History Trivia / ABetterTomorrow

* DuellingMovies: Creator/JohnWoo had no involvement with ''A Better Tomorrow III'', so he made ''Film/TheKiller''. The third one is a prequel that competed with Woo's film ''Film/BulletInTheHead'', which was based on Woo's [[DivorcedInstallment unused script]].

* OldShame:
** Creator/JohnWoo disowned ''A Better Tomorrow II'', with the exception of the final gun battle.
** Creator/ChowYunFat admitted that he disliked the sequels.
-->I hated to play [Mark] again...I didn't want to do the role again...I don't like part two and part three.

* RealitySubtext: The scene in which Mark Lee tells the story of being forced to drink urine is apparently based on a real incident involving Creator/ChowYunFat and director Creator/RingoLam, according to Bey Logan on the DVDCommentary. This scene was recreated in Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/BulletInTheHead''.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The second film was recut against Creator/JohnWoo's wishes.

* TroubledProduction:
** The second film had this. Creator/JohnWoo and producer Tsui Hark disagreed on the focus of the film. Tsui felt that the film should focus more on Lung, while Woo's original version focused more on characters Ken and Kit. Hark also insisted that the film should be shortened to a commercially viable length, which in Hong Kong is considered under 120 minutes, so theatre owners could show the film at least eight times a day. Woo refused to cut the film down and when he and Hark couldn't agree about the focus of the film and how it should be re-edited, Hark went and started secretly re-editing the film himself, since he had equal control with the editing of the film along with three other editors (Woo being the fifth editor). At the same time when Hark would cut some parts out Woo would went and also secretly put the missing parts back in. With only a week remaining before movie was to be released in theaters, and with pressure from the studio and distributors to trim the film down, Woo and Hark agreed to send the movie to "Cinema City Editing Unit", which meant that they sent each reel of the film to one of Cinema City's editors, who would then go to work on his particular reel. There was no overall supervision whatsoever by either Woo or Hark. Each of these editors just cut things out as they saw fit, then they returned the reels. What they came up with is now the official released version of the film.
** The film was also notorious for stunt mishaps. Creator/ChowYunFat was almost blown up when the explosion outside the mansion door being more powerful than expected. Some of his hair was singed, and he was blasted forward. The shot in the film is his real reaction. Director Ronny Yu was the stunt double in the warehouse scene. He wrenched his back after slipping on water puddle while carrying Dean Shek. Also the stuntman for Creator/LeslieCheung who performed the speedboat jump landed incorrectly and broke his foot.

* OldShame: Creator/JohnWoo disowned ''A Better Tomorrow II'', with the exception of the final gun battle.

* DuellingMovies: Creator/JohnWoo had no involvement with ''A Better Tomorrow III'', so he made ''Film/TheKiller''. The third one is a prequel that competed with Woo's film ''Film/BulletInTheHead''.

* StarMakingRole: Creator/ChowYunFat as Mark Gor in the first film. Despite not actually being the main protagonist, his [[BadassLongcoat cool]] [[CoolShades appearance]] and charismatic performance led to his breakout popularity, and would launch his Hong Kong film career.

* PlayingAgainstType: All three main actors played outside their comfort zones. Creator/LeslieCheung was a well-known pop star (in fact, he sings the theme to the movie), Ti Lung was best known for his work in kung fu movies and Creator/ChowYunFat (even though he had made some movies) was a popular TV soap actor.

* PlayingAgainstType: All three main actors played outside their comfort zones. Music/LeslieCheung was a well-known pop star (in fact, he sings the theme to the movie), Ti Lung was best known for his work in kung fu movies and Creator/ChowYunFat (even though he had made some movies) was a popular TV soap actor.

* BTeamSequel: The third film was a prequel directed by Tsui Hark, due to a falling out with Creator/JohnWoo.

* DuellingMovies: Creator/JohnWoo had no involvement with ''A Better Tomorrow III'', so he made ''Film/TheKiller'', The third one is a prequel.
* EnforcedMethodActing / FatalMethodActing: Creator/ChowYunFat was almost blown up when the mansion explosion was a bit more powerful than anticipated. His reaction is real.

* StarMakingRole: ChowYunFat as Mark Gor in the first film. Despite not actually being the main protagonist, his [[BadassLongcoat cool]] [[CoolShades appearance]] and charismatic performance led to his breakout popularity, and would launch his Hong Kong film career.

* DuellingMovies: Creator/JohnWoo had no involvement with ''A Better Tomorrow III'', so he made ''Film/TheKiller'', which was meant to be a prequel to the first film. Funnily enough, the third one is a prequel. Creator/TonyLeung is in both films.

* DuellingMovies: Creator/JohnWoo had no involvement with ''A Better Tomorrow III'', so he made ''Film/BulletInTheHead'', which was meant to be a prequel to the first film. Funnily enough, the third one is a prequel. Creator/TonyLeung is in both films.

* RealitySubtext: The scene in which Mark Lee tells the story of being forced to drink urine is apparently based on a real incident involving Creator/ChowYunFat and director Creator/RingoLam, according to Bey Logan on the DVD commentary. This scene was recreated in Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/BulletInTheHead''.

** This film became so popular, that kids in Hong Kong started wearing long coats, known as "dusters" to copy Mark.

* YouLookFamliar: In addition to Creator/ChowYunFat playing his own twin brother in ''A Better Tomorrow II'', Shing Fui-on plays a different heavy in both films.

* ReCut: ''A Better Tomorrow II'' was severely cut from 160 minutes to 104. The Taiwanese version of ''A Better Tomorrow III'' runs 145 minutes long, which is the complete uncut version. The Hong Kong version runs only 114 minutes long despite saying 130 minutes on the cover.

* Mark Gor's theme, which plays near the end of the restaurant shootout, is "Birdy's Flight" from the NicolasCage Vietnam movie ''Birdy''.
* The English title "A Better Tomorrow" is the translated title of the song sung by the two school kids (in Mandarin) in the middle of the movie. It's a New Year's Eve song, usually sung by large groups.
* Mark Gor is based on a character (the "wandering knight") from a previous JohnWoo kung fu movie, ''LastHurrahForChivalry''.
* Even though he is now universally known as an action hero, one of the main reasons JohnWoo wanted to cast ChowYunFat was because he didn't look like one.
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* Even though he is now universally known as an action hero, one of the main reasons JohnWoo wanted to cast ChowYunFat because he didn't look like one.

* The English title, "A Better Tomorrow," is the translated title of the song sung by the two school kids (in Mandarin) in the middle of the movie. It's a New Year's Eve song, usually sung by large groups.