A Better Tomorrow III: Love And Death In Saigon (1989)

Director: Tsui Hark

Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Anita Mui, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Shih Kien, Maggie Cheung Ho-yee

Country: Hong Kong

Rating: R

Run Time: 105 minutes

With John Woo no longer at the helm of one of the most action packed franchises of all time, one would expect the series to go down hill. Fortunately for us action fans, A Better Tomorrow III was not just some half-assed prequel. Instead, Tsui Hark took over and delivered a very romantic film that still managed to kick some major ass, especially in the third act. 

Another great classic image of Chow.

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death In Saigon (an awesome subtitle) takes place in 1974. Therefore, it is a prequel to the events of A Better Tomorrow 1 and 2. Mark Lee (Chow Yun Fat) goes to Saigon in order to bring his Uncle Ten (Enter the Dragon's Shih Kien) and cousin Cheung (Election's Tony Leung Ka-Fai) back to Hong Kong with him. Cheung reveals to Mark that he has been dealing with gangsters in order to make more money to support his father Ten. Being the kind and honorable family member that Mark is, he offers his help to Cheung. 

While in Saigon, the two meet Kit (Anita Mui), a beautiful woman who offers for them to accompany her on a deal with a Vietnamese war lord. When things go wrong at the meeting, Mark and Cheung find themselves plunged into the world of underground crime. They also find their loved ones and family members threatened by Vietnamese soldiers and Kit's former lover Ho-Cheung Ching.

Who would have thought that a prequel to the A Better Tomorrow series would have so much going on in it? The film is pretty good for being an unnecessary sequel. There are only a few things that help classify it as a prequel besides it being set in 1974, 12 years before the events of the first film. It does show Mark get his trademark Alain Delon glasses and awesome trench coat. However, it is very shoe horned into the story when you consider how much else is going on in the plot already. I guess this is technically the first time that Mark has ever killed people too. This explains why he is such an honorable brother and deadly killer in the other two films but a novice in this film. Seriously, he nabs 4 kills in the entire film but kills over 100 people combined in the first two films. 

Swag.

This leads into the most unique aspect of A Better Tomorrow III, its action sequences. Instead of Chow Yun Fat being the most bad ass of the cast, co-star Anita Mui completely steals the show. She must kill nearly 50 people in the film! Who would have guessed that she would be so awesome with two guns? She gets to show off her skills in three absolutely awesome action sequences. She jumps, slides, rolls, and shoots everything! Anita Mui should have become a female action star like Gina Carano or Michelle Yeoh because she kicks major butt in this film.

Much like the first A Better Tomorrow, the third film opts to be more dramatic than action packed. There are only three action scenes in the film, each one in each act of the film. They are all first rate though. The first shootout against the Vietnamese soldiers is just awesome. Anita Mui literally one hands an M16 while holding a pistol in her other hand. However, Chow Yun Fat has my favorite action scene of the whole film. He and Kit's former lover go head to head in a close quarters gun fight that is so bad ass. They fire so many bullets at each other and never hit each other once! I love it.

Anita Mui reminds Chow she is the killer elite.

Tsui Hark chooses to use a lot of slow motion just like John Woo. However, Tsui Hark's usage of slow motion is almost over kill. John Woo expertly blends regular speed and slow motion in order to turn his action scenes into a ballet of violence. Tsui Hark on the other hand showcases the entire action scene with just slow motion. While this technique makes much of the imagery very memorable, it really slows down the proceedings of the action. While I am normally a slow motion advocate, this film needed to learn to use it sparingly.

Unlike the previous A Better Tomorrow films, this is film is very much about heterosexual love and romance. The previous films were all about brotherhood, honor, and intense friendship amongst men. While there is a little of that here between Chow Yun and Tony Leung, the romantic love triangle is at the fore front of everything else. Cheung, Mark, and Kit all struggle with figuring out who belongs with who romantically. Kit's former lover also complicates this triangle as well. You could argue that it is a love square actually. To be honest, I absolutely loved the romance between Chow Yun Fat and Anita Mui. They made for an adorable couple and I loved the tension and chemistry between them. In short, very little bromance, but a lot of romance.

Hipster Tony Leung.

All of the performances in the film are great too. Anita Mui is awesome as the sexy but totally bad ass femme fatale. Chow is great as always as Mark Lee, the character that made him an international star. Tony Leung Ka-Fai is also good as Cheung. I loved that all three of the lead characters got in on the action too. Each A Better Tomorrow film usually showcases a group of three people going up against countless henchman in an all shootout. In the first film it was Ti Lung, Chow Yun, and Leslie Cheung in the dock shootout. In the second film, it was Ti Lung, Chow Yun, and Dean Shek waging a full war inside of a mansion. And in this film, Anita Mui, Chow Yun, and Tony Leung take on Vietnamese soldiers in an abandoned house.

I also noted that the film reminded me of two other Chow Yun Fat films, Hong Kong 1941 and Once a Thief. Both of these films depict Chow in a romantic love triangle. Hong Kong 1941 is even more similar because it also deals with the backdrop of war. If you are like me and are trying to watch every Chow Yun Fat film ever made, definitely check out those two films. They are really great and totally underrated.

The classic John Woo Mexican stand-off.

So ultimately, how do I feel about this third film in the trilogy that acts as both a finale and a prequel? In all honesty, I think it's pretty good. The acting, story, and drama are all great. The action is for the most part great, minus some excessive slow motion. However, I felt that some of the film's villains were too undefined and that the film dragged during the second act. Otherwise, this is a sweet finale to the series. However, if anything was to close out the series, it should've been the insane mansion shootout from the end of A Better Tomorrow II.

Rating: 8/10 - A solid finale to one of the best action trilogies of all time. Highly recommended and worth checking out even though John Woo had no part in it.

Best Kill / Beatdown: All I will say is, Chow Yun Fat on a Motorcycle vs. A Tank.

Best Action Scene: My favorite action scene was when Chow had a one on one gunfight with Kit's former lover, Ho. Chow dual wields two M16's while Ho leaps and flips with just a hand gun. They fire so many bullets at each other and not one ever connects! I loved it.

Best Performance: I'm going to have to go with Anita Mui as Kit. She just blew me away during the action scenes and was a great romantic co-star for Chow. Chow is a definite second place too. Getting to see him play the same character and bring his all three times is a real treat.

Franchise:
A Better Tomorrow (dir. John Woo, 1986)
A Better Tomorrow II (dir. John Woo, 1987)
A Better Tomorrow III: Love And Death In Saigon (dir. Tsui Hark, 1989)
Return to a Better Tomorrow (dir. Wong Jing, 1994)
A Better Tomorrow (dir. Hae-sung Song, 2010)