Photo: May S. Young from Metro NYC, United States / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Ringo Lam is one of those Hong Kong New Wave directors I think deserves more credit outside cinephile circles. City on Fire alone earned him a kind of cult immortality once people connected its undercover-cop tension to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, and the heroic bloodshed films he made stand up to anyone working that genre in the late '80s. What strikes me is how grounded and gritty his crime stories feel compared to flashier contemporaries. He died in 2018, and I get the sense his influence still hasn't been fully measured. A filmmaker worth revisiting if you only know the genre by reputation.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ringo Lam
- Name (Japanese)
- リンゴ・ラム
- Reading
- りんご・らむ
- Born
- December 8, 1955 – December 29, 2018
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Goat
- Origin
- British Hong Kong, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- film director / screenwriter / film producer / director / actor
2. Background
- University
- York University
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | City on Fire | — | |
| Notable work | Undeclared War | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Ringo Lam born?
December 8, 1955 – December 29, 2018.
Where is Ringo Lam from?
Ringo Lam is from British Hong Kong, United Kingdom.
What does Ringo Lam do?
Ringo Lam works as film director, screenwriter, film producer, director, actor.
What is Ringo Lam known for?
Notable works include City on Fire, Undeclared War.
Film director — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.