Let's be realistic.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

A Brilliant Conflict

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Rarely are sequels as good or better than the first, however, this film holds up very well. Chow Yun-Fat is certainly the true king of action films. His roles are what action fans love (the hero doesn't always come out smelling like roses, or alive at the end) and make his characters more believable.The shootout at the film's climax is the stuff of legend. The choreography is well done and the gun sounds are loud and more authentic. I am very impressed with this film.Now, as far as plot goes........fairly simple: Murdered ex-gangster's twin brother who nobody knew existed comes looking for revenge on the men responsible for his brother's death. Simple yet entertaining.

The original A Better Tomorrow is one of my all time favorite films. The sequel, not so much. The serious change in style really hurts this muddled sequel. The main focus of the film seems to be undecided, obviously it should have been on our two lead brothers in the first film, Kit and Ho. But they seem to take a back seat to newbie Dean Shek, and the returning Chow Yun-Fat. SPOILER ALERT Now wait a minute... didn't Chow Yun-Fat's character die at the end of the original A Better Tomorrow? The character of Mark Gor was definitely dead at the end of the original, so Chow Yun-Fat returns to play his twin brother! That makes perfect sense, but it would have been better if there was any mention of him in the original movie. Instead, it feels like Chow Yun-Fat was just shoe horned in to meet popular demand. Our new character Ken is cool, although he is quite different to his brother. He more resembles Tequila, the character Mr Chow played in Hard Boiled, both physically, and in the way he acts. Apart from the lack of focus, A Better Tomorrow II is just too silly to properly be compared to its predecessor. Dean Shek's character seems to be able to casually drift in and out of sanity, and with Chow Yun-Fat yelling at him and throwing food all over the place it's hardly going to help him come back to health. This was actually one of those scenes that was so bad it was good. There are various other things that don't make sense, the majority of them being when Dean Shek's character went insane, which just shouldn't have happened in the first place. Now I watch A lot of action movies, and I always love a good stupid movie. But this is the last thing A Better Tomorrow should be, and so it left me disappointed. Still, the film has it's high points. Why else would I have given it a 7? The ridiculous "eat the rice!" scene is hilarious and memorable. The action is a huge improvement over the first movie, the ending action scene is one of the best of John Woo's entire career. Every action scene here is standard Woo, and then some, so they definitely get the job done. The movies drama isn't all bad, the story is pretty interesting (for this kind of movie). Still, in these areas, the sequel isn't a shadow of the original movie. The acting is all relatively good, not really any complaints (except when Dean Shek went insane). All in all, A Better Tomorrow II is a good movie, but it's lack of focus and serious change in style really hold it back, along with its silliness. It's widely known that there was a lot of behind the scenes squabbling that went on between Woo and producer Tsui Hark. And I can't help wonder, if Woo had just been left to make the movie we wanted, what kind of sequel would we have gotten?

Better Tomorrow II is the 1987 sequel to Better Tomorrow.It again is directed by John Woo and stars Chow Yun Fat.It's fairly interesting how they bring him back after the events of the first movie.I like this one more than the first one.While the first one had more drama and plot, this one has more awesome action scenes, as well as a good amount of drama and plot.The film is about people who kidnap a man's daughter and it is now up to him and another team of people to get her back.The action scenes in this one are great! Definitely worth watching for any action fan! I don't even think you need to see the original to watch this one.

Chow Yun-Fat is back, teaming up the cop "Kit" and ex-con "Ho" to deal some serious whup-ass on a gang of thugs, for killing their friend's daughter.This one's not John Woo's best but it's still great in the genre of HK cop movies. The first half is not as good as the second, with some plot holes and kind of weird scenes establishing the state of mind of their friend (whose daughter was killed). Not to give anything away but - you will see what I mean.Better Tomorrow II proves that nobody looks cooler wielding a 12-gauge shotgun than Chow Yun-Fat (ok, maybe Schwarzeneggar in T2).The final gun battle at Ko's mansion is phenomenal - it gives Scarface a run for its money in terms of body count and ropes of blood splashing on walls. I love Woo's explosive style of close gun battles and over-the-top carnage. I mean, is it really necessary, once pumping 2 lethal rounds into the bad guy's chest thus assuring his death, to empty the clips from both handguns into him as he is staggering back? Better Tomorrow II states emphatically - YES!