Thursday, November 13, 2014

Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - Dragon Inn, Tuen Mun

What was once a very popular stop off for people travelling around the New Territories via Castle Peak Road near Tuen Mun was turned into the "Lucky Dragon" casino for the benefit of our film. I first heard about the Dragon Inn (容龍別墅) when I read Martin Booth's Gweilo/Golden Boy memoir and you can check out some photos of it (including one sent by Booth's widow, Helen) on David Bellis' Gwulo site here.

The Inn seems to have been some sort of hotel and restaurant combo and was very popular with locals. It is still around, in name at least, and you can see the website here: http://www.dragoninn1939.com/en/dragon-inn-hk-home.html

However, despite occupying the same site, it is not the original building there anymore and the old one looks to have been replaced by a restaurant-only building in 1989.

In our film, we see the original version at various points throughout because the plot revolves heavily around the place and so the following screencaps are taken from various points in the film.


Sadly, Streetview doesn't go all the way up to the building - only to the main gate and so I can't really give you any proper comparisons because I have yet to go there. I don't have a pl;an of the old layout so can only make some guesses about the site. The top photo and the second from bottom show the road leading to the carpark. This road is still intact and recognisable despite the development that has gone on. So here is the modern comparison. There is a retaining wall on the left side of the road that can also be seen on the screencap. However, on the right hand side it has been completely redeveloped with a residential complex called Dragon Inn Court.


This makes me think that part of the old site was given up for redevelopment and the current Dragon Inn probably doesn't fit exactly where the old one was. You certainly can't look down the road, like Chuck is doing in the screen capture, from the current version of the Inn. The GoogleEarth view below shows you where the current building stands, and the road that goes up to it, and the angle on the portion of the road I just showed (which is about in line with where the tennis court is) means the old building probably sat more forward and left from where the current one is (perhaps where the bottom left of my red circle is drawn?). Well, this is just supposition based on the camera angles, I would need an older map (pre-1989) to confirm one way or another.

4 comments:

Andi said...

whoa nice on phil! some forced vengeance locations are also on my list for my next hk trip. especially the tai tam bay spot. cheers, andi

Phil said...

cheers Andi - the Tai Tam bay location (and old pump house) will be appearing in a couple of days. watch this space...

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil,

I have not been there for decades. But I have an impression that the restaurant had been relocated into the private housing estate but they kept the old building as a club house of sort.

T

Phil said...

really? That would be great if it's true. definitely a place to check out and perhaps the location for a future Gwulo meal - it has a michelin star after all...;-)

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