Ying hung boon sik (1986)

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:

The translation of some of the characters' names are incorrect in the English versions. Kit's proper Chinese name is Ah-Git, and while "Mark" is correct, "Mark Gor" is inaccurate as in a first and last name. "Gor" means "brother" in Cantonese hence Mark Gor is translated as Brother Mark in English.

Quotes:

Ken: If you live by principles, you have nothing to fear. Be strong.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ying hung boon sik II (1987)

Soundtrack:

Several Blast and Rain

A groundbreaking movie, but it has been surpassed

John Woo was responsible for creating a whole new genre with A Better Tomorrow in 1986: the heroic-bloodshed genre. ABT is a groundbreaking movie, and Hollowood blockbusters like "The Matrix" would never have existed, if it hadn`t been for A Better Tomorrow. Chow Yun-Fat was launched into superstardom, after his flawless role in this movie. CYF plays Mark Gor, a Hong-Kong gangster known for his coolness. The actionscenes introduced John Woo`s famous twingun-action, and the quality of the actionscenes is very high. The film is VERY violent, and is not recommended for young people. Though ABT is getting a bit old, it can still show American action-directors how to get things right. 7,5/10