A Better Tomorrow II

A Better Tomorrow 2 is a 1987 Hong Kong action film written and directed by John Woo. A follow-up to its popular predecessor, A Better Tomorrow, the film stars returning cast members Chow Yun-fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung alongside new cast member Dean Shek. The film was released in Hong Kong on 17 December 1987.

A Better Tomorrow 2
Original film poster
Chinese英雄本色2
MandarinYīngxióng běnsè èr
CantoneseJing1hung4 bun2sik1 ji6
Directed byJohn Woo
Produced byTsui Hark
Written byJohn Woo
Tsui Hark
Starring
Music by
CinematographyWong Wing-hung
Edited byDavid Wu
Production
company
Distributed byGolden Princess Film Production
Release date
  • 17 December 1987 (1987-12-17)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
English
Box officeHK$22.7 million

Due to the popularity of Chow's break-out performance in the previous instalment, he was cast in a new character as the twin brother of "Mark", who was killed in the previous film.[1] A Better Tomorrow 2 is known for its over the top violence, exaggerated blood and gore, and body counts nearing the hundreds.

Film director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had disagreements over the focus of this film. Tsui felt that the film should focus more on Dean Shek's character. This led to the film being edited by both Tsui and Woo. Their disagreements would lead to a split after this film, with Hark directing A Better Tomorrow 3 and Woo moving on to create The Killer.[2]

Plot

Several years after the events of A Better Tomorrow, Sung Tse-ho (Ti Lung) is offered early parole by the police in exchange for spying on his former boss and mentor, Lung Sei (Dean Shek), who is suspected of heading a counterfeiting operation. Inspector Wu (Lau Siu-ming), the leader of the crime task force, wants to mark his retirement with the capture of a high profile criminal like Lung.

However, Ho, still loyal to Lung, initially declines. He changes his mind when he discovers that his younger brother, Sung Tse-kit (Leslie Cheung), is working undercover on the same case, and agrees to go undercover to protect his brother, who is expecting a child along with his pregnant wife Jackie (Emily Chu). While working the case, the two brothers meet and agree to work together on the investigation.

After being framed for murder, Lung seeks Ho's help. Ho is able to help him escape to New York, but Lung suffers a psychotic break and is institutionalised after receiving news of his daughter's murder and witnessing his friend being killed.

Meanwhile, Ho learns that Mark Lee has a long-lost twin brother, Ken (Chow Yun-fat), a former gang member who went legitimate and left Hong Kong as a teenager to travel across America, eventually settling and opening a restaurant in New York City. However, Ho tracks down Ken and enlists his assistance in freeing Lung and nursing him back to health.

Targeted by both assassins hunting for Lung as well as American mobsters looking to extort Ken's business, Ken and Lung (who is still catatonic) go into hiding in an apartment building, and where Ken arms himself. During a shoot-out with the mobsters, but Ken and Lung find themselves cornered. Seeing Ken wounded and in trouble, Lung regains his sanity and kills the last of the Americans pursuing them.

The two return to Hong Kong and link-up with Ho and Kit. The group discovers that one of Lung's employees, Ko Ying-pui (Kwan Shan), is responsible for trying to kill Lung and has taken over the organisation in Lung's absence. Lung resolves that he would rather destroy his organisation by his own hands than let it fall into dishonor and ruin, and the team starts planning to act against Ko.

After doing some reconnaissance in Ko's mansion alone, Kit is fatally wounded, roughly at the same time his daughter is born. He is rescued by Ken, who attempts to rush him to the hospital. Knowing that he won't make it, Kit persuades Ken to stop at a phone booth to call his wife. He manages, just before he dies, to name his child Sung Ho-yin (in Cantonese, "the Spirit of Righteousness").

After attending Kit's funeral, Ho, Ken, and Lung take revenge on Ko by attacking his mansion during a meeting with a counterfeiting client. An enormous gun battle ensues. The three, assisted by Ho's former boss in the taxi company, kill approximately 90 others (including Ko) but are all severely (perhaps mortally) wounded in the process. After the shootout ends, the three sit down in the mansion and are surrounded by the police, led by Inspector Wu. Upon seeing the condition of the men, Wu motions to the other officers to lower their weapons. Ho remarks that Inspector Wu shouldn't retire yet as there is "much work left for [him] to do."

Cast
  • Dean Shek as Lung Sei
  • Chow Yun-fat as Ken "Gor" Lee
  • Ti Lung as Sung Tse-ho
  • Leslie Cheung as Sung Tse-kit
  • Emily Chu as Jackie Sung (Tse-kit's wife)
  • Kwan Shan as Ko Ying-pui (The main antagonist)
  • Kenneth Tsang as Ken (The taxi manager from the first film)
  • Shing Fui-On as Ko's partner
  • Lam Chung as Ko's partner
  • Ng Man-tat as Mr Wong (during the early stage of his film career)
  • Peter Wang as Sam (Lung's priest friend in New York)
  • Lung Ming-yan as Chong (Ko's cold blooded hitman)
  • Louis Roth as Protection Money Collector
  • Regina Kent as Peggy Lung (Lung's daughter)
  • Ken Boyle as New York Counterfeit Buyer
  • Lau Siu-ming as Chief Inspector Wu
  • Mike Abbott as Assassin
  • Cindy Lau as Ken's restaurant staff
  • Steve Mak as Ko's thug

[3] [4]

Music

Theme song
"Will Rush Toward Future Day" (奔向未來日子)

Music cues

This film contains music cues from other films:

Release

The film was theatrically released in Hong Kong on 17 December 1987. In the Philippines, the film was released by First Films as Rapid Fire on 25 August 1988, with free sunglasses, jackets, and watches distributed on opening day.[5]

Anchor Bay Entertainment released the film on DVD in the US in January 2001.[6] Extras include the trailer and biographies.[7] In June 2004, HKflix.com released it again on DVD along with its two sequels in a boxed set.[8] Hong Kong Legends released a special collector's edition in the UK in September 2006.[9]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 83% of six surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 7/10.[10] Writing in Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head, Stefan Hammond and Mike Wilkins describe the film as "gorged with Woo's trademarks" and "a funhouse exaggeration of its central motifs".[11]

Accolades
Accolades
Ceremony Category Recipient Outcome
7th Hong Kong Film Awards[12] Best Actor Leslie Cheung Nominated
Best Action Choreography Ching Siu-tung Nominated

See also

References
  1. "Six Sequels That Resurrect a Character or Actor Who Died in a Previous Installment". Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014.
  2. Williams, Tony (2009). John Woo's Bullet in the Head. Hong Kong University Press. p. 14. ISBN 9789622099685.
  3. A Better Tomorrow 2 at HKMDB
  4. A Better Tomorrow 2 at chinesemov.com
  5. "Grand Opening Today". Manila Standard. Standard Publishing, Inc. 25 August 1988. p. 16. Retrieved 14 January 2019. Free Jackets, Shades, Watches and More on Opening Day!
  6. Nichols, Peter M. (26 January 2001). "NEW VIDEO RELEASES". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  7. Cressey, Earl (6 January 2001). "A Better Tomorrow II". DVD Talk. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  8. Zyber, Joshua (17 February 2004). "A Better Tomorrow Trilogy". DVD Talk. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  9. Gould, Chris. "A Better Tomorrow II: Special Collector's Edition (UK – DVD R2)". DVDactive.com. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  10. "A Better Tomorrow II (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  11. Hammond, Stefan; Wilkins, Mike (1996). Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head. Simon & Schuster. p. 39. ISBN 9780684803418.
  12. "第7屆得獎名單 – 香港電影金像獎". HKFAA. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
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