Island Of Fire isn't a classic Chan film by any means. Various bits of the storyline are so clearly assembled on a whim that it may detract from viewing pleasure. But there are compensations in being able to compare the HK stars' differing styles of acting and the action packed finale is a terrific payoff after about an hour's worth of prison intrigue...

Sammo's character is constantly looking for ways to escape so that he can spend more time with his son. Jackie is put inside after accidentally killing a triad member responsible for his girlfriend's death. Andy Lau is the brother of said triad member who follows Jackie into the prison, after bribing a policeman, for revenge. Jimmy Wang Yu plays the 'big brother' of the prison who is tough but fair. All of these stories thrown together give opportunities for scenes typical of prison movies including brutal wardens, prison riots, attempted escapes, etc. There are some obvious 'Cool Hand Luke'-isms such as a scene where a girl breaks down in her car right next to where a chain gang is working. What follows is highly reminiscent of the scene in CHL where the prisoners are mesmerised by the girl washing her car.

People who bought this on the strength of Jackie being on the front cover will probably be disappointed as it is not a Jackie Chan film at all. He gets three fights which, while entertaining, are certainly not amongst his best work. Sammo doesn't get to fight at all (criminal)!! The first two of Jackie's fights are over rather too quickly but the third, against Andy Lau, is of a reasonable length and quite well choreographed.

The investigation plotline is really just an excuse for a prison movie until it is picked up again, rather clumsily, in the last 15 minutes. I don't want to give too much away but the film's finale really did just seem like a bit of an excuse for a good old shoot out and rather out of keeping with the rest of the movie.

The film does have some good points though. The camera work is effective, especially at the start when Tony enters the prison compound. The camera angle follows him through the metal gates and gives a real impression of intimidation and oppression. The camera is also used to good effect later during the fighting and action scenes.

'Island of Fire' is an ambitious film that really tries to do too much. While entertaining in most parts it doesn't quite all fit together.

Rating 2 1/2 out of 5.

THE DISC:
Hong Kong Legends have done another cracking job in restoring a Hong Kong film although the picture seemed a little grainy and there is a slight flicker at times. However the picture is sharp with a high level of detail. The film is presented in an anamorphic 16:9 widescreen format.

The soundtrack defaults to English but Mandarin is also available with remastered subtitles. The English track appeared to be mono only while the Mandarin was in Dolby Digital 2.0 (effective use was made of the surround sound speakers of my Dolby Pro-Logic tv). However the volume level of the English soundtrack appeared to be quite low.

Again Hong Kong Legends have chosen Mandarin over Cantonese. Without getting into the argument about 'Hong Kong films not being shot synch-sound so Cantonese is no more original than Mandarin', I just prefer Cantonese when watching these films. Especially when it is most likely that Cantonese would be the language that they were speaking. Still this is only a minor complaint.

Although this is not the director's cut of the film, as was hoped for, all of the deleted scenes are included on the disc in a separate section. Presumably a decent enough master of the film was not available as these clips are video quality only although they all have remastered sub-titles. While all are interesting none of them really add that much to the film. I was lucky enough to see the full version at a local cinema a couple of years ago and felt then that the film was about 30 minutes too long. The international version is definitely my preferred version but it is still nice to have these scenes all the same.

Aside from the deleted scenes there is also an interview gallery. This includes interviews with Sammo Hung (which looks as if it was made on the set for 'Moon Warriors'), Jimmy Wang Yu and the film's director Chu Yen Ping who talks about the pressures of film making. There are also the now standard Hong Kong Legend features of original theatrical trailer and music promo.

Another interesting feature is the 40 minute audio Jackie Chan biography which gives a very detailed description of Jackie's career.

Finally there is a section of trailers for Hong Kong Legends other releases which includes 'New Dragon Gate Inn', 'Black Sheep Affair', 'Body Weapon', 'Legend of a Fighter' and 'Drunken Master'.

Rating 4 1/2 out of 5

Rumor has it that many of the film's stars were "convinced" by the Triads to appear in this movie. Jackie Chan did the movie as a favor to Wang Yu, who helped him get out of a sticky contract situation involving director Lo Wei and his Triad buddies back in the early 1980's. Reportedly, he was so disgusted by the results that he tried to buy up all copies of the movie, which probably explains why this is one of the last of Chan's recent movies to be released in the States.

Although The Prisoner is billed on the cover as being “Jackie Chan is The Prisoner”; Chan only has a small role in this 2001 re-release of the 1990 film Island on Fire. In fact, he doesn’t come in until about twenty-five minutes into the film. He then has a couple of cool fights in a pool hall and in a prison, after killing someone in the pool hall, but the comic, martial arts wizard that we all know Jackie Chan to be never appears. Rather, this film is an action/drama about a police officer, played by Tony Leung, who puts himself in lockup in order to uncover a crime that he doesn’t know much about. The only thing he does know is that his friend was killed and his dying wish might have been for Leung to solve the mystery of the prison. Okay, so follow this closely; Sammo Hung, from Martial Law, is also a prisoner but he wants to get out to be with his son. But, there are two bad guys who go around bullying everybody and they want to kill Jackie Chan. The warden likes to see the inmates fight against each other and he’d like to kill a few people of his own. Meanwhile, no one knows Leung is in prison and he has no idea, nor does he take any steps to find out, who is behind the prison mystery. Confused? So was I and I was watching the film!

Once I approached the end of the film some ideas fell into place and I had a better idea of where the story was supposed to be going. But it takes a long time to make heads or tales out of the loosely wound plot and in-between the twines are a lot of dull moments punctuated by pretty good fight scenes. The production values are high in this movie with big sets, lots of explosions and a gratuitous scene with a pretty girl in a wet shirt. So one must assume that the Production Company spent so much money on the production that they had nothing left with which to pay a good writer. But that’s okay, someone’s child did a fine job for an 8th grader!

...All in all, The Prisoner is a ten-year-old, mediocre film that tries, and must, capitalize on Jackie Chan’s name in order to draw an audience. If you’re a die-hard Jackie Chan fan, give it a glance but if not, skip it!

This film has been almost disowned by Jackie, as he hates it, probably due to the shocking finale, but this does not stop the film being entertaining or powerful despite its numerous flaws. The story appears (and was) hastily prepared which does not allow the narrative to flow smoothly and issues appear to be hastily glossed over. Each characters individual tale would probably have been enough to fill a movie by themselves, but the need to utilise each star actually works against the film by not linking them together well enough until the end, making it difficult for the audience to get fully involved.

Essentially a dark tale involving a few desperate men, each incarcerated either harshly or unfairly, the characters themselves actually make you feel sorry for them, especially Sammo, and help the film reach out at more than the shallow level dramatic HK action movies often suffer from. The least amount of screen time is actually with Jackie, who is mostly there to provide a few short action sequences. Each was quickly put together but still impress more than other 90’s films such as 'City Hunter' or 'Project S' being more akin to the brutal style of 'Crime Story' than the graceful moves in 'Drunken Master 2'.

Best performance, as is so often the case, goes to Sammo, who again shows his acting skills are far superior than he is credited for, fleshing out what would otherwise have been a shallow character. How often can he make you want to both laugh & cry in the same film? Obviously not to the same level as 'Pedicab Driver' or 'Heart of Dragon' he still brings true emotion to the screen.

For a low budget, rushed production, the emotional content of the film and the quality of its cast save the day providing us with a kung fu influenced Shawshank Redemption wannabe. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to see Jackie in one of his rare serious performances, but also to those originally put off by bad reviews from the cast. It scrapes into the 4 star category due to its decent action and Sammo’s powerful performance.

PICTURE: Letterboxed at 1.85:1. Considering the quality of the original print, this is a marked improvement on all previous releases. Detail levels are good and colours have also been altered for the better. The one complaint is that it still possesses an overall grainy look but I doubt that anyone will be able to enhance the quality any further than HKL.

SOUND: Mandarin or English DD 2.0 soundtracks with removable English subtitles.

TRAILERS: The theatrical trailer and UK music promo for 'Island On Fire' as well as HKL trailers for 'Snake In The Eagle's Shadow', 'Drunken Master', 'New Dragon Gate Inn', 'The Blacksheep Affair', 'Legend Of A Fighter', 'Body Weapon', 'Hitman' and 'Drive'.

TALENT FILES: The standard HKL written and spoken Jackie Chan biography.

EXTRAS: These include a rare treat from HKL in the form of some deleted scenes along with an interview gallery featuring comments from Sammo Hung (on the set of 'Moon Warriors'), Wang Yu and director Chu Yen-Ping.