Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Lugard Road, The Peak

I wonder if the owners of #25 Lugard Road are aware of how many times their property has been featured on various movies and TV shows? The fact is that the property's location and visibility from various points around the Peak make it an easy shot to capture.

In Night Watch, it is the house of the millionaire art collector who has got himself involved with the naughty North Koreans. There are a couple of shots of the place, but both taken from the same angle - probably the Umbrella Seat area on Mt Austin Road. You can see the West Kowloon reclamation going in the the distance.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Plantation Road, The Peak

Just prior to a major gun battle with some local gangsters we see the film's main characters (played by Robert Patrick, the awesome Brion James and Tim Thomerson) driving a land rover along a small tree lined lane towards their house on the Peak. The subsequent gun battle that takes place was probably filmed in the Philippines (it's listed in the credits as another filming location) because there is a not-so-subtle switch in the vehicle's registration plate and the location background doesn't look like HK anyway. However, the lead up is most definitely in HK, it's Plantation Road just below the Lion Pavilion at the Peak and the following pan across to the house features what looks to be #25 & #26 Lugard Road.

Plantation Road

Houses (#25 & #26) on Lugard Road

Soldier, Soldier - Robson Green (1992) - Mount Austin Road, The Peak

Once again we find ourselves at the small junction where Mt Austin Road meets a small names road that connects to Lugard Road in front of the so-called 'Umbrella Seat'. It's a popular spot on this blog, though that's not surprising given the open view it offers of the harbour and beyond (assuming there's no smog of course).

The house in the background is #25 Lugard Road (aka Bishop's Lodge). It must be one of the most photographed private buildings in HK by default. There's also a nice panning shot taking in the view, but I've merged it into the panorama below rather than chuck up several separate screen grabs. It's hard to tell if the yellow colour is from the quality of the film print or whether it's pollution. But, in all honesty, the view is a lot clearer than most days during the winter time.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Mount Austin Road, The Peak

More specifically the area around the famous and rather antique "Umbrella Seat" that sits at the junction of Mt Austin Road and the nameless path that connects it to Lugard Road down the slope. The cops are following the so-called Middleman and follow him here from the vehicular ferry pier (because its just a short walk away, right...?). The first shots esatablish the location bu giving us a nice (although a bit hazy even for 1989) view over the harbour starting with a side view of #25 Lugard Road (see first pic below).

A familiar view to anyone who has been up to the Peak, but vastly different from the current view due to the addition of many new buildings - too many to list.

We get to look down the nameless path that connects Mt Austin Rd with Lugard Rd.

Those last two shots show the so-called Umbrella Seat with its great view over the harbour. According to comments over on Gwulo (see earlier link), this 1989 version of the seat was actually erected in the 1920's. The roof was changed at some point to a slatted version before the original was restored - perhaps because the people responsible (don't ask me who it would be, HK Govt is notoriously filled with Depts and sub-Depts that spend all their useful time passing the buck around themselves, no one ever willing to take responsibility for anything) realised its provenance?

Here's how it looks today courtesy of Streetview. Note the roof seen in 1989 is back in place following its short vacation sometime in the 00's. Or perhaps it is just an identical replacement? Who knows...?

The final shot shows us looking back down Mt Austin Road as the Middleman is not-too-subtly followed back. There isn't much of a wide angle in the screencap, but you can see from the Streetview that the garden on the right has had a bit of a revamp. We've also lost a lot of trees in the background - I'll assume that happened when they built the houses on the left - part of The Mount Austin development.