8 Classic Movies Hated By Their Directors

The original A Better Tomorrow made Chow Yun-fat and John Woo household names and launched the Heroic Bloodshed genre that Woo later perfected with The Killer and Hard Boiled. A Better Tomorrow II is also considered a classic of this sub-genre, though it uses the lamest trope imaginable to bring back Chow’s deceased character from the original; a previously unmentioned twin.

The action is top notch – which is a given for Woo, really – but the story is choppy and oddly paced. This is because Woo had severe disagreements with producer Tsui Hark; Woo felt it should focus on Chow, and Hark though it should focus on his gangster mentor instead. Woo felt those scenes didn’t quite work, and when they couldn’t agree they sent it to the studio editors to cut themselves.

Woo was shocked when he saw the sloppy job they did with the narrative, with key emotional scenes being snipped. The director was so upset he disowned it completely, with the exception of the blood-drenched final gunfight, which he describes as a “mad painting.”