Movie:
City War is the English title for Sing Si Jin Jaang, which was originally released in 1988. The film is directed by Sun Chung and stars Ti Lung (Ken) and Chow Yun Fat (Dick).

Ken is a veteran police officer whose past comes back to haunt him when Ted, a criminal he arrested and sent to jail ten years ago, gets released. Dick, his friend and expert police negotiator, tries to make peace between Ken and Ted, though to no avail. Ted is set on getting revenge, and hires some local thugs to take out Ken and his family. But when things don't work out quite as planned, Ken and Dick pursue Ted, determined to make him pay for his crimes.

City War is a film I hadn't seen before, but as a big fan of Chow Yun Fat, I was eagerly awaiting the chance to view another of his films. City War is more of a drama than an action movie; in fact, all the action takes place in the last half hour. Action fans shouldn't be disappointed though, as the climatic shoot-out in the bus terminal is quite good. The film is slightly slow in the beginning, as the first thirty or so minutes are spent establishing Ken and Dick's characters and their relationship with each other. After that, the film introduces Ted, and the film gets more interesting. Yun Fat's character in City War is more of a 'rascal' in this film than his others, though due to circumstances in the film, he does become more of a killer as the film progresses. Lung is also quite good in the film, and the two share a great chemistry that really lets the film work as well as it does.

Picture:
City War is presented in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. The transfer has its fair share of print defects, though compared to some Hong Kong DVDs, its quite good. Marks, specks, lines, and some light grain all appear throughout the film, though some scenes contain very few flaws. The transfer does appear a bit soft as well. Colors vary from natural to slightly muted during the course of the film, and in a few darker scenes, there was some color bleeding, most notably with the blues and reds. Flesh tones are mostly accurate throughout, though the blacks are slightly too light.

Sound:
City War is presented in a remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 track in both Cantonese and Mandarin. The 5.1 track is mainly center channel based, with the surrounds used mostly for ambient noise and the score. There is some directionality in the track, though it is fairly limited. The English subtitles are mostly understandable, but they contain some bad grammar, and two passages in the film written in Chinese are not translated. Also included are optional subtitles in Chinese (Traditional & Simplified), Korean, Japanese, Bahasa (Indonesian and Malaysian), Thai, and Vietnamese.

Extras:
Extras include a short bio and a film listing for Lung and Yun Fat, along with trailers for this film and The Postman Strikes Back.

Summary:
City War is a decent dramatic action film that fans of Chow Yun Fat or Ti Lung should enjoy, though I recommend checking it out as a rental first, as the film does have some slow moments. Rent it.