Don't listen to the negative reviews

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Tsui Hark directed this sequel (1989) to John Woo's classic heroic bloodshed films Better Tomorrow 1 and 2 made couple of years earlier, and this third installment is more a prequel than sequel. It concentrates on what happened before the first two films and has more drama than action in it. Chow Yun Fat is again Mark Gor who is in Vietnam and meets there his cousin Mun (Leslie Cheung) who is just released from prison when Mark arrives in Vietnam. They meet mysterious female assassin Kit (the beautiful sweetheart Anita Mui) and both of the men are attracted by Kit. The film concentrates pretty much on the war infested Saigon and the hell that's free in there, so there isn't any particular plot in the film, but that doesn't mean it's not interesting.I think there's couple of strong scenes of social criticism, mostly the horrific "customs scene" at the airport when Mark, Mun, Kit and Mun's father try to travel away from the country and are abused by the corrupted custom officers. Also the scene at the hospital is very harrowing and is there to underline righteously the state of the world of that time, and unfortunately there are even today places with same kind of circumstances in our world. Fortunately Tsui's attitude isn't this time as underlining as in his Once Upon a Time in China (1991), and Tomorrow 3 is therefore perhaps more noteworthy film as commenting society.The visuals are also brilliant as can be expected from this director. There are great use of blue smoke again and the gun fights are incredibly beautifully shot and are more effective than any gun fight in some Western effort. The slow motion death scene of one important character in the film's finale is perhaps among the most beautiful "heroic death scenes" I've seen and it is finished very carefully and thus it has such a power. After that scene everyone should know what this name "heroic bloodshed" for this genre means and what makes it so unique. The end is very sad, too, but as we know how Mark ends up in his subsequent adventures, it gives some positivism for the sad ending of this third film. The ending is little irritating due to it's prolonged gun battles and fire power, and I think it should have stopped little earlier in order to be more effective finale for the otherwise pretty great film.Better Tomorrow 3 is not as great and interesting as Woo's films, but still this is much more than average effort from Hollywood, and due to Tomorrow 3's great look and visuals, I give this gladly 8/10 rating and think this is among the greatest films Tsui Hark has directed himself. He has produced perhaps as many films as he has actually directed and many have said he is better producer than director, but this film shows that he really knows how to direct noteworthy films, too.

Though people have been saying how much of a disappointment this prequel is, I watched it anyways, being a fan of the first two movies. And to be fair, it wasn't a bad experience at all.I can see how people would be frustrated going in expecting more of the same and getting an action/drama movie instead, but I was told that it was less action and more romance beforehand. So I was prepared to take it for what it is worth. Which is an above average movie overall.The Good: Chow Yun Fat returns to his character from the first film, which is great. Imagine the movie without him. Can you? Anita Mui plays her part very well and at times you really believe that she is upset or frustrated. The storyline is decent, and done pretty well. No, there are no scenes like the finale of A Better Tomorrow 2, but come on, did you really expect that kind of scene again? The ending of A Better Tomorrow 2 is so spectacular, can you blame the prequel for not trying to top it and go elsewhere instead? The chemistry between Chow Yun Fat's Mark and Anita Mui's Kit is great, especially with Kit. The viewer really feels for her. Great job.The not so good: Many people accuse John Woo's films of totally ignoring women. But when it comes to A Better Tomorrow, many people criticize part three for placing a woman in the mix. It's supposed to be a story of brotherhood and friendship. In a way I agree. There should be more women representation is some of John Woo's work, but with this series, many fans prefer a team of friends, guys, more specifically Ho, Mark, and Kit from the first in the series. I would rather have had part three be a true sequel picking up where the second left off [with Ho and Mark's brother Ken (also played by Fat)] and tell about there struggles and how they are getting over the events of the last movie. Then you can put Anita Mui in the storyline somewhere and have her help them out in some way.Overall, A Better Tomorrow 3 is pretty good. Not much like the first two, but an alternative that strays from the formula and may be accpted by some, and not by others.

If you compare this to the first two, this is pretty bad. If you take it on it's own, it's OK. The plot is by the numbers, ditto for characterizations and dialogue. The shoot outs also totally lack the energy and brutality the first two had. And Chow-Yun Fat gives an uncharacteristically bad performance. Still the film isn't totally worthless. The shoot outs, like I said, aren't up to previous directors' Woos shoot outs. But then again what are? They're OK, they're definitely not dull. And the lead actress Mui is fantastic! Unlike the women in Woo's films, she isn't a victim, a sex object or just scenery. She's strong, dynamic, full of energy and better than the men at shooting people down! When she starts blazing away the energy level in the film leaps forward. So it's worth seeing for her, but don't expect any great movie.

The 3rd in a series, which is actually a prequel. Mark Gor (Chow Yun Fat) goes to Saigon to fetch his cousin and uncle during the Vietnam war. Directed by Tsui Hark (who produced the first 2 movies) instead of John Woo. Not as great as the first, but worth a look.True to the "Better Tomorrow" series, as well as the whole John-Woo-aesthetic, the movie's about male-bonding. But this movie also focuses on romance: Mark and his cousin Mun (Tony Leung Ka Fai) both fall for sexy gang leader Kit (Anita Mui).It was great to see a woman as a gangster for once, and Anita Mui was cool as hell. She looks fabulous while mowing down a dozen men without smudging her makeup once - speaking of which, she overdid the lipstick. Her neon-orange-red lips practically glow and bleed into every scene she's in.Of interest to fans: the movie shows Kit teaching Mark how to shoot a gun, and explains where Mark got his trademark coat and sunglasses.Also notable is that this movie contains Chow Yun Fat's most authentic kiss with a woman. Usually, he just slams into the girl's face violently in a convulsive fit - which looks intense but not very real. In this movie, he's much more gentle. Probably because he didn't want to eat her lipstick.