| Island Of Fire | |
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Film poster |
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| Directed by | Chu Yin-Ping |
| Produced by | Jimmy Wang Yu Ko Chun-Hsiung |
| Written by | Lee Fu Yip Wan-Chiu |
| Starring | Jackie Chan Sammo Hung Andy Lau Tony Leung Tou Chung Hwa Jimmy Wang Yu Ko Chun Hsiung Barry Wong |
| Music by | Fu Lap Eckart Seeber |
| Distributed by | Golden Harvest Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (DVD) Hong Kong Legends (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | Taiwan: 28 March 1991 Hong Kong: 1 August 1991 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | Taiwan Hong Kong |
| Language | Mandarin |
Island of Fire (Chinese: 火燒島) is a 1991 Taiwanese action-crime film directed by Chu Yin-Ping. The film is also known in the UK as Island on Fire and in Germany and the United States as The Prisoner. It was shot in Taiwan and the Philippines.[1]
As with both of those earlier films, recent DVD and VHS releases market Island of Fire as a Jackie Chan film, displaying his image on the cover as though he was the lead actor. In fact, Chan only appears in a supporting role, with Tony Leung Ka-Fai as the central character. The film also co-stars Sammo Hung, Andy Lau, and Barry Wong.
After appearing with Chan in Killer Meteors in 1976, the film's producer and co-star, Jimmy Wang Yu, came to Chan's aid when the then young actor sought his help in settling a dispute with veteran director, Lo Wei. Chan repaid the favour by playing roles in Wang's films, which included this film as well as the 1982 film Fantasy Mission Force.
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Tony Leung Kar-fai plays a police officer who goes undercover in the pen, hoping to determine how the finger prints of a recently killed felon could belong to a con who had been executed three months before. While inside, he goes through the tortures of hell, after getting involved in matters that were better left alone. His fellow prisoners include Chan (in for accidentally killing a card player, while trying to raise money to pay for an operation to save his girlfriend's life), Andy Lau Tak-wah (as the brother of the dead man, who has himself thrown in jail to exact revenge), Wang (as one of the leaders of the prisoners), and Sammo Hung Kam-po (as a compassionate but pathetic inmate, who frequently escapes to visit his young son). When Leung kills an especially corrupt guard and is sentenced to a firing squad, the film goes reveals that the convicts that are assumed to be executed are actually being used by the warden (Ke Chuen-hsiang) as hitmen to assassinate untouchable criminals.
There are three different versions of this film. There is a 93-minute Hong Kong version, a 96-minute American version and a 125-minute Taiwanese version which focuses more on character development and plot detail.
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