A Better Tomorrow ( Chinese :英雄 本色 ; Jyutping : Jing1 hung4 bun2 sik1 ; literally: “True Colors of a Hero”) is a 1986 Hong Kong crime movie , directed by John Woo , and Ti Lung Starring , Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun- fat . [3] The film had a profound influence on the Hong Kong film industry , and later on an international scale . It was a landmark film, credited with setting the template for the heroic bloodshed genre, [4] which was considerably influential inHong Kong action cinema , and later Hollywood . [5]