Watch Prison on Fire For Free

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

...and soon enough, like any situation where the pressure does nothing but build, it'll explode.Chow Yun-Fat plays Chung Tin Ching, a prisoner on a manslaughter charge, who befriends a harmless, naive twig of a man named Yiu, also on a manslaughter term. At first, he's a nuisance, but as he sees just how useless Yiu is in his situation, he can't help but step in when Yiu's blunders aggravates the wrong people. Friendship blossoms, and then the two of them must fend for themselves and each other against the cruel warden, Officer Hung, and Hung's obnoxious rat. The situation intensifies... it escalates... and when it finally explodes, it is intense, emotional, and effective.I've seen six of Ringo Lam's films now, the other four being Prison on Fire II (right after I saw this one), City on Fire, Full Contact, and two of his Van Damme vehicles, and Prison on Fire is definitely the second-best film I've seen from him so far. It's nothing original, and the villains are a little cartoonish at times, but for the most part, it's a great movie, and definitely among the best of Chow and Lam.

There are lots of prison movies around, Tango and Cash, Lockup, and Shawshank Redemption. Prison on Fire probably comes much closer to Lockup than the others as in these two movies the people in prison are guilty for their crimes. Prison on Fire was released before Lockup and has a look at the three year sentence of a man in a Hong Kong gaol.The man which the film centres around is not a hardened criminal, he just was protecting his father when a group of thugs tried to steal food from his store. The thugs beat up his father and he ran then down and kicked one in front of a bus. The charge was involuntary manslaughter.Prison on Fire looks at the politics that goes on in a Hong Kong gaol and is much more colourful than an American film. The gangs that operate on the street operate in the gaol as well and if you are not part of a gang then you are likely to be used as a scapegoat. As is expected for a gaol, there is a lot of violence and fighting between the gangs, and the man, who is not involved, gets caught up in the power struggle as a scapegoat. He is not a fighter and thus is lucky that Ching (Chow-Yun-Fat) who is also neutral, helps him out.The movie focuses on this man and the struggles that he faces in gaol. His relationship with his girlfriend is examined as she struggles to wait for him to be released. He also faces potentially loosing her as she moves to England to study and it seems like she is going to run off with her tutor. There is also the struggle with the prison guards as they use him to extract information from the gang bosses.There is a bad guy in this movie and that is a Triad boss named Marcus. Marcus is at war with another gang and this gang uses the man to get Marcus into trouble. Ching and the Man attempt to reconcile themselves with Marcus, and even though they have proved that Marcus is not strong, he does not want to listen. The action heats up in the cells when the guards leave for the night for that is when the gangs begin to rumble. It seems that certain people are placed in certain cells for the guards' pleasure, but this comes out much more in Prison on Fire II. Prison on Fire is set entirely in the prison and is quite an enjoyable movie.

I first watched this movie when I was rather young. After 13 years, I've just re-watched it. Still a brilliant piece of work. Often, I'd be bored watching old films which I had thought the world of. But this movie still amazes and excites me after so many years.I am sure the more violent scenes were cut from the version I watched, because I vaguely remember moments that were a lot more shocking. But I would't classify it as a "violent" movie, because there was a lot of meaning to it. If I as an elementary school child could take it, it shouldn't be any more gruesome than The Ring 2.Simply watching Chow Yun Fatt was a treat in itself. His acting was intriguing and absolutely intense. Never did a moment pass that he wasn't giving in his best. The smiles and the stares, the jokes and the scorn, the singing and the scolding... and who would forget his orange with 3 cigarettes? No kid from a chinese-speaking family doesn't remember this classic arrangement.Tony Leung, another great actor, could be seen shining in his own right. Although much of the glamour belonged to Chow Yun Fatt, Tony Leung's performance in the suicide scene, and the sheer ignorance in his eyes as he incurred the wrath of just about everyone, were truly commendable. He was the "stupid little lamb" in the film.Watch this film, and you'd find "Anna and the King" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" terrible jokes. I still can't believe Chow Yun Fatt starred in these 2 films. From an Asian's point of view, his recent Hollywood films were disappointing. His roles in these new films were a far cry from his memorable performances in "The Story of Ah Lang", "A Better Tomorrow" and this film. Special effects can't be everything in a movie. Realism is more important.And don't walk away without learning how to sing the prisoners' favourite song! *Yian sum yu sei shueang yao do siu...*

Tony Leung stars as Yiu, who has been jailed for manslaughter. Chow Yun Fat stars as Ching, another prisoner also jailed for manslaughter. Ching is a good-natured prisoner who tries to make the best of his situation, and helps naive Yiu out.It's a familiar story of the savagery of prison life, as Yiu & Ching must deal with intra-prison triads and a sadistic warden.The pressure of these elements pushes them to the edge, and by the end of the movie, Ching & Yiu completely lose it. This is a very violent and uncomfortable movie to watch. The storyline doesn't make any profound social observations. But Chow Yun Fat's acting is very intense: he really turns into a bug-eyed wild animal. And Tony Leung is good as a man who would easily fall apart in such an environment if not for Ching's support.The movie also has other Ringo Lam regulars like Tommy Wong & Roy Cheung (playing Billy & Officer Hung, respectively.)