Spitfire - Lance Henriksen (1995) - Kai Tak Airport

I've been trying for some time to get hold of Albert Pyun's Spitfire because it was partially shot in Hong Kong. Sadly out of print, I haven't been able to find any copies that are attainable without re-mortgaging my house again. Such is life. However, I discovered a partial upload of it online which includes the Hong Kong footage and so have been able to finally include it here. I have no idea what the film is about, the bit I saw was just utter rubbish. Such is the way with Pyun films, some are good, some are complete pants. Sadly, this film appears to fall into the latter category.

It appears to be a sort of spy movie where Lance Henriksen plays a spy with access to some nuclear launch codes. He has an enemy who wants them and is killing off his family to get them, leaving his gymnastic daughter, Charlie (Kristie Phillips), to get to the codes before the enemy does.

Anyway, as with most films that feature some Hong Kong, there's the bit in the film where the location shifts (from the Philippines in this case) and it requires the obligatory footage of a plane landing at Kai Tak (it was filmed in 1995, so just a few years before it closed).

The building in the background of the last two images is not the airport terminal, but in fact the HQ of the EMSD (Electrical and Mechanical Services Dept). This place has cropped up as a location before because it stood in for a Police HQ a few years ago in Man of Tai Chi. I've been reliably informed that when the airport was in operation, this building was the air freight terminal.

Man of Tai Chi - Keanu Reeves (2013) - Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, Kowloon Bay

The exterior of the Police HQ was also filmed in Kowloon Bay, at the new Electrical and Mechanical Servies Dept building on Kai Shing Street. Obviously the signboards are fake. The large column centre screen is actually one of the uprights for the Kwun Tong Bypass. Apparently,this building wasn't new and was originally the air freight terminal for neighbouring Kai Tak Airport. It must've undergone a significant refurb to make it ready for the EMSD once they moved from their previous, shared location on Caroline Hill (edit 2023: which incidentally, is now demolished).