Filmed back-to-back with Hsu Hsia's “Crystal Hunt” (1991) with most of the cast returning except Sibelle Hu, right down to the similar thin plot and the Hong Kong and Thai locations. This time around, director Yip has everyone hunting for a computer chip instead of a golden crystal which starts off in Hong Kong and ends up in the tropical jungle of Thailand.
Buy This Title
by clicking on the image below
In Hong Kong, arms dealer Tong Yeung (Shing Fui On) has a computer chip that contains the country's most advanced missile system. After his arrest, three American CIA agents, John (Mark Houghton), Peggy (Sharla Cheung Man) and Ann (Takajo Fujimi) arrive to take him back to the States. On their way to the airport, with the tag along of local Inspectors Sonny Ng (Carrie Ng) and Kwan (Eddie Kwan), Long Hair (Gordon Liu) and his ruthless gang ambush them. A fierce and bloody shootout soon follows which leads to poor John losing his life. Tong manages to escape during the commotion while Long Hair cops is bullet in his back.
In the meantime, a dirty businessman Fok (Eddy Ko) provides a shelter for Tong while arranging a safe passage for him to escape the Colony. In addition, a black General and warlord (Michael Woods) from the Golden Triangle also shows great interest in the chip. Now that the search for the important chip is on, the CIA sends another agent, Ronald (Donnie Yen) across to join the race to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
This super low-budget film with an even thinner plot is all about action, as seen from one set piece to another. Also, this is very much an ensemble outing rather than a pure Donnie Yen film. Nonetheless, he fits right in playing the arrogant CIA agent with a past. To further satisfy the fans, he gets to fight the three main villains, starting with Ken Lo, then Gordon Liu and finally his friend, Michael Woods. The big cast is both impressive and energetic, but their talents are unfortunately wasted by the whole production. The editing is just too messy and the bad camera work, especially during those fight scenes, do no justice to the overall cast.
The ladies, Carrie Ng, Sharla Cheung and Takajo Fujimi all look fantastic in their roles and are very impressive when it comes to the action department too. The fight between Cheung and Gordon Liu and the one with Ng at the Thai camp are both worth mentioning. Ken Lo who plays Boxer, Long Hair's top henchman, looks amazingly fit and deadly with his flying kicks as usual. Elsewhere, Eddie Ko turns up as the dirty businessman who likes watching Paula Abdul on Laserdisc in the dark with his girlfriend grinding away on his lap.
Spotting curly hair and a ponytail, the film's main villain, Long Hair, played by Shaw Brother's veteran Gordon Liu is the one to watch. Liu easily steals the show with his bizarre way of removing a bullet from his back. Any gunshot victim caught in the same situation will just lay down, keep very still, drink lots of whisky and bite on something hard while having the bullet taken out. Instead, to distract him from the pain, he has sex with a hooker while going through the whole process and hardly keeping still at all. But there is enough decent action from him to please his fans. However, his extremely bloody end fight with Yen is also a let down.
Trained in Wushu and Tae Kwon Do, martial artist Michael Woods is no stranger to Asian action films of the early 90s. He is a friend of Yen's, through his training and association with Madame Bow Sim Mark who is Yen's mother. Woods is back playing the big, strong warlord of the Golden Triangle who has “Born To Kill” painted on his upper right arm and likes to fire at the sky. John Salvitti also shows up briefly as his right hand man. Both are impressive in showing off their kicking skills.
If you like Cheetah on Fire, check also this video
Tsui Fat is the main action director while Ron San, Choi Hin Cheong and Tam Chun Tung are the action choreographers. There are plenty of fights throughout, very well shot too but they look one sided and lack that certain punch to make them more impactful. At times, it looks like the combatants are just sparring at each other.
“Cheetah on Fire” is a film of its time, it has good martial arts action, plenty of shootouts, over the top acting and some weird and unintentional funny moments. All those elements add up to a light and fun watch in which the actors seem to be doing their best with very little to work on but still having a fun time doing it.
