City on Fire
review by Bobby Blakey
Throughout his career director Ringo Lam delivered some great action flicks working with icons like Jackie Chan, Jean Claude Van Damme and Chow Yun-Fat. Now Shout Studios is bringing the 1987 collaboration between Lam and Chow Yun-Fat, City on Fire to 4K for the first time. Could this classic crime thriller hold up to its legacy or will it fail to break the case?
City on Fire follows Ko Chow, an undercover cop torn between his duty as a police officer and his loyalty to his friends on the wrong side of the law. He wants out – and his commanding officer Inspector Lau reluctantly approves his resignation – but only after he completes one final assignment. Tasked with infiltrating a notorious gang of criminals, Chow bonds with their leader, building a relationship based on mutual trust and respect. But when a planned heist turns into a violent shootout with the law, the tension among the thieves heats up … and they begin to suspect there is an informant in their midst.
My love of Chow Yun-Fat in films like Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Replacement Killers made me so excited to finally get to see this one. Obviously, I knew about it, but for
whatever reason I never got to check it out. I had to separate the action style that I have come to expect in those other films, because this one is not that. IT does offer up plenty of action, but it’s more focused on the crime thriller aspect than the action spectacle.
For this genre film it is fantastic, and Chow Yun-Fat still brings that cocky swag to the role that made him a star while not being the badass we are used to now. The story is straight forward crime infiltration that we have seen numerous times but has a lot of layers on all sides. They try to keep it light at times dealing with his relationship outside of the case which I think is misplaced and bogs it down in almost a comedic way that just doesn’t fit the rest of the tone.
Getting away from that side story that never fully plays out other than to give a more positive side to him that what is usually portrayed throughout the film and more impact to the finale I assume. I wish there was a bigger payoff, but for the story they told and the time it was made it delivers on what it set out to do and really dug the majority of it and reminded me that we just don’t get enough Chow Yun-Fat as we should these days.
In addition to the new 4K scan this release offers up bonus content including commentary, image gallery, interviews, trailer and numerous featurettes. Grab your copy of City on Fire when it hits 4K for the first time on August 26th from Shout Studios.
For more information or to order your copy head over to www.shoutfactory.com