The film mostly follows the lives of two brothers, Ho and Kit, who are on opposites sides of the law. Ho is the boss of a group of counterfeiters and Kit, who is not aware of Ho's activities, has just graduated from the police academy, and is a police inspector. Their father urges Ho to give up his gangster lifestyle, before he must witness his two sons face off. Ho agrees, but only after one more job, in which he takes a newcomer, Shing, rather than Mark, his old and trusted friend. Things go wrong and Ho is arrested; Kit then learns the truth and because of his ties to a gangster, he is prevented from advancing in the police force. Three years later, Ho is a free man determined to go straight and lead an honest life. Shing, now the new boss, wants him back and even threatens Kit's life if he doesn't return. Kit still hates Ho, and is determined to bring him in if he learns that Ho has taken up his criminal activities once again. With no easy way out, Ho and Mark plan a risky escape from Hong Kong in the hopes of having a better tomorrow.

Being a fan of both John Woo's and Chow Yun Fat's movies, I was really looking forward to seeing A Better Tomorrow and, for the most part, I was not disappointed. Chow Yun Fat plays a smaller role than I expected, but thankfully the characters of Ho and Kit were well developed and the actors portraying them were terrific. The movie does seem to drag a bit in the middle, but overall its well worth watching.

Picture:
A Better Tomorrow is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The print used is quite good for a film fourteen years old, though it does have its flaws. There is quite a lot of grain in some scenes along with a few marks and sometimes the colors seem a bit subdued. For the most part though, flesh tones appear accurate and colors are mostly vibrant. The blacks aren't as rich as they could be, but again, considering the age of the film, they're quite good.

Sound:
A Better Tomorrow is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Mono 2.0 in Cantonese and Dolby Mono 2.0 in English. For the review, I listened to the 5.1 track and compared it to the 2.0 tracks during action scenes. Overall, the 5.1 track lacked the bass of the 2.0 tracks, especially the English version. There also isn't that much directionality in the 5.1 track that I noticed. Dialogue in all three tracks was, with a few exceptions, easy to understand, though it must be noted that the English dubbing isn't that great.

Extras:
Extras include the trailer in Cantonese with or without English subtitles, the same trailer in English, and informative biographies for John Woo and Chow Yun Fat.

Summary:
A Better Tomorrow is a terrific film about friendship and family with some great action scenes thrown in for good measure. Though the DVD is a bit short on extras, it is still easy to recommend for fans of either John Woo or Chow Yun Fat at least as a rental and a possible purchase. Recommended.

Note: Unforuately, it has come to my attention that the Cantonese audio track on the DVD is defective. Anchor Bay is aware of the situation and plans on exchanging the defective discs soon.