Cinema City Company Limited

Background

Cinema City Company Limited was a major Hong Kong film studio founded by Raymond Wong, Karl Maka, and Dean Shek in 1970 as Warriors Films Company. It would change its name to Cinema City & Films Co. sometime around 1979, and would begin challenging other studios like Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers. The studio ran into some financial troubles around the early '90s, and attempts to fully revive it were unsuccessful, leaving some spin-off companies like Cinema City Enterprises/Cinema Capital Entertainment (by Karl Maka) and Cinema City Entertainment (by Dean Shek). Only Raymond Wong remained to continue making movies as Mandarin Films Limited since 1992 (later Pegasus Motion Pictures and Mandarin Motion Pictures).

Warriors Film Company

1st Logo (August 30, 1979)

Logo: On a black background, we see a man from afar. He does some backflips and gets close to the camera as he forms a big W. He holds onto it for the rest of the logo and the camera zooms away from him. The background turns red, and the text, "WARRIORS FILM CO.", forms. Black Chinese characters show up above the logo, and the man (who is in the upper-left corner), kicks down a ball which also forms, "presents". The logo cuts to black shortly afterward.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: A loud fanfare with drums and cymbals, with a gong closing the logo.

Availability: Very rare. This was only seen on their first film, Crazy Partner.

2nd Logo (February 14, 1980)

Logo: On a black background, a W is being drawn. Afterward, an outlined square draws out above the W, as yellow Chinese text appears below with the English name. The presents text shows up below as the logo ends.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: An action oriented theme as the W is drawn, and drums as the rest of the logo plays out.

Availability: Rare. This was only seen on their second film, Crazy Crooks.

Cinema City and Films Company/Cinema City Company Limited

1st Logo (December 24, 1980-January 30, 1986, 1987)

Logo: On a black background, a blue squarish C zooms out via light trailing effects, followed by a larger yellow C and an even larger red C, forming Cinema City's logo, which glows. A few seconds later, the logo disappears, and the text "CINEMA CITY & FILMS CO." in a blue '70s font with its Chinese name above it in red zooms out, turning the background yellow. "presents" flashes in below. The words remain on screen several seconds.

Closing Variant: A still closing variant was used on Happy Ghost and a trailer for Aces Go Places 3, both from 1984, and on a trailer for Prison on Fire in 1987. The endcap features a blue background with the Cinema City print logo (which is smaller and more rounded) in gold, a line of glare below it and over the glare is the slogan "新藝城出品觀眾有信心" in red, which roughly translates to "With a Cinema City production, the audience is faithful".

Technique: The zooming and light effects. For the closing variant, none.

Music/Sounds: A loud trumpet fanfare called "Fanfare Showcase No. 6", composed by Peter Reno and Jack Trombey, which was used in some other logos (like Jia's and Rainbow Audio and Video Incorporation).

Availability: Rare. Seen on Hong Kong films from the era. It is sometimes plastered by the Media Asia logo, or those of other companies on export versions, such as Atlas International. Also appears on HK theatrical trailers.

2nd Logo (1985-June 6, 1991)

Logo: On a red background, the pieces of the Cinema City logo, now in gold, zoom out and shine with a ping on the top left side, except for the largest C, which fades in. The logo shines three times, and a gold line appears below as some white Chinese characters are wiped in on it from left to right via a light beam. "CINEMA CITY & FILMS COMPANY" or "CINEMA CITY COMPANY LIMITED" appears below.

Variant: An early variant has the "CINEMA CITY COMPANY LIMITED" text on the gold line, appearing with the Chinese characters.

Technique: The pieces of the logo zooming out and shining; pretty good effects for 1986.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized fanfare with five ascending notes as each piece of the logo appears, ending with a drawn-out two-note fanfare. The early version has a synthesized version of the 1st logo's music.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Hong Kong films of the time. Sometimes is plastered by the Media Asia logo, or those of other companies on export versions, such as Atlas International. It is intact on Fortune Star's release of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, Anchor Bay's U.S. DVD of A Better Tomorrow II, and the Dimension release of City on Fire (surprisingly, after the Media Asia logo!). Also appears on HK theatrical trailers. The early version is very hard to find and was seen on Love, Lone Flower as well as The Family Strikes Back.