A Better Tomorrow

英雄本色 (1986)

Timing: 1:35 (95 min)

7.4/10
606

7.333/10
5158

7.4/10
29000

All about film

Video 5

Photo 70

Actors and characters

Release date

1986-08-02

Country

Hong Kong

Production

Film Workshop, Cinema City Co., Ltd.

Genre

Action, Crime, Drama

Budget

$0

Revenue

$4 459 629

Website

https://gkids.com/golden-princess/a-better-tomorrow/

Director

John Woo

Actors

Ti Lung, Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, Emily Chu Bo-Yee, Waise Lee Chi-Hung, Feng Tien, John Woo, Sek Yin-Tsi, Kenneth Tsang, Wang Hsieh
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

John Woo, Chan Hing-Kai

Producer

John Woo, Tsui Hark, 温嘉文, Tsui Hark

Operator

Horace Wong

Composer

Joseph Koo

Artist

Audition

Editing

David Wu, Kam Ma
All team (33)

• The character played by Chow Yun-Fat became so popular among Hong Kong youth that they began to imitate his style of dress (a black coat and sunglasses) and the habit of holding a match in his teeth. All the sunglasses in stores were sold out in less than a week after the film's release. As a result, director John Woo was heavily criticized for allegedly promoting the lifestyle of triad members.
• The scene in which Mark is beaten by Shing's men turned out to be excessively violent, but John Woo specifically appealed to the censorship authorities to leave the scene unchanged in order to show the audience how far criminals are willing to go.
• Chow Yun-Fat wears Alain Delon sunglasses in the film. After the film's release, all such glasses in Hong Kong were bought up by his fans. Delon sent the actor a letter of thanks.
• Some cinema owners, in conversations with producer Cui Hark, expressed concerns about Chow Yun-Fat's involvement in the film. They emphasized that while Chow is truly popular as a television actor, films with his participation consistently fail at the box office. He was even nicknamed "box office poison" in cinematic circles.
• Chow Yun-Fat is now known as an action hero, but John Woo cast him in his film precisely because the actor didn't resemble a tough macho man at all.
• John Woo chose criminals as the main characters because he believed that there were simply no other active and energetic people in the public consciousness of Hong Kong.
• Some cinema owners, in conversations with producer Tsui Hark, expressed concerns about Chow Yun-Fat's participation in the film. They emphasized that while Chow is truly popular as a television actor, films featuring him consistently fail at the box office. In cinematic circles, he was even nicknamed "box office poison."