By now, everyone should know the story of two brothers on either side of the law. Triad boss Sung (Ti Lung), along with his partner in crime Mark Gor (Chow Yun-Fat) plan one more shady deal when the former’s brother Kit (Leslie Cheung) becomes a police officer. It all goes horribly wrong, leaving Sung to take the rap while the up-and-coming gangster Shing (Waise Lee) takes his place.

A BETTER TOMORROW is, alongside THE KILLER, probably the most famous non-kung fu Hong Kong film in existence. For me, it’s probably the quintessential 80’s gangster movie - regardless of nationality.

That’s not to say it is without fault. Many have remarked that it is now showing its age, and it does border uncomfortably on melodrama in places.

But it’s the characters and performances that made this film several cuts above your average Hong Kong Heroic Bloodshed affair. On first viewing, I had literally no idea that Ti Lung was a kung fu hero in a previous life. He seems to have been born for the role, and gives a stunning performance as a man torn between the only way of life he knows and his love for his brother. Apparently, he based the relationship between Sung and Kit on his real-life working relationship with the late Fu Sheng. Luckily, this film gave Ti Lung a new lease of life as a character actor after a period of obscurity and alcohol abuse following the demise of the once-mighty Shaw studios.

I guess it’s Chow Yun-Fat that most will be drawn to, though. There are certainly many iconic moments for him, and you tend to want to use the phrase “this is the one where...” to describe what happens all the time (such as “this is the one where he hides his extra guns in the plant pots”, etc). The fact is, though, that if you’re a dedicated Chow watcher you’re probably going to be a bit surprised that he doesn’t get as much screen time as you’d expect.

Rounding off the trio of leads, Leslie Cheung plays the idealistic kid brother of Sung. I’ll come right out and say it – I don’t think he was the right choice. Cheung was a decent actor who could play many different types of roles, but I think he bit off more than he could chew with this. He just doesn’t come over as a convincing cop to me.

Waise Lee is also in this film, and thankfully he doesn’t overact. Remember how he seemed to want to single-handedly wreck the later Woo classic A BULLET IN THE HEAD? I don’t know what went wrong in that film, but here he actually gives a very good performance. A sigh of relief all round.

One thing that is often overlooked is the depiction of Hong Kong itself in this movie. It seems almost like a character in itself, and some of the shots are pretty incredible and used to great effect. It’s hardly an attempt at creating more tourism, but even when someone is being brutally tortured, the backdrops are stunningly impressive.

As has been noted, A BETTER TOMORROW really is just an updated version of the chivalric films of the 60’s and 70’s, just with guns instead of swords. That’s certainly not to take anything away from the revolutionary nature of the film, but on occasions you can’t help but be reminded of the films of Chang Cheh, et al – particularly classics involving the very same Ti Lung!

As a John Woo film, it’s not my absolute favourite (BULLET IN THE HEAD just about pips it and HARD BOILED is...well, HARD BOILED!), but it isn’t regarded as a classic for nothing. It obviously goes without saying that it is still a “must see”.