The Taxi Driver - David Chiang (1975) - Canton Road, Yau Ma Tei

In other events, Chen is eating noodles when he witnesses a robbery (Tino Wong doing his robber thing again). The building with the columns in the background is the Yaumatei Police Station, back then in its brown colour. The station has recently been decommissioned and I believe has recently held some sort of local film industry exhibition courtesy of the fact that it has been featured in so many movies over the years. To my shame I haven't been yet. The second image shows the view from Kansu Street.

The Lady Professional - Lily Ho Li-li (1971) - Yau Ma Tei Police Station

The end of the film sees Tian-li turn herself in at the local police station. In this case it's the oft-used Yau Ma Tei Police Station on the corner of Canton Road and Public Square Street.

Tragic Hero - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - Silvercord Centre, Canton Road

A-lok (Shing Fui-on) decides to take matters into his own hands and plots to assassinate Yung by pretending to be a window washer. He takes the gondola down to Yung's office floor but someone has already ratted him out and he is shot to death through the window. This scene was shot dangling from Tower 1 of the Silvercord Centre on Canton Road with the Wharf T&T Centre directly behind.

Expired - Ryan Kwanten (2021) - China Cafe, Mongkok

More confirmation that this film was shot circa 2019 by the fact that the famous China Cafe serves as one of the locations. This is where Dr Bergman meets Jack to tell him what he has found out about his background and why he is ill. This place was a very popular filming location and sadly closed on the very last day of 2019. Sean Tierney visited the location when it was still operating. If you're reading this Sean, how about restarting your channel?

Hong Kong Godfather - Leung Kar-yan (1985) - Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

The establishing shot for the restaurant/party scene where the two gang bosses meet up and argue was shot along Canton Road. Unfortunately it doesn't help me nartrow down the venue so that will remain a mystery for the time being (see my help page). Ocean Star restaurant is mentioned in the credits and so is a possibility but I'm not sure right now.

Hacker - Callan McAuliffe (2016) - Yau Ma Tei Police Station

Another popular filming location is this colonial-era police station on Canton Road in Yau Ma Tei. It's been included in a variety of posts on this blog over the years (see here), and in this film it is where Alex and Sye get put in a cell following their arrest after the fight at the nightclub. More recently the building has been decommissioned and I'm not sure what it is currently being used for.

Just Heroes - David Chiang (1989) - Nameless Passageway, Peking Road

I briefly covered this location a few years ago when I was posting about Something Good. There is a small L-shaped passageway that joins Peking Road and Canton Road. You can see it here on GoogleEarth. In Just Heroes this is the location where Wai's young fishermen friend (played by Ni Kuang's son, Ngai Jan) drives the car so Wai can escape following the wedding reception shooting.

Look carefully at the top left of the frame (top image) and you should be able to see the words "Hard Rock Cafe". It turns out that in the 1980s, Hard Rock Cafe had a branch here. I personally remember the one that was located further up the road at #100 Canton Road, and it later moved to #30 Canton Road, but this one looks as though it was located at #12 or thereabouts. If anyone knows the exact location, please feel free to comment.

The film has done a bit of a sneaky switcharoo here because the top two images, and the one showing the car emerge, were filmed close to the where the passageway emerges onto Peking Road looking up towards the bend in the L-shape of the passageway. But when we see the reverse view (image 3) we are already up at the bend. I suspect the reason for the switch in position was to prevent the busyness of Peking Road being captured and detracting from the apparent seclusion of the location.

As usual, the google marker is giving me grief because it keeps snapping to nearby buildings,so I've left it on the Pacific Star Building. The alley runs alongside it. 

Spot the "Hard Rock Cafe" signage top centre left

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Adam Baldwin (2000) - Yau Ma Tei Police Station

No longer a Police Station because it was decommissioned a couple of years ago. I did make a trip here last year with David Bellis from Gwulo and, after seeing a gathering in the rear carpark area, we popped in to have a look around only to be instantly told to get the hell away. Such is life in the new National Security-conscious Hong Kong.

In the movie this is the exterior used for the Police station in the film where one of the gangsters is set free after he refuses to talk. So Mr. Hyde follows him back to his opium den (yes, quite a few of these Hong Kong cliches pop up) to extract the information he needs.

One of the things I can gather from this sequence is that this was before the local police stations were all given a new grey/dark blue coat of paint. Back in 2000 it was still the white/light blue colour scheme (seeing little things like this please my nerdy brain).

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Former Government Offices, Canton Road

Despite getting ready over on Hong Kong Island, the building used for the heist appears to be the Government Offices on Canton Road in Kwun Chung. These were demolished around 2010 and replaced by (as with everything old in Hong Kong) a residential development (Grand Austin). We get a few shots of the building as well as the related boat berths on the harbourfront. This dock was located just a little bit north of the Fire Brigade Dock seen in The Sand Pebbles.

It looks like pretty much all of the ground-level shots from this sequence were also filmed here. The final image shows the old entrance, located on the southern end of the main block.

Crime Lords - Wayne Crawford (1991) - Canton Road, Mongkok

Another of the street-level locations actually featuring the actors is Canton Road. The identifying feature here is the blocky building on the left of the screen. This is the Mongkok Market building that, I believe, is currently being (or has already been) demolished.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Ocean Palace Restaurant Night Club, Tsim Sha Tsui

The large circular restaurant where Michael goes to"gong sau" (that's Triad speak for negotiations between gangs) with other gangsters was filmed at the now closed Ocean Palace Restaurant Night Club (海洋皇宮大酒樓). It was located in the Ocean Centre section of Harbour City on Canton Road which explains the curved layout of the venue. I believe it closed circa 2005.

Edit: the marker gremlins are at it again and marked it as the 1st floor but in reality the restaurant was located on the 4th floor (hat tip to Dave)

Peninsula - Gang Dong-won (2020) - Canton Road, Mongkok

The gang take Jung-seok to see their boss (Geoffrey Giuliano) and the establishing shot for this part is of Canton Road. The big red sign in the top image, as well as the "Harbour Hotel" (aka the Harbour Inn as it is now known on the interwebs) sign, are still around. This is the stretch of Canton Road between Shantung Street and Soy Street.
 

City on Fire - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - Mongkok Bowling Centre, Mongkok

The venue where Ko Chow collects the guns from was a real life bowling alley on the first floor of the Hang Tung Building - located at the southeast corner of Canton Road and Bute Street: "The Mongkok Bowling Centre". I'm not sure when it closed but the building is still there and still has the Canton Road carpark on some of the upper podium levels - this is where Ko Chow leaps from to escape.

The view down onto Canton Road

View looking north with Bute Street by the "No Entry" sign

Ko Chow and Tiger escape in a car heading south on Canton Road

Hard Boiled - Chow Yun Fat (1992) - China Hong Kong City Tower 3, Tsim Sha Tsui

The location of the office where Tequila and his fellow policeman are based is revealed in a shot through his girlfriend's (Teresa Mo) office window. The view shows us the Ferry Point Estate in the distance, and in the foreground is the Fire Services Department Kowloon South Divisional HQ on Canton Road. This view is only possible from Tower 3 of the China Hong Kong City Mall on Canton Road.

Election - Simon Yam (2005) - Yau Ma Tei Police Station, Yau Ma Tei

Another Police station that has since closed but will be preserved for adaptive reuse is the Yau Ma Tei Police Station. This one has only more recently been shut down and has arguably been featured in many more productions, both local and foreign, although not always from the front. The best examples of former posts on this blog are from the I Spy series (1965) and, more recently, Rush Hour 2 (2001).

Anyway, in Election this is the station where the psychopathic Big D and other society members are being held after their arrest in Wanchai.

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.