It’s John Woo all right, but turned all the way up to 11!…
When convicted triad member Ho (Ti Lung, Blood Brothers, Venegeance!, The Magic Blade) refuses an offer of probation if he helps the authorities bring down his former mentor Si Lung (Dean Shek, Aces Go Places, Drunken Master), his younger brother Kit (Leslie Cheung, Rouge, Inner Senses, Farewell My Concubine) takes the case instead, still wishing to atone for his bothers sins.
Undercover as Billy, Kit soon ingratiates himself with Lung’s daughter Peggy (Regina Kent, Project A, part II, Legacy Of Rage), while unable to talk of his mission with his heavily pregnant wife. Learning of the perilous situation Kit has put himself in, Ho finally accepts the authorities proposal only to find there’s more afoot than anyone realises. Lung’s right-hand-man Ko Ying Pui (San Kwan, Police Story II, Executioners) is planning a betrayal of epic proportions, and incriminating his boss into the bargain, setting him up for the murder of a rival triad member (played with usual aplomb by Ng Man Tat).
Soon Lung is on the run from both the police and the triads, fleeing to America. Even New York, however, isn’t safe for him once the local mafia have been tipped off about his whereabouts. Driven mad by seeing his empire, family and friends ripped apart, it’s up to Ken (Chow Yun-fat, City On Fire, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) – the twin brother of the character he played in the original A Better Tomorrow).
Lung and Ken return to Hong Kong determined to bring Lung’s former employee to justice, teaming up with Ho and Kit and old friend Ken (Kenneth Tsang, Once A Thief, The Touch, Rush Hour 2). But when Kit gets fatally caught investigating Ko’s base, their thoughts turn to revenge at any cost, however bloody…
Director John Woo and co-writer/producer Tsui Hark left themselves with quite a problem after the runaway success of A Better Tomorrow. How do you follow up with a sequel when you’ve killed off the most popular character Mark (played by Chow Yun-fatFat)? How about bringing him back as his hither-to unheard of twin brother? No, not the most obvious answer, but one of Hong Kong cinemas most brazen. True, it takes a while to get started. The first half concentrates more on emulating the sentimentality of the original than the action, but when it arrives, it sure arrives in style.
‘It’s not like the movies, where the dead rise again,’ a whimsical Chow tells a petrified Dean as they prepare to shoot there way out of their besieged hotel room in one of the films best sequences. (Admittedly that subtitled line was not in the previous Hong Kong version of the film.) He then throws himself backwards down a flight of stairs with a gun in each hand - obviously, it is Woo - shooting all the way.
It’s one of many ‘quotable’ scenes, and boy, does this film have them. With the action choreographed by Ching Siu-tung (for whom Hark would produce A Chinese Ghost Story shortly afterwards, again starring Leslie Cheung) this has some of the finest, bloodiest and near ridiculous this side of Hard Boiled.
The notorious finale once again draws on Woo’s appreciation for Sam Peckinpah, as it witnesses our heroes facing an endless stream of gangsters resulting in an epic pile-up of bodies, reminiscent of The Wild Bunch. It also brings to mind the ending of Woo’s mentor Zhang Che’s rather nihilist Vengeance!, particularly as that was set within a house. (I’m not convinced it actually IS Woo’s highest bodycount, but I’m not going to argue in case someone out there actually has had time to count them all!) It’s a fantastic spectacle of blood, guns, grenades, swords, even axes (?) and doesn’t disappoint. There’s even a final duel between Ken and the mysterious hitman brillantly updates swordplay into the 80s with guns blazing.
(And the characters appearance in black suits and ties (they’ve just been to a funeral) and slo-mo swagger sure made an impression on a fella by the name of Tarantino.)
Littered with knowing references to the original film and its success, Tsui Hark’s story plays like more of a parody than straight sequel, and more than likely it was the root of Hark’s and Woo’s falling out. It’s hard to think that even John Woo couldn’t have had his tongue firmly in his cheek while making it (though since he’s disowned it, except for the ending).
Allegedly Woo’s original cut ran to 160m, while Hark demanded it be cut down to 120m. Both parties began editing and re-editing the film behind each others backs - until they gave the film over to a third party for what became the official version of the film (which according to the credits is Ronny Yu collaborator and director in his own right, Daniel Wu).
Whatever the true story behind the film, it gave both filmmakers a chance to work in the home of their hero Martin Scorsese, New York. Both filmmakers would make films there in the 90s when they finally made an impression, even if Woo made more of a career there. Hell, Chow even does an impression of Robert De Niro (in English), in another highlight from the movie, when some hustlers from a protection racket try doing a number on him. ‘You don’t like my chicken fried rice? Mamma mia!’
Sometimes it just baffles, like the resurrection of Leslie Cheung’s character after the harrowing scene where his brother is forced to shoot him or blow both their covers, only to kill him off for good shortly afterwards.
Ultimately, this is an action movie that delivers on all counts, mainly because the cast are brilliant (and what a cast it is!) - particularly Yun-fat who exudes a confident charm few can capture so readily on screen. It’s hard to believe that it’s taken this long for a proper DVD release in the UK, considering some the other John Woo films that have been released before. Sure, it’s not The Killer or Hard Boiled, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun - so find it and enjoy!
DVD details
Distributor:Hong Kong Legends (UK)
Hong Kong Legends have vastly improved on the Mega Star HK release form several years ago, though the print still looks rather grainy - perhaps that's just the 80s for you? They've improved some of the rather abrupt editing from that version, and the sound is as good as can be expected. Thankfully, the subtitles are also greatly improved!
Extras are, once again, a little lacklustre. There's a rare English language interview with producer Tsui Hark that is informative if somewhat rambling, but it's still about time HKL started spending more on this additional content. Tighter editing and better filming could make them much more interesting. Trailers and a rather feeble Heroic Bloodshed 'essay' just do not make it.
Of course, the ideal would be some of that additional material that was supposedly cut but, ah, I guess that's still a dream.
