The 1986 version of the film A Better Tomorrow was, I believe, one of the more emotional films that I have watched this semester. The film, Directed by John Woo, takes place in Hong Kong and focused more on a gangster style film. One of the main conflicts throughout the movie was the forgiveness that Ho desperately wanted from his brother Kit after he blamed Ho for the death of their father. One of the films most emotional scenes was during the last shootout when Mark forces Kit to look at Ho and see how much he has suffered only to not receive forgiveness from his own brother. During this scene when mark is scolding Kit, Mark is shot mid sentence and the audience is left devastated. Although Kit does eventually forgive Ho, unfortunately it is not until many casualties later at the end of the film. Another factor that adds to the emotions that the audience is feeling is that music that is played during these scenes. The music that is being played while Mark is scolding Kit adds another layer of emotion for the audience. Although this movies was very impassioned, this does not mean that the move was not filled with action packed scenes involving gunfights and explosions which would typically be seen in a Michael Bay film.

When comparing the 1986 version of the film to the 2010 version, I would have to be in favor of the 1986 version mainly because the emotional bond between the characters was stronger making the movie more dramatic. As we discussed in class it was obvious that in the 1986 version of the film, the main characters showed more emotion compared to the 2010 version where masculinity was an important part of the movie. Another aspect of the 2010 version of the film that I found to be Lackluster was the ending of the film. The reason I say this is because in the original film the two brothers live and it is clear that the two brothers, although one will be in jail, will start a new chapter in their lives due to kits forgiveness. I feel as if the more recent version tried to hard to strike at the viewers emotions by killing all of the main characters rather than letting the brothers live. Needless to say, aside from the endings, I enjoyed both films equally.