'City on Fire' director Ringo Lam dies at 63

Los Angeles: Hong Kong-born filmmaker Ringo Lam, best known for directing influential crime film “City on Fire”, has died. He was 63.

According to Variety, Hong Kong media outlets reported that the director was found unresponsive in bed on Saturday by his wife.

The 1986 film “City on Fire”, which won many accolades, including best director at the Hong Kong Film Awards, was a major influence on Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs”.

Tarantino had told the Baltimore Sun that “City on Fire” was “a really cool movie. It influenced me a lot. I got some stuff from it.” 

Lam followed up the film with “Prison on Fire” and “School on Fire”.

The director worked on various international projects and frequently collaborated with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

They worked on films such as “Maximum Risk”, “In Hell” and “Replicant”.

“I’m deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Ringo Lam,” Van Damme posted on Twitter.

His final film was “Sky on Fire”.

Star of the film, Daniel Wu posted a tribute on Facebook, saying “A true maestro of film you will be dearly missed.