Universe HK DVD Synopsis: On the hottest day in fifty years, a serious fire incident happened to a busy commercial tower. Keung (Louis Koo), Si Lok (Lee Sinje), and others were trapped in an inferno. Meanwhile, his elder brother Dai Kwan (Sean Lau) had arrived at the scene and coordinated the rescue. (107 Mins)

 

Views: Taking it's cue from many Hollywood blockbusters such as The Towering Inferno (1974), Ladder 49 (2004) and others, Out of Inferno is a Hong Kong disaster movie that simply tells the tale of people trapped in a burning commercial tower. One of those people is Keung, an ex-firefighter and brother to Tai Kwan – the local fire station chief. As the fire rages on, those escaping start to lose control. Fights break out, injuries happen, and criminals take advantage of the deadly situation. Determined to save those inside and put the fire out, Tai Kwan and his team fight to save the day, while Keung does what he can from the inside – but not without some losses!

 

Written, produced and directed by the infamous Pang Brothers who gained notoriety when their horror-thriller The Eye (2002) gained global success. Following that with a sequel or two, the brothers delivered a range of films that were more often than not met with mixed reviews. Sometimes, they would work alone, but even those films never quite hit the same standard as their earlier work. Still, I can't help but reach for a movie when I see their name attached and Out of Inferno was one, thankfully, that I only came across by chance. Over the years, there have been a number of Hong Kong films made that have focused on firefighters and burning disasters. For a long time, even Jackie Chan had teased the subject matter as something he was determined to make – but that never came about, unfortunately. Saying that, he did go onto make a cameo appearance (as himself) in Derek Kwok's wonderfully made As the Light Goes Out just a year after this; a firefighter movie I highly recommend, although it is very similar in many ways! And then, of course, there's Johnnie To's highly praised Lifeline from 1997; a fantastic disaster drama that could almost be considered a prequel to this...

 

The reason for this, I'm sure you know, is because of it's leading star Sean Lau Ching Wan. Starring as the station chief in Lifeline, it would be very easy to see this as a continuation of his story – once again, playing the stone-faced hero of the piece. Of course, moving location from Hong Kong to Guangzhou isn't that unreasonable, and the thrills are just as big this time around (if not bigger). Joining Lau as his estranged brother and redeemed hero of the piece, is the loveable Louis Koo, his co-star of countless hit movies. In fact, this year alone, the pair went onto star together in the late Benny Chan's action-thriller The White Storm, before going onto star again in Alan Mak and Felix Chong's Overheard 3 (2014) right after that. Prior to this, Lau Ching Wan had just starred for Danny Pang in the so-so Fairy Tale Killer (2012) while it would mark the first time Koo had worked with the brothers. Both are joined by the lovely Angelica Lee who, although starred in a few films prior, shot to fame for her role as Mun in the Pang Brother's aforementioned hit film, The Eye (2002). While many roles followed soon after, Lee got to work with them again on Re-Cycle (2006) and Sleepwalker in 3D (2011) before this. While she goes through a lot as Si Lok, her role here is really just as a love interest in need – but she does it well. Stars such as Eddie Cheung, Jin Qiaoqiao, Joe Ma, Hui Siu Hung, Terence Tsui, Alex Lee, and Detective Chinatown (2015) director Chen Si Cheng, help fill the cast list out along with others.

 

With a lot of assistant directors on board and five writers handling the script, Out of Inferno is a clear case of too-many-cooks; but it's slight imperfections are easily forgotten about with the amount of sheer thrills, danger, stunt-work and edge-of-the-seat rescues that saturate the last three-quarters of the movie. Delivering many impressive disaster moments, big thrilling set-pieces, and plenty of real fire that just captures the true fear and danger of those on screen, weak characters and poor melodrama are quickly forgotten about when the action comes about. This is handled, oddly but brilliantly, by the great Dion Lam – a popular actor-turned-action director whose name guarantees quality having been a part of many Hong Kong greats, from Shanghai Shanghai (1990) to Black Mask (1996), Infernal Affairs (2002) to Shock Wave (2017) and so much more. While oddly missed by many fans of Lau and Koo, Out of Inferno is far from terrible and deserves a stronger fan base considering just how entertaining it gets. So if you enjoy either of these guys, love tense disaster flicks, or just want to watch something to keep your nerves going, then Out of Inferno is worth your time!

 

Overall: Slow to start and not perfect, Out of Inferno quickly gains speed and doesn't let up for a hot moment!