Gen Y Cops - Edison Chen (2000) - former Lok On Pai Desalination Plant

We were only here a few months ago for Hacker, but this location is used twice in this film. The first time (top two images) is the location of the underground fight club where the pair pick up Edison, and the second time (lower four images) we go back to this location is when the cops go and try to capture Kurt and his gang.

Gen Y Cops - Edison Chen (2000) - Lantau Link

Here's one I was going to do years ago and then just forgot about (because it's not very good) but seeing as Paul Rudd (aka Ant Man) is in the cast with some very dodgy blonde highlights (we used to call them "streaks" when I was at school), then perhaps now is the time to roll this one out. The story is a follow up to Gen X Cops minus Nicholas Tse and with Edison Chen brought in as a replacement. He's not someone you see in films anymore thanks to his indiscretion that led to the Edison Chen photo scandal back in 2008. It was all over the news at the time and ended (at least for a while) quite a few careers. 

Anyway, in this movie the intrepid cops Match (Stephen Fung), Alien (Sam Lee) and...erm...Edison (Chen) join forces to track down a hacker who has taken over an FBI robot. Rudd plays one of the FBI agents, along with Maggie Q, sent to Hong Kong to ensure its demonstration at the "Hong Kong International Exhibition of Police Technology" goes according to plan. Spoiler alert, it doesn't.

The film's Hong Kong story starts with Match and Alien driving along the Tsing Ma Bridge in a borrowed Ferrari, on their way to try and meet up with an undercover cop, Edison. The first image below was taken on the Tsing Ma bridge section of the Lantau Link (between Tsing Yi and Ma Wan), but the middle image is of the Kap Shui Mun bridge section between Ma Wan and Lantau Island. The lower image was actually filmed as the car goes back the other way across the Tsing Ma Bridge.

The Yellow Muffler - Betty Ting Pei (1972) - Former Fire Brigade Dock, Tsim Sha Tsui

The stone pier where Pai-hung (Betty TP) is supposed to stunt-double for an actress and leap into the water was filmed at the old L-shaped govt pier near the old Fire Station. This pier has been seen before on the blog when it doubled for Hankow (now known as Hankou) in The Sand Pebbles. The Yellow Muffler scene was filmed at the right-angled part of the pier that makes up the L-shape.

The north edge of the pier has been incorporated in to the West Kowloon Reclamation, and the lower part of the L-shape was removed/remodelled. I don't think this part of the waterfront is open to the public due to its proximity to the China ferry pier and also due to the Fire Brigade seemingly still using it for their fireboat, but this image on GoogleEarth shows you what remains of the old structure (the right angle L-shape section was removed and replaced by a less acutely angled section. Look carefully at the image I linked to and you can see the granite blocks (on the pier edge by the concrete hut) that formed part of the original structure. That also happens to be where the right angled section of the pier started. There's a small semi-circle of bricks by there that marks where the turn was.

The Yellow Muffler - Betty Ting Pei (1972) - Ocean Terminal

This is where the girls see off (and welcome back) their father and youngest sister as the latter make their way to Taiwan by ship. It's been a while since I visited this place but I believe the area where the filming took place still looks more or less the same.

The Yellow Muffler - Betty Ting Pei (1972) - Shaws Movietown, Clearwater Bay

Continuing my wholesale appropriation of all the Shaw movies being posted to Youtube by Celestial Pictures (reminder), the next one I am looking at is The Yellow Muffler starring Betty Ting Pei. Proof, if you ever needed it, that she really wasn't a very good actress at all and just appears to have got through her career by pouting and fluttering her eyelashes.

The story revolves around three sisters who want to break into showbusiness but are held back by their ageing father who also happens to have his own magic show at a nightclub. He gets sacked (basically because he's a bit crap) and decides to go to Taiwan for work and expects his daughters to go with him, but they refuse and eventually only the youngest goes with him. The other two try to make a break on their own but bomb and are eventually offered help to get into the movie business. The film was shot in 1971 and released in January 1972. It does use a couple of outdoor locations but for many scenes it's quite obviously somewhere inside the Movietown complex.

As well as filling in for other locations, Movietown also features itself because of the girls trying to break into the movie industry, but in the film it has become "Golden Crown Studios". See below for some not so convincing matte glass paintwork effects.

Anyway, as with my old post for The Lady Hermit, I've tried to identify a few of the places we see with where they were located within the studio lot (I will try and do this with the old GH studio as well at some point). So it's time to break out my crayons again. The base image I am using is a b&w aerial image from 1982 courtesy of HKMaps.hk. Click on the image for a closer view.

Click to zoom in

The first spot is just after the girls leave the cinema and are walking home. This was shot at point A. I'm not sure what the building was though.

The next image is the glass painting effect I referred to earlier. It shows the real Movietown in the bottom part of the image (the gate and driveway and Shaw House) but for a weird reason has covered up the various warehouses on the hill with fake ones. The close ups were obviously filmed at the main gate (point B).

This building below is located at Point C on the main aerial image. If anyone knows what it was used for please feel free to comment. Those circular vents were quite distinctive and have cropped up in many Shaw films over the years.

Next up is this shot taken from the north side of the plot (point D). Note the previously mentioned building with the circular vents can be seen centre right, just behind Irene Chen's head.

The final bit of Movietown is when the father returns and is given a tour of the studios. The first image shows the covered walkway next to building the building at point E. The group then turn left (marked by the red arrow) and walk alongside the circular vent building at point F. 

Anyway, that's all I could see for now. If anything else pops up I'll be sure to add it.

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Inter-Continental Plaza, East TST

The finale approaches as the three gangsters, armed with nothing but choppers, proceed to storm the rival gang's headquarters in Inter-Continental Plaza. This is one of the most brutal final battles I have ever seen with people just being chopped up left, right and centre. It's not for the faint-hearted. Suffice to say the outcome is pretty gruesome but absolutely is an understated classic and all props should be given to Wang Lung-wei for his direction. Let's hope this film gets a new release soon because it's a classic.

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Trio Beach Fishing Ground, Sai Kung

Following the utter decimation of their ranks, the three remaining gangsters: Mad Wei (Leung Kar-yan), Playboy Lung (Norman Tsui) and Sergeant Lam (Cheung Kuen) retreat to a hideout located in a fish cultivation farm next to Hebe Haven. On Google Maps it's marked as the Trio Beach Fishing Ground. You can see Trio Beach in the background left of the top image. The current farm isn't quite as extensive as the one you see on film.

Shelter Island in the background

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Science Museum Road, East Tsim Sha Tsui

The attack moves to the far eastern end of Granville Road as Playboy's girlfriend sees him in trouble and joins the affray in her car. The Harbour Crystal Centre can be seen on the extreme right. On the left is a space for what is now Concordia Plaza, but at the time was still a bus terminus (remember this?). The building on the left with the large block jutting out above the ground floor is Woodcliffe Court (I believe this is accommodation for CLP workers but I could be wrong - the Tsim Sha Tsui Electrical Substation occupies the lower floors) and beyond that is the aforementioned (see here) "Pak Sui Yuen" belonging to the Polytechnic.

Speaking of the Polytechnic, I believe the low-rise, odd-shaped building in the bottom two images was a temporary buiilding for the HK Polytechnic Dental Technology department. That spot is now occupied by the north end of the history museum.

It's interesting to note that Science Museum Road was named long before the actual science museum was built there.

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Granville Road, East TST

The attack on Playboy continues further along Granville Road. This section is at the end of the road next to the car park by Energy Plaza. In fact that's Energy Plaza in the background, although at the time (1985) I believe it was still going by its former name, "Great World Tower". The last image shows the view from the same place but looking towards the rear of Hilton Towers.

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Joy Coming Lounge, Granville Road

Following the funeral of Boss Han, Playboy goes to make peace with Rotten Chi at a bar he runs. The bar was a real place called "Joy Coming" and was located on the ground floor of the Harbour Crystal Centre on Granville Road. It's here where Rotten Chi's men attack him, despite him already being severely injured from the previous gang attack at the fruit market. The only mention I have found online about this club stems from a court case five years after this film was made, when a policeman confronted a knife wielding gangster who was chasing passersby - quite apt considering this scene in the film - and was apprehended after he went into the bar (read all about it here). There's a reason why many triad films in HK use East TST as a base location...it is full of triad run and protected businesses.

The English name of the bar is a play on the Cantonese pronunciation as the first two words of the Chinese name are 醉琴 (pronounced "joy kam") where "joy" (醉) is the word for being drunk. The Cantonese love their puns.

I have no idea when the place closed down but it was a long time ago. The current space is occupied by a vets/animal hospital.

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Cape Collinson Crematorium, Tai Tam Gap

Following the assassination of Han during the chaos of the previous attack, Boss Han is cremated at the Cape Collinson Crematorium. The area where the filming took place has since been redeveloped into a much bigger complex and nothing we see on screen remains.

Coincidentally (or not, seeing as there is only about 5 authorised crematoriums in HK) this is the location of Sir Run Run Shaw's cremation in 2014 (this is a Shaw film in case you weren't aware).