Oddly enough I haven't seen "Prison On Fire" (aka "Gam yuk fung wan") from 1987 before now in 2020. I happened to get the chance to sit down and watch parts I and II, and being a big fan of the Hong Kong cinema, of course I did so.
And the fact that it had Chow Yun Fat and Tony Ka Fai Leung on the cast list, of course helped sweeten the deal.
While writer Yin Nam and director Ringo Lam definitely were on to something unique with "Prison On Fire", it just felt that the movie was lacking that particular something to make it truly outstanding. Perhaps it was the fact that the storyline felt a bit too scripted and predictable, or because oddly enough not a single police officer in the prison facility had a firearm.
"Prison On Fire" is a good prison movie, but it just feels like director Ringo Lam was cushioning the movie a bit, not making it fully as rough and gritty as it deserved to be.
Aside from Chow Yun Fat and Tony Ka Fai Leung, the movie does have a good cast ensemble of actors to help bring the movie to life on the screen.
This is definitely an enjoyable movie and one that is well-worth the time to sit down and watch. My rating of "Prison On Fire" is a six out of ten stars. I was genuinely entertained by what transpired on the screen.
