Showing posts with label Keanu Reeves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keanu Reeves. Show all posts
Friday, November 16, 2018
Man of Tai Chi - Keanu Reeves (2013) - Shatin Treatment Works, Shatin
The initial raid of the fight venue takes place in some sort of unnamed industrial complex. But a closer examination of the background reveals it to have been filmed at Shatin Treatment Works at the far end of the Shing Mun River nullah.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Man of Tai Chi - Keanu Reeves (2013) - Ngam Tau Sha, Sai Kung
Reeves' mansion in the film, a place where Karen Mok spends an inordinate amount of time spying on him, was supposedly on some nondescript part of the Hong Kong coast. The actual scenes of the estate look to have been filmed elsewhere but the external shots were all done over in Sai Kung by Little Palm Beach, on a small promontory called Ngam Tau Sha. I believe older readers who were in Hong Kong before the handover may recall it was also informally called "Target Island" for a while because the airforce and navy would use it for target practice. Large wooden bulls-eye targets were erected on the flat part of the land and then subsequently bombed and strafed with gun fire. In reality, it now houses a couple of private residences and a sailing club.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
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).
Monday, November 12, 2018
Man of Tai Chi - Keanu Reeves (2013) - Wang Tai Road, Kowloon Bay
The establishing shot for Reeves' office building was done over in Kowloon Bay at a relatively new building called Exchange Tower. Although the subsequent view from Reeves' office (last image) is looking towards Central on Hong Kong Island from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wanchai.
Office set in the studio with a backdrop filmed from the Grand Hyatt
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Man of Tai Chi - Keanu Reeves (2013) - Stonecutters Bridge, Kowloon
No longer Hong Kong's newest bridge, Stonecutters Bridge has been featured in a few films since it was opened at the tail end of 2009. In this scene it is the route that Tiger's car takes when he is brought to Hong Kong to meet Reeves for the first time.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Man of Tai Chi - Keanu Reeves (2013) - Lung King Street, Wanchai
Man of Tai Chi is Keanu Reeves' directorial debut and centres around a rather evil minded businessman (Reeves) who manipulates skilled martial artists into fighting to the death for his (unbeknownst to them) pay-per-view internet channel. The police (i.e. Karen Mok) have been trying to bust the operation and the film starts with the killing of their main witness after he fails to kill his opponent in a fight.
The filming of this was split between Mainland China and Hong Kong and to be honest there aren't that many worthy locations in Hong Kong because it appears that much of the filming was done at Shing Fung Studios in Ho Chung.
After the initial killing, a police raid ensues and the fight venue is an industrial building somewhere. The exterior shots though were filmed in the area next to Lung King Street near to the Academy for Performing Arts. As the camera pans up we can see the surrounding buildings including Central Plaza and there is a subsequent shot taken on Lung King Street itself (see last image). This whole area has been subject to extensive redevelopment in the past ten years due to the Central/Wanchai bypass reclamation and it looks as though the canopy we see in the initial images was part of the (now demolished) Wanchai Sewage Screening Plant in the square bit of land that Lung King Street circles. It's entirely feasible that the interiors were actually shot there prior to demolition but I have no way to corroborate. You can still see the canopy on Streetview, but I'm not sure how long before it gets updated.
The filming of this was split between Mainland China and Hong Kong and to be honest there aren't that many worthy locations in Hong Kong because it appears that much of the filming was done at Shing Fung Studios in Ho Chung.
After the initial killing, a police raid ensues and the fight venue is an industrial building somewhere. The exterior shots though were filmed in the area next to Lung King Street near to the Academy for Performing Arts. As the camera pans up we can see the surrounding buildings including Central Plaza and there is a subsequent shot taken on Lung King Street itself (see last image). This whole area has been subject to extensive redevelopment in the past ten years due to the Central/Wanchai bypass reclamation and it looks as though the canopy we see in the initial images was part of the (now demolished) Wanchai Sewage Screening Plant in the square bit of land that Lung King Street circles. It's entirely feasible that the interiors were actually shot there prior to demolition but I have no way to corroborate. You can still see the canopy on Streetview, but I'm not sure how long before it gets updated.
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