A Better Tomorrow
Theatrical poster for A Better Tomorrow
Directed by	John Woo
Written by	Chan Hing-Ka, Leung Suk-Wah, John Woo
Starring	Chow Yun-Fat, Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung
Music by	Joseph Koo
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment (In America)
Release date(s)	1986
Running time	95 min.
Language	Cantonese, English, Mandarin
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色; pinyin: yīngxióng běnsè, Cantonese: ying1 hung4 bun2 sik1; literally True Colors of a Hero) is a 1986 Hong Kong action movie which had a profound influence on the Hong Kong movie-making industry, and later on an international scale. Image File history File links Abettertomorrow. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Chow Yun-Fat (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born May 18, 1955) is a Hong Kong actor. ... This article is on the Chinese dragon. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: zoeng1 gwok3 wing4; Mandarin Pinyin: Zhāng Guóróng, Wade-Giles: Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Gor-gor (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and a musician from Hong Kong. ... Joseph Koo SBS(Chinese: 顧嘉煇; Cantonese Yale: Gu Gà Faì, IPA: , Jyutping: gu3 gaa1 fai1; Mandarin Pinyin: Gù JiāhuÄ«), or Gu Gaa-fai (born 1933) is one of the most repected composers in Hong Kong. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... // April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Gos Belinda Carlisle Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

Directed by John Woo, it stars Chow Yun-Fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung. Although the movie was made with a tight budget and was relatively unknown until it went on screen due to virtually no advertising, it broke Hong Kong's box office record and went on to become a blockbuster in Asian countries. This success also ensured that two sequels would be released: A Better Tomorrow 2, also directed by Woo, and A Better Tomorrow 3, a prequel directed by producer Tsui Hark. ^{[citations needed]} This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Chow Yun-Fat (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born May 18, 1955) is a Hong Kong actor. ... This article is on the Chinese dragon. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: zoeng1 gwok3 wing4; Mandarin Pinyin: Zhāng Guóróng, Wade-Giles: Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Gor-gor (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and a musician from Hong Kong. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... A sequel is a work of fiction in literature, film, and other creative works that is produced after a completed work, and is set in the same universe but at a later time. ... A Better Tomorrow 2 (英雄本色 2; pinyin: yīngxióng běnsè èr) is a 1987 film, which is a follow-up to its popular predecessor, A Better Tomorrow. ... A Better Tomorrow 3: Love & Death in Saigon is a Hong Kong action film released in 1989. ... A prequel is a work that portrays events which include the structure, conventions, and/or characters of a previously completed narrative, but occur at an earlier time. ... Tsui Hark (Chinese: 徐克; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsü Ko) (born Tsui Man-kong (徐文光) on February 15, 1950) is a New Wave film director in Hong Kong who is also a highly influential producer, often likened to Steven Spielberg for a similar galvanizing effect on his countrys cinematic scene. ...

Overview

A Better Tomorrow depicts mob violence in a romantically surreal fashion. Not only did the movie make Woo and Chow international stars, it started a whole new genre of films which followed its unique style of romanticized violence. One of its most famous followers is the director Quentin Tarantino, whose portrayal of the mob (e.g. Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs) bears the distinctive John Woo trademark. ^{[citations needed]} Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, actor, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter. ... Pulp Fiction is an Academy Award-winning 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary. ... Movie Facts Reservoir Dogs is Quentin Tarantinos 1992 debut as a feature film director. ...

The plot is one that resonates well with audiences, especially in China. Two friends lead a carefree, immoral life, until suddenly it all comes crashing down. The two friends then take different paths, but ultimately they find that they must come together to set things right again. Despite its criminal content, A Better Tomorrow resounds with messages about morality, family, shame, responsibility, and forgiveness.

The film is a standout in a few ways: first and foremost, for the exceptional performance by the actors. In particular, Chow's portrayal of Mark Lee goes through a dramatic transformation from a stylish, cynical crook (Hong Kong teenagers took up the circular-shades-and-duster-jacket look for years) to a shamed, broken man with a dream to regain his dignity. His performance at times elevates the film from a pulp crime story to an emotional quest for understanding and dignity.

From riches...

...to rags.

Secondly, it was the film that introduced most of Asia to the John Woo style, which includes tightly-choreographed violence and gunplay. It contains one of film's all-time great gun battles, one that is similar to a music video in style and concept. Image File history File links Chow Yun Fat in one of the most memorable shots of A Better Tomorrow. ... Image File history File links Chow Yun Fat in one of the most memorable shots of A Better Tomorrow. ... A Better Tomorrow This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... A Better Tomorrow This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ...

Although 20 years have passed from the time A Better Tomorrow was made to the time of this writing, one can still find traces of its influence in Hong Kong action movies, even though Woo and Chow have long gone on to Hollywood for further advancement in their careers.

Cast and roles include

• Ti Lung - Ho Tse Sung
• Leslie Cheung - Kit Sung
• Chow Yun-Fat - Mark Lee
• Emily Chu - Jackie
• Waise Lee - Shing
• Shing Fui-On - Shing's right hand man
• Kenneth Tsang - Ken
• Tsui Hark - music judge (cameo)

This article is on the Chinese dragon. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: zoeng1 gwok3 wing4; Mandarin Pinyin: Zhāng Guóróng, Wade-Giles: Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Gor-gor (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and a musician from Hong Kong. ... Chow Yun-Fat (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born May 18, 1955) is a Hong Kong actor. ... Kenneth Tsang Kong (Chinese : 曾江), born in 1938, is one of the most respected actors in Hong Kong. ... Tsui Hark (Chinese: 徐克; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsü Ko) (born Tsui Man-kong (徐文光) on February 15, 1950) is a New Wave film director in Hong Kong who is also a highly influential producer, often likened to Steven Spielberg for a similar galvanizing effect on his countrys cinematic scene. ...

Box office

A Better Tomorrow grossed a massive $34,651,324 HKD at the Hong Kong box office, ensuring that sequels and imitators would not be far behind.^[1]

Trivia

• John Woo (cameo), the director, is the Taiwanese police chief walking along the corridor of the bloodshed restaurant in slow motion.
• Chow Yun Fat's entrance to the restaurant before the shoot-out is John Woo's homage to Mean Streets.
• This film has been called "the film that launched a thousand remakes" due to the wave of triad pictures that followed.^{[citation needed]}
• After the film, teenage boys in Hong Kong wore long dusters in emulation of Chow's character even though the climate was sub-tropical. In fact, in colloquial Cantonese, trench coats are called "Mark Gor Lau" (literally, Brother Mark's coat).
• Woo's film was partially inspired by the 1967 Lung Kong film Ying xiong ben se (Story of a Discharged Prisoner), which is #39 on the Hong Kong Film Awards list of the Top 100 Chinese Films.
• Reportedly John Woo cast Chow Yun-Fat because he felt he did not look like an action star.^{[citation needed]}
• In the scene where Kit rushes Jackie to a music recital, the violinist playing before Jackie plays the theme song of the movie.
• Stephen Chow, while at early stage of his film career, was playing a minor role as a bodyguard of the Taiwanese triad leader.

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Chow Yun-Fat (周潤發, Jau1 Yeun6 Faat3, Pinyin: Zhōu Rùnfā) (born May 18, 1955 on Lamma Island, Hong Kong) is among a handful of internationally recognized screen actors that Hong Kong has ever produced, along with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. ... Mean Streets (1973) is an early Martin Scorsese film starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. ... Hong Kong Film Awards (香港電影金像獎), is the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong. ... Stephen Chow (also Stephen Chiau) (traditional Chinese : 周星馳; simplified Chinese : 周星驰; Romanized as: Chow Sing Chi ; pinyin : Zhōu XÄ«ngchí; jyutping : zau1 sing1 ci4) (born June 22, 1962) is a director and actor in many blockbuster movies in Hong Kong. ...

References

1. ^ A Better Tomorrow (1986). HKMDB. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in leap years). ...

See also

• A Better Tomorrow 2
• A Better Tomorrow 3

• Cinema of China
• Hong Kong in films
• Heroic bloodshed
• List of Hong Kong films

A Better Tomorrow 2 (英雄本色 2; pinyin: yīngxióng běnsè èr) is a 1987 film, which is a follow-up to its popular predecessor, A Better Tomorrow. ... A Better Tomorrow 3: Love & Death in Saigon is a Hong Kong action film released in 1989. ... The history of Chinese language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. ... While most of local Hong Kong movies are set in the Special Administrative Region, several foreign movies are also, at least partly, set in Hong Kong. ... Heroic Bloodshed, or Hong Kong Blood Opera (HKBO), refers to a genre of action film originating from Hong Kong revolving around stylised action sequences and common themes such as brotherhood, honour, and violence. ... Cinema of Hong Kong This is an A-Z list of films produced in Hong Kong and in the in alphabetical order. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

A Better Tomorrow

• A Better Tomorrow at the Internet Movie Database
• Fresh Visual Review

v • d • e

Cinema of Hong Kong

Actors • Directors • Films A-Z • Films by year • Cinematographers • Festivals • Producers • Screenwriters Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Fist to Fist (Chinese title Chu ba) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by John Woo. ... Princess Chang Ping is a Chinese legend about a Princess and her lover in the Qing Dynasty. ... Hand Of Death (aka Countdown In Kung Fu, Strike of Death, Shaolin Men, originally Shao Lin men) is a 1976 kung fu movie directed by John Woo, starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... One of John Woos movies prior to his success of A Better Tomorrow. A story about a group of mercenaries on a mission to bring a drug lord out of Indochina area. ... A Better Tomorrow II is possibly the best family film you will ever come across. ... The Killer (Traditional Chinese: 喋血雙雄, Simplified Chinese: 喋血双雄; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: dip6 hyt3 seong1 hung4; Mandarin Pinyin: ; literally: Bloodshed of Two Heroes) is a 1989 Hong Kong thriller starring Chow Yun-Fat as the hitman Ah Jong, Danny Lee as the cop Li Ying and Sally Yeh as the singer Jennie. ... Bullet in the Head is a 1990 movie by John Woo. ... Once a Thief (縱橫四海; Zong heng si hai; literally: Criss-Cross Over Four Seas) is a 1991 film directed and written by John Woo. ... Hardboiled crime fiction is a uniquely American style pioneered by Dashiell Hammett, refined by Raymond Chandler, and endlessly imitated since by writers such as Mickey Spillane. ... Hard Target is a 1993 action film starring Jean Claude van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Arnold Vosloo, Yancy Butler, and Wilford Brimley. ... Broken Arrow is a 1996 American action film directed by John Woo and starring John Travolta and Christian Slater. ... Once a Thief is a remake of a 1991 film of the same name. ... Face/Off is a 1997 film directed by John Woo starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. ... Mission: Impossible II, or M:I-2 as it is also known, is the 2000 John Woo-directed sequel to Brian De Palmas 1996 Mission: Impossible motion picture, based on the TV series of the same name. ... Windtalkers is a 2002 World War II film directed by John Woo. ... Paycheck is a 2003 film adaptation of the short story Paycheck by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. ... All the Invisible Children is a 2005 collection of seven short films, each focused on a different child. ... This article is about a film, for the historical battle see Battle of Red Cliffs Red Cliff (Chinese: ) is the highly anticipated John Woo film based on the events of Three Kingdoms period, specifically the Battle of Red Cliffs, as portrayed in historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan. ... Cinema of Hong Kong This is an A-Z list of films produced in Hong Kong and in the in alphabetical order. ...