The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Park Lane Shoppers Boulevard, Tsim Sha Tsui

Next up is an oldie starring Sam Hui in what is apparently a version of Crying Freeman, although I haven't read the manga, so I can't comment as to how closly it follows the story. In this film, Sam Hui is "Yao", a Manchurian (i.e Northern Chinese) living in Moscow with his girlfriend and adopted family. The leader of the "800 Dragon" assassins sees Yao's potential as a killer and kidnaps him, brainwashes him and trains him as a deadly killer.

One of the odd things about this film is the leader of the 800 Dragons is played by Yuen Tak in a very odd prosthetic face and I wonder if it has anything to do with the initial scenes being filmed on location with Yuen Wah as the character, then perhaps not being able to complete the film once back in Hong Kong? It's very odd because Yuen Tak also turns up later, minus prosthetics, as Yao's equally capable killer assistant.

Anyway, the first scene involves a fight between the 800 Dragon head (Yuen Tak) and his mortal Japanese enemy, Mr Kushida (Lau Shun). It takes place in what looks like a modern temple setting but is actually a rudimentally disguised entrance to Kowloon Park on the Nathan Road side. The famous "fight not fight" hand sculpture (actually, it's called "Please") by sculptor, Van Lau, still located along the "Park Lane Shoppers Boulevard", figures as part of the scenery. I seem to recall it being a donation from the HK Rotary Club.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Yau Tong Estate

In our last post for this film, the pair go looking for Uncle Leung at his home in the old Yau Tong Estate. This one was quite difficult to find because it was redeveloped soon after the film was made and the whole area has undergone significant redevelopment/change as well.

Yau Tong Estate circa 1975

In the first image (below) we are looking at the slope between Block 4 and the main road (point A on map above). The vague pink colour between the trees was Block 1. 

The Japanese gang park their cars in the open storage area opposite the staircase (point B - this is the same area today) and then walk up the staircase towards a small garden located in front of Block 7. At the top of the staircase is a green sign with some Chinese writing on it. This is actually an advert for a local district councillor, Fan Wai-kwong (范偉光), who was a representative of East Yau Tong at the time, and was one of the clues that helped me narrow down the search area.

Sign for Mr Fan Wai-kwong (范偉光)

There was quite a bit of filming done in and around the estate which is impossible for me to narrow down with only aerial images and maps to reference, but the prominence of Block 7 means that at least we know that the stairs the gang are walking down is located at point C on my map above, and the section of Block 7 where Fu and Lo jump down from the railing is at Point D.

Walking down the steps (map point C)

Balcony jump (map point D)

The last image shows one of the bad guys with the area at Block 7 in the background where Lo and Fu jumped down onto the bins. So the actor was standing in the central entrance to Block 4. For modern reference, this particular part of the estate (it was a big estate with a total of 26 blocks) was turned into the Fukien Secondary School and Wah Tong House of the new Yau Tong Estate.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Riviera Ice Chalet, Tsuen Wan

The ice rink that Lo's daughter takes Fu to, to try and pick his brain, was the Riviera Ice Chalet located on 3/F of Riviera Plaza in Tsuen Wan. Sadly the place closed down circa 2012 and it looks like the whole mall was closed down the year after. The mall is attached to a large residential development (Riviera Gardens) and due to its difficult-to-reach location failed to attract anyone other than nearby residents. The structure is still there but apparently now empty. Although it seems that the mall owners are in talks with international schools about turning it into the Hong Kong branch of a western private fee-paying school. Time will tell. It seems though that since then it has appeared in a couple of movies including Donnie Yen's Raging Fire. Perhaps I will try and get a copy to see at some point.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay

After dropping off Fu at Po Kong Village Road, Lo's daughter then drops Lo off at Trademart Drive in Kowloon Bay. The large warehouse at the back is HSBC's Main Treasury building, although I have no idea what it is used for - perhaps storage of old/new currency and other valuables/archives etc? If you know, please feel free to post a comment.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Po Kong Village Road, Diamond Hill

Fu is dropped off by the side of a road by Lo's daughter (Gigi Leung). You can just make out the name "Po Kong Village" on the sign on the wall behind. This is Po Kong Village Road, although the place that is signposted is now known as simply Po Kong Village Road Sports Centre. This is a stone's throw from a rather elusive location someone (sadly anonymous) found for me a while back.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Tai Wai Joyful Town, Tai Wai

Previously known as 青龍水上樂園, and later as Tai Wai Joyful Town (大圍歡樂城), this place was still around when I made my first trip to Hong Kong in 1995. You could see the large wheel and waterslide from the KCR train as it passed by Tai Wai. Although I seem to remember that by 1995 the waterslide had closed and was left to rot. Anyway, the whole thing was eventually closed down to make way for the extension to Tai Wai Station that would encompass the newly built Ma On Shan Line (since joined to the West Rail and renamed the Tuen Ma Line). It now has a monstrosity called The Pavilia built above it.

This is the location where Lo takes Fu for his first proper "hit", but having inadvertantly befriended the target's young son, has second thoughts and ends up protecting the man he was supposed to kill. The buildings in the background of image 3 belong to Man Lai Court.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Bailey Street, Hung Hom

I didn't post this one when I should have because it was quite difficult to track down. Just after Fu loses his $5 coin and it rolls down the hill from the Tung Tai Supermarket, he manages to catch up with it just before a nearby beggar snags it for his collection tin. This was actually filmed all the way over in Kowloon on Bailey Street. The brown-tile building with the "Midland Realty" office in the background is the lower levels/podium of Bailey Garden. That's quite a roll for that little $5 coin. We were last in this vicinity about a year ago for The Big Game.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Lung Mun Restaurant, Johnston Road

This place was quite famous for its dim sum at one point. It even has its own entry over on Gwulo.com. I did actually make it here before it closed, on the recommendation of a friend, but spent the whole meal time dodging big flakees of mould that were falling down onto our table from the aircon overhead, and then the waiter tried to overcharge us for the food we had ordered. I guess they just gave zero effs once they knew they were closing down. The place closed at the end of 2009.  The building was subsequently knocked down and replaced by a high rise of serviced apartments called "Chi Residences". You can see the exterior of the old restaurant in this shot from Bloodsport.

In the film, this is where Lo takes Fu for some food while he tries to track down the mysterious "Uncle Leung". 

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Happy Court, Man Fuk Road

Lo's apartment is located in Happy Court in Homantin. Just around the corner from Bruce Lee's old apartment at Sunlight Garden in fact. I'm fairly certain the interior and exteriors were filmed at this location, although whichever apartment was being used has since been renovated and the stained glass juliet balcony windows and iron railings have been removed.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - P.K. Cafe, 93 Ma Tau Kok Road

Lo is keen to take on Fu as his gun-for-hire and takes him to a local cafe to test him out. He starts trouble by calling a obnoxious female patron a 八婆 (bak por - basically the Cantonese for "bitch") and then leaves Fu to sort out the mess he has just created. Funnily enough, PK (the name of the cafe) is also Cantonese shorthand for 仆街 (puk gaai), which literally means to "fall in the street" but also means "bastard" in Cantonese.

Anyway, it was a real place and its identification is a good example of how weird my memory can be sometimes. The iron window bars rang a bell in my head from years ago when I was looking up a Knock Off location and I remember visiting this location and seeing the same design. Lo-and-behold, this cafe was indeed the same place I remembered. Although it closed down many years ago and has since been renovated into a trendier, modern bar, the shop next door still appears to have the same window grills.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - New Lucky House, Yau Ma Tei

Fu is shacked up with a bunch of other killers-for-hire in what appears to be New Lucky House in Yau Ma Tei. At least that is where the "Hitton Inn" is still located today. This building was recently in the news because of several hundred fire compliance orders that had been ignored by the building's owners and the Buildings Department - and the inevitable fire occurred in April this year (2024), killing 5 people and injuring around 40.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Tung Tai Supermarket, Queen's Road West

We are first introduced to Fu (Jet Li) as he buys groceries from a local store and realises the cashier has short-changed him. The shop used for filming looks to be still around - quite an achievement given the current economic climate of Hong Kong - and is the Tung Tai Supermarket located at 428-432 Queen's Road West.

Hitman - Jet Li (1998) - Citic Tower, Central

Next up is a late 90s action comedy starring Jet Li and Eric Tsang and is directed by Stephen Tung Wai. It stars Jet as "Fu", a mainland Chinese immigrant trying to find his way in Hong Kong and getting mixed up in the after effects of the assassination of a nefarious Japanese businessman. Well aware he was a major target for killers, he set up a fund to be given to whoever can revenge his murder. Fu is a wannabe hitman with a heart of gold who just wants some money to build his mum a house back in China.

The film starts with the assassination by the "Killing Angel" - a do-gooder who offs horrible people for free because the world is generally a better place without them. The attack takes place at the Tsukamoto HQ in Hong Kong, the exterior for which is provided by the Citic Centre in Central.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - 13 Wiltshire Road, Kowloon Tsai

I can't vouch for the interior or backyard scenes, although I'm fairly confident it is the same place, but the exterior street shots for Andy's house were done at 13 Wiltshire Road in Kowloon Tsai. In this case the plot markers at the front wall were very helpful - NKIL 4106 and 4107 are just about visible between the two doors in the screencaps. Sadly, like many older houses (many dating from the early 1950s) in this estate, this one was redeveloped along with its neighbour (#11) into the aesthetically underwhelming but expensive "Wiltshire Place" - a cluster of 4 townhouses - circa 1998. I've included a couple of images of the backyard, just in case it is indeed the same place. Sadly I don't have a historical image of the property, but Gwulo does have an image of the street from 1967 courtesy of Mike Cussans.

Cynthia is running towards Oxford Road. The wall in the background hasn't changed.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Kai Tak Airport

The film features a couple of interesting take off/landing sequences at the old Kai Tak runway. These are used when the movie plot moves back and forth between Hong Kong and Greece.