Ying hung boon sik (1986)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

Hing-Ka Chan (written by) &
Suk-Wah Leung (written by) ...

Release Date:

2 August 1986 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The movie that began it all.........

Plot:

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Gangster | Criminal | Prison | Friend

Awards:

4 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Lung Ti	...	Sung Tse-Ho (as Ti Lung)
Leslie Cheung	...	Sung Tse-Kit
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Mark Gor / Mark Lee (as Chow Yun Fat)
Emily Chu	...	Jackie
Waise Lee	...	Shing (as Lee Chi Hung)
Fui-On Shing	...	Shing's right hand man
Kenneth Tsang	...	Ken
Hark Tsui	...	Music Judge (as Tsui Hark)
John Woo	...	Inspector Wu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chi Fai Chan	...	'Little' Wang
Kwok Leung Cheung
San Nam Hung	...	Triad Member
Hing Ying Kam	...	Mr. Mok
Shung Fung Lau
Ming Leung
Patrick Leung
Yangzi Shi	...	Mr. Yiu
Feng Tien	...	Father Sung
Wei Ho Tu
Hsieh Wang	...	Mr. Wang (as Hap Wong)
Sai Gwan Yeung	...	Triad Member in Parking Lot

Also Known As:

A Better Tomorrow (Hong Kong: English title)
Gangland Boss
Rapid Fire (Philippines: English title)
The Essence of Heroes (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
Ying xiong ben se (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | Malaysia:18PL | South Korea:15 (2008) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Austria:18 (not rated) | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | West Germany:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Cinema City Film Productions

Trivia:

No. 2 in the Hong Kong Film Awards' List of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures

Quotes:

Mark Gor: I've never cried since I was a kid, I cried that time. I swore to myself that no one will point at me with a gun.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Gui xin niang (1987)

Soundtrack:

Several Blast and Rain

John Woo: Simply The Best

The relationship between two brothers on opposite sides of the law, and the loyalty of friends is explored in `A Better Tomorrow,' an action/drama directed by John Woo. As with any Woo film there's plenty of action here, but at the heart of the film is the story itself; and that's what sets Woo apart from all other so-called `action' directors. Woo frames the drama with some astoundingly intricate and well choreographed action sequences (gun play and hand to hand fighting), but integrates the story seamlessly, which raises this film, as with all of his films, levels higher than the average action movie. In this one, older brother Ho (Lung Ti) is a high ranking member of a crime syndicate specializing in counterfeit money; his younger brother, Kit (Leslie Cheung) is beginning his career as a detective. Complicating matters is the death of their father (Feng Tien) and the involvement of Ho's best friend and colleague, Mark (Chow Yun-Fat), and Kit's girl, Jackie (Emily Chu). In the end, at the core of the action, it becomes a story of love and loyalty, and the sacrifices sometimes necessary in life to make it work and give meaning to it all. Woo has impeccable timing, not only in the action sequences, but with the drama as well; he knows how to use the camera to heighten the emotional impact of a pivotal moment, and successfully injects a caesura at just the right time, which maintains the perfect amount of tension that extends the drama and serves to hold the audience enthralled. That he can employ these techniques equally within the action and dramatic sequences is why his movies have such wonderful flow and rhythm; it creates a `whole' as opposed to merely a series of scenes strung together to tell a story. Directors of all genres would be well served to study Woo's techniques. Woo gets the most out of his actors as well. Lung Ti gives tremendous depth to the character of Ho, successfully conveying the inner struggle of this man attempting to make amends with the brother he loves, while the charismatic Chow Yun-Fat gives a riveting performance as Ho's closest friend. His screen presence is dynamic and commanding. Woo firmly establishes the depth of loyalty between the two, and skillfully the actors make it convincing and credible, which makes the final heroics all the more believable. An exciting, memorable film, `A Better Tomorrow' is thoroughly entertaining, and a tribute to a truly great director, John Woo, who seems to get better with every film he makes. For a combination of action and drama, there isn't another director in the history of movies that does it better than Woo. I rate this one 9/10.