The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - 13 Wiltshire Road, Kowloon Tsai

I can't vouch for the interior or backyard scenes, although I'm fairly confident it is the same place, but the exterior street shots for Andy's house were done at 13 Wiltshire Road in Kowloon Tsai. In this case the plot markers at the front wall were very helpful - NKIL 4106 and 4107 are just about visible between the two doors in the screencaps. Sadly, like many older houses (many dating from the early 1950s) in this estate, this one was redeveloped along with its neighbour (#11) into the aesthetically underwhelming but expensive "Wiltshire Place" - a cluster of 4 townhouses - circa 1998. I've included a couple of images of the backyard, just in case it is indeed the same place. Sadly I don't have a historical image of the property, but Gwulo does have an image of the street from 1967 courtesy of Mike Cussans.

Cynthia is running towards Oxford Road. The wall in the background hasn't changed.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Kai Tak Airport

The film features a couple of interesting take off/landing sequences at the old Kai Tak runway. These are used when the movie plot moves back and forth between Hong Kong and Greece.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Zung Fu Car Park Building, Hung Hom

After leaving the Police HQ, Andy and Winnie head to the carpark where they are cornered by Karov and his henchmen. This was filmed at the Zung Fu carpark building in Hung Hom. Zung Fu are the established local distribution firm for Mercedes Benz, so if you have a Merc in Hong Kong it will have been bought from and maintained by a Zung Fu distributor.

Anyway, the pair manage to escape by rappelling down the outside of the building. The apartment blocks in the background are part of the Whampoa Estate.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Girl Guide Headquarters, Gascoigne Road

Andy goes to find the younger sister of his friend who asked Andy to meet him in Greece. She is at a gymnastics class in town. Part of the exterior of this scene - particularly the part where Andy jumps from the balcony to rescue her from kidnappers - was filmed at the Girl Guides Headquarters in Homantin.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Oxford Road, Kowloon Tsai

The location of the school attended by Andy's nephew, Ban Ban, is located at the junction of Oxford Road and Ho Tung Road in Kowloon Tsai. I first tried finding this place according to the plot marker that you can see in the top image. However, it looks as though this plot number (NKIL 4539) was discontinued - most likely the plot was divided up, or joined with another, and assigned a new number. In the end I was guided by the distant image of Lion Rock in the background of image 2. 

The building on the site was/is a real school, although you don't really get to see much of it on film. We can see more of the brown building next door, which is the famous Maryknoll Convent School. I found out a few years ago that Terry McQueen (daughter of Steve McQueen and Neile Adams) attended that school whilst her dad was in Hong Kong filming The Sand Pebbles in 1966.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Belleview Drive, Repulse Bay

Our introduction to Andy's abilities comes when he and his buddy, Snooker (Wong Jing, also director) raid a criminal's house to obtain evidence from his voice activated safe. The house used, at least for the exterior - I have no way to confirm the interior - is located at #10 Belleview Road in Repulse Bay. Looking at Streetview, I think the house has been remodelled at some point. It still bears the same general shape but a few bits have been added over the years. The ornate gate for the neighbouring property leads to a famous property that Gwulo has a decent picture of here.

The Magic Crystal - Andy Lau (1986) - Former Marine Police HQ, Tsim Sha Tsui

Next film up is The Magic Crystal. The film stars Andy Lau (as...Andy!) and is about a mystery lump of jade with magical powers that falls into the possession of his nephew. As a result they are pursued around the globe - well, okay, between Greece and Hong Kong - by a powerful Russian gangster, Karov (Richard Norton). We have Cynthia Rothrock, Max Mok, Wong Jing, and Sharla Cheung in supporting roles.

The film opens with a view of the old Marine Police HQ shot from what is now a non-existent location - the former front area that was removed during the building's 'renovation'. It's now a boutique hotel and the area in front, part of the hill the building stands on, is now a void filled with former high-end jewelery stores, but many now empty (because that's what happens when you put all your eggs into the "high-spend mainland tourist" basket, and then they go elsewhere).

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Chai Wan North No.2 Fresh Water Service Reservoir, Chai Wan

The final grave scenes in the movie almost look as though they were shot on the roof of a building with some astroturf laid down, but it turns out that the grass is real and belongs to the Chai Wan North No.2 Fresh Water Service Reservoir which sits on the north slope of Sai Wan hill (the same hill that has the battery at the top and the not-so-long ago mentioned Lei Yue Mun Holiday Park). It's possibly a popular filming spot because it has its own entry on the film services office website.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Sunshine Kowloon Bay Cargo Centre, Kowloon Bay

The warehouse where Sam (Eric Tsang) does all his nefarious business appears to be one of the crime boss's biggest secrets and it's here where Lau Kin-ming (Andy Lau) puts his plan into action to free himself from his criminal past. The establishing shot for the warehouse uses the Sunshine Kowloon Bay Cargo Centre, with its distinctive spiral entry/exit ramp, but I am not so sure the interiors were filmed there - after finding some shots from the inside of the place, it doesn't appear to match.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Kowloon Bay MTR Station, Kowloon

As Anthony Wong heads out for his clandestine meeting with Tong Leung, he is followed to Kowloon Bay MTR station by one of the internal affairs detectives who has been tasked to find out where he is heading.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Former Government Building, Prince Edward Road East

I mentioned that the internal police station scenes, at least those of Andy Lau's office, were filmed somewhere other than Ngau Tau Kok Police Station. The building, whose name and purpose I have yet to discover, was located where "The Latitude" (a residential development) now stands at the corner of Prince Edward Road East and Choi Hung Road. All I know is that it was a Government building and was most likely vacated for demolition at the time, which is why the production company were able to use it.

Look carefully through the window behind Lau in the screen caps below and you can see the curved slip road that takes traffic from Choi Hung Road down onto the south bound section of Prince Edward Road East at the northern boundary of the former Kai Tak site. What I can't say for sure is when this building was demolished - sometime around the mid-00s - and whether or not it was also used for the other interior police station scenes (I'm guessing yes).

If anyone knows what the building was used for, please feel free to send a mail or leave a comment.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Ngau Tau Kok Police Station, Kowloon Bay

The exterior shots for the main police station were filmed outside the real life Ngau Tau Kok police station on Siu Yip Street. There were a few scenes filmed here including the scene where Anthony Wong leaves the station on the fateful day and is followed by one of the other cops, but also a night scene later in the film when Tony Leung does a runner after realising who the mole is. The interior scenes for Andy Lau's office were filmed in a totally different building which I shall cover in the next post.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Golden Gateway Multiplex Cinema, Tsim Sha Tsui

Chan follows his boss to the cinema in order to try and catch whoever it is who he is meeting. As the contact leaves he is silhouetted against the screen so an identification is not possible. As a result, he tries to see who it is by following him outside. This sequence was filmed at the (now closed) Golden Gateway cinema along Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. Spot the advert for K19: The Widowmaker behind Tony Leung in the top image.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Broadcast Drive, Kowloon

The establishing shot for Andy Lau's home/apartment was done on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon. The high rise building that is at the end of the street (1, Broadcast Drive) has since been demolished and replaced by a new development called "One Mayfair" but the property walls that can be seen in the first screen cap are still the same on either side of the road today.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Connaught Road, Central

Chan is called on the phone by his police boss and told to find out who the police mole is. He takes the call on the walkways that straddle the Hang Seng building and One IFC. This is the same location used in 2013 for the car bomb and gunfight scene in Blackhat, although that film wasn't released until 2015.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Kwun Tong Ferry Pier, Kwun Tong

Following the drug bust at the beach and the revelation that there is a mole in the police department, Lau's character is promoted to Internal Affairs and charged with finding the mole (i.e. himself). This happens at a meeting where his superior officers are whacking some balls at a golf driving range. However, rather than film at a real golfing range (there were actually quite a few urban ranges in Kowloon at this time), the crew decided the top of the ferry pier would be a better option. I guess it had better views. The bit they filmedon is the raised bit in the centre of the roof. These days it's had some railings put around there (maybe some location fans tried to get up there?).

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Fa Yuen Street, Mongkok

The location of the drug deal with the Thais is a corner building on the junction of Fa Yuen Street and Shantung Street. The curved building where the drug deal is supposedly taking place - or at least the exterior establishing shot - is the Pak Cheung building on the NW corner of the junction. The cops, on the other hand, are located in the building on the opposite corner which is in fact a school building called G.T (Ellen Yeung) College. The fire escape where Andy Lau makes a phone call can be seen on the Fa Yuen Street side of the building and it looks like they were on the very top floor which has a covered walkway across the top of the building.

Looking west along Shantung Street

Looking north up Fa Yuen Street from G.T College

Andy Lau on the G.T College fire escape. Looking down onto Fa Yuen Street

View down onto the Fa Yuen Street entrance to the Pak Cheung building

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - North Point Government Office, Java Road

Despite the ground floor establishing shots being filmed at the Guangdong Investment Tower in Sheung Wan, the rooftop scenes throughout the movie - where Chan goes to meet his boss (Anthony Wong) - were filmed on the other end of Hong Kong Island in North Point.

The North Point Government Office on Java Road is the location where it all goes down and we are treated to some quite impressive views across the eastern part of Victoria Harbour. Honestly, I think the film makers were extremely lucky with the weather to get those clear views, or more likely this was filmed sometime between May and July when the Hong Kong weather is at its clearest.

Look carefully in the background of the last image and you can see the IFC2 tower still under construction in the distance. This was probably also around the time that Lara Croft Tomb Raider was being filmed in the territory.