CITY ON FIRE is a rough and ready crime thriller from celebrated Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, featuring Chow Yun Fat in another of his star-making performances. This time around, Chow is a renegade cop (of course) who finds himself embroiled in the hunt for a gang of violent jewel thieves. Eventually he's coerced into going undercover and joining the gang himself, with violent consequences.

This is a noticeably lower budgeted production than much later fare by Lam, but the rough and tumble nature of the story means it doesn't matter and in some cases the gritty, shoot-on-the-street style of filming makes it more realistic than a slicker production might have been. The various heist sequences are very well filmed, and there's a neat turn from Danny Lee as the leader of the gang; the two would later pair up to famed effect in Woo's THE KILLER. Tarantino loved this film so much he borrowed copiously from the climax for his own RESERVOIR DOGS.

This is the film that was supposed to have been ripped off by Quentin Tarantino for Reservoir Dogs, though to be fair now having seen the film Tarantino's film is essentially an expansion of the final fifteen minutes to half an hour of the film.

The plot here concerns Chow Yun Fat who is a cop working undercover. When another cop longer under cover is stabbed to death while on the trail of a bunch of Jewel thieves, Chow is forced to infiltrate the gang. We watch as Chows personal life implodes, and how other groups of cops want to use him for their own ends, especially if it means they can get a big bust out of it. Much bleaker than Tarantino's film the notions of loyalty and betrayal are especially strained and tested here, with the twists and turns having more weight. I like the film in its gritty hard edged Hong Kong way, but at the same time I think I'd prefer to re-watch Tarantino's film. This isn't to say this is a bad movie, its not, its just a different one.) (A note: the version I saw was the dubbed American version (it was what was run on cable). This essentially means that the entire soundtrack was removed and completely redone-want proof look at the long scroll of new music additions that runs at the end. I can't, at this point say how much was altered from original Hong Kong version. This means my feelings may change if I see the subtitled original version)

This is a no frills undercover cop story directed by Ringo Lam. With an average budget the film tells its story quite tightly with fine performances. Chow Yun Fat stars as the undercover policeman who is also having relationship problems. Danny Lee pops up as the jewel thief who will basically befriend chow as the system pushes them closer together. Yueh Sun Stars as an older cop who has lost his son years ago in the force and is bending the rules to have Chow undercover.

I think Ringo Lam takes inspiration as much from French New Wave cinema as he douse from Hong Kong. The simple shooting style, at times like documentary, captures whats he needs and he is just concerned with making it all happen for the camera with settings and performances that ring true for the lens. Films like Un Flic and Le Samorai from French director Jean Piere Melville may have been the inspiration for Lam's raw, simple style. This approach is effective.

We all know what film it ended up inspiring and Ringo Lams comparisons with his contemporary John Woo, Rather than ad to the subject dominance of the former I will just comment on the latter in That Woo only made one film better than this and it was The KIller. Despite Woo's amazing and influential style he doesn't tell perfect stories. City On Fire has a story that keeps you interested in what will actually happen. The dramatics of this picture are excellent. The performances all good. The characters are all concerned about their own situations and feel them all. The film is occasionally quite funny. Chow has a bit of a gift for comedy that transcends language and cultural barriers. This film and Lam's other film starring Chow, Prison On Fire, always amuse me in their moments.

I was taken by this film. I cared about Chow and his vice like position. His impatient girlfriend, complicated job, going undercover and being followed by another police unit as if a criminal are situations closing in on him. Chow Yun Fat is a wonderful actor to watch. He can make you laph with his dances, wooing woman and can entrance you with his glare when he means business. There are some wonderful long takes in this film that lets chow bring you into his character. In his roles of cops and killers he makes you sympathetic. A gift to the genre.

Ringo Lam brings many of his regulars together to make a class production. You will recognise some of the cast if you have seen his other films. I figure he didn't have the permission to shoot on some of the locations and it informs the shooting style, undercover in itself. Cameras lens poking out the window of a moving car to shoot the characters on the street. He just gets this film made. He has a pretty decisive vision. I have read you have to be tough directing films in Hong Kong. The schedules are busy, the budgets are low and the Authorities are strict. You have to be able to improvise and break the rules. Take risks like they do with stunt-work.

The script is way above average for a Hong Kong cop drama. This is a character driven film with less emphasis on action. A solid 80's picture. One of my favorite films from Hong Kong.