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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/island_of_fire_11c66976_5cf8_4724_87de_33b2c6eaeec_resize_750_9.jpg]]
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3''Island Of Fire'' is a 1990 Hong Kong prison film with an EnsembleCast including Creator/JackieChan, Creator/SammoHung, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TonyLeungKaFai, Creator/JimmyWangYu, and directed by Taiwanese director Creator/KevinChu who previously collaborated with Chan and Wang-yu in ''Film/FantasyMissionForce''.
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5When Andrew (Tony Leung Ka-fai) witnessed the murder of his father-in-law and the assassin responsible subsequently being killed by a car bomb, he realize a conspiracy is at large, and he can only find out the truth by going undercover in a high-security prison as a prisoner. There, Andrew meets a colourful cast of prisoners, including mob boss Uncle Lucas (Jimmy Wang Yu), and convicts Lee (Andy Lau), Da Chui (Jackie Chan) and Fatty (Sammo Hung), all whom are actually good men who ends up being screwed by the legal system and sentenced to jail for one reason or another. But as days in prisons drags into months, every prisoner soon enough becomes gradually stripped of their humanity and ends up becoming pawns of a bigger operation.
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7Mostly remembered by audiences to be that Jackie Chan movie which suddenly and inexplicably becomes a HeroicBloodshed in the last 15 minutes, where the final scene inexplicably have the main characters walking into the set of a John Woo film.
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10!!This film contains examples of:
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12* AccidentalMurder:
13** Da Chui's flashback involves him accidentally killing a punk when said punk whips out a pocket knife and tries stabbing him InTheBack, only for Da Chui to [[DeadlyDodging dodge aside]] and slam said punk into a door, causing the knife to end up in the punk's stomach.
14** Fatty's last escape attempt from the prison quarry ends with him hijacking a police cruiser and unintentionally running into - and killing - a prison guard.
15* BackToBackBadasses: Happens in the last 15 minutes, when the movie inexplicably enters John Woo / HeroicBloodshed territory, and [[spoiler: Andrew, Lee, Da Chui and Fatty are reduced to mindless killers and sent to assassinate a South-East Asian dictator]].
16* BarBrawl:
17** Andrew's attempts to have himself being sentenced to prison involves initiating a brawl against some punks in a bar.
18** One of these happens in Da Chui's flashback.
19* BarefootCaptives: The prisoners aren’t allowed shoes when indoors, although if they’re working outside they do have shoes.
20* BlackSite: The titular Island of Fire is the prison where the main characters are kept in, stripped of their humanity, [[spoiler: and reduced to simply expendable killing machines]].
21* ChekhovsGun: The CarBomb that kills the assassin in the opening scene, which Andrew remembers right in the final scene, where he immediately warns Lee, Da Chui and Fatty to not enter their getaway vehicle. [[spoiler: Sure enough, their vehicle suddenly explodes a few seconds before they can enter]].
22* CoolVersusAwesome: This is the only movie so far where audiences get to see Creator/JackieChan fight Creator/AndyLau.
23* CorruptTheCutie: Basically what happens to Andrew throughout the movie, after being sent to prison and, like all fellow prisoners, gradually stripped of his humanity.
24* CueTheBilliardShot: Featured in Da Chui’s flashback, where he is shown to be an exceptionally good pool player.
25* DestinationDefenestration: Well, this being a Jackie Chan movie, more than one extra ends up going through this. Da Chui’s flashback notably have him throwing bouncers and punks through glass windows and frames.
26* EndearinglyDorky: Andrew (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a nerdy, geeky and borderline dorky RidiculouslyAverageGuy, complete with NerdGlasses. Too bad spending time in prison, even for undercover purposes, can seriously screw up a person…
27* EnsembleCast
28* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: The entire main cast in the end – Andrew, Lee, Da Chui and Fatty are either killed onscreen or sentenced to be executed, only for the final scene to have them being shown alive… having been drafted into an assassination squad sent on a SuicideMission]].
29* FightClubbing: Among the various illegal activities in the prison, one of these is a fighting ring where prisoners can bet on outcomes of fights.
30* GunsAkimbo: Lee and Fatty, in the final shootout ripped from a John Woo flick.
31* HilariousOuttakes: In traditional Jackie Chan manner, one shows up in the credits of this film. It allows for audiences a serious breather after sitting through this entirely dark, gritty, and heavy-hearted film.
32* TheGamblingAddict: Basically, all the prisoners. One scene had an entire prison gang betting on the outcomes of a makeshift cardboard racetrack – between a cockroach, a mouse, and a gecko.
33* GenreShift: From a gritty prison movie to, roughly 15 minutes before the credits, a full-blown HeroicBloodshed flick that seems more fit for John Woo than Jackie Chan...
34* HappyFlashback: Most prisoners have some variations of this. Da Chui with his girlfriend, Fatty with his son, Lee with his brother. Too bad all those went to hell near the end of the film.
35* IHaveAFamily: Fatty is revealed to have a son who’s living with his wife, and he would regularly sneak out of prison to visit his child (despite being repeatedly flogged every time he gets re-captured).
36* LeaveNoWitnesses: The prisoners-turned-assassins' fate. Their getaway vehicles supplied by the syndicate they worked for are rigged with a CarBomb, making their assignments a SuicideMission.
37* OddballInTheSeries: For Jackie Chan’s fans, how many Jackie Chan movies do you get to see him dual-wield pistols, John Woo style, and take names in shootouts instead of fighting?
38* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: The prison here has its own workout area and basketball court.
39* PrisonRiot: One inevitably happens near the end of the film, right before the ending scene, an its in this scene where Charlie gets killed.
40* ReflectiveEyes: A variation, in the final shootout Da Chui use his CoolShades to reveal a few mooks coming at him from a corner, before doing a LeapAndFire gunning down every mook.
41* RodentCellmates: Andrew "adopts" a mouse while imprisoned. [[spoiler: He ultimately loses his mind when the corrupt prison system, in order to break him, serves him lunch, rice with ''his'' dead mouse buried in it.]]
42* RuggedScar: Uncle Lucas have [[http://hkmdb.com/db/people/image_detail.mhtml?id=3317&image_id=107330&display_set=eng a really nasty looking one running across his face]], extending from his forehead to his cheek, but somehow without blinding his right eye.
43* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Andrew in the final shootout against the dictator’s army]].
44* TattooedCrook: Uncle Lucas, the imprisoned mafia kingpin (Jimmy Wang Yu in a guest role).
45* ThrowingYourGunAtTheEnemy: At one point in the finale, Lee points his pistol on an enemy soldier, pulls the trigger, and realize its empty. So instead he hurls his pistol as a distraction before leaping at his opponent using his legs to execute a NeckSnap.
46* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: In their last moments, Lee, Fatty and Da Chui are gunned down together by the dictator’s army after failing to escape the airport]].
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