A Triad gangster and counterfeiter is sent to prison after being betrayed. After release, he tries to reform and reconcile with his estranged police officer brother while his friend urges revenge against the traitor. Along the way are plenty of heists, double-crosses, and shoot outs. Released in 1986, John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow sent shockwaves through the Hong Kong film industry, launching a wave of so-called heroic bloodshed films that emulated its combination of balletic gunplay and emotionally charged storytelling. The film and its two sequels pushed action cinema to new heights of bullet-riddled excess, while establishing breakout star Chow Yun-fat as an international icon of cool.