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Ying hung boon sik (1986)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
2 August 1986 (Hong Kong) moreTagline:
The movie that began it all......... morePlot:
A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
4 wins & 12 nominations moreUser Comments:
Mr Chow has achieved what no one else could: He looked cool in the 80's moreCast
(Credited cast)| Lung Ti | ... | Sung Tse-Ho (as Ti Lung) | |
| Leslie Cheung | ... | Sung Tse-Kit | |
| Yun-Fat Chow | ... | Mark Gor / Mark Lee (as Chow Yun Fat) | |
| Emily Chu | ... | Jackie | |
| Waise Lee | ... | Shing (as Lee Chi Hung) | |
| Fui-On Shing | ... | Shing's right hand man | |
| Kenneth Tsang | ... | Ken | |
| Hark Tsui | ... | Music Judge (as Tsui Hark) | |
| John Woo | ... | Inspector Wu | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Chi Fai Chan | ... | 'Little' Wang | |
| Kwok Leung Cheung | |||
| San Nam Hung | ... | Triad Member | |
| Hing Ying Kam | ... | Mr. Mok | |
| Shung Fung Lau | |||
| Ming Leung | |||
| Patrick Leung | |||
| Yangzi Shi | ... | Mr. Yiu | |
| Feng Tien | ... | Father Sung | |
| Wei Ho Tu | |||
| Hsieh Wang | ... | Mr. Wang (as Hap Wong) | |
| Sai Gwan Yeung | ... | Triad Member in Parking Lot | |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
A Better Tomorrow (Hong Kong: English title)Gangland Boss
Rapid Fire (Philippines: English title)
The Essence of Heroes (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
Ying xiong ben se (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
more
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
95 minCountry:
Hong KongColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Australia:MA (TV rating) | Malaysia:18PL | South Korea:15 (2008) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Austria:18 (not rated) | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | West Germany:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | USA:R | Iceland:16Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The movie is actually a remake of a 1967 Cantonese film called Ying xiong ben se (1967) (Story of a Discharged Prisoner). Hark Tsui had been toying with the idea since his days in the TV business, but because of an overwhelming workload, had to pass the directorial reigns to John Woo. moreQuotes:
Mark Gor: I didn't realize Hong Kong looked so beautiful at night. Such beauty can vanish in a blink. It really isn't worthwhile. moreSoundtrack:
Love of the Past Years moreFAQ
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When this film was made in the 1980's Hong Kong cinema was dominated by wushu films and bizarre swordplay movies involving people flying around and other acid flashback inducing scenarios. John Woo was a young director who had done a string of martial arts films, comedies, and musicals. In 1981 he split from Golden harvest and joined Cinema city, after a couple of comedies, He directed the modern day action film "Sunset Warrior" and it was held on the shelf and not released. After the failure of "Sunset Warrior" he was sent to Taiwan and directed another two comedies. Returning to Hong Kong, Woo had always wanted to make a modern day gangster film. Teaming up with friend and producer Tsui Hark, they made a film that would inspire countless films for years to come. Casting Chow Yun Fat who was mainly a television actor as one lead, an old school Kung Fu actor in another and a singer in the third lead role, it was a risky venture which paid off. The script is great featuring lines such as "Do you believe in God?" "sure i'm one, you are, a god is someone who controls their own destiny". There is strong characterisation of the characters, aided on by perfect performances from the actors, The action choreography was excellent and inspired virtually every film made involving guns ever since. It makes you realise that the only thing "the matrix" didn't take from this film and it's sequels is the plot. This is one of my favourite films of all time, and if everyone in the world saw this, I guarantee that the sales of matchsticks and toothpicks would soar.