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Rating: 
Summary: best book i've seen on hk film so far
Review: A terrifically useful guide for the HK film fan, and the endnotes are a wealth of information for researchers and writers. It's a most affectionate account of the films of the 1980s and 1990s, and provides a quite Confucian reading of the cultural and political background against which the films were made. Gossipy too -- a bonus!
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Summary: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HANDOVER
Review: City on Fire is a shining star among Hong Kong cinema books. As John Lent writes in the foreword "The distinguishing marks of the Stokes and Hoover book are the socio-historical context in which the films are placed and the critical political economy approach of the analysis." The authors detail the history of HK cinema by using plot summaries, personal interviews, and a variety of theoretical points of view. Well-researched, enticing, and understandable.
Rating:
Summary: A great analsys of contemporary Hong Kong cinema.
Review: Honestly, I didn't think it was quite as good as the industry reviews above made it out to be. However, it must be said that there simply aren't many significant works on this topic, and as far as I can tell, this is THE benchmark work on the subject. The research was thorough enough, covering all major genres of Hong Kong cinema, and not just the actioners which made their way Stateside. If you are a Hong Kong film fan looking for a resource to guide your next purchase or rental, this is worth the investment.One complaint though: the authors tie EVERYthing to the 1997 return of Hong Kong from Great Britain back to China; I realize that the impending handover contributed strongly to the atmosphere of HK filmmaking (the point of the title), but some of the connections they made seem to stretch credulity.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful exploration into Hong Kong films
Review: I truly enjoyed reading this book. The authors are obviously very literate people. The book is written as an in-depth introduction to some very good HK films. Each film reviewed is broken down; its characters are studied, as is the overall theme of each film. I recommend this book over ones like Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head, because City on Fire treats the films with understanding and respect. HK films aren't all just kung-fu and category 3 (similar to NC-17 in the U.S.) There are some fine dramas and action films that need to be treated with respect, because some of the finest films ever made come from Hong Kong and this book gives those films the respect they deserve.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful exploration into Hong Kong films
Review: I truly enjoyed reading this book. The authors are obviously very literate people. The book is written as an in-depth introduction to some very good HK films. Each film reviewed is broken down; its characters are studied, as is the overall theme of each film. I recommend this book over ones like Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head, because City on Fire treats the films with understanding and respect. HK films aren't all just kung-fu and category 3 (similar to NC-17 in the U.S.) There are some fine dramas and action films that need to be treated with respect, because some of the finest films ever made come from Hong Kong and this book gives those films the respect they deserve.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Valuable Analysis
Review: This book coheres around the premise that Hong Kong's social conditions in the 1980s and 1990s affected Hong Kong films in a significant way. The authors offer a large-scale interpretation that conveys the historical, moral and psychological issues at stake and their analyses of individual movies are generally right on the mark. I came away seeing the films with fresh eyes and in new and richer ways.
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Summary: respectful treatment of HK cinema
Review: this is a fun yet challening read (he uses a lot of "plush" phrases that some of us (me) will have to look up. But it's a new way to write about a populist medium lik HK cinema. HK people should be delighted that someone gave their work a high brow treatment.
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