Dick C
It's a great film for Chow Yun-fat, City on Fire, 1987...two years later, the Killer much better...
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
10/27/23
Full Review
DanTheMan 2
An absolute classic of Hong Kong cinema, City on Fire is a neon-soaked twist on the bromance shared by Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee seen later in John Woo's masterpiece The Killer. Punctuated by an incredible saxophone soundscape and taking a bottomless dive into the risks of being an undercover cop plunging into the depths of the Hong Kong underworld, it seems that Quinten Tarantino owes Ringo Lam a pretty penny or two. Perhaps even his entire career...
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A John Woo film that doesn't contain his signature over-the-the-top action and gunplay... But I welcome the realism for more serious work. And, like a great artist, John Woo continues to deliver.
City on Fire paints a picture of Hong Kong that is crime infested, chaotic, and dysfunctional. It's a story about honor among thieves told in a cop and robber style fashion.
Chow Yun-Fat's portrayal of Ko Chow is applaudable. Seeing a younger Yun-Fat breathes a certain life to the film. His acting from serious undercover cop to broken lover twists and turns at the heart.
Set design is visual eye candy. From neon lights filled with the sounds of jazz, John Woo shows us a Hong Kong that we wish still existed.
5/5. A less flashy John Woo film, but the serious nature of the film is a welcome stylistic change.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
Full Review
Audience Member
In brief:
I saw a superb film.
I can recommend it almost for everybody.
But it was not something what I expected.
I'll try to explain it with "review by contradiction".
I. What I expected
===================
I expected the film from Tarantino "shamelessly borrowed all"
for his "Reservoir Dogs" but I found that this films have more
differencies than similarities.
Let's look more closely at *similarities*:
* Undercover cop
* friend in a band of robbers
* charismaric band leader
* almost everybody dies in final
Ha!
Such "similarities" we can find in "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed".
It's a Soviet miniseries filmed in 1979!
But let's think a little more and don't stop on Godar or Kurosava.
Hamlet!
Hamlet is investigating murder of his father
under disguise of his madness.
So he can be thought as some kind of undercover agent.
No guns because Middle Ages but in final scene
we have all qualities of Mexican standoff.
Everybody dies and then Norvegian king cames.
And a little more: Odyssey!
Odissey returns home in disguise and starts undercover investigation
of case of treason in his house.
Ancient Greece, sorry guys, no guns again but instead we have epic
last stand with his bow against Suitors!
Concluding my view about "similarities":
To compare "Reservoir Dogs" with "City on Fire" is the same
as to compare hip-hop with heavy metal.
Vinyl disks are black and round but the feelings are different.
Seriously:
"Reservoir Dogs" have obvious "borrowings" from "The Killing"
filmed in 1956.
It shares structure, elements of black comedy, feeling of absurd growing
from start and culminating in finish.
Tarantino himself declared that "Dogs" is his personal variant of "The Killing".
Why nobody cares about Kubrik?
II. What I got
===============
So what I got?
I got a superb film.
I became interested in other Ringo Lam films.
Once again I saw an excellent play by Chow Yun-Fat and Dannee Lee.
I'm not qualified to rate camera work or stunts - looks OK/great for me.
But what was totally unexpected is the strong nostalgic(?) feelings that
this film evokes in me.
In some incredible way Hong Kong of 1987 looks familiar to me.
Not me of present day but of my teenage time.
Let me explain:
I'm a Russian guy who was born in Kyrgyz Republic in times of Soviet Union.
I never was in Hong Kong and I suppose that this Hong Kong of 80s
are long gone.
From start when I see those markets, shabby police stations,
restaurants with too many tables in too little space, those ridiculous
lamps, costumes, haircuts of girls - almost everything looks strangely
familiar.
Maybe it is a common trait of Hong Kong films from this period -
I will certainly try to find out for myself.
Why I am talking about?
"Reservoir Dogs", "The Killing" or "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed" are
superb films but not one of them can evoke in me such "remembrances of things past".
And that's what really matters.
So stop this nonsence about "borrowings" - this films are different on the
same degree as James Hetfield different from Micheal Jackson.
QED
Thank you for your attention!
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Cop goes undercover but ends up having to battle there bad guys he infiltrated and the cops themselves
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
04/23/18
Full Review
Audience Member
Ko Chow is about to resign from the police force when he is asked to take on one more case. He is to go undercover in a gang that is robbing jewellery stores. He accepts the task and successfully infiltrates the gang. It is a very dangerous mission, not just because the gang might discover his true identity but because many of the police suspect he may well be a criminal.
The movie that inspired Tarantino's superb Reservoir Dogs, and, as it turns out, that's the only possible reason to watch City On Fire. Quite mediocre: random, padded script that only really finds a focus towards the end. Poor direction and performances, resulting in some pretty cringeworthy scenes. The domestic stuff involving Chow Yun Fat, and anything where he is around a woman, is very embarrassing. Hammy acting, by just about everyone concerned, throughout. Don't model your mannerisms on Charlie Chaplin when you're doing drama...
Worst of all, it bares very resemblance to Reservoir Dogs. Only in the last 15 minutes or so can you see where Tarantino got the idea for Reservoir Dogs from, and even then the similarities are only in the broader plot development. Ending is not anywhere near as powerful as Reservoir Dogs and the general tone is not anywhere near as gritty.
Quite poor and not worth watching, even if you are a Reservoir Dogs fan.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
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