I've seen this film twice now and I've found that it really grew on me the second time.
The first time I saw it, I was still dealing with my feelings of betrayal over the horrid A
Better Tomorrow II, which was a huge dissapointment considering the quality of the
the original film, which is a Hong Kong classic. The second time I saw it I was able to
place it in perspective as its own film, possessing its own good qualities.

While this film lacks the visual flash of John Woo's trademark firefights, it makes up
for this in several ways. First of all, unlike a John Woo film, this film does an
excellent job of portraying a male-female relationship, in this case Chow Yun-Fat and
Anita Mui. At the beginning of the film, Mark is just a punk young guy who blithely
goes to Saigon during the war looking to help his cousin and uncle return to Hong
Kong. He seems blissfully unaware of the dangers of the approaching war and chaotic
state of the country, though he has to learn quickly. Mui plays a gangster whose
boyfriend has been missing for three year, on the run from his enemies. She is more
experienced in underworld dealings than Mark and she befriends him and they of
course fall in love. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Leung Ka-Fai is
also interested in her. Mark, being the noble man that he is, attempts to place the
two of them together and doesn't seem to understand that Mui is only interested in
him. Despite the fact that this could be the plot for a bad soap opera, it is handled
well with a minimum of melodrama, and the three leads' talents make sure that this
subplot works.

Another aspect of the film that merits notice is its depiction of war time Vietnam. This
is the same territory John Woo would cover a year later in Bullet in the Head. A
Better Tomorrow III manages to integrate the war into its basic 'love and violence' plot
quite well. It is particularly powerful to see the relationship between Pat, a young
Vietnamese man who has been separated by his family, and Mark's uncle, who has
more or less adopted him. In fact, one of the scenes between them is one of the film's
most powerful moments, driving home just how devastating war is on a personal level.

I think that the key to really enjoying this film is to not get too caught up in the fact
that this is related to the mythical A Better Tomorrow. It basically stands on its own,
though there are a few rewards for having seen the first when watching this one. It is
particularly interesting to see Mark's character as he was before he became the
uber-cool gangster so familiar from the beginning of the first film. In A Better
Tomorrow III, we see him begin to develop these traits and learn what has shaped his
character. As an added bonus, we find out where his trademark sunglasses and
trenchcoat originated from.

Clear from your mind any preconceptions you have about what a prequel to A Better
Tomorrow should be and then go watch this film. Watch for its own good qualities but
don't expect a remake of part I (and thankfully its not a remake of part II).