City on Fire (1987) User Reviews

Ringo Lam's gangster thriller

[Bogey Man · 8/10 · 26 October 2002]

Ringo Lam's perhaps most famous and influential film is this, CITY ON FIRE, from 1987. It was Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for his Reservoir Dogs (1992), and Quentin wanted to express his admiration and passion for Hong Kong film makers and their films by updating Lam's themes for his debut film. Reservoir is definitely not any rip off like some have suggested, it a tribute.

Chow Yun-Fat plays cop Chow, who has traumatic past as he betrayed his criminal friend to the police force. Danny Lee plays criminal boss Fu, whose gang is terrorizing the town with numerous robberies and the forthcoming, big robbery of a jewelry store. Chow and Fu become friends as Chow's mission is again to go undercover to Fu's gang and give details to the police about the robbery so the criminals could be arrested and sent to jail. Unfortunately, Chow notices it is too late to undo what he's done again, and again he finds himself betraying a friend, but this time the results are more horrific.

The theme of the film is friendship and loyalty between two people at opposite sides of the law. Chow and Fu start to like each other and more importantly, Fu starts to trust Chow, who in this case isn't a trustworthy friend. The end scene again is pretty harrowing as Fu learns the truth and Chow gets to know the price. Two years later Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat would play similar roles in John Woo's The Killer (1989), in which Lee is the cop and Chow the criminal/killer. These themes are very usual in Hong Kong action thrillers, in which people love and value their friends and are ready to die for them.

City on Fire is pretty gritty and violent gangster depiction and the finale in the storehouse is the film's most memorable and stunning segment. The lightning and blue color is used to the maximum effect and it gives the kind of punch only Hong Kong cinema seems to be able to give. Never have I seen such a strong use of atmospheric smoke and blue than in these Hong Kong films, and the finale of CITY ON FIRE is as gorgeous looking as the scenes in Danny Lee's true crime thriller Dr. Lamb, 1992.

CITY ON FIRE, however, suffers a little because of weak characters and that especially Chow isn't too well written and doesn't act as believably as possible. For example, the difficulties he has with his girlfriend are not handled too carefully as we don't know does Chow love her and want to live with her or not. Occasionally he seems to be in love with her, but then he may leave her waiting for him hours and seems not to understand what she's so sad for. Their relationship should have been more carefully and deeper written. Also, the scene in the restaurant when Chow informs about his willingness to delay their wedding because of his mission is almost unbearably cold and unemotional as the girl visibly suffers and cries inside and doesn't even get a proper answer or reason for this from Chow. Not very well written scene at all.

Also I'm little irritated by the fact that the gunshot wound in the stomach is depicted so un-painfully. Tim Roth suffers the whole Reservoir Dogs's running time with a bullet in his stomach, and that is definitely a realistic depiction of such a horrific result of violence. In CITY ON FIRE, the character (without spoiling) just sits there and holds his tummy a little and seems not to bleed or suffer at all. There should have been little more realism as was in Tarantino's film. Otherwise the brief gun battles and acts of violence are realistic and not glorified: when bullets hits a person, he most likely dies as in real life, too. CITY ON FIRE isn't a so called "bullet ballet" film with huge amount of gun play action, and the violence in CITY ON FIRE is brutal and remorseless and never without its consequences.

I give CITY ON FIRE 7/10 and it is still very remarkable film because its interesting themes and the gorgeous atmospheric finale which should be seen in big screen because this film, like many others, suffers and loses its power when seen on video and small TV screen. Ringo Lam is among my favorite Hong Kong directors and his real, unbelievable, masterpiece FULL CONTACT (1992, starring again Chow) finally established him among the greatest Hong Kong directors and in the action genre, at the same position with John Woo.

Oh yes, it's that Tarantino one...

[wierzbowskisteedman · 8/10 · 21 May 2006]

To anyone who's taken a few steps into the wonderful world of internet film discussion, the title "City on Fire" should set alarm bells ringing due to its unfavourable connection with Reservior Dogs. Unfavourable because people now seem to be incapable of judging the film on its own without referring the Chow Yun Fat as "The Mr. Orange guy". So this film has a sort of Holy Grail status amongst Tarantino's critics, which tends to mean its faults and individual merits go equally overlooked. So I'll do my best to review it from a neutral perspective.

As always, Chowy is great quality in the lead role, with a much more detailed character than Tim Roth had (argh!). He maintains the effective "heroic bloodshed" chemistry with his frequent co star Danny Lee that would be used most notably two years later in Woo's "The Killer". The rest of the cast are perfectly fine as they dance around the two stars, and Lam's direction avoids the OTT va va voom of his later works such as "Full Contact", staying suitably restrained for the fairly by-the-numbers plot. However the action is what Lam is usually noted for, and he handles the gunplay here very effectively with his usual stylish skill.

At times, the film feels like it's weighing itself down with too much baggage, mainly with the romance between Chow and his fiancée. However, this ultimately serves to up the tragedy of the final scenes and make Chowy's character seem a lot more human than the roles he is most noted for in the west, such as Hard Boiled's Tequila.

Overall, "City on Fire" may not standout in the careers of anyone involved, however it is an effective, enjoyably action drama. And to the question everyone asks, while it may lack discussions about Madonna and Steeler's Wheel numbers, at its centre it has a beating heart, something that seemed to be lost in translation when Tarantino made his breakthrough hit.

This is not an action movie!

[Matti-Man · 6/10 · 24 February 2006]

CITY ON FIRE is not in the mold of A BETTER TOMORROW or FULL CONTACT. It's a drama about the emotional pressures an undercover police officer faces when he is ordered, against his better judgement, to infiltrate a gang of violent, gun-toting jewel robbers.

That Ko Chow (Chow Yun Fat) is having problems with his fiancée makes the situation all the more difficult for him. He's unable to explain why it is he can never keep a date with Hung (Carrie Ng) as only secrecy is keeping him alive. Even his fellow officers don't know he is really an undercover cop and pursue him relentlessly as they (rightly) suspect him of supplying arms to the robbers.

The negative points are that the drama between Ko Chow and Hung is never convincingly explored. Even if Ko Chow couldn't tell Hung that he was having meetings with the leader of the jewel thieves, he could at least tell her something. No wonder she leaves him for a sixty- year-old millionaire.

Also, Ko Chow's deep bond of friendship with Fu (Danny Lee) is a bit easily formed. It just doesn't convince that one conversation between them about their childhoods would make them so close that one would die for the other.

In this respect, the script construction of CITY ON FIRE is a little weak.

However, credit should be given to director/writer Ringo Lam for bringing the theme of misplaced loyalty to the undercover cop genre.

And though RESERVOIR DOGS is criticised here for stealing the core plot elements of CITY ON FIRE, it has to be said that the structure of Taratino's film is far superior to Lam's. But it would be nice to think Quentin had paid Ringo something for using his ideas.

Tarantino visits the City On Fire

[elihu-2 · 3 January 2000]

With all the attention Hong Kong cinema is getting, it becomes almost necessary to describe just how much of an underlying influence it has had on the climate of American film production. John Woo's films, and his subsequent transplant to Hollywood is probably the most publicized outcome of the phenomenon, but there are other, more obscure directors and films that have guided some of today's action film success stories.

Ringo Lam is a contemporary of John Woo, and it seems that his 1987 film CITY ON FIRE was an inspiration, if not out-and-out rip-off source material for Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS. Tarantino certainly borrowed heavily from the film, lifting several key plot points and even action sequences. It seems that Tarantino's talent lies not in originality, but in his ability to tell a story in a non-linear fashion, as evidenced by his re-working of various elements into a tale told in flashback and implication. Chow Yun Fat, the ubiquitous star of the John Woo films A BETTER TOMORROW, THE KILLER, and HARD BOILED, plays Ko Chow, a layabout petty criminal railroaded into service as an undercover agent for the Hong Kong police by the aging, almost washed up Inspector Kwong (Sun Yueh). A ring of jewelry thieves had perpetrated a brutal, well-planned robbery of a prestigious store in a Kowloon high-rise. Under pressure from his superiors, and in the middle of a professional rivalry with a younger inspector, Kwong resorts to using Chow as a creative final option. Equipping him with all the trappings of an arms salesman, he lets Chow loose to find out the identity of the robbers through his underworld connections. After surviving a gangland initiation of sorts, Chow gains the trust of the robbers, and is even befriended by the most brutal of them, Brother Fu (Lee Sau Yin). The gang invites him on its next project, robbing a gold shop in the downtown jewelry district. Meanwhile, when he's on his own, he works out female trouble with his sometime girlfriend, and dodges teams of police sent by the younger inspector who is unaware of his undercover status and suspects him of arms trafficking.

The robbery goes down as planned, except the store alarm is pressed, and police who were already staking out the jewelry district rush to the scene. Fu slays police in their squad cars with far more brutal relish than Harvey Keitel. Temporarily eluding the police, the robbers and Chow rush to their hideout, an abandoned warehouse. There they argue about how to split the spoils, and who among them might be a police informant. All of this culminates in a hail of bullets as the location of the robbers' den is found out, and they are surrounded by a virtual army of police.

Lam has crafted a somber, realistic actioner which would be slightly above average by American standards. It has a little less style than a John Woo film, and is certainly less violent (almost anything is less violent!) but covers essentially the same territory. One can readily pick out what Tarantino culled from this film, and it has a way of clarifying his creative process in that it is possible to see how he molded it into RESERVOIR DOGS using his own sensibilities.

Chow yun fat,, the leading man!

[bbickley13-921-58664 · 7/10 · 31 May 2014]

Chow yun fat made this movie for me. It's one of those movies that makes me see why Hollywood was kissing his butt for a while. He was very charming, funny, and dramatic. I saw some of this in the movies he had done for America, but never in this extended range.

This movie is centered around Chow yun fat who plays a cop whose in deep deep cover attempting to balance his real life relationship with his girlfriend with being toss in to deeper cover by his superiors to catch a criminal.

If this sounds like every Kung Fu film made in the 80's with an English dub, that's because it is, but unlike the police Drama Police Story in which Jacky Chan plays a man dedicated to his heroics to a fault, Chow yun Fat plays a man who wants out but his boss needs to keep him in as he's the only one who can capture the main villain. adding to this is the fact that it's not clear to some in the police department whose side he's on, which adds to the drama.

The movie also expresses some of the gun fu violence that chow yun fat became famous for, but not on the level as some of his others like Hard boiled or A Better Tomorrow, but it's there.

I would recommend everyone see this police drama and let chow yun fat prove to you what a great leading man he was at his peak.

Rough and ready

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 31 March 2016]

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.

Chow Yun-Fat Stars In Early Ringo Lam Action Film

[CitizenCaine · 6/10 · 16 February 2004]

Chow Yun-Fat stars in one of Hong Kong Director Ringo Lam's earlier action films: City On Fire. He plays a police detective persuaded by his superiors to go undercover one more time before he leaves the force. In so doing, he has his uncle (his superior) to deal with, as well as the regular police, who are moving in on the gang Chow infiltrates simultaneously. He also contends with a girlfriend, in a forgettable subplot, who wants him to make up his mind about marrying her. The characters are short on development, but Chow Yun-Fat impresses as the man that wants to leave police work, only to face conflicting loyalties between his job and the gang he infiltrates; he carries the whole film. Danny Lee, as Fu, is the gang member Chow befriends within the gang. The rest of the gang members do not stand out, nor does the girl that plays Chow's girlfriend. The film is stylish with violent action and excellent gun play characteristic of Hong Kong action films, accompanied by a pulsating musical score that accentuates the action. The film takes a while to get the plot moving, but once it does, it clicks. The last half hour is especially outstanding, as action, cinematography, music, and style converge in an abandoned warehouse. This is the famous scene that inspired Quentin Tarantino to make Reservoir Dogs. **1/2 of 4 stars.

City on Fire the stolen jewel

[athena-no-sainto · 10/10 · 23 March 2011]

Quentin Trantino stole the plot of this masterpiece to make his own vision of the story on the acclaimed Reservoir Dogs, in my opinion much worst than this. Ringo Lam is a master on filmmaking, in this film he builds a story of friendship and betray and a new vision of the crime world..Chow yun fat is amazing as always that he works on China, his character an undercover cop who finally become friend with one of the guys that he must betray. Danny Lee's character has blind faith on chow's until the very end when he discovers that the one who was his friend is also his worst enemy. This film is one of my all time favorite, the action, the plot, the acting everything is great. a must seen movie

A curiosity

[heywood100 · 7/10 · 1 April 2003]

City On Fire is an average crime drama from Hong Kong that is raised above the level of obscurity because of it's final forty minutes remarkable similarities to Reservoir Dogs. The rest of the film is rather ordinary, with a reluctant undercover cop being brought out of retirement to help catch a violent gang of robbers. At the same time, he is haunted by memories of his previous job where he befriended a criminal and then had to betray him. In an irrelevant addition to the plot his girlfriend gets annoyed at his delaying of their marriage and elopes with another man.

But while this first section is decent if unspectacular, the final forty minutes are the important bit. This is where it becomes clear that the film was a very big influence on Tarantino. In fact, he's plainly nicked several moments of this film and inserted them straight into Reservoir Dogs in improved form. Three people all pointing guns at each other? That's here. Harvey Kietel shooting straight into the cop's windscreen for an extended period of time? That's here (minus Harvey Kietel obviously). The ending, where the dying undercover cop reveals his identity? That's here, though it's slightly different.

Despite the fact that it's such a blatant rip-off, Reservoir Dogs is still probably the better of the two films. It's more concise and slightly shorter, it has better dialogue, it isn't as dark visually. Overall, City On Fire is worth a look, as it's not a bad film by itself, and definitely because of what it inspired.

Superb Heist Thriller!!

[smiths-4 · 8/10 · 2 April 2003]

I viewed this on late night TV and it immediately grabbed me. It was due to its interesting music, shoot outs, superior cinematography and a brilliant performance by Chow-Yun Fat as the undercover agent sent to join a gang headed by the excellent Danny Lee. Only the ending bears comparison to Reservoir Dogs with the rest of the film building up to this moment. In it's own right this is as good as Tarantino's effort and should be seen by as many people.

Inspiration for Reservoir Dogs is a much more complex film, but not necessarily better

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 18 August 2007]

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)

No frills raw undercover cop story

[rettercritical · 10/10 · 19 September 2009]

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.

Film Noir Hong Kong Style

[The-Sarkologist · 7/10 · 18 November 2011]

At first I thought that this movie was a little slow, but the problem was that the recording was quite bad, so it pulled the quality of this movie down. It is quite slow in parts and is very different from the namesake Prison on Fire. Where as Prison on Fire is an action film, City on Fire is a thriller. The dark setting, the jazz background music, gives the feel of New Orleans, and the movie come across as Film Noir.

An undercover cop is killed in a jewel heist and another deep undercover cop is asked to infiltrate the gang and help the police stop them. The cop, unfortunately, already betrayed somebody that he was watching. He had built a deep relationship with this person, but he had to betray him because it was his job. As such he has decided against continuing as a police officer. Unfortunately his supervisor does not want him to resign yet and convinces him to go on one more assignment.

This movie is a cops and robbers movie with a twist. With the robbers it is one last job and that is it, but the big job always fails and ends up dead. In this film, the robbers know that there is never going to be any last job, they are going to be doing it until they die. Instead it is the police officer who goes on that last job.

As usual the police officer is struggling with his relationships. Instead of him wanting to do his job, he would rather leave his job and spend time with the woman that he loves. He continues chasing her during the movie but if his job does not interrupt their relationship, his family does. He is also under pressure from the other police departments who either do not realise or do not care that he is an undercover cop. Rather they think that he is corrupt and want to deal with him appropriately.

Though he tries to pull out of the scene and settle down, he keeps on being dragged back in. This is his fatal flaw, the fact that he lives a double life, a life that is dangerous if others discover this double feature. If the criminals discover that he is a cop then he is likely to be killed.

There are a number of interesting ideas in the movie. One is that the criminal knows that he will always be a criminal. The more money he gets the more he will spend and the sooner he will need to commit another crime. One criminal claims that he does not hate cops because it is their job to go after people like him. As such he will not hate the police officer for his job, but rather treat him as another working man. He earns his living by robbing jewelry stores while the police officer earns his living by arresting criminals.

City on Fire is a dark, tragic movie that looks at the pain of the life of an undercover cop. Here the life is not glorified, but rather dirt real. It is a style that I wish to be influenced by because of the stark reality that the film portrays. A stark reality that people hide behind the illusion of television, and a reality that is broken open in movies like the Truman Show and Edward Scissorhands.

City not on fire

[allanradman · 3/10 · 14 August 2001]

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.

Straightforward but stylish thriller

[bob the moo · 4 April 2003]

When an undercover officer is killed after being found out by a brutal gang, his inspector approaches ex-police officer Chow to renew his links and get himself into the gang. Chow supplies the gang with guns to prove he is `one of them', however as the job approaches, a special unit of the police begins to close in on the gang and put Chow at risk.

I didn't watch this film because it was the inspiration for Reservoir Dogs. No, I watched it because I'm a big Chow Yun Fat fan and I'm watching some of his films to get me in the mood for Bullet-Proof Monk. This film is a really good introduction to Hong Kong style, the focus is very much on the style without too much in the way of underlying currents and such. For information, Reservoir Dogs really only focuses on the final part of the film, whereas Longhu Fengyun covers longer story where we always know who the cop is. This takes away a little bit from the thrills but the film makes it up with style.

Everyone has cool sunglasses, the direction is slick and the action moves quite well. The final standoff is good but generally the film is quite exciting and moves along smoothly. Chow Yun Fat is a great star and here he shows why he is such a big star. He has emotional depth yet is comical and likeable, he is tough and an action star but yet he is not some distant muscle-bound hunk that is outside of reality. The rest of the cast are all good but it is difficult to judge performances when it is all subtitled (I find it hard anyway), however there are no weak links.

Overall this is a stylish thriller from Hong Kong. It is stylish but doesn't fall into the HK formula with slow-mo and such. Don't watch it because you're a Tarantino fan – watch it because it's a solid crime thriller in it's own right.

Heroic Bloodshed involving Undercovers and Thieves

[jimniexperience · 7/10 · 9 April 2018]

After the death of an undercover cop, the Chief Inspector gets his nephew (also an undercover) on the job. The target is a band of armed jewelry thieves. On top of this the police have hired a new investigation team to help on the job, and they interfere with Chief Inspectors work. Nephew, haunted by the past of a criminal he once betrayed, doesn't want to do the job for fear the same will happen again. The ending has heavily influenced Reservoir Dogs

Features: cop killing in beginning, Ko Chow and girlfriend relationship difficulties, jewel heist turned shootout in mall, Ko Chow befriending Tiger and gang, armed deal in graveyard, showdown in bowling alley, police tracking Ko Chow, police brutality in station, Final Jewel heist; shootout in street, shootout in warehouse, mexican standoff(s) finale

Entertaining action. from Hongkong ( C+Movie ) My Ratings 8/10

[THE-BEACON-OF-MOVIES-RAFA · 8/10 · 17 February 2020]

This hong kong crime/action movie that inspired, in a small part, Tarantino's masterpice "Reservoir Dogs", may seem slow at times but the view is nice and exciting, it's also original and does't miss to be cruel and touching.

Ringo Lam's on Fire trilogy:Part 1-The City.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 10/10 · 12 August 2019]

Even before the superb Final Contact (1992-also reviewed) was the first title I viewed by him,I was well aware of Ringo Lam,thanks to how he had inspired QT. Wanting to end my week "Auteurs in '87" run on a strong note, and having heard about the trilogy for years,I got set for Lam to light my fire.

View on the film:

Building on the skill he had displayed in his co-directing debut Esprit D'amour, (1983-also reviewed)and given a free hand by producer Karl Mak to do whatever project he wanted, co-writer/(with Sai-Shing Shum) directing auteur Ringo Lam becomes one of the leading figures of the Heroic Bloodshed sub-genre,with a blistering entry. Continuing to expand on the Jazzy Blues score of D'amour with a vibrant Neo-Noir score from Teddy Robin Kwan, Lam takes debuting cinematographer Andrew Lau Wai-Keung onto the streets of Hong Kong in guerrilla filming style, (a recurring filming technique for Lam) that fires off a rough & tumble sawn-off shotgun atmosphere of Lam's long tracking shots, (which catch the odd side mirror of cars Lam's secretly filming in!) being welded to Heroic Bloodshed slow-motion parting shots, and whip-pans darting towards each thief clearing out their part of shop in the robberies.

Displaying his eye for Neo-Noir for the first time, Lam brings a depth fatal heroism to the bloodshed, dressing Chow in ultra-stylised black and white low-lighting, (lined between his loyalty with the cops,and loyalty to the gang leader) and closely-held two-shots pushing the nervous cops to the very outskirts of the frame/the law. Far more than just being the original Reservoir Dogs, the screenplay by Lam & Sai-Shing Shum holds Chow's feet to the fire as a absolute Noir loner, who must pick at the grey to make his isolating moral choices (a regular theme of Lam's credits.)

Gaining the trust of the gang by a tagged handing over of weapons, the writers take a excellent slow-burn approach to the handing over Chow makes not only of weapons, but loyalty, via new, young hip cop John Chan shoving the steady hands of Inspector Lau away from guiding Chow in the case, leaving Chow open to gaining a closer look at the traditional hand of loyalty lead gangster Fu places on his fellow thieves.

Getting his fingers burnt,Yueh Sun gives a tense, worn down to the bones turn as Lau, whilst Danny Lee brilliantly carries Fu with the confidence of knowing he is the toughest in the room, but aware of times he needs to show his hand. The first in his long collaboration with Lam, Chow Yun-Fat gives a mesmerising performance as Chow, drilling down on Chow's early swagger to a bloodstained, morally blurred wreak,who leaves the city on fire.

Great Crime thriller with some nice Action

[BloodyPredator2 · 8/10 · 17 June 2020]

City on Fire is one of the best Hong Kong Movies from the 80s. Chow Yun Fat is the main reason why this movie work, His performance is amazing , the Co lead Danny Lee ( Known from The Killer) is also great in his Supporting Role as one of the Gangsters., though this Movies is sometime a bit slow it has a great atmosphere. The Showdown has really some similarities with Reservoir Dogs and there are some Bloody Shootouts. I can recommend this Crime Thriller with a great Chow Yun fat. Tip : Watch the Short Movie "Who Do You Think You're Fooling?" It's on Youtube about the similarities between this Two Movies (City on Fire , Reservoir Dogs)

Weak

[grantss · 3/10 · 2 November 2017]

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.

Two separate films that should be appreciated as such

[McGorman-2 · 18 March 2001]

I sought out this film once I learned it was a major inspiration Reservoir Dogs, which I already loved. After seeing City on Fire, I have to say I have even more respect for Tarantino now than I did before. City on Fire is a very good film with its own merits, which many people have already mentioned; however, to call Reservoir Dogs a rip-off of City on Fire insults both films. They are two separate films, telling different stories in different ways. Tarantino took the few most compelling elements of City on Fire, and then built an entirely different film around them. This is certainly an inspiration that deserves credit, but it is Tarantino's skill as a writer and director, as well as the amazing actors, that made Reservoir Dogs as great as it is. Even the most directly lifted scene, the Mexican stand-off, is an entirely different experience in each film. The way it is framed, the dialogue, and the resolutions are unique to each. Both films have their own strengths and weaknesses, and deserve to be judged independently. Don't lump them together by criticizing one great film for being inspired by another.

Quinten Tarantino ripped off Ringo Lam

[Bandithaze · 8/10 · 2 July 1999]

I saw Reservoir dogs and thought that it is one the best films I had ever seen. And it is a good film but, then I saw City On Fire and could not believe the likeness between the two films. Now even though they Reservoir Dogs ends different the bulk of the film is what Ringo Lam did with City on Fire except since City on Fire is longer Lam gave the characters more of a story and made the viewer feel for both sides of the law he also put the notion to the viewer what would you do you were a criminal and your best friend who you thought was on your side turned out to be a policeman or to put that in a more everyday circumstance what would you do if you thought someone was your best friend and they turned out to be using you.

Brooding, dark and intense cop film from director Ringo Lam

[dworldeater · 10/10 · 10 July 2014]

City On Fire is a gritty and bombastic action packed thriller and the first in the "On Fire" series by director Ringo Lam. The "On Fire" series also includes Prison On Fire 1 and 2(which also star Chow Yun Fat) and School On Fire. Roy Cheung appears in all four films and in this installment he is an overzealous cop at odds with Chow Yun Fat's character (Ko Chow)who is an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of violent jewel thieves. Chow Yun Fat gives a scathing and electrifying performance of an undercover cop who's life and career is on the edge of collapse. From his strained relationship with his girlfriend, to his reluctant undercover work with Danny Lee's gang and dealing with Roy Cheung's group of cops following and chasing him all over Hong Kong. Ko Chow is a cop with a lot on his plate, trying to make everything work and stay alive in the process. In a rare appearance as a criminal, Danny Lee is great as a charismatic but violent jewel robber with a code of honor. He and Chow Yun Fat have great chemistry and work well here and a year later in John Woo's classic The Killer. Make no mistake, City On Fire is also a classic. Ringo Lam, along with John Woo are ace filmmakers. Their styles are different however. Ringo's style is generally darker and rooted more in reality. John Woo is more over the top with a larger emphasis on action. Chow Yun Fat worked frequently with both directors, giving amazing performances for both parties. City On Fire is a very well made and brutal film and if you enjoy gritty crime thrillers, I give City On Fire the highest recommendation.

There are no original ideas

[snickty · 10/10 · 13 January 2007]

Anybody that lambastes Tarantino for stealing ideas should also recommend that all of Shakespeare's works be ignored because either plot lines or situations are ignored.

It clear to even the most casual observer that there are numerous things taken directly from "City on Fire" i.e. the three way standoff, the undercover cop taking one in the gut, and the likable thief taking out a squad car with a gun blazing in each hand.

I'll even admit that these things were directly ripped off by Tarantino, but I firmly believe that "Dogs" absolutely stands on its own in terms of character exploration, and story structure, never mind acting, and cinematography. I liken it to "Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" which also directly lifts entire scenes from Hamlet, but is completely its own fully-fleshed work. Another reason this works is that old Billy himself didn't really invent any new stories because there are only about 14 stories anyway.

Tarantino may have stolen more than a few ideas, but the Dog's story is made his own, and I mean come on, it's f***ing RESERVIOR DOGS. I didn't hear Steven Wright anywhere in City on Fire.

The thing I enjoyed the most about COF is finally getting to see what went wrong in the Dog's heist.

boring movie

[diggler_inc · 2/10 · 2 October 2001]

City on Fire is an insufferable bore. I don't see what all the fuss is about. I rented this expecting a movie with lots of action and violence. There is very little happening in this movie except lots of talking. Ringo Lam is supposed to be a master film maker but he sure didn't show any genius genius this one.