Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Cannon Street, Causeway Bay

The last Cannon Street post for Cracker: White Ghost has reminded me that I missed off another view of Cannon Street. The common factor is a large neon sign in the background that can also be seen in the Cracker screen shots. I don't know what the sign was for but I suspect someone can fill in the gaps in my knowledge, you can see it in the shot below (red neon in the background).

So this is us looking down Cannon Street (i.e. looking North) towards the junction with Jaffe Road. The next scene - involving the car crashing into the phone booth - looks to have been filmed to the south where Cannon St ends at the junction with Lockhart Road. See below.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Not the film finale (it looks as though that may have been filmed in Croatia), but at the end of the car chase the events unfold out at Aberdeen. The scene starts with a view of the ABBA House development (don't ask me about the name, I have no idea) and the camera was obviously placed in the waterfront park on the opposite side of the ride - the clue is the concrete pavilion that you can see the top of. The pavilion and garden are still there.

I've only included a few screen grabs here but the scene is a good few minutes long and was filmed almost entirely in this section of the Aberdeen waterfront. The estate you can see in the lower picture is actually the Ap Lei Chau estate on the opposite side of the harbour.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Stubbs Road, Wanchai

At the end of the film there is a small snippet filmed along a road that seems to be very typical of the roads that wrap themselves around the mid-levels from Wanchai to Central. And so it was as it turned out to be filmed around the lower section of Stubbs Road above Wanchai.

There's been much growth in this area in the last 20 years in both buildings and trees although it is the latter preventing the view over to Jardine's Lookout that can be seen in the top grab - as you can see in the Streetview grab below - although you should just be able to make out the pink facade of (what I believe is) Celeste Court poking up into view in both the second screen grab and Streetview below.

A few metres beyond this road bend is the entrance to a rather interesting looking development called Hanaevilla. As you can see from the Streetview that follows this hasn't changed at all other than the aforementioned block getting a blue makeover. It's an interesting building (built circa 1959) with some nicely curved balconies.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Causeway Road, Causeway Bay

Okay, not strictly all Causeway Road, but at least both ends of it as the motorbike chase unfolds. After starting just around the corner in Cannon Street the next scene is from the bike's point of view as it chases after the car at the corner where Gloucester Road and Causeway Road merge. Actually, the bike is on Yee Wo Street in the first shot as it joins the aforementioned corner.

It doesn't look like the place has changed too much other than the appearance of the Rosedale Hotel, as you can see from the Streetview.

The next shot is, surprisingly (because these things rarely follow real geography), at the far end of Causeway Road at the corner with Hing Fat Street on the other side of Victoria Park with Park Towers (a residential development) in view on the corner.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Cannon Street, Causeway Bay

Part of the motorbike chase that occurs towards the end of the film was shot along Cannon Street.

These top two pictures show the part of the street near to the junction with Gloucester Road (see the bus in the top picture driving along Gloucester Rd). There is then another shot as the motorbike turns on to Jaffe Road (see below). As you can see from the following Streetview, not much has changed here at all, although the more observant may be able to see Hennessy Centre at the back. This has since been replaced by Hysan Place.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Lockhart Road, Wanchai

Another night time neon shot along Lockhart Road in Wanchai. The key to the identification this time is the New York Cinema on the right hand side. It used to be in the Causeway Bay Plaza 2 but closed in 2006 and has since been replaced by a restaurant.

Here is the current Streetview. The plaza looks the same but much of the neon has been removed.

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.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Lockhart Road, Wanchai

The first of several night time neon shots that can be seen on the film. This one was taken along Lockhart Road just west of the junction with Marsh Road.

Some of this neon is still visible on Streetview (though I can't guarantee it is still there now without heading down there myself). The closest sign with red writing and green surround looks to be for a company called the Kong Hing Ma Chuk (KHMC) Company located on the ground floor of the Henfa Commercial Building at 348 - 350 Lockhart Road. The pink and purple neon on the right is advertising the Sunny Paradise Sauna at 341 Lockhart Road. Actually, the curved neon sign overhanging the road is also part of the sauna's advertising. Anyway, here is the current Streetview.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong

No, it's not really the CIA Headquarters in Hong Kong - I'm fairly certain all those dudes are probably all based at the US Consulate - but in this film the old Swire House can be seen occupying the space now taken up by the rather architecturally bland Chater House.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Tung Sing Road, Aberdeen

When Mike Graham (Brosnan) follows the bald North Korean (Lim Kay-siu) he arrives at Tung Sing Street in Aberdeen and watches a murder take place in a nearby building after climbing some scaffolding. The exact location is the junction of Tung Sing Rd and Sai On Street. How do we know? It's because we can see the now defunct Golden Harbour Theatre in the background.

Looking south down Tung Sing Street

Looking north at the junction 

Golden Harbour Theatre on the left hand side

The cinema closed down (in 1996) not long after this was filmed and has since been turned into a restaurant, but the building is still around and hasn't changed much. Neither has the building opposite where the murder takes place. The lower picture (above) shows the view through the first floor window. The white writing has since gone but the signboard/surround it is on can still be seen on Streetview.

View up Tung Sing Rd, old cinema on the left

Signboard (green surround) on first floor

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Casino Lisboa, Macau

A brief scene set inside the Casino Lisboa/Hotel Lisboa in Macau starts with a view of its rather colourful neon lit entrance. I must admit that despite the tackiness of it all, I actually quite like the quirky design of the place and it's infinitely more stylish than the new Grand Lisboa that sits across the road and was built in the shape of a giant golden lily flower.

The Streetview grab below shows us that the lights outside have since been changed but the place is still going strong - not surprising given the amount of dodgy activities that happen inside, and I'm not talking about the gambling.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - The Regent Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

Back to the former Regent Hotel for Brosnan just a few years after filming here for the Noble House series. The hotel had yet to be taken over by Intercontinental so we can still see the old name on the outside wall. There was quite a bit of filming done here including some shots of the interior when the two agents first arrive, posing as a married couple, to later in the film when an abduction takes place.

Detonator II: Night Watch - Pierce Brosnan (1995) - Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Seeing as we are all in a Pierce Brosnan kind of mood at the moment, here is a made-for-TV movie that he was contractually bound to back in the mid-90's. A follow up to Detonator (aka Death Train), Brosnan's original co-star, Patrick Stewart, had managed to wangle his way out of his re-appearance for this sequel and so Brosnan tried to do the same to no effect. It didn't help that he was about to become the new James Bond at the time. In some sort of silent protest he decided to grow his hair long and sport a - sort of - porno-style moustache.

Anyway, the first part of the film is set in the Netherlands with some Amsterdam scenes thrown in before the action moves over to Hong Kong and Macau. The opening scene in Hong Kong is a nice view over the Causeway Bay part of Wanchai District.

Actually, the second picture appears a little later on in the film but shows a larger section of the same area including the typhoon shelter - currently being partially reclaimed for the Wanchai bypass work. It's interesting to note that despite being filmed mid-90's there doesn't seem to be any sign of the Exhibition and Convention Centre that now takes a fairly central place in modern harbour views.