🎬 Film · French

City on Fire (1979)

Name: City on Fire
Director: Alvin Rakoff
Genre: thriller film, disaster film, action film
Released: 1979
Duration: 105 min
Cast: Hilary Labow

⏱ 105 min thriller film disaster film action film

Plot

1979 film directed by Alvin Rakoff

✍️ CinePearl Editorial AI-generated by Groq / Llama 3.3 · CC0 data

Why Watch This

Alvin Rakoff’s “City on Fire” delivers a gritty, street‑level disaster thriller that blends relentless action with a simmering social commentary about urban neglect. The film’s practical fire effects and tight, claustrophobic set pieces keep the tension high from the opening blaze to the final rescue.

Best For

Action fans, Thriller enthusiasts, Classic disaster film lovers, 70s cinema fans, Fire drama fans

The CinePearl Take

Hilary Labow shines as a hard‑boiled fire marshal whose personal demons mirror the city’s inferno, delivering a performance that anchors the chaos. Rakoff’s direction balances frantic set‑piece choreography with moments of quiet character study, preventing the spectacle from feeling hollow. While the pacing occasionally stalls for exposition, the film’s gritty realism and unflinching look at bureaucratic failure make it a compelling artifact of late‑70s disaster cinema.