Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Overrated

Great Film overall

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

After the death of an undercover cop, the Chief Inspector gets his nephew (also an undercover) on the job. The target is a band of armed jewelry thieves. On top of this the police have hired a new investigation team to help on the job, and they interfere with Chief Inspectors work. Nephew, haunted by the past of a criminal he once betrayed, doesn't want to do the job for fear the same will happen again. The ending has heavily influenced Reservoir DogsFeatures: cop killing in beginning, Ko Chow and girlfriend relationship difficulties, jewel heist turned shootout in mall, Ko Chow befriending Tiger and gang, armed deal in graveyard, showdown in bowling alley, police tracking Ko Chow, police brutality in station, Final Jewel heist; shootout in street, shootout in warehouse, mexican standoff(s) finale

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.The movie that inspired Tarantino's superb Reservoir Dogs, and, as it turns out, that's the only possible reason to watch City On Fire. Quite mediocre: random, padded script that only really finds a focus towards the end. Poor direction and performances, resulting in some pretty cringeworthy scenes. The domestic stuff involving Chow Yun Fat, and anything where he is around a woman, is very embarrassing. Hammy acting, by just about everyone concerned, throughout. Don't model your mannerisms on Charlie Chaplin when you're doing drama...Worst of all, it bares very resemblance to Reservoir Dogs. Only in the last 15 minutes or so can you see where Tarantino got the idea for Reservoir Dogs from, and even then the similarities are only in the broader plot development. Ending is not anywhere near as powerful as Reservoir Dogs and the general tone is not anywhere near as gritty.Quite poor and not worth watching, even if you are a Reservoir Dogs fan.

City On Fire is a gritty and bombastic action packed thriller and the first in the "On Fire" series by director Ringo Lam. The "On Fire" series also includes Prison On Fire 1 and 2(which also star Chow Yun Fat) and School On Fire. Roy Cheung appears in all four films and in this installment he is an overzealous cop at odds with Chow Yun Fat's character (Ko Chow)who is an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of violent jewel thieves. Chow Yun Fat gives a scathing and electrifying performance of an undercover cop who's life and career is on the edge of collapse. From his strained relationship with his girlfriend, to his reluctant undercover work with Danny Lee's gang and dealing with Roy Cheung's group of cops following and chasing him all over Hong Kong. Ko Chow is a cop with a lot on his plate, trying to make everything work and stay alive in the process. In a rare appearance as a criminal, Danny Lee is great as a charismatic but violent jewel robber with a code of honor. He and Chow Yun Fat have great chemistry and work well here and a year later in John Woo's classic The Killer. Make no mistake, City On Fire is also a classic. Ringo Lam, along with John Woo are ace filmmakers. Their styles are different however. Ringo's style is generally darker and rooted more in reality. John Woo is more over the top with a larger emphasis on action. Chow Yun Fat worked frequently with both directors, giving amazing performances for both parties. City On Fire is a very well made and brutal film and if you enjoy gritty crime thrillers, I give City On Fire the highest recommendation.

This is the film that was supposed to have been ripped off by Quentin Tarantino for Reservoir Dogs, though to be fair now having seen the film Tarantino's film is essentially an expansion of the final fifteen minutes to half an hour of the film.The plot here concerns Chow Yun Fat who is a cop working undercover. When another cop longer under cover is stabbed to death while on the trail of a bunch of Jewel thieves, Chow is forced to infiltrate the gang. We watch as Chows personal life implodes, and how other groups of cops want to use him for their own ends, especially if it means they can get a big bust out of it. Much bleaker than Tarantino's film the notions of loyalty and betrayal are especially strained and tested here, with the twists and turns having more weight. I like the film in its gritty hard edged Hong Kong way, but at the same time I think I'd prefer to re-watch Tarantino's film. This isn't to say this is a bad movie, its not, its just a different one.) (A note: the version I saw was the dubbed American version (it was what was run on cable). This essentially means that the entire soundtrack was removed and completely redone-want proof look at the long scroll of new music additions that runs at the end. I can't, at this point say how much was altered from original Hong Kong version. This means my feelings may change if I see the subtitled original version)