Guia Fort - Now and Then

The last comparison images from my brief sojourn in July into Macau is from Guia Fort. One of the best value things to do is to ride up Guia hill in the little cable car. It's dirt cheap and is a welcome relief from the summer heat (it was sweltering when we were there). Make sure you check out the small tunnels under the fort as well. The comprison shots I'm using here are from Challenge of the Tiger, filmed in 1982.

This is the front of the chapel

One of the buildings below the lighthouse

Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - Olympic Bridge, Causeway Bay

Prompted by the recent news of Chuck Norris' passing, long time supporter of the blog, AP, asked me if I had ever managed to locate the place where the neon sign backlit fight scene took place during Forced Vengeance. The scene is played over the opening credits but is also part of the main story later in the film as Josh (Norris) and his two female companions are desperately trying to escape the bad guys.

I must admit I hadn't actually given it any thought at the time (back in 2014 when I first covered the film, I just assumed it was a studio set up), but a brief look at the scene has made it quite clear to me that it was filmed on what is known locally as "Olympic Bridge" in Causeway Bay. The footbridge spans Irving Street and Leighton Road and has, on the face of each step, a Summer Olympic games location followed by the year it was held. If you want to know why this was done you can read this Govt press release from 2002.

Anyway back in 1981, we see Norris and co running down Yee Wo Street towards the bridge, and then, as they walk up the bridge they are obstructed by one of the bad guys and the following fight scene is silhouetted by the bright neon Vitasoy advert on the building behind.

The neon sign was hanging on the building that used to stand right on the corner where the Causeway Bay Tram terminus loops around. It looks like the sign covered the front of #90 Yee Wo Street which has long since been replaced by the Regal Hong Kong Hotel. I haven't been able to find any 80s era images of the Vitasoy signage, but earlier versions appear to have existed since (at least) the 1960s. You can see an earlier version on this Gwulo image - it's behind the tram on the left.

Anyway, RIP to Chuck Norris.

The bridge seen from Yee Wo Street

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Sirmio, Tai Po

This location, Sirmio, on its own was one of the main reason I wanted to include this film on the blog.

One of three "castles" built by Eu Tong Sen in the pre-war period, this schloss-style mansion was located on the north shore of Tolo Harbour and caused a bit of a mystery for us on Gwulo/Batgung (can't remember which) back in the day. We eventually tracked it down to a headland now occupied by a large housing development called "Fortune Garden", just off Ting Kok Road. As you can see from the screencaps below, the building was on its last legs by the time this film was shot there and another of Hong Kong's grand mansions soon bit the dust and disappeared. Thankfully, there are some nice photos from the 1960s over at Gwulo and we have films like this to save it for posterity. Incidentally, there is one remaining artifact from the property that is still intact and it's a pagoda located on the headland above the water of the harbour. I have no idea if it has been integrated into the current housing estate or whether it can be reached from the beach. If anyone knows, please feel to comment.

Anyway, Sirmio is the location where Yuen goes to confront his boss only to be followed by both Vickie and the Yuen's crazy former Vietnamese army colleague, Kam, who wants to take revenge for Yuen abandoning him to the North Vietnamese back during the war.

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong

As Vickie and her cameraman do some more investigation into the mysterious goings-on at the film company, they install themselves on a nearby rooftop to do some reconnaissance with their binoculars. The location was a building located at 367 Kwun Tong Road looking towards Ngau Tau Kok MTR station. The area has changed, as you would expect, and the building they are on has been replaced by a residential building called the Lai Yue Building. Having said that, the large industrial building in the first image (it looks like two buildings because of the different facades) is still around. It's the Meyer Industrial Building - owned by the famous cookware company. The second image shows Ngau Tau Kok MTR station.

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Devil's Peak

Yuen's former comrade, Kam (Philip Chen), has been tasked to kill him and lures Yuen to the old battery on Devil's Peak in an attempt to carry out the hit. However, Yuen is savvy and rocks up to the meet with a handgrenade which kills Kam's sidekick, but allows Kam to escape. The textured concrete surface in the images below is the concrete sides of Gough Battery (built in 1913).

The view back towards Devil's Peak

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon

After Yuen is set up on the film set and injured during the stunt he was performing, he is taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment.

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Radio Television Hong Kong, Broadcast Drive

The studio where Vickie Lee (Rosamund Kwan) works is the RTHK building on Broadcast Drive, recognisable because of its vertically striped facade. I have had the privelege of being inside the building a couple of years ago when I appeared on Annemarie Evans' "Hong Kong Heritage" program doing a chat about the various film appearances of the recently deceased Jumbo Restaurant (see this post). It's also here where Yuen turns up on a motorbike to give Vickie a lift home.

Looking up Broadcast Drive towards Lung Cheung Court (Block 15)

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Former Austin Hotel

Another of Yuen's hits is on a guy staying at, what was, the Austin Hotel. Unfortunately, the building has long gone and been replaced by the Surson Commercial Building at 140 Austin Road. As the police and reporters turn up we can see a couple of familiar landmarks including the former curved facade of 148 Austin Road, as well as the Kowloon Bowling Green Club on the other side of the road. I'm not sure when the hotel was demolished, but its replacement mentioned above was opened in 1993, so it wouldn't surprise me if the hotel building was still around circa 1990.

This is the alley between the hotel and
neighbouring Golden Gate Commercial Bldg

Former 148 Austin Road in the background (now demolished sadly)

Kowloon Bowling Green Club on the right

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - former Kowloon District Police Headquarters

Police districts are divided differently these days but back in 1982, the Kowloon District Police HQ was located in the building now known as Kowloon West Regional Police Headquarters - at the Kowloon City end of Argyle Street. The building has had a little change to the entrance, but otherwise looks more or less the same. This is where the police investigating the murders being committed by Yuen are based.

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Dragon Garden, Tsuen Wan

Yuan's boss takes his own orders from an even higher bossman who lives at Dragon Garden in Tsuen Wan. This place is no stranger to this blog as it has been featured in multiple films and TV shows, although most people only know it from The Man with the Golden Gun (here's the full list so far). It's currently leased to a religious educational institute.

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - Kowloon Public Mortuary, Hung Hom

This is the location the body of the murdered man is taken following the assassination at the Govt Offices. The mortuary is still around but has been superseded by a larger facility at Kwai Chung and is now used only for backup. It's tucked down a side street in amongst the various funeral parlour businesses in Hung Hom. We were very close to this location several years ago for Infernal Affairs.

The Head Hunter - Chow Yun Fat (1982) - French Mission Building, Central

Next up is The Head Hunter, a 1982 Seasonal production starring Chow Yun Fat as Yuen Lik, a Vietnamese refugee in Hong Kong who earns his keep by carrying out assassinations for a corrupt film producer (Tang Ching). He goes about doing his bosses bidding until he falls for a local TV journalist (Rosamund Kwan) who is investigating a string of mysterious deaths.

I first saw this film when it was included on the "Millcreek Entertainment 100 Greatest Martial Arts Classics" collection. The print was fairly poor so I never really watched it with much concentration and only recently, after realising one of the filming locations was of significant interest to me, gave it another go via a copy uploaded to the Internet Archive. The quality was just as poor, as you'll see by the screencaps, but the story is quite good and anything with Chow Yun Fat is always worth a watch.

The film starts with an assassination by one of Yuen's friends/compatriots, but the assassin is killed afterwards by the police and Yuen believes his friend let himself get caught deliberately to escape his similar predicament. This scene was shot in the area located between the old Govt Office Main Wing, St John's Cathedral and the French Missionary Building (formerly used as the  Court of Final Appeal). That's the French Missionary building on the right of the top image. I have no idea if the cannon is still at the top of the steps that leads up the the old Govt office building.

I believe the lower image was shot in front of the East Wing section of the building, but happy to be corrected. The buildings are now part of the Justice Department.