It’s one of the best and most influential action films of all time: City on Fire aka Cover Hard II. Quentin Tarantino, who used the Hong Kong gangster film as a blueprint for Reservoir Dogs, also noticed this. In Germany there was Cover Hard II 25 years on the index. 2020 was the end of that.
On August 26th, the groundbreaking Heist film will be released uncut in Germany in two limited media books. Now you can pre-order them.
One of the best action films in the limited media book: these editions exist
Cover Hard II aka City on Fire was only released in Germany on VHS and was indexed until 2020. As with Full Contact (Cover Hard II), Maritim Pictures is finally doing the right thing and releasing the Heist film classic about a jewel heist unabridged in two limited media books. One shows the retro cinema poster, the other a gun-wielding Chow Yun-fat:
The edition includes a Blu-ray and a DVD. You can currently pre-order the limited editions for 36.31 euros each. If you don’t know the movie, don’t worry: Cover Hard II is not a sequel and has nothing to do with Cover Hard I (which came out later). So you don’t need to have any prior knowledge.
What is Cover Hard aka City on Fire about?
Chow Yun-fat plays a police officer who is infiltrated into a gang of gangsters as an undercover agent. Led by Fu (Danny Lee from The Killer), she plans to pull off a major jewel heist. The policeman becomes more and more involved in the crimes of the gang, always careful to hide his real identity. With bloody consequences.
Why is the Heist action that influenced Quentin Tarantino worth it?
Ringo Lam’s classic was released in 1987 and was one of the most influential Hong Kong films with its gritty action, realistic characters and coolness. Chow Yun-fat blossomed into an action star and numerous films (up to Infernal Affairs) subsequently worked on the undercover motif.
The film also left its mark on Hollywood, and its brutal urban shootouts should please fans of Heat. Because City on Fire was Inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, from the undercover story to the cool clothes to the finale. Both films are still quite different and each worth seeing in its own way.
However, the German title Cover Hard II is complete humbug and was a means of simulating action series with films that have nothing to do with each other.
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