City on Fire (1987)

An undercover cop infiltrates a gang of thieves who plan to rob a jewelry store.

Director:

Ringo Lam

Writers:

Ringo Lam (story), Sai-Shing Shum (scriptwriter) (as Tommy Sham)

Stars:

Yun-Fat Chow, Yueh Sun, Danny Lee

2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Ko Chow (as Chow Yun Fat)
Yueh Sun	...	Inspector Lau / Uncle Kung (as Yeuh Sun)
Danny Lee	...	Fu (as Danny Sau Yin Lee)
Carrie Ng	...	Hung
Roy Cheung	...	Inspector John Chan
Kong Lau	...	Inspector Chow
Elvis Tsui	...	Chan Kam-Wah (as Kam-kong Tsui)
Yeh Fang	...	Chow Nam
Chi Fai Chan	...	Chen Ching / Tai Song
Mang-Ha Cheng	...	Chow's Grandmother (as Mang-ha Cheung)
Parkman Wong	...	Ah Man
Bo-San Chow	...	Lily
Victor Hon	...	Bill
Kwong Leung Wong	...	Kwong
Maria Cordero	...	Lounge Singer

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

undercover cop | police officer shot | male bonding | blood | robbery | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin English

Release Date:

13 February 1987 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

City on Fire

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema City

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The stunt scene which when Ko Chow tried to escape from the police and jumped from second floor to the eave on the first floor, then down to the ground was acted by Chow Yun-fat himself. A stuntman had done a dry run for Chow before shooting while the director arranged to put some tatami and paper-boxes on the eave to protect Chow. The director hid the safety set-up through shooting the scene from a particular angle.

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Goofs

The blood on Ko Chow's shirt disappears.

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Quotes

Fu: [Fu talks about his family life] You know, my father was a crook. I got it from him. I just hope my son doesn't turn out like me.
Ko Chow: Is your old man still in jail?
Fu: He's been dead for ten years. My father was stupid. He got shot by the police.
Ko Chow: So you despise them?
Fu: Not at all. They were just doing their job, so why should I?

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Alternate Versions

The US version has scenes cut out

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Back-up Plan/The Losers/Paper Man (2010)

User Reviews

Two separate films that should be appreciated as such

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.