A Better Tomorrow Trilogy HK release?

[waywardsage]

I've never seen John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" Trilogy. It seems the ONLY way to get it in the US is to order the Hong Kong Trilogy DVD boxed set. Here is is on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Better-Tomorrow-Trilogy-A-3-DVD-set-By-Chow-Yun_W0QQitemZ280434550855QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_DVD _HD_DVD_Blu_ray?hash=item414b33a847

And Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Better-Tomorrow-Digitally-Remastered-Triliogy/dp/B001RHMH88/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1270870179&sr=8-5

Does anyone have any experience seeing this release? Is it decent? Worth paying the cash for?

Are they EVERY going to release this trilogy in Region 1 anytime soon? Who owns the rights?

[blue_skies]

I've never seen John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" Trilogy. It seems the ONLY way to get it in the US is to order the Hong Kong Trilogy DVD boxed set. Here is is on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Better-Tomorrow-Trilogy-A-3-DVD-set-By-Chow-Yun_W0QQitemZ280434550855QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_DVD _HD_DVD_Blu_ray?hash=item414b33a847

And Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Better-Tomorrow-Digitally-Remastered-Triliogy/dp/B001RHMH88/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1270870179&sr=8-5

Does anyone have any experience seeing this release? Is it decent? Worth paying the cash for?

Are they EVERY going to release this trilogy in Region 1 anytime soon? Who owns the rights?

I've only seen the first two from my set and as I recall the picture and audio quality was very good. Wouldn't pay $90 as on the Amazon page but $45 plus postage is worth picking up. You should also be able to get your money back in the unlikely event you don't like the films, flogging it on Amazon.

[alicelee]

A Better Tomorrow I. II. III



A Better Tomorrow [Digitally Remastered]
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V1003H.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V1003H)
Director: John Woo
Staring: Chow Yun Fat , Ti Lung , Leslie Cheung


Synopsis:
Two brothers torn between thier conflicting roles find thier love for each other will never die. Sung Tse Kit , a dedicated policeman blames his

brother, Tse Ho , who is a gangster for thier father's death as much as obstructing his career in the force. Ho is betrayed by his boss, Tam Shing

(Lee Tse Ho) and is caught in an operation putting him in jail. Upon his release, Ho finds out that his old partner, Mark , is made crippled by Tam.

The pair decides to get even with Tam for the last time, His heroic acts help him win back his brother's love and respect.



A Better Tomorrow III [Digitally Remastered]
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V1004H.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V1004H)
Director: Tsui Hark
Staring: Chow Yun Fat , Anita Mui , Tony Leung Kar Fai


Synopsis:
A prequel to the first two films; Chow returns as Mark Gor, who travels to war-torn Vietnam to bring his uncle and cousin (Leung) back to Hong

Kong. While there, he runs afoul of a corrupt local general, and the beautiful gunrunner Kitty (Mui) comes to his aid -- and apparently teaches Mark

that wearing sunglasses and a trenchcoat is cool. After saving his family, Mark must return to Vietnam to save Kitty, which (of course) leads to an

all-out blood-spattered finale.
Tsui Hark (producer of the first two ABT films) and John Woo (director) has a falling out during the filming of ABT2. Woo took his idea for a prequel

and made the excellent Bullet in the Head; Hark took the idea and made this slightly above-average movie. While the idea may look good on paper

(hey, let's have Chow Yun Fat come back in his most popular role and have him get cozy with one of the sexiest women in HK cinema), in

excecution it really falls flat. Instead of relying on his own directorial style, Tsui instead decided to mimic Woo's, which results in one big mess of a

film. Simply put, the romantic and the action elements just don't mesh, and even fans of the first two movies may get put off by the high level of

melodrama in ABT3. That being said, the movie does have some high points; Mui does look good shooting off M-16s in the beginning shootout

and the ending sequence is quite well done. It's just that there's so much fluff in the middle.

I think I (and other fans) would have enjoyed ABT3 a lot more if it explored the formative relationship between Mark and Ho, growing up together in

the Triad, or even Mark and Ken, exploring how Ken became disenchanted with being a gangster. As such ABT3 comes off as somebody just

trying to cash in on the popular character of Mark Gor -- which other people have done, but I expected more from Tsui Hark.




A Better Tomorrow II [Digitally Remastered]
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V1924H.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V1924H)
Director: John Woo
Staring: Chow Yun Fat , Ti Lung , Dean Shek


Synopsis:
"Why does it take so long for someone to go straight?"
At the end of A Better Tomorrow, Ho is captured by the cops and sent to prison. In ABT2, Ho is offered early parole if he works with the police to

take down a crime boss named Lung. Since Lung gave Ho his start in the "business," he refuses out of loyalty to his former boss. However, once he

finds out his brother Kit (who is now married, with a child on the way) has taken the case, he reverses his decision and takes the job.

After Lung is framed for the murder of another crime boss, he escapes to New York, where he ends up in a sanitarium after learning of his

daughter's death. He is eventually nursed back to health by Ken, who is Mark's (from ABT1) twin brother. Ken is a former gangster trying to go

straight, but when he learns of Lung, Ho and Mark's relationship, he decides to back to Hong Kong with Lung. The four friends join forces to get

revenge, leading up to a high-powered, blood-spattered finale.

While not as powerful as the first film, ABT2 is still a high-powered crime drama with incredible gunfights. I think most of the problems in the film

come from the fact that ABT became so synonymous with gunfights that the realtionships Woo wanted to stress became lost in the shuffle, so he

kind of over-compensated for it in ABT2 by developing the characters more fully. While there is nothing wrong with dramatics, I think the beginning

of the film is too slow and really only appeals to fans of the first film (though the famous "rice" scene where Ken force-feeds a local gangster is

great). I also think the whole "twin" angle is kind of stupid and undermines the credibility of the story, and some scenes come off as really

melodramatic (even when compared to some other Hong Kong movies). The final half of the film, where the plot really starts to move, is pure Woo

all the way and quite enjoyable to watch. Though not his best work, ABT2 is still definetly above-average and worth watching.

[alicelee]

A Better Tomorrow Trilogy DVD Box (Digitally Remastered) FROM Japan
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V8930J-D.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V8930J-D)

[Buxbaum]

Doesn't yesasia have it for 40$ shipped?
Ah here it is : http://www.yesasia.com/global/a-better-tomorrow-trilogy-dvd-collection-digitally-remastered-joy/1014302889-0-0-0-en/info.html
Sadly the mono audio is slightly out of synch at least on Part I. :cry:

[blue_skies]

A Better Tomorrow I. II. III



A Better Tomorrow [Digitally Remastered]
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V1003H.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V1003H)
Director: John Woo
Staring: Chow Yun Fat , Ti Lung , Leslie Cheung


Synopsis:
Two brothers torn between thier conflicting roles find thier love for each other will never die. Sung Tse Kit , a dedicated policeman blames his

brother, Tse Ho , who is a gangster for thier father's death as much as obstructing his career in the force. Ho is betrayed by his boss, Tam Shing

(Lee Tse Ho) and is caught in an operation putting him in jail. Upon his release, Ho finds out that his old partner, Mark , is made crippled by Tam.

The pair decides to get even with Tam for the last time, His heroic acts help him win back his brother's love and respect.



A Better Tomorrow III [Digitally Remastered]
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V1004H.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V1004H)
Director: Tsui Hark
Staring: Chow Yun Fat , Anita Mui , Tony Leung Kar Fai


Synopsis:
A prequel to the first two films; Chow returns as Mark Gor, who travels to war-torn Vietnam to bring his uncle and cousin (Leung) back to Hong

Kong. While there, he runs afoul of a corrupt local general, and the beautiful gunrunner Kitty (Mui) comes to his aid -- and apparently teaches Mark

that wearing sunglasses and a trenchcoat is cool. After saving his family, Mark must return to Vietnam to save Kitty, which (of course) leads to an

all-out blood-spattered finale.
Tsui Hark (producer of the first two ABT films) and John Woo (director) has a falling out during the filming of ABT2. Woo took his idea for a prequel

and made the excellent Bullet in the Head; Hark took the idea and made this slightly above-average movie. While the idea may look good on paper

(hey, let's have Chow Yun Fat come back in his most popular role and have him get cozy with one of the sexiest women in HK cinema), in

excecution it really falls flat. Instead of relying on his own directorial style, Tsui instead decided to mimic Woo's, which results in one big mess of a

film. Simply put, the romantic and the action elements just don't mesh, and even fans of the first two movies may get put off by the high level of

melodrama in ABT3. That being said, the movie does have some high points; Mui does look good shooting off M-16s in the beginning shootout

and the ending sequence is quite well done. It's just that there's so much fluff in the middle.

I think I (and other fans) would have enjoyed ABT3 a lot more if it explored the formative relationship between Mark and Ho, growing up together in

the Triad, or even Mark and Ken, exploring how Ken became disenchanted with being a gangster. As such ABT3 comes off as somebody just

trying to cash in on the popular character of Mark Gor -- which other people have done, but I expected more from Tsui Hark.




A Better Tomorrow II [Digitally Remastered]
http://sensasian.com/images/products/V1924H.jpg (http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V1924H)
Director: John Woo
Staring: Chow Yun Fat , Ti Lung , Dean Shek


Synopsis:
"Why does it take so long for someone to go straight?"
At the end of A Better Tomorrow, Ho is captured by the cops and sent to prison. In ABT2, Ho is offered early parole if he works with the police to

take down a crime boss named Lung. Since Lung gave Ho his start in the "business," he refuses out of loyalty to his former boss. However, once he

finds out his brother Kit (who is now married, with a child on the way) has taken the case, he reverses his decision and takes the job.

After Lung is framed for the murder of another crime boss, he escapes to New York, where he ends up in a sanitarium after learning of his

daughter's death. He is eventually nursed back to health by Ken, who is Mark's (from ABT1) twin brother. Ken is a former gangster trying to go

straight, but when he learns of Lung, Ho and Mark's relationship, he decides to back to Hong Kong with Lung. The four friends join forces to get

revenge, leading up to a high-powered, blood-spattered finale.

While not as powerful as the first film, ABT2 is still a high-powered crime drama with incredible gunfights. I think most of the problems in the film

come from the fact that ABT became so synonymous with gunfights that the realtionships Woo wanted to stress became lost in the shuffle, so he

kind of over-compensated for it in ABT2 by developing the characters more fully. While there is nothing wrong with dramatics, I think the beginning

of the film is too slow and really only appeals to fans of the first film (though the famous "rice" scene where Ken force-feeds a local gangster is

great). I also think the whole "twin" angle is kind of stupid and undermines the credibility of the story, and some scenes come off as really

melodramatic (even when compared to some other Hong Kong movies). The final half of the film, where the plot really starts to move, is pure Woo

all the way and quite enjoyable to watch. Though not his best work, ABT2 is still definetly above-average and worth watching.


Hi Alice, it's great to see female fans but personally found your style hard to understand when the synopsis ends and your thoughts begin with any clarity.

btw welcome to the forum.

[The Running Man]

Are they EVERY going to release this trilogy in Region 1 anytime soon? Who owns the rights?

The first two have been put out by Anchor Bay before. I suppose those have been OOP since Dragon Dynasty I believe have the rights.

The third has never been officially released in the US.

Just to point out, John Woo directed the first two and Tsui Hark directed the third.

[Neil Koch]

Hi Alice, it's great to see female fans but personally found your style hard to understand when the synopsis ends and your thoughts begin with any clarity.

btw welcome to the forum.

She took the plot synopses for the movies from Sensasian's pages for the movies, which use the reviews from my site. I've worked with Sensasian for years, so I don't have a problem with that, since they credit me on their pages.

BTW, the reviews are around 12 years old, from when I was first starting my site (back when it was a little John Woo tribute site on AOL) so that's why the writing style sucks.

The third has never been officially released in the US.

One of my first Hong Kong movie purchases was a Tai Seng 3-VHS box set of Chow Yun-Fat movies, one of them being ABT3. IIRC, it's a really terrible version that's center-framed with burned-in Chinese/English subtitles.

[MonkeyPlanet]

Why not just buy it directly from Hong Kong? I own it and it's Region Free/All.

http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_details.php?ProductID=3783
A Better Tomorrow Trilogy [Limited 3-DVD Box Set] at Play-Asia.com (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-a5wk-71-6v-49-en-15-A+Better+Tomorrow-84-j-70-4x4.html)

I'm not sure which cut of ABT III is in the boxset though.