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Island On Fire [DVD] [1990]

DVD ~ Jackie Chan

3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	59% buy the item featured on this page: Island On Fire [DVD] [1990] 3.7 out of 5 stars (11)
	11% buy Crime Story [DVD] [1993] 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
	11% buy The Protector [DVD] [1985] �3.98
	10% buy Police Story 2 [DVD] [1989] 4.2 out of 5 stars (6) �19.59

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Product details

Actors: Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Yu Wang
Directors: Yen-ping Chu
Writers: Domonic Muir, Lee Fu, Yun Chiao Yeh
Producers: Yu Wang, Chun Hsiung Ko, Jen Shu Lee, Wen Ho Chen
Format: Full Screen, PAL
Language Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: 18
Studio: Film 2000
DVD Release Date: 22 May 2000
Run Time: 92 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

ASIN: B00004TBUB
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 54,388 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Island on Fire is, as the trailer says, "five films in one!". Despite the packaging headlining Jackie Chan this violent modern-day prison drama is an ensemble piece with Chan, a pool-player in prison for accidentally stabbing a man to death, on screen for no more than a quarter of the 92 minutes. Anyone buying this as a Chan movie may be seriously disappointed, for apart from the brevity of his role there is no trademark Chan humour. Also in the brutal and corrupt prison is Andy Lau, an undercover cop searching for the murderer of his professor, and Sammo Hung offering comedy and pathos as an inmate who keeps escaping to visit his son. There are many more characters, together with one subplot involving a mouse which anticipates The Green Mile (1999) and another concerning an assassination conspiracy which parallels Nikita, also released in 1990. Island of Fire is an uneven, always entertaining, sometimes moving film which packs an incredible amount of incident into its running time. However, it should be noted that it is an imitation of, rather than an official entry in, Ringo Lam's Fire series, which includes Prison on Fire (1987) and City on Fire (1987).

On the DVD: The anamorphically enhanced 1.77-1 picture is a very good transfer of a rather grainy print, though given the many darkly lit scenes, this grain is probably part of the original film. The mono sound is fine. The film can be watched with the original Mandarin soundtrack and English subtitles, or with a much better than average English dub. The packaging claims there are over 60 minutes of extras. In fact there are nine deleted/extended scenes of variable quality, the best of which give more emotional depth to Sammo Hung's character, together with video interviews with Sammo Hung, Jimmy Wong Yu and director Chu Yen Ping. These total around 20 minutes and are interesting but not specific to the film. Also included is the theatrical trailer, Hong Kong Legends' own "music promo" trailer and eight trailers for further releases. There is also a six-page "animated" biography of Jackie Chan. --Gary S Dalkin

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
Region 2

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Prison drama undermined by distributor cuts, 22 Mar 2002

By	Libretio - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Island Of Fire [DVD] [1990] (DVD)

ISLAND OF FIRE (Huo Shao Dao, 199)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
DVD soundtrack: Dolby 2.0 mono
Theatrical soundtrack: Mono

Though Jackie Chan is top-billed in Zhu Yan-ping's ISLAND OF FIRE - and heavily promoted on the packaging of Hong Kong Legends' DVD - Chan actually plays a secondary role in this (virtually) all-male Taiwanese action-drama which attends the fortunes of four honourable men who break the law and are subsequently incarcerated in a corrupt prison, ruled by violence and intimidation. Main player Tony Leung Ka-fai (PRISON ON FIRE, DRAGON INN, etc.) is a CID agent who goes undercover as a prisoner to investigate the murder of his fiancee's grandfather by a former inmate who's been registered as 'deceased' for several years; Chan is a victim of circumstances who killed a ruthless gangster in self-defence; actor-singer Andy Lau Tak-wah (INFERNAL AFFAIRS) is the gangster's brother, who bribes his way into the jail in search of vengeance; and ever-popular Sammo Hung Kam-bo (TV's "Martial Law") is an experienced lifer who escapes on regular occasions to spend precious time with his young son. Each of these characters are tested to their limits by the prison's cruel regime - which includes torture, murder, and a hideous form of gambling in which new inmates are forced to fight the reigning jailhouse 'champion' for the financial benefit of staff and pisoners alike - until an abrupt twist near the end of the film sends the whole thing spiralling off in a completely new and unexpected direction...

Chan filmed his extended cameo during production of his mega-spectacular ARMOUR OF GOD II: OPERATION CONDOR (1991) as a favour to producer and co-star Jimmy Wang Yu (veteran of countless kung fu dramas of the 1960's and 70's, including THE ONE ARMED BOXER [1971] and BEACH OF THE WAR GODS [1973]), and while there are a number of eye-catching fight scenes - notably the showdown between Chan and Lau - the film emphasizes hard-hitting melodrama over full-tilt action sequences, paying homage to the likes of COOL HAND LUKE (1967) whilst employing a wealth of prison cliches to examine the lives of characters under extreme duress. But the structure is half-hearted and unconvincing, and for all its drama and high emotion, the film seems merely contrived and superficial, lacking any sense of thematic credibility. Which is a shame, because the performances are uniformly good (especially Hung, as a devoted father whose loyalty to his son ends in tragedy), and the low-budget production values are solid. Fu Lap's melancholy score is bolstered by a range of music cues 'borrowed' from the likes of TOURIST TRAP (1978) and BODY DOUBLE (1984), and director Zhu (noted helmer of A HOME TOO FAR [1991] and the "Shaolin Popey" comedies) keeps the pot boiling throughout. Incidentally, Zhu is credited on-screen as 'Chu Yen-ping'.

The reason for the film's narrative drawbacks is partially explained by one of the DVD's supplemental features, an invaluable restoration of all the material cut from the original Taiwanese print, revealing a minor classic that was lost to the whim of a distributor's scissors. Some of the restored footage is excessively melodramatic, particularly an extended subplot involving Leung's brave but fragile cellmate (Tuo Zong-hua, later the star of Yim Ho's THE DAY THE SUN TURNED COLD [1994]) who's fleeced by a corrupt lawyer, but most of it simply extends existing sequences, crucially underlining their emotional impact and strengthening the characterisations. It's significant that these extra scenes (which would have enriched the entire production to a significant degree, adding approximately 20 minutes to the running time) are presented in letterbox format only, without anamorphic enhancement, which suggests that HKL were unable to restore the full version for technical reasons. As it stands, the 'international print' replicated on HKL's disc is an OK entry, worth a look for its all-star cast and jaw-dropping plot developments, but the film is a mere shadow of its former self. Originally released on UK video (and in America) as THE PRISONER.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Violent, dramatic and meaningfull, 21 Jul 2002

By	"freakylittlemushroombaby" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Island Of Fire [DVD] [1990] (DVD)

This film is brilliant. A mix of superb actors take time away from their busy martial arts movie schedule and show their true versitility. The fight scenes are realistic, the emotion is quite overwhelming and beautifully unexpected, this is a brutal film,not for someone expecting a martial arts hero film with Jackie Chan starring. Buy it, watch it, appreciate it.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Grim, 25 Sep 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Island Of Fire [DVD] [1990] (DVD)

This is not a Jackie Chan film. A lot of people misunderstand this because Jackie is billed as the "star". If fans read his autobiography "My life in action" they will understand why he appeared in this film. (As a favour to Jimmy Wang Yu, the producer and also in the cast). Jackie was also directing/starring in Amour of God 2:Operation Condor at the same time. Another reason for his infrequent appearances in this film. Even with all the above, this is an above average film, as all the main cast members given sterling performances, especially Sammo Hung. Prison life (and I assume in China it is probably worse) is pretty grim and this is portrayed pretty graphically in the film, especially in the deleted scenes on the DVD. For Jackie fans, who only want comedy and action, this is not for you, as ALL our heroes meet a pretty bad end. But if you want to see Jackie in a serious role, which he handles very well, then give this DVD a go. The quality is much better than the video and VCD formats, so that is a plus. Over to you ...!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard hitting, moving perfection.
This has to be one of my favourite martial arts films. The action is fast paced, realistic and very violent, but the film maintains it's moving plot very well. Read more

Published on 14 Dec 2001 by themosttogain@ntlworld.com

3.0 out of 5 stars good film but very different
the whole cast of 'island of fire' give worthy performances and really portray hard prison life and a corrupted 'gang' of inmates very well. Read more

Published on 27 Jul 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery, suspence and Martial Arts
Wow. This must be Jackies darkest role, although he does not star too much in it, as the story revolves round the other characters. Read more

Published on 4 Feb 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Pants
Being a huge Jackie chan fan I decided to buy this as my first DVD film. If you are not a fan DO NOT BUY THIS. Read more

Published on 5 Dec 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars okay - not a standard Jackie Chan film
Although this has all the ingredients to be a fast paced kung-fu thriller, it seems to drift along, never really getting going. Read more

Published on 3 Nov 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic martial arts DVD
Quite possibly one of the best ensemble casts featuring Sammo Hung and Tony Leung alongside a far more serious and effective Jacky Chan make this one of the most explosive, bloody... Read more

Published on 19 Oct 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars A great film, one to be seen.
As a big fan of Jackie Chan I bought this film without knowing anything about it. I found it had one of the best storylines I have seen for a long time with great performances... Read more

Published on 8 Oct 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars The moslty horific and violent film of jackies collection
I rented this film called the prisoner and rented it cos of jackie chans stunts.I was dissapointed that the stunt master didnt perform any stunts,because this film is strong on... Read more

Published on 17 Jul 2000

› See all 11 customer reviews...

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