A Better Tomorrow Shout! Factory 4K Trilogy Box Set Review

In case you hadn’t guessed by now, I am currently buying all of the new John Woo 4K releases and I just got the Box Set of the Better Tomorrow Trilogy, so here are my thoughts on the movies and this epic 4K release.

A Better Tomorrow (1986)

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

Review: A Better Tomorrow was my introduction to Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo and the Heroic Bloodshed genre; I hadn’t watched it for a few years but it still holds up next to Hard Boiled and The Killer.

The classic shot of this movie with Chow Yun-fat lighting the cigarette with the money is iconic and I would love to have a framed poster of that on my wall.

In A Better Tomorrow, Chow plays ice cool gangster Mark, but he is more of a supporting character with the main protagonist being Ho (Lung Ti), a reformed gangster desperately trying to go straight, but he finds it’s impossible to leave the business. Lung Ti is incredibly sympathetic and you so desperately want him to escape the underworld but you know his ties are too deep. You feel no real sympathy for his brother Kit (Leslie Cheung – who sadly committed suicide in 2003) who blames Ho for the death of his father and for him not getting a promotion in the police.

Despite being only a supporting player, Mark (Chow Yun-Fat) steals the movie and is the definition of cool; with his trench coat, sunglasses and cigarette he is ready to blow the bad guys away in style. This changes though when Mark is shot in the leg after a hit gone wrong and he becomes crippled. Mark becomes a pathetic, broken man and is nothing more than a car washer for the new king of The Syndicate, Shing (Waise Lee).

Shing was once Mark and Ho’s friend but he betrayed them and Ho got locked up for 3 years; when Ho gets released he finds out that Shing is now the man in charge and wants Ho to join him but he wants out of that world. With Kit hot on the trail of Shing and Ho, you know this isn’t going to have a happy ending.

John Woo himself appears in a role as Inspector Wu and he was charismatic on screen as well as talented behind the camera.

At just over 90 minutes A Better Tomorrow is perfectly paced with solid performances from the entire cast even if it is a little melodramatic at times, but it’s John Woo and that’s what he does. It has most of his trademark style with the double gunplay but there isn’t as much slow motion or pigeons so he hadn’t quite developed that style yet.

In terms of action there are a few fight scenes, plenty of shoot-outs and an explosive and bullet riddled finale. There are some awesome squibs used in this movie too…

The music is dated sounding now but I always enjoyed it and that main theme sticks in your head long after watching.

All 3 A Better Tomorrow movies look and sound great in 4K without looking overly polished as the movies were always a little grainy looking.

Overall, A Better Tomorrow is still a classic action movie and one of John Woo’s best; the 4K is the best the film has ever looked or sounded and there’s enough special features to keep action fans happy.

A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

Plot: A restauranteur teams up with a police officer and his ex-con brother to avenge the death of a friend’s daughter.​

Review: This sequel takes place a couple of years after the first movie with Ho (Lung Ti) sitting in prison, but he is released by the police to go undercover and take down a former gangster named Lung Si (Dean Shek, who sadly passed away in 2021). Things are not what they seem however, with Lung Si leaving that old life behind and trying to stay legitimate. Lung Si is framed for killing a rival and ends up having to hide out in New York where we are introduced to Ken played by Chow Yun-fat. He just so happens to be Mark’s twin brother but due to Chow being an awesome actor he genuinely feels like a different character.

Where Mark was cool Ken is actually pretty gross eating food that’s been thrown on the floor; the scene of him with Lung Si sitting on the ground as he tries to bring Si back from madness is tragic but really, close your mouth when you eat. Aside from that Ken is awesome and when he puts on his brother’s trenchcoat it’s like Mark reincarnated.

What I love about this trilogy is that no one is really safe; any character could be killed at any time so if you haven’t seen the movies before they keep you on your toes wondering who will make it out alive. Ho and Kit’s relationship is better than it was, but Kit keeps disappearing undercover and his now-wife Jackie is worried about him. Poor Jackie goes through a lot in these movies especially when Kit is being a dick… which is a lot.

As you’d expect the action in this movie is amazing with plenty of gunplay and explosions to keep things moving and it continues the story on nicely from the first movie with genuinely dramatic moments in between the bloodshed. The parts of Lung Si dribbling like a loon do go on a little long and it does kill the pacing a little but it doesn’t slow things down as there’s regular action.

The score maintains that awesome, heroic main theme which has been going through my head for the past few days.

Overall, A Better Tomorrow II is a worthy sequel with some awesome action and unpredictable twists where you’re wondering who will survive. Ken might be gross but aside from eating food from the floor, he’s still awesome.

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (1989)

Plot: A man travels from China to Vietnam, on the brink of war with America, to retrieve his uncle and cousin but find complications when he falls in love with a female gangster with a dangerous ex.

Review: Tsui Hark takes over the director’s chair from John Woo for this third and final entry in the trilogy starring Chow-Yun-fat. It still maintains some of Woo’s style with double gunplay and trenchoats and is a sort of prequel to the first two films setting up Mark’s future in the underworld.

Despite Chow’s awesomeness he doesn’t steal the show this time; this movie belongs entirely to Anita Mui who plays the amazing Chow Ying-Kit. The scene where she is gunning down soldiers for the first time is action nirvana and is one of my favourite set-pieces from the trilogy.

It’s funny but these are really downbeat movies and all three really leave you with nothing which is why I don’t watch them as often as Hard Boiled. I still love them though and this entry once again is packed with awesome set-pieces. The finale featuring Mark and Mun (Tony Ka Fai Leung) vs. a real tank is just something we don’t see enough of these days and is another highlight.

Saburô Tokitô plays Kit’s former lover Cheung who becomes the film’s main antagonist but he’s an interesting character who isn’t just a cartoon villain. Bong on the other hand is a complete psychopath and is one of the best bad guys of the franchise.

You’ll recognize Enter the Dragon’s Mr. Han (Shih Kien) who plays Mun’s father in Vietnam; he’s a very different character here and is very sympathetic.

I only heard recently that people found this movie disappointing… why? It delivers everything I wanted in terms of action and has enough drama to keep you engaged.

The Taiwanese cut of the film which is included in this set has an additional 10 minutes. There are a few extra character moments like a scene with Mark and Kit in a room with Mark shouting at a thief and a few others which may well make this the definitive cut of the movie.

I do wish there was scene selection on the menus which seems to happen a lot these days; that used to be a given with movies on DVD, etc. but for some reason these boutique labels don’t do it as often. There are also a few scenes where Vietnamese characters are speaking but there are no subtitles for them, so we never know what they are saying. Speaking of which I’m surprised they never corrected the subtitles at the end where Mark says “there is the plane” when it’s quite clearly a helicopter.

Overall, A Better Tomorrow III deserves more love as not only does it bring back Chow Yun-fat as Mark but it gave us Anita Mui as the awesome Kit who steals the movie. There is still some great action to be seen here and the final showdown against a tank is truly epic.

Deluxe Edition Content:

DISC ONE (4K UHD – A BETTER TOMORROW):

• NEW 4K Scan From the Original Camera Negative
• Presented In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
• Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• NEW Optional English Subtitles Newly Translated For This Release
• NEW Audio Commentary With James Mudge, Hong Kong Film Critic At easternKicks

DISC TWO (BLU-RAY – A BETTER TOMORROW):

• NEW 4K Scan From the Original Camera Negative
• Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• NEW Optional English Subtitles Newly Translated For This Release
• NEW Audio Commentary With James Mudge, Hong Kong Film Critic At easternKicks
• NEW “Better Than The Best” – An Interview With Director John Woo
• NEW “Between Friends” – An Interview With Producer Terence Chang
• NEW “When Tomorrow Comes” – An Interview With Screenwriter Chan Hing-ka
• NEW “Thoughts On The Future” – An Interview With Filmmaker Gordon Chan
• NEW “Better And Bombastic” – An Interview With Filmmaker Gareth Evans
• Trailers
• Image Gallery

DISC THREE (4K UHD – A BETTER TOMORROW II):

• NEW 4K Scan From the Original Camera Negative
• Presented In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
• Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• NEW Optional English Subtitles Newly Translated For This Release
• NEW Audio Commentary With James Mudge, Hong Kong Film Critic At easternKicks

DISC FOUR (BLU-RAY – A BETTER TOMORROW II):

• NEW 4K Scan From the Original Camera Negative
• Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• NEW Optional English Subtitles Newly Translated For This Release
• NEW Audio Commentary With James Mudge, Hong Kong Film Critic At easternKicks
• NEW “A Tumultuous Tomorrow” – An Interview With Director John Woo
• NEW “Better Than Ever” – An Interview With Film Historian Frank Djeng
• Trailers
• Image Gallery

DISC FIVE (4K UHD – A BETTER TOMORROW III):

• NEW 4K Scan From the Original Camera Negative
• Presented In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
• Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• NEW Optional English Subtitles Newly Translated For This Release
• NEW Audio Commentary With Critic And Author David West

DISC SIX (BLU-RAY – A BETTER TOMORROW III):

• NEW 4K Scan From the Original Camera Negative
• Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• NEW Optional English Subtitles Newly Translated For This Release
• NEW Audio Commentary With Critic And Author David West
• NEW “Third Time Lucky” – An Interview With Screenwriters Yiu-Ming Leung and Foo Ho Tai
• NEW “All Our Tomorrows” – An Interview With Hong Kong Filmmaker And Academic Gilbert Po
• NEW “Nam Flashbacks” – An Interview With Vietnam War Researcher Dr. Aurélie Basha i Novosejt
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery

DISC SEVEN (BLU-RAY – BONUS DISC):

• Long-Lost A Better Tomorrow II Workprint Featuring Over 30 Minutes Of Never-Before-Seen Footage! (Audio: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Mono)
• A Better Tomorrow III – Taiwanese Cut (Audio: Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono)

 

The Better Than The Best interview with John Woo for the first movie is fascinating as Woo discusses how before A Better Tomorrow he had been mostly making comedies which weren’t big box office hits. People were telling him he should walk away from the industry but the real hero it seems is Tsui Hark who was an early supporter and the two became close friends. I also love hearing Terence Chang telling his stories about his friendship with Woo and Hark. The Raid director Gareth Evans interview called Better And Bombastic goes over how this movie was a huge influence on him growing up and his love of the genre is infectious. Gordon Chan quite openly talks about how he never understood why people copied Woo’s style so much especially the double gunplay as he found it unrealistic… but still loves it. These are all great features and fans of the movies will eat up every second.

For Part II we get the workprint which is an extra 30 minutes long as well as another interview with John Woo who talks about how he had no interest in doing a sequel to A Better Tomorrow. He would have preferred a prequel but the studio wanted a sequel and for Chow Yun-fat to return. Film historian Frank Djeng never disappoints and talks about his love of the films. The third movie not only has the Taiwanese Cut but more fascinating interviews; it’s too bad there aren’t any interviews with Tsui Hark who I would love to have heard from.

Overall, the A Better Tomorrow Trilogy is one of the all-time great 4K box sets; it has a hefty price tag but I’ve never owned the third movie before and only ever had the first 2 on DVD, so for that alone it’s worth upgrading. Having the workprint of Part 2 and the Taiwanese Cut of the third movie as well as so many incredible interviews makes this utterly essential for any John Woo fan.