Superstar HK action filmmaker Ringo Lam has passed away. Director of such films as City on Fire (much of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs owes itself to this film), Twin Dragons, Sky On Fire, Touch & Go, Aces Go Places IV, Maximum Risk and so many more. He came up during the renaissance of kinetic 80’s gunplay movies like the works of his contemporary John Woo.

In regards to marital arts, he had directed Sammo Hung in Touch & Go, and was part of the group of directors who helmed Jackie Chan in Twin Dragons, and his final film was with Daniel Wu in Sky On Fire, and he had directed Jean Claude Van Damme in a few films, one of which was his last Hollywood A-list film in Maximum Risk, and JCVD in b-movies like In Hell and The Replicant.

Ringo Lam was a great action filmmaker who helped spring Hong Kong action cinema into the international mainstream in the 80’s and early 90’s. His work, particularly with Chow Yun Fat, still stands as some of action cinema’s best works…anywhere. He will be greatly missed.