City on Fire (1987 film)
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City on Fire | |
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Hong Kong Legends DVD cover |
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Directed by | Ringo Lam |
Produced by | Karl Maka Ringo Lam |
Written by | Ringo Lam |
Starring | Chow Yun-Fat Sun Yueh Danny Lee Carrie Ng Roy Cheung |
Music by | Teddy Robin Kwan |
Cinematography | Andrew Lau |
Editing by | Wong Ming-Lam |
Distributed by | Cinema City Film Co. Ltd. (Hong Kong) |
Release date(s) | February 13, 1987 |
Running time | 98 min. |
Country | Hong Kong |
Language | Cantonese Mandarin |
Gross revenue | HK$ 19,723,505 |
Allmovie profile | |
IMDb profile |
City on Fire (traditional Chinese: 龍虎風雲; simplified Chinese: 龙虎风云; pinyin: Lóng hǔ fēng yún) is a gritty and stylish 1987 Hong Kong action 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, the West.
[edit] Plot Summary
Ko Chow (Chow Yun-Fat) 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 handguns; 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 racketeers: "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.
[edit] Influence
City on Fire is Ringo Lam's most celebrated work. Quentin Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs borrows several key plot elements and scenes, most notably the famous Mexican standoff near the end of the film.
[edit] External links
- City on Fire at the Internet Movie Database
- An article by Ron Lim on the similarities between City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs
- A review from hkfilm.net that also outlines the similarities between both movies.
A website torn on exposing the truth involving the similarities between both movies.]
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