Lung was a revelation as the gangster older brother of a young cop. His eyes throughout the film break you heart. I originally bought the VHS for Chow Yun Fat since I had become a huge fan of his work in Anna & The King. I can see why this film took him to super stardom. You can't take your eyes off him when he is on screen. Together he and Ti Lung create a very affecting team - one gangster wanting to go straight after 3 years in prison; and the other who has been horribly wounded in a gun fight that left him crippled and doing menial tasks after being the top enforcer for the mob. The wild card in the story is Ti Lungs younger brother who is the cop trying to move up in rank, and who blames his brother for their fathers death. How it all comes to a climax is one great film story and the action sequences are almost too much for the eyes to take in and leave you with your mouth open. Highly recommended for action fans or anyone wanting to see a bit of film history - this was a landmark film.
Rating:
Summary: excellent woo-fat vechile
Review: Ok, this is the film that made stars out of Woo and Fat in Hong Kong and also broke barriers. two mobster pals (Lung and Fat) are enjoy the life, but it all ends when Lung is double crossed when he decides to leave "the life", and he is sent to prison and his brother blames him for his fahers death. Fat's character becomes a limping janitor getting tips from the mobsters he once befriended. Lung is soon released from prison and reunites with Fat and eventully his brother to take out the mob. The action is great, the storyline is powerful but at times you will be a little bored by some of the dramatics, but this is a great film. The DVD for an old movies and a HK flick is also great, I had no problems with the dubbing.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, Bad Collector's DVD
Review: Okay... so if you're only interested in the movie, of course this is quintessential John Woo melodrama-action. Chow Yun Fat is the master of matches mouth moving and handgun hysterics. But the DVD is badly flawed. The subtitles are too big as the other review said, but they're also late (show up after the dialogue) and inaccurate (its text from the original) *I'm Chinese so I know--I just turn it off*. In addition, the description is incorrect--there's no "additional footage" or "behind the scenes stuff." Only the lightest production notes on the cast and crew--stuff you could get from IMDB. Also the transfer is a bit faded and lacks real richness that DVD is suppose to provide. In addition, the annoying startup promo (which lasts over 3 minutes) before the actual menu starts can't be skipped. I had rated this as 3 stars, but changed it to 2. I still love the movie, but feel a little jipped--especially since I bought the entire trilogy. Where's Criterion when you need them?
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: One word sums It up "CLASSIC". Great acting form the cast. Great story along with action. The movie is very sad and the one scene near the end that shock me. It'll propbably surprise you to cause you don't see it coming. Definately the best action movie ever made period.
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