Better Tomorrow 1 & 2

These two movies together stand as a milestone achievement of not only Hong Kong cinema but movies in general. John Woo is a god and Chow Yun Fat is justly celebrated for these performances. People who don't like subtitles need to get past their hang-up and view these two landmarks of action moviemaking. All the signature moves now common in action films in the past decade (yes i mean you Keanu Reeves) were copyrighted in these two movies by director John Woo, who has to be the most imitated director since Hitchcock.

This double pack is a must have for John Woo fans or anyone with a craving for foreign style action from the 80's. Yes it looks extremely dated and the dvd transfer is horrible but don't let that stop you from experiencing some graphically violent set pieces that at the time were unheard of in cinema. John Woo had an ability to make the violence look incredibly realistic, yet over the top and artistic at the same time. His direction at the time was innovative featuring slow motion shots that american directors would later copy and unfortunately become a cliche in movies. A Better Tomorrow's plot is much more cohesive than the sequel's but it features less action and violence. The story of the sequel is a mess though. I've read that the director John Woo and the producer had creative differences on the sequel so the plot is just all over the place. It really is a disaster story wise. The sequel however has an awesome, tension filled 15 minute finale. It's literally a non stop bloodbath. It's pretty violent for an 80's film and it holds up well today. I still show the finale of A Better Tomorrow II off to friends and even they are speechless when watching it. Although Woo's later films would look sharper and tighter(Hard Boiled, The Killer), A Better Tomorrow 1 and 2 are perfect introductions into what made Woo a great action director. It's kind of sad that his american films wouldn't contain the humor, stories, violence and energy of his hong kong films with the lone exception being Face-Off featuring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage.

One of Chou's and Woo's famous movies. It combined with romance and violence, along with some humorous. Although it is not best one compare to today's action movies, it was great back to old days. It is one of mile stone of Hong Kong action movies in late 80's and early 90's.