On Fire
Director: Clarence Fok/Ford
Year: 1996
Rating: 4.0
Don't get this one
confused with the On Fire series of films from Ringo Lam. No relation. Not
even close. In fact, Lam should have sued them for using the name. This film
is that bad. One of the more irritating Hong Kong films I have come across.
It has a stupid beyond belief plot in which everyone is yelling at each other
all the time. Pass the aspirin, please.
This is somewhat surprising in that there
is some talent involved with this film – Clarence Fok as director (Naked Killer,
Iceman Cometh, Dragon from Russia) and Francoise Yip (Rumble in the Bronx
and Black Mask) and Louis Koo co-starring.
Briefly, Yip stars as herself. Yes, she plays
Francoise Yip the glamorous and popular HK actress. Tough acting job. There
are two fans (Koo being one) who are infatuated with her and do everything
they can to get close to her. At one point they think they are becoming her
friends, but then a gang of thugs beats them up and warns them to stay away
from her. To get their revenge they kidnap Yip (with the help of poor Ng
Man Tat), but it turns out of course that she didn’t order the beating. And
it just gets stupider.
To watch this film, you would have to be as infatuated with Francoise as
the two guys in the film. I mean she is very attractive, but no one is good
looking enough to sit through this one.
