City on Fire is a 1987 movie directed by Ringo Lam. Its’ style, characters and story were huge influences on Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
City on Fire tells the story of Chow, an undercover cop, who infiltrates a band of diamond thieves. Chow is pushed further into the group’s plans and becomes a sort of pawn stuck between two police inspectors. The movie ends with a botched robbery and the group sorting out the chaos that has ensued.
Heading into this project, City on Fire was high on my list of movies to review. I had read about the connections between the movie and Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs – including the controversial opinion held by some that City on Fire was directly copied. After watching the movie, I can see the obvious similarities between the works.
However, I’m not sure either City on Fire or Reservoir Dogs could ever remain exclusive. The two movies perfectly complement each other.
Of course, there is no Reservoir Dogs – at least in its existing form – without City on Fire. The Chow and Fu relationship serves as the model for Mr. Orange and Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs. Mr. Orange is playing a role similar to Chow – albeit the two characters and actors inhabit completely different energies. Similarly, the bands of jewel thieves in each movie exhibit their own unique criminal styles and ultimately follow a similar path to their respective downfalls. And of course, the endings to each movie are dramatically similar.
However, I strongly feel that what Tarantino did with City on Fire is very similar to what he has done over his entire filmography: he takes really cool pieces of movies and pop culture and frames them within his own storytelling universe. Over nearly 30 years, we’ve seen him mature in this process to the point that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is an unquestioned masterpiece of movie making. Naturally, this process takes time.
We don’t see this expert level in his first movie, Reservoir Dogs. Instead, we see a young writer and director taking the really cool parts of a movie like City on Fire and reshaping them into something that was wholly original for American movies in 1991.
If we’re using the argument that Tarantino simply stole City on Fire, you have to at least acknowledge that he made the original movie a lot better with his telling. City on Fire tells a terrific story, but can feel aimless and a bit bloated along its path. The crucial relationship in the movie – that of Chow and Fu, the most dynamic of the robbers – feels rushed and the standoff ending is erratic.
Overall, City on Fire has a strange pacing. It moves way too fast at times, yet gets bogged down in secondary stories that distract from the main action.
Tarantino essentially fixes these flaws in Reservoir Dogs. He dramatically slows the pace of his story and gives his characters room to breathe. In City on Fire, Chow is caught between his uncle, Inspector Lau, a veteran detective and John Chan, a younger inspector who is trying to advance his career. This story is necessary to get Chow in place for the robbery – yet there are too many scenes devoted to this struggle and not enough on the actual thieves themselves.
Similarly, Chow has multiple scenes with his girlfriend Hong – most of which repeat the same themes. Despite the volume of screen time devoted here, Chow’s later motivation to go through with the robbery isn’t clearly defined.
By the time the robbery is set to occur, a rationale for the trust Fu shows towards Chow isn’t fully established. We know it’s there but again, it isn’t completely anchored – it takes Chow getting shot in defense of Fu to fully appreciate. In Reservoir Dogs, we witness Mr. Orange slowly bleeding to death against the backdrop of the heist unraveling; in that time, we’re able to fully invest in their relationship to understand Mr. White’s motives.
The ending of City on Fire, which is set up by the standoff we later see in Reservoir Dogs is obviously a huge influence on Tarantino. However again, Tarantino takes this scene and improves it – simply by slowing down and letting his characters breathe.
Tarantino’s version also packs more meaning since we have more history and a knowledge of the characters’ motivations throughout the movie. In City on Fire, Lam (think of him as the Lawrence Tierney character) puts together the heist, but we barely know what makes him tick. His death is stylized and dramatic but it’s also rendered trivial.
Nonetheless, City on Fire is a worthwhile movie. Yun-Fat Chow is tremendous in the lead role. He’s an energetic, physically demanding presence who plays a man-child tweener stuck between different lives. He’s caught between Lau and Chan, in the midst of the thieves, being tracked by Chan’s agents and wanting to marry Hong – but on his own terms.
There’s a youthful arrogance and density in Chow’s acting but also a weariness as the story progresses. Chow knows he’s trapped but can’t allow himself to fully realize it. The scene where Hong leaves with her married boyfriend shows Chow momentarily collapsing from his stresses. Yet later, he casually tosses aside a letter from Hong before charging back into chaos.
What makes City on Fire a worthy inspiration are its style and action sequences. Clearly, Tarantino was inspired by the look of the jewel thieves and it’s not a stretch to think that his Little Green Bag introduction heavily borrows from the movie. The story begins with another undercover agent being stabbed to death – his white shirt and thin black tie soaked blood red.
The action scenes – particularly the shootout after the robbery – are intense. Here, Tarantino outright steals the Harvey Keitel double fisted windshield shooting. The rest of the action in Reservoir Dogs is implied, while City on Fire is vivid and brutal. When the alarms go off during the robbery and a young sales girl is shot, the impact is vicious and feels too real.
The BEST – Lau Finally Snaps
Throughout the movie, Lau and Chan are locked in a power struggle along with a battle over age. Lau feels threatened by the younger Chan and clearly, Chan knows the veteran Lau is a barrier to his success. Chow gets caught in the middle of the feud and meets a tragic end. Enraged, the hang dog, fatherly Lau bashes Chan with a brick to the face to close the movie.
The BEST Part 2 – Saxophone Interludes and a Karaoke Montage
If you ever forget what year City on Fire was made, just listen to the soundtrack. There’s a ton of sultry, sweaty saxophone riffs and a Karaoke performance for the ages.
The WORST – Chan’s CDI Men Get Sleepy
The script gets a little sloppy at an unfortunate time. Chan’s special CDI unit has been vigorously tracking Chow throughout the movie. Yet just as the robbery is about to go down, the two agents decide to take a nap – which completely ruins any chance Chow has at escaping danger.
The WORST Part 2 – Lost in Translation
It can be difficult to unearth subtext through subtitles – especially when the transcription is likely erratic. Because of this, it’s possible that the lack of character development can be partly attributed to something lost in language.
FOX FORCE FIVE RATING – 3/5
It’s tricky to separate City on Fire from Reservoir Dogs without downgrading either or both movies. Reservoir Dogs takes what City on Fire delivers and improves on it. Tarantino is simply a superior storyteller. However, City on Fire is full of style and great action and features a terrific lead actor. It’s worth watching on its own, although it’s virtually impossible to resist comparing the two movies.
