A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

Why so much hype?

Best movie ever!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

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.

This sequel to the 1986 predecessor is fantastic. Although Woo wasn't too happy about making a sequel and he didn't really care much about the film whilst making it, I think it totally worked and I think it's a lot better than the original. This time, the twin brother of Mark, (a character played by Chow Yun-Fat from the first A BETTER TOMORROW) Ken (Chow Yun Fat), must team up with undercover cop, Kit (Leslie Cheung), and his brother Ho (Ti Lung) and a good friend named Lung (Dean Shek) to avenge the death of Lung's daughter who was murdered by a Triads. Like the first film, it's got a hard storyline to follow, however, it has some fine acting that makes you care for the characters and it has some awesome action scenes (most notably, the final shootout). But if you liked the first A BETTER TOMORROW, then you'll enjoy this one even more.

This film broke off a potentially very creative relationship between Tsui hark and John Woo; and it certainly feels like more than one film Certainly, until Chow Yun Fat shows up, the plot is a little complicated, and a little unbelievable. Once Chow appears, the plot becomes wildly unbelievable, but one can follow it with amusement and interest. Ti lung must also be credited with turning in a strong and well-grounded performance, even when the script calls for him to get schmaltzy.This is also the film that salvaged character actor dean Shek from obscurity, he wanted to prove he could act, and though he over acts occasionally, he actually does pretty well, especially in the final gun battle.It must be said that throughout his career, John Woo has repeatedly attempted to grasp the essence of the 'battle of bloody porch' from Sam Peckinpah's "the Wild Bunch" and duplicate it - and he has always failed. that's because (to be honest) Woo is a believing Christian; and although raised in the Calvinist tradition, Peckinpah clearly does not believe. Woo simply cannot grasp the basics of Peckinpah's existentialism.Consequently, the final battle here, while a lot of gory fun, doesn't really make the point Woo clearly wants for it (which is a believing Christian's interpretation of the Wild Bunch), but - never mind. On its own terms, as I say, it's quite fun.As for the 'serious' story concerning the young undercover cop and his pregnant wife, I didn't believe it for a moment, and, frankly, didn't care. I'm afraid I'm not a believing Christian, either.

Having seen A Better Tomorrow 1 and thoroughly enjoying it, I was eager to see it's sequel. Even though not all reviews I had read of it were positive, I still thought I should give it a go. I found out that A Better Tomorrow II is quite different from it's predecessor.Probably the thing that stands out as the most different is the style it has been filmed in. More advanced camera angles etc. plus the picture quality is better.That may be an improvement, but most of the other changes are not so good. For starters, there a lot changes to do with the characters. Lung Ti's character "Ho", who was definitely the main character in the last film, is turned into a secondary character this time round, but he still does a good job acting. Lung Ti's top spot is taken by Dean Shek, who plays an old friend of Ho's. While good at times, I don't think he should of been given the main role. The rest of the cast do a good job, with the stand out being, of course, Chow Yun-Fat.One thing that does stay the same is the fabulous shoot-outs. They are more bloody this time and more elaborate, plus there is also more of them than in A Better Tomorrow 1. Even though it changes around some characters, it still has a good John Woo story. Filled with drama, emotion and plenty of action.Overall it is still a good movie. It does have some big changes, but it does remain an above the average action movie.