Following the bloody climax of the previous film, A Better Tomorrow — again directed by John Woo — opens with Sung Chi-hi (spelled Tse-ho in the first film though still played by Ti Lung ) getting released from jail on the condition that he rat out his gangland associate and a shipyard owner, Lung ( Dean Shek ). Chi-ti's younger brother, a young cop named Chi-kit ( Leslie Cheung ), is working undercover on the case and has already gotten into the gangster's good graces by dating his daughter, Peggy ( Regina Kent ). Fearing that he might put his brother's life in danger, Chi-hi cooperates with the cops. Meanwhile, Lung comes to believe that he is responsible for the death of a competitor and flees to New York. There he promptly goes crazy while under the care of Ken ( Chow Yun-fat ), the twin brother of the sunglass and trench coat-sporting Mark who died in the previous film. During a gun battle with the Mafia who tried to blackmail the exiled crime boss, Lung miraculously regains his sanity. Together he and Ken return to Hong Kong to settle a few scores. This film's onscreen mayhem was almost matched offscreen. Director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had radically different views of how the film ought to progress. As a result, Hark reportedly recut the film without Woo 's consent, ending a long-time professional relationship between the two filmmakers. — Jonathan Crow