| A Better Tomorrow1986) Cast:Chow Yun-Fat,Ti Lung,Leslie Cheung Powerful action/drama is arguably John Woo's best thanks to some great acting and an involving story which we don't watch but rather experience. The story involves a hitman who tries to go straight but can't and when triads send an assassin to kill his family who is thwarted by his younger brother who is also acop (Cheung) the father is killed in the struggle. and his younger brother holds him responsible and promises him that he will kill him if he sees him again, while the hitman finds himself defending his younger brother from the mobster. The relationship between the two main characters is very heart wrenching and intense, Chow Yun Fat is at his best here who has a standout scene in the climax which is shocking as much as it is tragic. A Better Tomorrow is certainly a romantic movie that isn't so much of an action thriller as it is a drama that gets the audience involved, sure actioners can be impressive as long as they have well chereographed actionscenes, but when one has a story as well mounted as this we get something special and in the case of A Better Tomorrow we do indeed have something very special here. It's easy to go on and list what the film does that grabs the viewer and totally hits us hard with it's overall humanistic story, but let me leave it at this, A Better Tomorrow is simply a wonderful film. At no time ever in the movie does it flag and when the action does come you'll feel physically and emotionally drained..D.John Woo **** |