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Product Description ------------------- Original 'heroic bloodshed' film which first rocketed charismatic star Chow Yun and director John Woo to overnight success as well as spawning countless sequels, remakes and imitations. It has all the elements that Woo and Hong Kong action films have subsequently become well-known for: emotionally ripe melodrama, broad comedy and impeccably choreographed violence. The story concerns two brothers, one a Hong Kong cop, the other a crook. They become tied together by murder and double-dealing in the island's crime underworld. Available in dubbed or subtitled versions. .co.uk Review ------------- The John Woo gangster classic that started it all, a romantic, violent, swirlingly stylish melodrama about duelling brothers--with a mesmerizing lead performance by Hong Kong's favourite actor, Chow Yun-. In repose, Chow's y magnetism recalls the glory days of Robert Mitchum, Steve McQueen, and Takakura Ken; when he's stepping high, Chow has a unique, ebullient star presence, a man who embraces life so unselfconsciously that he becomes vulnerable to all kinds of suffering and heartache (he endures masochistic megadoses of violence here). The sequence in which Chow's Mark avenges his betrayed best friend---by blasting his way into, and then out of, a Chinese restaurant, twin .45s blazing---is a swashbuckling standout. Woo's film technique may have been more polished in later efforts, but A Better Tomorrow has a direct emotional power that is still unique. Kung fu star of the 1970s, Ti Lung is also terrific here as the 40ish established mobster, relied upon by all, who allows conflicting loyalties toward Mark and toward his younger brother, now a cop, to undermine the stability of his position. --David Chute, .com