Hexenkessel Saigon

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.

A lot of people tend to think this movie is inferior to the first 2 ABT's. If you are one of these people, keep in mind that its pretty much due to the story. I think the direction and acting wasn't bad at all. Like many prequel/sequels, it suffers from hype and expectations. If its made exactly like the previous movies, then we have a rehash. If it goes in a different direction (like in this case) it runs the risk of alienating a lot of loyal fans.

Not sure how many of you knew the storyline prior to watching the film. I was at least privy to the plot summary before watching it in the theaters way back when. So I at least knew it took place in the 70s in Vietnam. Right there and then, I knew it would be very different from the first 2 films. War-torn Vietnam of the 70s would hardly be the kind of place where you find our heroes riding around in Rolls Royce's, making high stake deals in fancy hotels or mansions, wearing Fracescetti suits, etc. A lot of the "cool" element of the original is due to Chow of course, but settings and atmosphere had something to do with it as well. And Vietnam is not the kind of setting we're previously used to.

What the film does show, is probably a more realistic side of smuggling and counterfeitting. You make your deals at night in dark alley ways, your clothes are cars are are much less flashy (to avoid attracting attention to yourself). And of course, Mark hasn't acquired his cool persona yet, so we're missing that important element throughout most of the film.

In short, much of what we see is not entirely unexpected if you took the time to read the synopsis on the video box. Because the movie takes place at the time and place it did, I'd say the crew did an OK job.

As a prequel to ABT, I am a bit surprise at the choice of location if not the time. I remember a scene in the original ABT where Mark talks about the "old days" of making counterfeit deals with Ho in Indoesia!! That was suppose to be 12 years ago according to movie dialog, which would place us in the early 70s as well. So the movie would've been more continuous if we had Mark working for the H.K. crime organization already, and making drops in Indonesia (with or without Ho, depending on whether they can get Ti Lung back for the role). I also think it might have been more interesting this way. Anita can still play Mark's love interest, and much of the current ABT3 storyline can be incorporated; as long as Mark isn't so goofy and inexperienced.

A Better Tomorrow 3 is not a sequel to A Better Tomorrow 2, but a prequel to A Better Tomorrow 1. We get to know how Mark Gor(Yun-Fat`s legendary ultracool gangster from ABT1) became a gun-toting gangster in Vietnam in the 1970`s. The movie itself is okay, but a lot worse than its legendary older brothers. The action is directed by Tsui Hark, a very good actiondirector, but not a patch on John Woo. Also, the gunfights lacks the intensity, smoothness and violence that we have come to expect from the ABT-series. If you`re a fan of Hong-Kong-cinema, ABT3 is worth a go, but remember that the other two are a lot better. 5/10

I ordered this movie on tape (dvd didn't exist then). I expected the same classic shootouts and drama like the first two "Better Tomorrow"'s. I knew it was a prequel. The back cover said that this movie was about "Mark" becoming the hit-man he was in "Better Tomorrow 1". Boy was I misinformed. It did show some background on Mark's History. And the reason he became a killer. (Love for a woman who gets killed.) But that's it. Nothing more. Nothing about his adventures he told us about in Better Tomorrow 1. To not use this concept is the reason why this movie fails. To be fair there were some nice things like some action scenes,but they were nothing special. These action scenes cannot be compared to John Woo's sequences. Some reviewers call this the best one of the series. That really is a mystery to me,because this movie isn't even in the same league as 1 and 2. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion,but for me this was definitely the worst one of the series!

A Better Tomorrow 3 takes place during the Vietnam war and goes back to show how Mark became the professional killer that he is. Cool action scenes, but low on the gore from the other films. The story is very well done for an action movie adding a romantic aspect to it. Excellent.

***1/2 out of ****