OUT OF INFERNO (逃出生天) DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: On the hottest day in 50 years, in the density packed urban centre, a serious fire incident happened to a busy commercial tower because of an unexpected phenomenon known as “flashover”. As the fire burned their conscience to the ground, those who lacked passion in their life were about to meet a gaggle of firefighters with an indestructible enthusiasm to save lives.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Nowadays the Pang Brothers can tackle anything from horror to detective drama to the martial-arts genre. Thus it doesn’t come as a surprise they are adding a disaster movie to their resume.    

Two of HK’s most prominent dark skinned actors, Sean Lau and Louis Koo play brothers, Tai Kwang and Keung. The former a by-the-book firefighter and the latter, an ex-fire fighter turned boss of fire solutions company. Co-written by the Pang Brothers, Out of Inferno laughingly is one flick that is born out of coincidences and clichés. You see when a fire start burning ferociously in a commercial tower, the wife of Tai Kwang’s Si Lok (Angelica Lee) and Keung happen to trap in the same building. It doesn’t take a genius to know that Tai Kwang will be next in line to be assigned to save the trapped victims.

Besides the main actors, there is usually a standard list of ready-to-be-perish victims and Out of Inferno has no lack of them. A selfish gynecologist, a father and son team of security guards, a man who has just killed his boss over some diamonds and a little girl played by Crystal Lee of Unbeatable and The Viral Factor. The all too ho hum storytelling and predictable rivalry and disagreements between the brothers become wearisome over time. And it doesn’t take long they are going to join hands to get out of the dire situation in the end. 

The generous support from the Guangzhou fire department contributes to the scale of the production. Technically, the pyrotechnics and visual effects are respectably execute though it lacks a sense of urgency and danger when you compare it to Johnnie To’s Lifeline which is almost liked two decades earlier. Still, a scene involving a construction crane transporting survivors across to safety brings out the Pang Brothers’ skill in creating some high levels of anxiety.

It’s always nice to have Sean Lau around despite the unnecessary heavy-handed drama. At the minimum, Lau just looks so stoic and cool in uniform that you will trust your life in his hands anytime. The prolific Koo also did a decent on-screen job grappling with ropes, fire and water for a paycheck. Despite a generically plotting, Out of Inferno served a decent plate of action and tension, nothing exceptional or memorable I must add. For a Pang Brothers’ production, this is generally good enough.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

For a title that relied a lot on the audio and visual to work, the technical aspects of the DVD are only serviceable. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee