Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Magazine Island, Aberdeen

A final post for this film - at least until I can sort out a few elusive locations - and a nice image of a junk sailing past Magazine Island at the western entrance to Aberdeen Harbour. The name stems from the fact that there is a building on the island that was once used by the British military for storing explosives. It looks as though film camera was located on the harbour's western breakwater. The chimney's at the back are the HK Electric power station over on Lamma Island.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Ap Lei Chau Praya Road, Ap Lei Chau

One of the final scenes of the movie was filmed in a once seldom visited corner of Ap Lei Chau (the island that makes up the southern side of Aberdeen Harbour) that was once the sole domain of various boat maintenance shed. The boat sheds are still around but they now have to share their space with a brand spanking new residential development called 'Larvotto'.

Of course, the opposite side of Aberdeen Harbour has also seen significant development, especially of late. Unfortunately you can no longer see it because of another large development at the far end of the road on the hillock next to the Ap Lei Chau bridge. It's called Sham Wan Towers (named after the common name for the eastern end of the harbour) and can be seen at the end of the road in the Streetview image below.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

The tiled pillars in the background here are the ones that hold up the Mid-levels escalator where it crosses Lyndhurst Terrace at the junction with Cochrane/Gage Streets. Nothing seems to have changed much here other than the usual cycle of opening and closing of various establishments but those of who who have read my Chinese Box posts will know that one of the old blocks at the corner of Cochrane St (i.e. this spot) has since been replaced.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay

An easy place to spot here thanks to the SOGO sign at the back. Of all the Japanese department stores that were once in HK, SOGO still survives in two locations. This one is the longer established and more famous because it's right slap bang in the middle of the Causeway Bay shopping district.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Nathan Road, Kwun Chung

I really should have covered this place at the same time as the earlier Tai Lin post, but didn't realise it was the same location until now. Just after the shoot out on Lockhart Road, Patrick's character (he's called Reginald Cameron in the film) does a runner to escape and soon after leaving the scene at Marsh Road finds himself running down Nathan Road just past the junction with Jordan Road. Once again a great example of movie land taking liberties with geography. The fact that this is right next to the other quick shot earlier of the Tai Lin sign makes me think this must have been filmed at the same time.

Just a note about names. Many people incorrectly refer to this area as Jordan because of the MTR station nearby. The station is actually named after Jordan Road and there isn't actually any official location in Kowloon called Jordan. The area is still referred to on maps as Kwun Chung.

Anyway, check out the massive Fairwood (大快活) neon sign that used to stick out of New Lucky House. The curved building at the back is National Court on the south side of Jordan Road.

Sadly, that huge piece of pulsating neon has long since gone (in fact almost all the the neon along this strip is no longer there). Fairwood actually went through a rebranding in 2003 and the logo has been changed from the scary clown face to a sort of  splodgy jumping man. New Lucky House these days hosts various small backpacker hostels and a bodybuilding gym. Here's a rough approximation of the film angle.

Anyway, he then runs across the road to get picked up by his buddies in the car.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Marsh Road, Wanchai

Just after the shootout, Patrick's character makes a run for it and is picked up by his buddies on Marsh Road just a few yards away from the gunfight on Lockhart Road.

The sad story about this scene for me is the fact that the Tung Tak Pawnshop that stood on the corner of Marsh and Hennessy - and its columns can be seen on the right of several shots below - has only just recently been demolished. The sad thing is it was only one of four remaining curved corner shophouses left in the whole territory.

It looks like this small section of Marsh Road (between Hennessy and Lockhart) was a three-lane road back in 1993/4 but these days the pavement has been expanded and narrowed it to two lanes. Here's the Streetview.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Lockhart Road, Wanchai

The street shootout with the hooded gangsters took place on Lockhart Road in Wanchai. The Gala Association sign in the background was on the front of the Wah Fat Mansion at 405-419 Lockhart Road but seems to have disappeared now. Luckily it was captured by Streetview before it was removed, otherwise identifying this spot would have been significantly harder. The Canal Road flyover (seen in the gloom of the background) helped a little bit in narrowing down the rough area.

Wandering down the street - as I did recently - reveals that the doorway used by Patrick to shield himself from being shot was the seemingly unchanged entrance to Caine Mansion at 384-388 Lockhart Road.

Look closely and you can see the sign inside the door is still there.

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

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

A brief glimpse of a stone lion on the far left of the first picture tells us that this shot was filmed from the Lion Pavilion. The 1993 skyline looks, superficially, the same as it does today but those familiar with HK buildings will know there has been a whole bunch of skyscrapers added in the meantime, such as: the Cheung Kong Centre, the 2 IFC, the ICC, the K11 building over in TST and many more. Oh, the haze has got worse...

For those who prefer a more cohesive view, here is a merge courtesy of autostitch.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan

Another quicky along the tram line, this time a little further up towards Western Market before the tram line veers sharply right onto Connaught Road. The giveaway here is the dead end in the background where the road terminates in front of Hongway Garden (the white building at the back) and turns into the much narrower New Market St. It looks as though the camera was probably positioned somewhere between the junctions with Hillier St and Cleverly St because the latter (and the Eton Building that sits on its west corner) can be seen on the left of the shot.

  

This is the best angle I can get from Streetview taken further forward next to the aforementioned junction with Cleverly Street.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Des Voeux Road Central, Central

Although the tram is blocking the left hand side of our view in the following screencap, there is still enough information to locate this quick scene as the junction between Chater Road and Des Voeux Road in Central. Streetview reveals that the south side of the road (we're looking west here) seems to have remained unchanged in the last twenty or so years.

Oops! I just found a couple of extra grabs from the same place but looking south towards the Entertainment Building where the film's main company, Sherwood Industries, is based. Here they are...

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Chater Road, Central

Well, the view from Chater Road rather than Chater Road itself. We can see The HSBC HQ, one of the MTR exits, The Mandarin Hotel in the background before finally stopping right next to the entrance to the Hong Kong Club.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - May Ming Building, Nathan Road

Here's a sad reminder of the recent past: a local electronics retail chain called Tai Lin (泰林) that went bust a few years ago. The outlet at 310 - 312 Nathan Road (in the May Ming Building) might not have been its flagship store (or perhaps it was, I don't know?) but it was perhaps the best known due to the huge neon sign stuck to the outside. Here it is in the film.

I haven't been past recently to notice whether or not the ground floor premises are still empty...they certainly were a year or two back when I last past the place. The 2010 Streetview shows pretty much how it looked the last time I was there (and was paying attention). The sign still on display.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Queen's Road Central, Central

The company that employs Patrick for his special skills is called Sherwood Industries and it's conveniently located in the Entertainment Building that stands on the corner of Wyndham Street and Queen's Road Central. Actually, we've seen this building before on this blog when I was posting locations for the rather excellent Largo Winch. I say it's conveniently located because it appears that at the time of filming the building had only just been completed and was probably empty making it much easier for Mr Pyun to film his actors going in and out. That also accounts for the rather unfinished look the entrance seems to have in the top picture below.

Hong Kong 97 - Robert Patrick (1994) - Jumbo Restaurants, Aberdeen

Hong Kong 97 is an Albert Pyun directed tale of events supposedly unfolding on the eve of Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997. Robert Patrick as a hit man trying to escape the colony after assassinating a high ranking Chinese PLA officer.

The opening credits have some street scenes which I am still trying to identify but later on as Patrick heads to the Jumbo Floating restaurant to carry out the hit we get to see how the place looked in 1994 (when it was filmed). Luckily for us we catch a glimpse of the Sea Palace in its later incarnation as Jumbo Palace - part of the Jumbo Kingdom.

The one thing I notice from this sequence though is that the Jumbo palace doesn't really bear much resemblance to the Sea Palace pictures I've seen before. I'm inclined to believe that when it was decommissioned in HK, the Jumbo Palace was towed to Manila Bay and operated there for a while (do a Google search and you'll see it is the same/similar structure) but I have my doubts that the Jumbo Palace was the same Sea Palace structure that used to operate independently of Jumbo. It doesn't even closely resemble the old version. Does anyone have any knowledge about this?