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City on Fire (1987 film)
Encyclopedia
City on Fire is a gritty and stylish 1987 Hong Kong action
crime
drama film
produced and directed by Ringo Lam
, and starring Chow Yun-fat
, Danny Lee and Sun Yueh. Following A Better Tomorrow
(1986), it helped establish Chow's popularity as an action star in Asia, and to a lesser degree, North America.
) is an undercover
cop who is under pressure from all sides. His boss, Inspector Lau (Yueh Sun), wants him to infiltrate a gang of ruthless jewel thieves; in order to do this he must obtain some handgun
s; his girlfriend (Carrie Ng) wants him to commit to marriage or she will leave Hong Kong with another lover; and he is being pursued by other cops who are unaware that he is a colleague.
What is more Chow would rather quit the force. He feels guilty about having to betray people who have become his friends, even if they do happen to be killers, drug dealers, loan sharks and protection racket
eers: "I do my job, but I betray my friends."
To add to his problems, he begins to bond with Fu (Danny Lee), a member of the gang.
's 1992 film
Reservoir Dogs
includes several similar key plot elements and scenes, most notably the famous Mexican standoff
near the end of the film. When Tarantino was accused of copying the film without attribution, MTV quoted Tarantino as saying he was "dying to see the Hong Kong original."
Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee faced a role-reversal two years later when, in John Woo
's The Killer, Chow plays a hitman
who bonds with Lee, this time appearing as the cop.
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
produced and directed by Ringo Lam
Ringo Lam
Ringo Lam Ling-Tung , born in 1955 is a Hong Kong film director, producer and scriptwriter.He is known for gritty, dark and realistic action thrillers. He was born in Hong Kong and studied film at York University film school in Toronto...
, and starring Chow Yun-fat
Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
, Danny Lee and Sun Yueh. Following A Better Tomorrow
A Better Tomorrow
A Better Tomorrow is a 1986 Hong Kong action film which had a profound influence on the Hong Kong film-making industry, and later on an international scale.Directed by John Woo, it stars Chow Yun-fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung...
(1986), it helped establish Chow's popularity as an action star in Asia, and to a lesser degree, North America.
Plot summary
Ko Chow (Chow Yun-fatChow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
) is an undercover
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
cop who is under pressure from all sides. His boss, Inspector Lau (Yueh Sun), wants him to infiltrate a gang of ruthless jewel thieves; in order to do this he must obtain some handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
s; his girlfriend (Carrie Ng) wants him to commit to marriage or she will leave Hong Kong with another lover; and he is being pursued by other cops who are unaware that he is a colleague.
What is more Chow would rather quit the force. He feels guilty about having to betray people who have become his friends, even if they do happen to be killers, drug dealers, loan sharks and protection racket
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
eers: "I do my job, but I betray my friends."
To add to his problems, he begins to bond with Fu (Danny Lee), a member of the gang.
Cast
- Chow Yun-fatChow Yun-FatChow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
- Sun Yueh
- Danny Lee
- Carrie NgCarrie NgCarrie Ng is a Hong Kong actress best known for cult CAT III films Naked Killer and Sex and Zen. She won Best Supporting Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in The Kid and Best Actress at the Golden Horse Film Festival awards for her performance in Remains of a Woman.-Awards...
- Roy CheungRoy CheungRoy Cheung Yiu-Yeung is a Hong Kong-based actor, best known on-screen for his roles as Triad gangsters in a number of films.- Early life and career :As a child, Cheung idolized kung-fu legend Bruce Lee but never seriously considered a career in acting....
- Maria CorderoMaria CorderoMaria Cordero, MH is a singer, actress and chef from Macau. She also has her own cooking show, Maria's Kitchen on Cable TV. Her fans nicknamed her "Fat Mama" .- Biography :...
Influence
City on Fire is Ringo Lam's most celebrated work. Quentin TarantinoQuentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's 1992 film
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
includes several similar key plot elements and scenes, most notably the famous Mexican standoff
Mexican standoff
A Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse; a confrontation that neither side can foreseeably win. The term is most often used in lieu of "stalemate" when the confrontational situation is exceptionally dangerous for all parties involved.In popular culture, the Mexican...
near the end of the film. When Tarantino was accused of copying the film without attribution, MTV quoted Tarantino as saying he was "dying to see the Hong Kong original."
Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee faced a role-reversal two years later when, in John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
's The Killer, Chow plays a hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
who bonds with Lee, this time appearing as the cop.
External links
- An article by Ron LimRon LimRonald "Ron" Lim is an American comic book artist living in Sacramento, California.-Biography:Ron Lim's first published work was an independent comic book entitled Ex-Mutants, which he worked on from 1986-1988....
on the similarities between City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs - A review from hkfilm.net that also outlines the similarities between both movies.