Angel Force - Moon Lee (1991) - Starfish Bay, Ma On Shan

The wayward General gun runner runs his operation from a nice beach in Burma somewhere. Except in reality it's just Starfish Bay (at low tide) in Ma On Shan. Any kung fu fans worth their salt will know this place from countless 70s era movies. I've only covered one other movie that was filmed here so far - Snake in the Eagle's Shadow - but I am sure many more will be included in the future.

Angel Force - Moon Lee (1991) - American Consulate, Garden Road

The local police are meeting with someone at the American Consulate in order to plan their excursion into Burma to capture the renegade general (Wang Lung-wei). Quite why normal HK cops are allowed to put together a team of jungle-hardened commandos to do an extra-judicial mission is quite beyond me, but this is 90s HK action films so the plot doesn't have to be believable.

This shot shows the consulate prior to it having a significant facelift (and security enhancement). I think by the time I first visited Hong Kong in 1995 the consulate was already looking like the concrete bunker of its current form, so I guess the renovation happened sometime between 91 and 95.

Angel Force - Moon Lee (1991) - Queensway Government Offices, Central

The expedition overseas is being coordinated by the Police top brass, but the establishing shot for their meetings is the Queensway Govt Offices. The view in the image shows the building view from Queensway (actually, more probably Tamar Street with that angle) with Two Pacific Place (where the Island Shangri-La Hotel is located) in the background to the left. You may recall this building being used for some night timeshots for I Come With the Rain.

Angel Force - Moon Lee (1991) - Kong Pui Street, Shatin

We stay in the same general area for this next shot which was taken on Kong Pui Street with Apex Garden on the left, the red-trimmed Lai Shing Garden mid-distance and part of Sha Kok Estate in the far background.

Angel Force - Moon Lee (1991) - Yuen Chau Kok Road, Shatin

Next up is Angel Force, a 1991 film starring Moon Lee as a cop who gets involved in an overseas operation to bring down an international arms dealer (played by Wang Lung Wei). Most of the film appears to have been shot in Thailand, but it's bookended by HK-shot scenes. The first of which is a parking garage fight with Shing Fui-on, for which the hunt for the location still goes on.

Anyway, after that scene, on the way back to base, the police cars drive along Yuen Chau Kok Road in Shatin next to the Regal Riverside Hotel. You can see the corner of the hotel on the far right in the second image (after the cars have passed the camera). At the back of he first image is the Lek Yuen Estate across the river, and up the hill is Greenwood Terrace.

The next few image were shot further up the road with the Prince of Wales Hospital in the far distance.

Sweet is Revenge - Yueh Hua (1967) - Pak Shek Au, Kwu Tung

Back to one of Shaw's favourite rural locations used for the final scenes of the film as Wang is led to a remote pavilion where David is waiting for her and they are reunited. If you've seen my other posts about this area you'll know a large section of it is now being turned into the "Northern Metropolis". Sadly, much of the area you see below had already been filled up over the years with small industrial plots and container storage, so it's been a while since it looked as empty as this.

You can compare these screen shots with others I have posted over the years.

Tai Shek Mo in the background

Sweet is Revenge - Yueh Hua (1967) - Castle Peak/Tsing Shan Firing Range, Tuen Mun

The location of the car heist, as Xiao Pao (Yueh Hau) robs Commander Zheng and then proceeds to pretend to rescue him by disguising himself as the wife's long lost uncle, was filmed in an area with quite unique topography for Hong Kong. These sharp and rocky hills covered (at least in the 1960s) in pines is the 'Castle Peak Hinterland'. It's a rough and rugged area that has long been established as a live firing range for the British Garrison and its use as such has been continued by the PLA.

Up until a few years ago the area was popular with hikers but the local garrison and security forces have, over the past few years, been far less generous in how much hiking it allows here and I have heard stories of people being turned back by soldiers at various points. That said, it does appear that the Govt/PLA do issue warnings prior to any live firing exercises.

These scenes for Sweet is Revenge were shot at the north eastern end of the range near Yuen Tau Shan.

Sweet is Revenge - Yueh Hua (1967) - Tai Yuen Fishing Village, Yuen Long

Here is a great example of how lucky a location find can sometimes be. Not so long ago, long time blog supporter, AP, sent me an image of Brandon and Shannon Lee taken somewhere believed to be in Hong Kong. It showed the pair as youngsters sitting in a tree next to what looks like an ornamental lake with some Chinese-style structures at the back. I won't post it here (it was a screenshot from Facebook) but after failing completely to identify where it was, AP had done some digging of his own and managed to identify it as an old HK-style "theme park" called Tai Yuen Fishing Village (泰園漁村).

This park was a popular local tourist attraction located just outside of Yuen Long, not too far from Nam Sang Wai area. I ended up creating a page on Gwulo for it and put in a link to a local blogger (Tere Wong) that had some more images of the place over the years. You can view that page here. Apparently it has been featured in quite a few films over the years.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, props to AP because he has inadvertantly helped me identify the Tai Yuen Fishing Village as the location for this next scene in Sweet is Revenge as the odious Ma (Chen Hung-lieh) harrasses Wang (Li Ching) and deliberately throws away the ring given to her by her (presumed) dead fiance, David (Fan Ho).

The park looks as though it made it through to at least the 1980s before the site was turned into a small industrial estate that now houses a Trappist Dairy warehouse/factory building.

Sweet is Revenge - Yueh Hua (1967) - Lung Ha Wan, Clearwater Bay

Continuing a look at some of the movies on the Celestial Youtube channel, here is another title, Sweet is Revenge, starring Yuen Hua as a sort of Robin Hood type character. The film also stars Ho Fan who most people would more likely recognise as a famed HK street photographer, but he also dabbled in acting in the 1960s as well as some serious directing later. In this film he plays an innocent doctor who is framed for a crime and sent to prison so a local General's son can move in on his fiancé. As with many Shaw productions, much of the film is shot on sound stages, but there are afew outdoor locations. The first one is the location of the prison where David (Fan Ho) is locked up.

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For this scene, it looks as though a facade was constructed at the headland of Lung Ha Wan, a.k.a Lobster Bay. This is the exact same spot today where the riding stables are located. In the top image you can see the slight slant of Lung Ha Wan Road mid-distance in the background.

In a scene a few minutes later, Ma (Chen Hung-Lieh) and Wang (Li Ching) are attending to David's gravesite on a hill. This was also filmed at Lung Ha Wan, on the slope of the hill that is now the kite flying area. Even though the stables don't quite extend this far, the slope is now completely overgrown and covered in vegetation. In the last image below, the view to the back is also now obscured by tree/bush growth. For anyone interested, in that last image, the area behind the two actors leads to this beach, and is the same location where Julius (Gabriele Tinti) gets a snake up the jacksy in Black Cobra Woman (see the last two images in that link).

T.N.T Jackson - Jeanne Bell (1974) - Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

So, now we know where the cinema was that Stan Shaw walks into. But how about the street scene shown just before he goes in? It's easy to think this was likely filmed outside the cinema featured in the establishing shot, but actually we have moved down to Tsim Sha Tsui. This shot was taken looking west along Peking Road. It's hard to see but just hidden at the back is the old lip-shaped neon sign for the Red Lips bar that was located on Lock Road. That's the road that can be seen on the right hand side. There are a couple of other signs that confirm the location but they are also a bit hard to see. It's worth noting that the traffic on this section of Peking Road now goes the other way (west).

T.N.T Jackson - Jeanne Bell (1974) - Hollywood Theatre, Mongkok

Staying with T.N.T Jackson, Rodney also identified a location I hadn't put up a screencap for but was looking for anyway. He's a mindreader!

This is the movie theatre that Stan Shaw supposedly goes into. The establishing shot used the exterior marquee of the Hollywood Theatre, located on the corner of Soy Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street South. So, actually right next to the previous post. I suspect, but can't confirm, that the cinema interior used in the film was actually one in the Philippines where much of this movie was shot. I say this because it looks far too big to have been a Hong Kong cinema and many of the extras appear to be Filipino rather than Chinese.

In what appears to be an informal convention in Hong Kong, the cinema's name is remembered by the building that replaced it - 'Hollywood Plaza'.

Again, here is Rodney's comment:

Right after the second screencap, Charlie (Stan Shaw) walks into the Hollywood Theatre on Sai Yeung Choi Street and Soy Street. The word "Soy" on the street sign attached to the exterior of the theatre is (barely) visible when the camera shows Charlie looking up at the billboard for the Shaw Brothers film 'The Golden Lotus'[金瓶雙艷].

IMDB does not list any filming dates, but 'The Golden Lotus' premiered in Hong Kong January 17 1974.

T.N.T Jackson - Jeanne Bell (1974) - Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mongkok

A big shout out to fellow location and old house nerd, Rodney, who identifed the next image for me as being on Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mongkok. Anyway, a big thanks to Rodney for the ID.

Here is Rodney's comment:

That was filmed in Mongkok...Sai Yeung Choi Street. 鳳如大茶樓 "Fung Yue Tea House" was located in the still-standing Wing Wah Building at No. 14-24. The restaurant space has been turned into Hollywood Shopping Centre.

As for the sign on the left, only the last word is visible, but it should have read 國際大酒樓 "International Restaurant". It was in the, likewise still-standing, Good Hope Building at 612-618 Nathan Road.

The sign that I found interesting is the horizontally mounted "江大飯店". Its first letter was obstructed, but it if it was 滬江, then the restaurant is still in 'bidness', as Jock and J.R. Ewing would say.

I have been to the current 滬江 in a basement shop on Peking Road across from iSquare. As far as I know, it has always been there, though the address reads 27-33 Nathan Road with the sole entrance on Peking Road. Earlier Google streetviews showed a different sign that still read 滬江大飯店 and noted it had been in bidness since 1984, but the current sign does not have the "大". Perhaps it was opened before 1984 and in a different location[?].

Karate from Shaolin Temple - Kazuma Kenji (1976) - Lung Cheung Road Pedestrian Bridge

Another random location that I recently found for this film was the rather distinctive railings that form the pedestrian bridge on Lung Cheung Road close to what is now Plaza Hollywood and Diamond Hill MTR station. The film was shot back when Tai Hom (this area) was still very much a squatter village and you can discern some of the huts at the back of the screen shots. In the background include some still-standing high rise blocks such as the Fung Wong Chuen Building and Fung Cheung Building over in Wong Tai Sin.

The bridge design is quite distinctive but in the 1970s the main road was about half the size it is now. Lung Cheung Road has since been widened to almost twice its original width and as a result the original footbridge had to be extended. They managed to replicate the same design for the newer (northern) half of the bridge. This film was made when only the original (southern) section was in place. If you want a rough comparison you can click on this GoogleEarth link. The marker at the bottom of the post keeps snapping to a location just north of the bridge.

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - The Governor's Walk, The Peak

The last post for this film, at least for the time being. By pure coincidence I was up here a few weeks ago on a bit of a day trip with my youngest and we took some comparison images for Yellow Emanuelle. Had I known I was going to see the same location in another film sequence I would have stuck around and taken more comparison pictures, but such is life.

This is where Lung goes to finally confront Red Scorpion (Steve Lee Ka-ting). By this time I had pretty much lost the plot and I believe part of this might be due to the fact it is several epsiodes edited together rather than one coherent story. Red Scorpion seems to be able to hypnotise people and he has done this to the lady from the airport in an attempt to get her to throw herself of the cliff. Lung to the rescue and arrives just in time.

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - Park Management Site Office, Mount Austin Road

Despite just being by the Peak Cafe, the very next shot shows the pair running past what is currently the site office for the park management staff who look after the area around the former Mountain Lodge. I was up here a couple of weeks ago and can confirm that getting up here from the upper Peak Tram Terminus involves at least a 20 minute steep, uphill walk that absolutely tired me out (granted, I am getting a bit old, but apparently still fitter than my 16 year old son).

The building is located next to the car park by the podium terrace of what is all that remains of the former Mountain Lodge (a pre-war property used by HK's Colonial Governors). Apparently the building was originally constructed as an office for staff who were responsible for the maintenance and operation of the nearby transmitter stations, but I guess the use of cars makes their need to be there 24/7 no longer a necessity.

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - The Peak

Lung manages to catch up with Red Scorpion next to the Peak Cafe and Peak Tower, before the latter scarpers and the foot chase begins again. The cafe still looks more or less the same, although I do believe you might need to remortgage your house to eat there now, however, the Peak Tower has been completely redeveloped from its former curved version to the so-called Terry Farrell designed "flying wok" that is currently there. 

Run away...

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - The Peak Tram

Following a fight in an unknown village (I haven't been able to identify it yet, some rural places are just impossible to find), Lung gives chase to "Red Scorpion" and follows him to the Peak Tram. We see a little bit of the inside of the lower terminus as well as some footage of the tram trundling uphill. Lung tries to follow but has to catch a cab to the top instead (and no doubt was forced to pay the illegal surcharge that lots of HK cabbies try to foist on unsuspecting tourists).

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - Lung Cheung Road Rest Garden

Lung and Interpol dude (Bruce Leung) are chased by the bad guys along Lung Cheung Road and pull over into an open space at the side of the road for a fight. Not to be confused with the nearby Lung Cheung Road Lookout, this large open space was the levelled-off part of a small hill that was later turned into Lung Cheung Road Rest Garden/sitting out area. The road has been widened a bit since then and the rest garden is small shadow of its former size and much of this former space is now taken up by the current outside lane of the westbound side.

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - Estrellita, Repulse Bay Road

The establishing shot for the house where Lung's friends live is the famed "Estrellita" on the higher levels of Repulse Bay Road. The building is quite old and was one of the first "hacienda" style private homes in Hong Kong according to the Gwulo page for it.

These days it's owned by Henry Cheng, the retired patriarch of the New World business empire that is currently undergoing some bad times so perhaps we will see it on sale again soon? It was in the news a few years ago because it was targeted by some obviously very unpatriotic burglars.

I don't think the closeups (not shown here) used the same property, so that's an ongoing search. Sadly, the picture quality doesn't provide me with quite enough information, but from what I can gather the interior and garden scenes were most likely shot elsewhere.

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - St Paul's Facade, Macau

It wouldn't be a proper trip to Macau without the old church facade being featured in at least one scene. This is after the fight with Purple Snake and the nefarious blow piped villain had adulterated his spiked tonfa with some sort of poison that has begun to affect Lung. Lung stumbles down the steps in front of the church.

The Fighting Dragon - Yasuaki Kurata (1975) - Monte Fort, Macau

Purple Snake is back with his blowdart as he tries again to take out Lung. This leads to yet more karate around the fort's scenic grounds.