Directed by Tsui Hark • 1989 • Hong Kong
Starring Chow Yun-fat, Anita Mui, Tony Leung Ka-fai
For the third installment in the A BETTER TOMORROW trilogy, Tsui Hark—who had previously served as producer on the series—took over from director John Woo for what is actually a prequel to the previous films. Set in 1974, A BETTER TOMORROW III: LOVE & DEATH IN SAIGON serves as an origin story for Chow Yun-fat’s shades-sporting assassin Mark Lee, here a young man who travels to war-torn Vietnam to rescue his uncle and cousin. There, Mark becomes entangled with a mysterious black marketeer (Anita Mui) who draws him into her criminal underworld.
Up Next in Hong Kong Action Classics
-
Heroes Shed No Tears
Directed by John Woo • 1984 • Hong Kong
Starring Eddy Ko, Lam Ching-ying, Ma Ying-chunIn this explosive precursor to his breakout film A BETTER TOMORROW, director John Woo displays the genesis of his trademark hyperkinetic style. Chan Chung (Eddy Ko) is the leader of an elite Chinese commando f...
-
Bullet in the Head
Directed by John Woo • 1990 • Hong Kong
Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jacky Cheung, Simon YamOne of director John Woo’s most ambitious and emotionally charged films, this intense action epic follows the fates of three friends—gangsters Ben (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), Frank (Jacky Cheung), and Paul (...
-
Once a Thief
Directed by John Woo • 1991 • Hong Kong
Starring Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, Cherie ChungHaving established himself as Hong Kong cinema’s master of the heroic bloodshed genre, director John Woo took a detour into lighter territory with this rollicking, typically stylish comic caper, which cast...
