A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow (; lit. "Invincible") is a 2010 South Korean action drama film starring Joo Jin-mo, Song Seung-heon, Kim Kang-woo and Jo Han-sun. It is an official remake of the 1986 Hong Kong film A Better Tomorrow. It was directed by Song Hae-sung and produced by Fingerprint Pictures. John Woo, who directed the original 1986 version, acted as executive producer. The film premiered as part of Special Events at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2010, where it was introduced by John Woo, as having "its own character and own soul, and many new elements." It was released in theaters on September 16, 2010. Plot Kim Hyuk (Joo Jin-mo) is a detective in the South Korean National Police Agency, having escaped from North Korea as a teenager. Unbeknownst to his superiors, he also moonlights as an illegal arms smuggler with his best friend and partner in crime, Lee Young-choon (Song Seung-heon), who also defected from the North. Hyuk has a younger brother, Chul (Kim Kang-woo), whom he was forced to leave behind (along with their mother) during his escape. Guilt-ridden over leaving his brother behind, Hyuk has spent the past few years searching for his brother. Eventually, he finds Chul in an internment camp for Northern defectors, but Chul resents Hyuk for leaving them behind. It is then revealed that their mother was killed by North Korean authorities as retribution for Hyuk's escape. Hyuk goes to Thailand to complete an arms deal, accompanied by an ambitious gangster named Jung Tae-min (Jo Han-sun). However, the deal turns out to be a set-up by Jung, who leaves Hyuk to be killed by the Thai gangsters. He survives but gets arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. After reading about Hyuk's capture in the newspaper, Lee finds the Thai gangster in a massage parlor and kills him and his henchmen. However, in the ensuing gunfight, he is shot in the knee and crippled. Hyuk is released from prison. Remorseful and determined to start a new life, he finds work as a taxi driver. Meanwhile, Chul has become an officer in the National Police and Jung has become the leader of the arms smuggling operation, while Lee, cut out of the arms operation by Jung, does odd jobs to survive.