Sun ying hong boon sik (1994)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jing Wong

Writer:

Jing Wong (writer)

Release Date:

1995 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

In a world of crime Brotherhood is the most important weapon...

Plot:

An adventure that delves into the dark caverns of the underworld and tells the tale of three chivalrous...

Cast

Ekin Cheng	...	Tong Chun
Chingmy Yau	...	Chili
Michael Wong	...	Duke Simon
Ching Wan Lau	...	Big Lobster (as Jeff Lau)
Ben Lam	...	Lui Wei
James Wong	...	Barrister Wong
John Ching	...	Chiu
Paul Chun	...	Fred Simon
Parkman Wong	...	Detective But
Meng Lo	...	Black Ox
Collin Chou	...	Holland Boy (as Sing Ngai)
Chi Fai Chan	...	Tsui

Also Known As:

Return to a Better Tomorrow (Hong Kong: English title)
Xin ying xiong ben se (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB (cut) | Hong Kong:III | Australia:M | UK:18

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

GH Pictures

Trivia:

The Chinese title translates to "New - Color of Heroes", which indicates that it is a remake of the original "A Better Tomorrow" (a.k.a. YingHongBoonSik). However, HK cinema defines remake very differently from Hollywood. HK remake often has a completely different cast and a different story line altogether.

Nothing to do with the John Woo classic. But good film none the less.

Let me get one thing straight before I start reviewing Return to a Better Tomorrow. It is in no way a sequel, or prequel to John Woo's class "A Better Tomorrow" starring Chow Yun Fat.

Return To A Better Tomorrow is like many underrated Hong Kong action movies. It has great action sequences, good unknown actors and a healthy storyline. The great thing about Hong Kong movies is that no matter how small the budget, it always seems to pull off pretty well. Like Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi" for example, even if it's not a Hong Kong action movie, considering it's budget ($7000) it's a great movie.

Anyway back to Return to a Better Tomorrow. Although it has nothing to do with A Better Tomorrow, this movie does seem to take a leaf out of John Woo's classic film. Some of the scenes in RTABT do have a slight "deja-vu" feel to them, I thing the director was heavily influenced by A Better Tomorrow and decided to base a lot of the action within RTABT from Woo's ABT.

The storyline has all the classic elements of a gangster/Hong Kong action movie: faith, brotherhood, trust, treachery etc, just like A Better Tomorrow, this is when RTABT does start to feel like it's been heavily influenced by the classic John Woo movie, none the less...it's still a great film, if underrated.

This should please most action junkies out there, but please...don't consider it a sequel to A Better Tomorrow.

7/10.