A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon

This isn't A Better Tomorrow. It's a love story. A cliched love story at that. The love story was just as confusing as their one-handed machine gun wielding spraying, missing all of their targets (yet somehow still landing) .. Action plot was a mess, whoever gave Hark Tsui a go on this movie instead of John Woo should be fined .

The main actress was gorgeous though , with that - 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 ****

A Better Tomorrow III:Love and death in Saigon (1989) is an underrated masterpiece. The film takes place during the final days of the Vietnam War. Mark Go (Yun-Fat Chow) and his friend (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) are in South Vietnam on a business trip and also to meet Leung's father. The two have a rough time getting into the country until they meet a mysterious gangster's moll (Anita Mui). Awhile later, the three form an unusual friendship. Mark Go learns a lot from Ms. Mui as she teaches him how to survive in a brutal environment.

A great film from the ever reliable Tsui Hark. What I like about his films is that he always has strong female characters. Anita Mui is simply wonderful in this movie. She also shows her vulnerable side (she's not always hard as steel). Mark grows up quick in war torn Saigon. Tony Leung Ka-Fai is good as well (serious for a change instead of playing his usual goofy gigolo persona). The action scenes are staged very well (they don't dominate the film). And what's a film starring Anita Mui without those skinny jokes (yes, a movie with Anita is not complete without a couple of skinny jokes at her expense. The movie was knocked in many ways because it's so different than the first two. I say,"So what!" The film is an essential action film from the master Tsui Hark.

Highly recommended.

Anita Mui also performs the songs in the film. Especially the haunting theme song heard in the middle and during the end credits of the film. A fitting song in so many ways.

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