City on Fire (1987 film)

City on Fire is a 1987 Hong Kong action film directed by Ringo Lam, who also produced with Karl Maka. The film stars 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.

Plot
An undercover cop, Chan Kam-wah, investigating a group of jewelry thieves, is killed by three attackers. Inspector Lau assigns Ko Chow, another undercover officer, to continue the investigation. Chow hesitates due to a past experience where he had to betray a friend during an undercover mission. The thieves attempt to rob a jewelry factory but are interrupted by the police which ends with one of the robbers killing a police officer. A task force led by Inspector John Chan is formed to investigate the gang, leading to a rivalry between Chan and Lau. Chow offers the gang weapons for sale through Tai Song, a middleman, but is followed by Chan's team during the meeting. Chow successfully plants a recording device on himself and arranges to meet the gang again. Chow's girlfriend, Hung, plans to leave with another man, Tso, to Canada. Chow tries to stop her and proposes marriage, but she challenges him to prove his sincerity by meeting her at the registry office the next day. However, Chow is arrested by Chan's team for the weapons deal. Chow is tortured by Chan's men, but Lau intervenes and suggests that Chow participates in the gang's planned robbery to catch them in the act. The police are unaware of which jewelry store the gang will target but have teams ready to respond. Chow spends time with the gang before the heist, growing closer to Fu, one of the gang members. The gang leader designates the Tai Kong jewelry store as their target. During the heist, a shootout occurs, and several gang members are killed. Chow realizes that Fu is the one responsible for killing the officer during the jewelry factory heist. Chow and Fu escape to a hideout at the harbor, and Chow is mortally wounded in the process. He confesses to Fu that he's an undercover cop and asks for a quick death. However, Fu can't bring himself to do it. The police surround the hideout, and in the ensuing confrontation, Chow dies from his wound. Fu is arrested, and Inspector Lau is devastated by Chow's death and violently confronts Inspector Chan for his arrogance and actions.

Cast
Sources:

Production
Filming began in Hong Kong in 1986 and concluded around the Christmas season.

Reception
City on Fire has a rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Influence
Quentin Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs includes several similar key plot elements and scenes, including the Mexican standoff near the end of the film. After critic Jeffrey Dawson noted "in jest, similar elements" in Empire, other publications including Film Threat promoted the observation, and a Michigan film student created a 1995 short film, Who Do You Think You're Fooling?, which mixed dialog and visuals from both movies to demonstrate the similarities. In addition to Reservoir Dogs, critic Matt McAllister notes that one "can equally see the influence of City On Fire - and similar Hong Kong cops-and-robbers movies - on many other Hollywood 'undercover cop' movies such as Point Break."

Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee appeared together two years later in John Woo's The Killer where again their characters bond together despite being on opposite sides of the law, though there is a role-reversal as Chow plays a hitman while Lee is a cop.

The 2002 Bollywood film Kaante was inspired by both City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs.