''Out of Inferno'' () is a 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese disaster film directed by the

Pang Brothers Danny Pang Phat and Oxide Pang Chun, collectively known as the Pang Brothers, are a filmmaking duo of screenwriters and film directors. The pair are twins, born in Hong Kong in 1965. Among their films is the hit Asian horror film, '' The Eye'' ...

released on 3 October 2013. Starring

Sean Lau Sean Lau Ching-wan (born 16 February 1964) is a Hong Kong actor who has acted in both films and television series. He won Best Actor in the 2007 and 2015 Hong Kong Film Awards and in the 2000 and 2007 Golden Bauhinia Awards. Career Lau was born ...

Louis Koo Louis Koo Tin-lok ( zh, t=古天樂; born 21 October 1970) is a Hong Kong people, Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer. He began his professional career as an actor in local television series, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001 ...

and

Angelica Lee Lee Sinje (; born 23 January 1976) is a Malaysian film actress and pop singer. She started her career in singing and later moved on to acting in Taiwan and Hong Kong and Malaysia. Lee starred in '' The Eye'', the hit Asian horror film by the ...

, the movie is about a fire that engulfs a high-rise building in southern China and the subsequent rescue mission by the city's fire department.

Plot

The film stars two estranged brothers in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, Tai-kwan and Keung, who work as firefighters. The last time they spoke with one another was during the funeral of their father, four years before the events of the film. Keung, now retired from firefighting, operates a fire protection systems company. In the beginning of the film, he holds a celebration of the opening of the office of his company. Meanwhile, Tai-kwan's wife, Si-lok, is seeing a gynaecologist. The company and the doctor are in the same building. A fire breaks out in the basement and travels upwards. Tai-kwan, who submits his resignation before the fire breaks out, sends in his unit to fight the fire. Keung finds Si-lok and struggles to rescue her.

Cast

as Tai-kwan (S: 大军, T: 大軍, P: ''Dàjūn'', J: daai6 gwan1) *

as Keung (S: 阿强, T: 阿強, P: ''Ā-qiáng'') *

Chen Sicheng Chen Sicheng (born February 22, 1978 in Shenyang) is a Chinese actor, director and screenwriter. He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, and is known for his leading roles in the films ''A Young Prisoner's Revenge'' and ''Spring Fever''; ...

as Lee Kin-lok (S: 李健乐, T: 李健樂, P: ''Lǐ Jiànlè''), Si Lok's doctor *

as Si-lok (S: 思乐, T: 思樂, P: ''Sīlè''), Tai Kwan's wife *

Marc Ma Ma Marc is a Chinese actor. He appeared in many Chinese movies and TV dramas as supporting roles. He joined Universe International Holding Limited in March 2011. Personal life Ma was born in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province in North ...

as Ho, jewelry store worker * Jin Qiaoqiao as Mei-mei (C: 美美, P: ''Měiměi'', J: mei5 mei5), Shun's wife * Crystal Lee ( 李馨巧) as Lam-lam (C: 琳琳, P: ''Línlín'', J: lam4 lam4), Mei-mei and Shun's daughter * Zang Jinsheng as Ko Sing, head of security guard *

Cheung Siu-fai Cheung Siu-fai (; born 4 February 1963), also known as Eddie Cheung, is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known for his many supporting or everyman roles similar to Liu Kai-chi Dick Liu Kai-chi (, 30 September 1953 – 28 March 2021) was a Hon ...

as Shun (C: 阿信, P: ''Ā-xìn''), May May's husband * Joe Ma as Lau Ting, head of fire department *

Natalie Tong Natalie Tong Sze-wing (born 3 May 1981) is a Hong Kong actress and model previously contracted to TVB. Career Before becoming an actress, Natalie Tong was a full-time model. She once studied in Methodist College. Tong gained popularity after ...

as Ping-ping, Keung's fiancé * Benz Hui as Boss Suen, owner of the jewelry store * Tian Zhenwei as Dong, jewelry store worker *

Terence Siufay Terence Siufay (born 13 July 1976, in Macau) is a Macanese singer and actor. who has been with the group C-Plus for the past 10 years in Macau. In 2007, he joined Gold Typhoon in Hong Kong. He got the new male singer bronze award from JSG 07 and ...

as Bo-keung, security guard * Jackie Xu as Mandy, Keung's assistant

Production

The Pang Brothers went to great lengths to ensure authenticity of the fire scenes, actual fire was used for the majority of the film to bring out the actual visceral fear from the cast. The film had a budget of

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...

150 million (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

19 million).

Reception

Yvonne Teh of the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' gave the film three out of five stars. Teh stated that the script "looks a clear case of too many cooks spoiling the broth" and that Szeto Kam-yuen's death had harmed it.Film review: Out of Inferno
" ''

''. 3 October 2013. Retrieved on 27 February 2014. Teh stated that the acting of Koo, Lau, and Lee benefited the film and that "the raging fire, which hisses, roars, and moves in ways that resembles a mythical, dragon-like creature at times, is suitably menacing, and ensures that there are scenes in this action thriller that do feel suspenseful." Teh argued that the film is "weakest when the attention is focused on hackneyed minor characters" with the diamond cutter characters being the "lamest of all". ''

Film Business Asia ''Film Business Asia'' was a film trade magazine based in Hong Kong. The magazine was created in 2010 by Patrick Frater, former journalist for ''Variety'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and '' Screen International'' and Stephen Cremin, co-founder o ...

Derek Elley Derek Elley (born c. 1955) is an American film and music critic and author, best known as the resident film critic for ''Variety'' until his departure in March 2010. With over 1200 reviews to his credit as of December 2014 on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', h ...

gave the film a 7/10 rating.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Out of Inferno 3D Chinese 3D films 2013 films 2010s Cantonese-language films Hong Kong action films Hong Kong 3D films Chinese action films Chinese disaster films Hong Kong disaster films Films about firefighting Films set in Guangzhou 2013 3D films 2010s Mandarin-language films 2010s Hong Kong films