Cover Hard II

It took me a long time to finally get a hold of this film. it was worth the wait. Ringo lam is one of the most original directors out of hong kong. this is the finest work of his that i've seen. chow yun-fat worked very hard for the best actor award he got for this film. and danny lee ain't bad either. Ringo Lam's handling of the action is where this movie really shines. it is brutal in the fashion of an old Walter Hill or Peckenpah film, realistic and frightening. hong kong is displayed more accurately than i have ever seen in a movie, with its streets crowded till they appear ready to burst. in the final robbery sequence, the streets appear to be impenetrably thick. it is just a reminder that hong kong has more than four times the population density of new york city. many people have accused tarantino of ripping off this movie, and claim that reservior dogs is an exact copy. first of all tarantino gives credit to chow yun-fat as an influence at the start of the screenplay for reservior dogs. second of all the entire movie of reservior dogs is a expansion of a ten minute sequence near the end of the movie. and over here it is done totally different. so lay off of him mkay.

This movie is the predecessor of many American movie storylines in which an undercover cop, in his effort to assimilate to the world of crime, loses himself. "Donnie Brasco" and "Rush" are such movies with a similar theme.

Tarantino very obviously lifted the plot for his "Reservoir Dogs," even though Tarantino's movie is more notable for its snappy dialogues and unbearable torture sequences. "City on Fire" develops the characters more, and gives them a background.

But other than that, the major difference between the 2 movies is that, ultimately, there's a very different take on the notions of honor, loyalty, and brotherhood - I was surprised by both endings, in very different ways.

This movie is also a good companion piece to "The Killer" by John Woo. Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee star in both movies, but in reversed roles of cop and thief.

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.

When an undercover officer is killed after being found out by a brutal gang, his inspector approaches ex-police officer Chow to renew his links and get himself into the gang. Chow supplies the gang with guns to prove he is `one of them', however as the job approaches, a special unit of the police begins to close in on the gang and put Chow at risk.

I didn't watch this film because it was the inspiration for Reservoir Dogs. No, I watched it because I'm a big Chow Yun Fat fan and I'm watching some of his films to get me in the mood for Bullet-Proof Monk. This film is a really good introduction to Hong Kong style, the focus is very much on the style without too much in the way of underlying currents and such. For information, Reservoir Dogs really only focuses on the final part of the film, whereas Longhu Fengyun covers longer story where we always know who the cop is. This takes away a little bit from the thrills but the film makes it up with style.

Everyone has cool sunglasses, the direction is slick and the action moves quite well. The final standoff is good but generally the film is quite exciting and moves along smoothly. Chow Yun Fat is a great star and here he shows why he is such a big star. He has emotional depth yet is comical and likeable, he is tough and an action star but yet he is not some distant muscle-bound hunk that is outside of reality. The rest of the cast are all good but it is difficult to judge performances when it is all subtitled (I find it hard anyway), however there are no weak links.

Overall this is a stylish thriller from Hong Kong. It is stylish but doesn't fall into the HK formula with slow-mo and such. Don't watch it because you're a Tarantino fan – watch it because it's a solid crime thriller in it's own right.

I saw Reservoir dogs and thought that it is one the best films I had ever seen. And it is a good film but, then I saw City On Fire and could not believe the likeness between the two films. Now even though they Reservoir Dogs ends different the bulk of the film is what Ringo Lam did with City on Fire except since City on Fire is longer Lam gave the characters more of a story and made the viewer feel for both sides of the law he also put the notion to the viewer what would you do you were a criminal and your best friend who you thought was on your side turned out to be a policeman or to put that in a more everyday circumstance what would you do if you thought someone was your best friend and they turned out to be using you.