Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - View from Tsim Sha Tsui...or not

A final post from Skyscraper I think before I move on to the next movie. This one is a bit of a mish-mash though with what appears to be a non-HK shot of a helicopter coming into land, combined with a real shot of Harbour City in the back left, plus the fake CGI building middle background and then with another real shot of Hong Kong Island as the far background.

However, although the two bits of Hong Kong that can be seen appear to be real, there is no way you can see that bit of HK Island from this part of TST looking in that direction. So I guess the film makers have just used two different shots and combined them to form the background environment with the CGI skyscraper slapped between them to hide the join :) 

Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - Central Ferry Piers, Hong Kong

The early scene when Johnson crosses the harbour on the "Victoria Ferry Company" (I guess the Star Ferry didn't want their name used) is a mixture of on-location footage and studio based ones. So for instance the ferry approaching the TST pier is obviously real. However, the follow up shot of the actors on the boat looks to me like a set. The ferry replica is good but the riveted windows are not the same as the real things which are inset into the frame and can be slid up and down.

Anyway, what follows after that is - what I think might be - the only shot from the whole film that features Dwayne Johnson physically on location in Hong Kong.

Finally, as the ferry comes into dock, we get a couple of real shots edited together with a not-so-great replica ferry pier for the close ups. So the first two, are obviously the real pier.

Real ^

Fake ^

Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - Central. Hong Kong

During the opening sequence, there is a couple of aerial views across the densely packed streets of Central District. In the top image it's a bit of a jumble, but the second one (showing the area that is in the top part of the first image) is much easier to identify. Staunton Street is running from bottom left to top right and the green area centre right is actually the old Police Married Quarters on Aberdeen Street (it's now an art "hub" called PMQ).

Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

There was a bit of a kerfuffle last year when Dwayne Johnson and co-stars were in town to promote Skyscraper. The film is centered around the world's tallest building, standing on the TST waterfront, which is subsequently overrun by terrorists whilst Johnson's movie family are trapped inside. Although there is a significant amount of footage of Hong Kong used in the film it looks as though, in terms of the actors being on the ground filming, I can only spot a single scene.

Most of the HK footage involves the not-very-convincing CGI skyscraper being stuck into what appears to be drone footage taken from various angles. This is the third film to "CGI" a building onto the HK landscape. The first was Largo Winch (2008) which, in my opinion, did a much better job. The second was Push (2008) which had a problem deciding where their building should be for continuity purposes, and now this one. You can judge for yourself from the various shots of the harbour where the building has been crow-barred in.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Ngong Ping Village, Lantau Island

In the last post from Strangers (well, there are a couple of key locations that I haven't been able to find yet), the final Hong Kong scene in the last episode (Episode 8) was filmed at Ngong Ping village on Lantau. Obviously the first image is part of the Po Lin Monastery complex. The second image is where the scene was shot and is a small ornamental circular viewing point near to the cable car station.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Sham Tseng Sewage Treatment Works, Tsuen Wan

We get a much better view of the area in front of the "Kowloon Remand Centre" in Episode 8. Jonah goes there to visit the person responsible for all the murders and then meets up with Lau who wants to hang out until Jonah catches his flight back to the UK later that evening.

The area they are looking out to in the bottom image is the strip of sea between Lantau Island and the New Territories mainland (off screen to the right). Usually you would expect to see a plane preparing to land at the airport in the distance (approaching from the east) but I guess they timed the shot to avoid them.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, Sai Ying Pun

As just mentioned, although we are initially given a shot of Victoria park, the actual dialogue scene was filmed a couple of miles away at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun. This includes the meeting between Cohen and his wife as well as the subsequent meeting between Cohen and Jonah.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Victoria Park, Wanchai

The scene where Michael Cohen (the journalist) meets his ex-wife to strike a deal over child custody starts off with an establishing shot of Victoria park. You can see Central Library in the background. This is a bit strange because the actual meeting occurs elsewhere.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Luk Ming Street, Ma Tau Kok

Just a very short walk from the Freder Centre (the original police station location), in fact directly opposite, is a small estate of 12 tenement blocks built between 1959 - 61. I'm not sure if the estate has a name but each block is separated from the next one by a small street. In this scene when Jonah is on the phone to his sister back in the UK, he is walking down one of these streets - Luk Ming Street. The low red roofed buildings behind him are the Cattle Depot Artists Village buildings.

The next part of the sequence shows him sitting at a cafe at the eastern end of the estate along Ma Tau Kok Road. Just behind Jonah's back is Hok Ling Street.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Siu Lang Shui Road, Tuen Mun

Well, it seems that what goes around comes around and for this first location on the eighth and last episode we have returned back to a location not seen since episode 1. This is Siu Lang Shui Road in Tuen Mun and is the same place where Jonah and David's wife was killed in the first episode.

I suspect it was all shot in one day as this isn't the most convenient place to get to. Anyway, following their run in with the gunman, Jonah and Lau escape in the car and stop off to take in what has just happened. The large structure behind the trees on the right is one of the circular water tanks seen in the aerial shot of the episode 1 post I just linked to. The structure poking up behind the hill in the background is one of the chimneys of the Castle Peak Power Station.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - H.K.W.W Yuen Long R.G Filters Building, Yuen Long

The venue where Lau is taken by her kidnappers is an old Hong Kong Water Works facility on the Tuen Mun/Yuen Long district border. For some reason the "Yuen Long R.G. Filter" is no longer on the Film Services website despite their photos of it popping up when you do a Google search. Perhaps they have decided to rebuild it and so it is no longer available? Anyway, it looks like the interior was also filmed on location.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Container Port Road South, Stonecutter Island

After Lau has been kidnapped, her kidnapper is stopped by the police because his rear light is broken. Funny thing is though that this place is a dead end. This is the service road that runs underneath Stonecutters Bridge (you can see the bridge at the top of the image) and the car has basically just driven from the dead end by the sea wall when it is stopped. You can see where the road ends behind the car as it is turning. In the second image you can see how close this place is to one of the container terminals.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Hoi Chak Street, Quarry Bay

Jonah follows Sally when she leaves her hotel and spots who she is meeting up with along Hoi Chak Street in Quarry Bay. You can just see the square columns of the Kerry Centre in the back left of the second image.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Under Bridge Spicy Crab, Wanchai

At the start of Episode 7, the story moves to Mr Xo (played by Kenneth Tsang) who is the favourite candidate for the upcoming Chief Executive "election". Actually, the predetermined nature of the election is even hinted at by one of the characters later in the episode - so much like the real election charade that is undertaken in the real Hong Kong.

We see him eating dinner with his family at a place called Under Bridge Spicy Crab. It's a real place and looks like it has 3 closely clustered premises around Canal Road in Wanchai. The one on film is the one at 421-425 Lockhart Road.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - The High Court, Central

The High Court in Central gets a brief appearance because one of the characters, Michael Cohen, the investigative journalist (played by Anthony Hayes), is in a tussle with his ex-wife over custody of their child. This shot looks like it was snapped sneakily from the fountain in the nearby Hong Kong Park.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Peel Street, Central

In another one of those travelogue style establishing shots, we get a rather nice view down one of Hong Kong's many steep streets. This one is Peel Street. The large building in the background in The Centre.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - View from Shing Fung Road, Kowloon Bay

Here's an interesting view from a part of Kowloon that hasn't really been used before - largely because the area was left untouched for many years after the closure of Kai Tak Airport. It's only in the last few years that development has started and access to the general public has started again. This is the view looking towards the northern part of Kowloon from the Shing Fung Road where it crosses a bridge across the Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter. In the image, the section of coastline on the left is northern edge (at least part of) of the old Kai Tak runway.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Diamond Hill Columbarium, Po Kong Village Road

Jonah finally meets up with the investigative journalist who is probing around his wife's death. They meet, quite aptly, at the Diamond Hill Columbarium (an urn cemetery where cremated remains are kept in wall niches). This particular one is fairly new (built in 2008) but lo-and-behold it is one of the places offered via what was the Hong Kong Film Services Office, but has since been renamed the Film Promotion and Facilition Section of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency. Yes,that is definitely much catchier and easier to say than "FSO". Here's the updated link.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Lai Tak Estate, Tai Hang

In what appears to be another bit of inspiration from Ghosts in the Shell, the dynamic duo head to Lai Tak Tsuen to find out who is behind the shell company that paid their wife a bunch of money.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Sham Tseng Sewage Treatment Works, Tsuen Wan

The "Kowloon Remand Centre" where the Triad is sent after being caught by the cops wasn't anything of the sort but in fact one of the Drainage Service Department's treatment works. This particular one is in Sham Tseng - located about midway between Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun - an area famous in the past for its roast goose restaurants. This place is right down on the waterfront.