City On Fire

Year: 1987

Grade: B-

Country: Hong Kong

Director: Lam

Review

this is the inspiration for reservior dogs and the first two thirds doesn’t really remind one of dogs, but then again the first two-thirds is almost a different movie. it’s about a cop who goes undercover, gets to be part of a gang, is befriended by one of the bad guys and who, in the end, reveals to his new friend that he was a cop all along. so you can see why the comparisons have been drawn. there’s also a love story and a back story about his uncle (also a cop) and his friction with a fellow police officer. it’s a solid hong kong flick and probably would be well known even if it hadn’t drawn the reservior dogs comparisons. chow yun fat is good as usual. my only real beef is that it’s dubbed and the voice actors mostly suck.