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Miguel Enriquez

Forty years ago, John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow was released. The action film is considered to be a turning point in Hong Kong cinema with directors like Quentin Tarantino citing it as an inspiration. In this On This Day article, we look at SCMP’s archive coverage of this modern-day classic.

A Better Tomorrow was released on August 2, 1986. Due to its popularity, it ran in theatres for 61 days – unheard of at the time – and was Hong Kong’s No 1 movie that year grossing over HK$34.6 million.

It is widely credited with pioneering a new generation of Hong Kong action movies with gunplay replacing swordplay. Following its release, “filmmakers switched their focus from the declining martial arts genres to modern-day action, but kept much of the fight choreography and the themes intact”.


The film also made a movie star out of one of its leads, Chow Yun-fat, who was mostly known for his TV work at the time. His portrayal of Brother Mark is considered to be his most iconic role and earned him the Best Actor award at the 6th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Along with gaining accolades in Hong Kong, A Better Tomorrow also won big at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, nabbing Best Director for John Woo and Best Actor for Ti Lung.


A Better Tomorrow’s success turned it into a franchise spawning two more films. However, Woo would not return to direct the third due to creative differences with his producer and co-writer Tsui Hark. There have also been two official remakes from South Korea (2010) and mainland China (2018), and an unofficial one from director Wong Jing in 1994.



A Better Tomorrow was such a big cultural moment that Brother Mark’s trench coat and sunglasses outfit became an icon in its own right. With so many wanting to recreate the look, Alain Delon sunglasses were sold out in Asia with the founder thanking Woo in a personal letter.


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Hong Kong cinema

Film still of A Better Tomorrow (1986) starring (from left) Ti Lung, Ming Leung, and Chow Yun-fat. Photo: Handout

Clipping from SCMP’s December 28, 1986 issue. Photo: SCMP

Chow Yun-fat in a scene from John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow. Photo: Handout

Film director John Woo posing with reels of raw films in 1991. Photo: SCMP

Actor Chow Yun-fat. Photo: SCMP

A clipping from SCMP’s November 30, 1986 issue. Photo: SCMP

A clipping from SCMP’s April 24, 1987 issue. Photo: SCMP

Still of Anita Mui Yim-fong and Chow Yun-fat in A Better Tomorrow III. Photo: Handout

Movie director Tsui Hark poses beside the poster of his movie, A Better Tomorrow III in 1989. Photo: SCMP

The sunglasses Chow Yun-fat wore in A Better Tomorrow sold out in Asia. Photo: Handout

How John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow launched action-film era in Hong Kong, and the wuxia and kung fu roots of hits like The Killer and City on Fire

Chow Yun-fat in A Better Tomorrow.

Chow Yun-fat (left) and Danny Lee in a still from The Killer (1989). The action film “is definitely a bromance, it is John Woo doing chivalry in modern times”, says expert on Hong Kong film Frank Djeng.

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Full Alert.

Chow Yun-fat (right) and Danny Lee in “The Killer”. 

Nicholas Tse in a still from Time and Tide. Photo: Eureka Entertainment.

From A Better Tomorrow to Bullet in the Head, the 10 best Golden Princess films ranked

Chow Yun-fat in a still from A Better Tomorrow (1986). Photo: Cinema City & Films

Chow Yun-fat in a still from A Better Tomorrow (1986), one of the classic Hong Kong films in the Golden Princess library recently bought by Shout! Studios, which plans to make them available to fans around the world. Photo: ISD Photo

8 classic Hong Kong movies that changed the course of filmmaking in the city

Ricky Hui Koon-ying (left) and Michael Hui Koon-man in a still from The Private Eyes.

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury (1972), one of eight films we examine that changed Hong Kong filmmaking. Photo: Hong Kong Film Archive

Patrick Tse Yin (centre) in a still from Story of a Discharged Prisoner.

Lisa Lu Yan in a still from The Arch, a bona fide art-house film in the European style.

Callan Leung in a still from Jumping Ash, which changed the Hong Kong police film genre forever.

Lee Yue-tin (left) and Shi Lei in a still from Father and Son.

Love ‘A Better Tomorrow’? The Hong Kong director and film that inspired it

The Hong Kong Film Archive of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will commence another mini-showcase of “100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies” at North District Town Hall in November. Picture shows a film still of “A Better Tomorrow” (1986).

Patrick Tse (centre) in a still from The Story of a Discharged Prisoner (1967), directed by Patrick Lung Kong. The film is widely considered Lung’s best work and served as the basis for John Woo’s 1986 hit A Better Tomorrow.

Director Patrick Lung Kong at an interview with the SCMP in 2010. Photo: SCMP

Chow Yun-fat in a still from John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow (1986), which was inspired by The Story of a Discharged Prisoner.

Nancy Sit (right) in a still from Teddy Girls (1969), which focuses on juvenile delinquents in a reform school.

A still from Teddy Girls.

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As A Better Tomorrow celebrates its 40th anniversary, we look back at how the film redefined the Hong Kong action genre


As A Better Tomorrow celebrates its 40th anniversary, we look back at how the film redefined the Hong Kong action genre.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As A Better Tomorrow celebrates its 40th anniversary, we look back at how the film redefined the Hong Kong action genre

As A Better Tomorrow celebrates its 40th anniversary, we look back at how the film redefined the Hong Kong action genre