These comments pertain to the most recent U.S. release of City on Fire. What I disliked most was what I absolutely detest in non-English language films - the bloody dubbing sucked! There was no DVD option to play the movie in Cantonese with English sub-titles.
To me, the poor reading of the script by second rate English speaking script readers takes so much from the film that I wanted to shut it off. I couldn't relate to Chow Yun Fat because I already knew what he sounds like when he speaks and that wasn't him. I couldn't get too interested in the story because the reading of the script was so awful I was painfully aware of it every second of the movie. I could even look past the thinly disguised watery ketchup used for blood in the not too special effects, the often used story of office politics in the police department (see Dirty Harry), but not the horrific language dubbing. Unless you can get the original language Cantonese version with a choice of subtitles, avoid this one.
To me, the poor reading of the script by second rate English speaking script readers takes so much from the film that I wanted to shut it off. I couldn't relate to Chow Yun Fat because I already knew what he sounds like when he speaks and that wasn't him. I couldn't get too interested in the story because the reading of the script was so awful I was painfully aware of it every second of the movie. I could even look past the thinly disguised watery ketchup used for blood in the not too special effects, the often used story of office politics in the police department (see Dirty Harry), but not the horrific language dubbing. Unless you can get the original language Cantonese version with a choice of subtitles, avoid this one.