City on Fire

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Darren D @DarrenJD Apr 4 Ringo Lam’s crime thriller takes us through the neon-lit city streets & into the grimy, rundown hideouts of criminals, as Lam's heroic bloodshed quickly establishes the tone for "City on Fire" with a brutal stabbing & an explosive jewellery heist. Lam does an admirable job of establishing each storyline, which blurs the lines between Ko Chow (Chow Yun-fat), his loyalties to Inspector Lau, the man who tasked him with infiltrating a gang of jewel thieves & his growing loyalty to the thieves themselves. Lam’s taste for violence feels more brutal & realistic, from the gritty, chaotic foot chases & the sudden deaths during the blood-soaked shootouts. It’s hard not to miss how Ringo Lam's "City on Fire" has served as an inspiration to filmmakers over the years. See more Leprechaun K @LeprechaunKing 02/27/2025 Another good movie from Ringo Lam. Chow and Lam paired up again for this action crime thriller. See more Dick C @Joshua19930826 10/23/2023 It's a great film for Chow Yun-fat, City on Fire, 1987...two years later, the Killer much better... See more DanTheMan 2 @DanTheMan2150AD 02/24/2023 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... See more 03/19/2020 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. See more 05/29/2018 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! See more Read all reviews

City on Fire

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