City on Fire - Hong Kong Cinema Classics #6 4K UHD

At its core, Ringo Lam's City on Fire is more than another Hong Kong action flick. It's an engaging character study steeped in bullets and betrayal. Tommy Sham's story follows Ko Chow (Chow Yun-fat), an undercover cop whose profession systematically destroys everything he holds dear. What makes Chow's journey so compelling is how Lam presents his predicament without any easy answers. He's a regular, everyday Joe desperately trying to hold onto normalcy with girlfriend Hung (Carrie Ng). He tries to plan a future that increasingly feels unattainable as his assignment drags on. The tender moments between them feel constantly stolen, fragile and ultimately doomed by his work.

The real gut-punch comes through Chow's relationship with Fu (Danny Lee), the criminal he's supposedly investigating. What begins as a professional necessity soon evolves into genuine friendship, making Chow's inevitable betrayal all the more devastating. And Lam doesn't shy away from the moral complexity of their relationship. There are no clean heroes or simple villains, just people trapped by circumstances and conflicting loyalties. The way Chow's double life corrodes his relationships from both sides creates a suffocating sense of inevitability. And that turmoil is what drives the plot forward to an ever-increasing, unavoidable sense of doom, made all the more frustrating by a rivalry between his superiors, Inspector Lau (Sun Yueh) and Inspector Chan (Roy Cheung).

What's remarkable about Lam's direction (and ultimately, the reason for my love of this classic Hong Kong actioner) is how he balances the emotional weight of Chow's turbulent life without it collapsing into a soap opera melodrama. His camerawork is elegant and understated, allowing the drama to develop naturally rather than forcing it or inserting it for its own sake. It comes from the actions and decisions of the characters and the unfortunate conditions of the job. The pacing builds gradually from one scene leading into the next, as quieter moments are given as much importance as the sudden, explosive action sequences. Lam trusts his actors, particularly Yun-fat's nuanced performance, to carry the emotional load, and his restraint behind the camera pays off with the intended heart-rending impact. 

Since its 1987 release, the film has cast a long shadow over the action genre on both sides of the hemisphere, though it's rarely given the credit it deserves. The undercover cop infiltrating a tight-knit crew of thieves resurfaces years later in Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break while John Woo would essentially flip the script in The Killer, reuniting Yun-fat and Lee on opposite sides of the law again. Most famously, Quentin Tarantino borrowed key plot points and practically lifted whole sequences for his Reservoir Dogs, such as the iconic Mexican standoff finale. These films alone speak to the enduring legacy of Lam's gripping crime drama. City on Fire rightfully deserves similar recognition and praise as an action genre classic. It's a taut, emotionally complex thriller that stands as one of Hong Kong cinema's most memorable triumphs. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
Courtesy of Shout! Factory, Ringo Lam's City on Fire arrives on 4K Ultra HD as a "Hong Kong Cinema Classics" release, spine number #6. The Region Free, UHD100 disc is housed inside the usual black, eco-elite case with a cardboard slipcover and an accompanying Region A locked, BD50 copy on the opposing panel. At startup, the disc goes straight to a static menu screen with options along the bottom while music plays in the background.

Crime runs rampant on the streets of Ultra HD thanks to a fresh restoration and remaster of the original 35mm camera negatives. The HEVC H.265 encode doesn't always pop with the same kind of energy and visual pizazz as other releases, but overall, it looks as it should and was intended. Bathed in a thin, refined layer of natural grain throughout, fine lines and details are sharp throughout, revealing pores and minor blemishes in faces during close-ups. Contrast is on the lower end of the grayscale, but it's well-balanced and consistent with crisp, punchy specular highlights, supplying a radiant glow in the hottest areas and a dynamic sparkle along metallic surfaces. Inky true blacks add some depth and dimensionality with strong visibility in the darkest, murkiest shadows. The Dolby Vision HDR presentation also comes with fuller, more true-to-life colors, from the stylish 80s clothes and decor to the neon lights of the streets. All in all, the 1.85:1 image is a beautiful, film-like upgrade for those still holding on to their OOP DVD from decades ago. (Dolby Vision HDR Video Rating: 82/100)

The Hong Kong actioner also arrives to home theaters with a pair of strong and overall satisfying DTS-HD Master Audio mono soundtracks: the original Cantonese and an English dub. Although feeling a bit strained and somewhat flat in a few spots, the lossless mix overall displays a great sense of space and presence with precise, clean dialogue in the center. The mid-range never extends too far into the upper ranges, but for the most part, it is fairly sharp with appreciable differentiation during the loudest moments. Background activity is discrete with great movement and separation across the screen. Low bass is adequate and responsive for a film of this vintage although it's mainly reserved for the action sequences. (Audio Rating: 78/100)

For this UHD edition, Shout! Factory unleashes the action classic with a brand-new collection of bonus material, making it exclusive to this release. Except for the commentary track, all the supplements are housed on the Blu-ray copy.

• Audio Commentary with film historians Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto
• Some Like It Hot (HD, 34 min) is an interview with film historian Ric Meyers sharing thoughts on the legacy of the film and Hong Kong action cinema in general
• Burn It Down! (HD, 18 min) is a recent interview with screenwriter Tommy Sham talking about his career and his work on this production
• Burning Rivalries (HD, 14 min) is another interview but with film historian Kim Newman speaking on the film's influence
• Hong Kong Confidential (HD, 12 min) takes a closer look at the making of the film with author Grady Hendrix
• Image Gallery (HD) 
• Trailer (HD, 4 min) 

Starring Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee, Ringo Lam's City on Fire is an engaging character study steeped in bullets and betrayal, following an undercover cop on a deep-cover assignment as his personal world falls apart. The 1987 crime drama is a classic of Hong Kong cinema deserving of more praise and recognition. Courtesy of Shout! Factory, the genre favorite infiltrates the streets of Ultra HD with an excellent Dolby Vision HDR presentation and a satisfying DTS-HD MA mono track. With a great selection of new exclusive bonus material, the two-disc UHD package is Recommended.

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