A Better Tomorrow 2

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A Better Tomorrow 2
Directed by	John Woo
Written by	John Woo Tsui Hark
Starring	Chow Yun-Fat Dean Shek Ti Lung Leslie Cheung
Distributed by	Cinema City Co. Ltd. Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release date(s)	1987
Running time	105 min (Edited version)
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese English
Preceded by	A Better Tomorrow
Followed by	A Better Tomorrow 3

A Better Tomorrow 2 (traditional Chinese: 英雄本色 2; pinyin: Yīngxióng běnsè èr; Jyutping: Jing1hung4 bun2sik1 ji6) is a 1987 Hong Kong action film, which is a follow-up to its popular predecessor, A Better Tomorrow. A Better Tomorrow 2 is notoriously known for its over-the-top violence, exaggerated blood and gore and body counts nearing the hundreds. A Better Tomorrow 2 was directed by John Woo and stars Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Dean Shek and Ti Lung. Although the movie was initially panned for its rather campy feel and a much more soap opera like plot than its prequel, with Chow Yun-Fat going on an over-the-top tirade in one point of the movie over a bowl of rice, it is now considered a cult classic, with many fans considering it as equalling the first A Better Tomorrow 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 the Dean Shek character. This led to the film being edited in halves by both Tsui and Woo. Woo has all but disowned this film apart from the final gun battle.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Theme song 4 Music Cues 5 Stunts 6 Film references 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Synopsis

A few years after the events of A Better Tomorrow, Ho is drafted from prison by federal agents to spy on his former master, Lung, who is suspected of heading a counterfeiting operation. Ho considers this traitorous and declines with disgust. He changes his mind when he discovers that his younger brother, Kit, now an aspiring police lieutenant, and expecting a child with his wife Jackie, is on the same case. Ho takes the job to protect his brother. After being framed for murder, Lung seeks Ho's help. Ho helps him escape to New York, but Lung becomes temporarily insane after receiving news of his daughter's murder and witnessing his friend being killed. Mark's twin brother, Ken, comes to the rescue, and the two go into hiding in a hotel. After a shoot-out with mobsters, Ken and Lung find themselves cornered. Lung snaps out of insanity and gets Ken and himself out of trouble. The two return to Hong Kong and link up with Ho and Kit. The team then discovers that one of Lung's former employees, Ko, is responsible for trying to kill Lung. After doing some reconnaissance in Ko's mansion alone, Kit is fatally wounded, roughly at the same time that his child is born. He is rescued by Ken and manages, just before he dies, to name his child (in Mandarin, "the Spirit of Righteousness"). The remaining three take revenge on Ko by attacking his mansion during a meeting with a counterfeiting client. At the climax of the film, an enormous gun battle ensues. The three kill approximately 90 others (including one man shot by Chow Yun Fat approximately 40 times). All three are terribly wounded. After killing Ko, the three sit down in the mansion and are surrounded by the police led by Inspector Wu, the officer who asked for Ho's help in bringing down the syndicate.

[edit] Cast

• Chow Yun-Fat as Ken "Gor" Lee
• Dean Shek as Lung Si
• Ti Lung as Sung Tse Ho
• Leslie Cheung as Sung Tse Kit
• Emily Chu as Jackie Sung (Kit's wife)
• Regina Kent as Peggy Lung (Lung's daughter)
• Kenneth Tsang as Ken (The taxi manager from the first film)
• Man Tat Ng as (Mr Wong) during the early stage of his film career
• Siu-Ming Lau as Inspector Wu
• Shan Kwan as Ko Ying Pui (The main antagonist)
• Man Yan Lung as Chong (Ko's cold blooded hitman)
• Peter Wang as Sam (Lung's priest friend in New York)

[edit] Theme song

Will Rush Toward Future Day (奔向未來的日子)

• Lyrics: Wong Jim
• Composition and Arrangement: Joseph Koo
• Performance: Leslie Cheung

[edit] Music Cues

This film contains music cues from other films. Here are the films and the songs that were used:

"Birdy's Flight (From 'Not One Of Us')" Composer: Peter Gabriel From: Birdy (1984)

"Leo Gets It" Composer: Gary Chang From: 52 Pick-Up (1987)

"The Set-Up" Composer: Jerry Goldsmith From: Extreme Prejudice (1987)

[edit] Stunts

This film was notorious for stunt mishaps. Chow Yun-Fat was almost blown up when the explosion outside the mansion door being more powerful than expected. Some of his hair was singed, and he was blasted forward. The shot in the film is his real reaction. Director Ronny Yu was the stunt double in the warehouse scene. He wrenched his back after slipping on water puddle while carrying Dean Shek. Also the stuntman for Leslie Cheung who performed the speedboat jump landed incorrectly and broke his foot.

[edit] Film references

• It has been said that Quentin Tarantino conceived the idea for the black suits in Reservoir Dogs from A Better Tomorrow 2.
• The group of teenagers come into Ken's diner dressed in duster jackets and aviator sunglasses. When Ken's inquires as to their appearance, they respond that they are dressing like Brother Mark. The previous film in this series was so popular that young people in Hong Kong dressed like the lead character that this style of attire became known as "Mark Gor Lau", literally, "Brother Mark's coat", and the scene comments on that trend.
• In the 1993 movie True Romance, directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino, Patricia Arquette's character is watching A Better Tomorrow 2 on TV.
• One scene in the movie references The Godfather. In The Godfather, characters who purchase, eat, or are shown with oranges are killed as sort of a foreshadowing. In a scene in A Better Tomorrow 2, every major character is offered a single orange as snack before a job. They all refuse the orange, and every major character is either dead or heavily wounded by the end of the movie.

[edit] See also

• List of Hong Kong films
• A Better Tomorrow
• A Better Tomorrow 3

[edit] External links

• A Better Tomorrow 2 at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films directed by John Woo 1970s Fist to Fist (1973) • The Young Dragons (1974) • The Dragon Tamers (1974) • Princess Chang Ping (1975) • Hand of Death (1975) • Money Crazy (1977) • Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978) • Hello, Late Homecomers (1978) • Follow the Star (1978) 1980s From Riches to Rags (1980) • To Hell with the Devil (1981) • Laughing Times (1981) • Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982) • The Time You Need a Friend (1984) • Run Tiger Run (1985) • Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) • A Better Tomorrow (1986) • A Better Tomorrow II (1987) • The Killer (1989) • Just Heroes (1989) 1990s Bullet in the Head (1990) • Once a Thief (1991) • Hard Boiled (1992) • Hard Target (1993) • Broken Arrow (1996) • Once a Thief (1996) • Face/Off (1997) • Blackjack (1998) 2000s Mission: Impossible II (2000) • Windtalkers (2002) • Paycheck (2003) • Red Cliff (2008-2009)

v • d • e Tsui Hark filmography Director The Butterfly Murders (1979) • Dangerous Encounter - 1st Kind (1980) • We're Going to Eat You (1980) • All the Wrong Clues (1981) • Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) • Shanghai Blues (1984) • Aces Go Places 3 (1984) • Working Class (1985) • Peking Opera Blues (1986) • A Better Tomorrow 3 (1989) • The Master (1989) • The Swordsman (1990) • King of Chess (1991) • Once Upon a Time in China (1991) • The Raid (1991) • Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) • Green Snake (1993) • Once Upon a Time in China III (1993) • The Lovers (1994) • Once Upon a Time in China V (1994) • Love in the Time of Twilight (1995) • The Blade (1995) • The Chinese Feast (1995) • Tristar (1996) • Double Team (1997) • Knock Off (1998) • Time and Tide (2000) • The Legend of Zu (2001) • Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002) • Seven Swords (2005) • The Warrior (2006) • Missing (2008) • All About Women (2008) • Detective Dee (2010) Collaborating director The Banquet (1991) • Twin Dragons (1992) • Triangle (2007) Writer/producer A Better Tomorrow (1986) • A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) • A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987) • The Laser Man (1988) • The Big Heat (1988) • Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior (1989) • Deception (1989) • Just Heroes (1989) • The Killer (1989) • A Chinese Ghost Story II (1990) • Spy Games (1990) • A Chinese Ghost Story III (1991) • New Dragon Gate Inn (1992) • Swordsman II (1992) • The Wicked City (1992) • Iron Monkey (1993) • The East is Red (1993) • The Magic Crane (1993) • Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993) • Black Mask (1996) • Shanghai Grand (1996) • A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997) • Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) • Master Q 2001 (2001) • The Era of Vampires (2002) • Xanda (2004) Collaborators Nansun Shi • Ching Siu-tung • John Woo • Johnnie To • Ringo Lam Related media Film Workshop • Once Upon a Time in China film series • Aces Go Places film series • Hong Kong New Wave

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