A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow is a personal site created in August 2000 by Peter A. Martin. As of January 2007, the focus is on Hong Kong movies made since the Handover to Mainland China in July 1997.

Many articles, books, and web sites have been devoted either to the glorious Shaw Brothers era that shined brightly from the late 1960s to early 1970s or to the Second Golden Age of the late 1980s to early 1990s. And justifiably so, as hundreds of amazing films from those periods are worthy of celebration.

With the departure to Hollywood of noted talent such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, John Woo, Chow Yun-Fat, Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark, and other developments that led to a reduction in the number of films being produced in Hong Kong, the post-Handover years have appeared bleak indeed for longtime admirers of the cinema scene. The restless “what’s the latest and greatest” spotlight moved elsewhere, to Japan, South Korea, and Thailand; more recently, a large number of co-productions have blurred national cinema boundaries in Asia.

Still, reeling like a drunken boxer that refuses to go down, the Hong Kong film industry carries on. The adrenaline-pumping buzzsaw thrills of insane action and the floating poetics of martial arts may only be memories, but the latest wave(s) contain their own unique pleasures. The new mission of this site is to discover and broadcast the small gems that continue to be mined.

The site is currently in reconstruction to reflect the new focus, so you may come across odd pages that don’t seem to fit, but the messy bits are part of the appeal (?!).

Comments, questions, and recommendations are invited. You may either use the form below, or send an email to {peter} at {abtdvd.com}

Thanks for visiting, and please come again!