Bullet in the Head - Tony Leung Chiu-wai (1990) - Kennedy Town Praya

The last post for this film shows the continuation of the car chase along the waterfront. If you ever wondered what Kennedy Town Praya looked like when it was a proper "praya" (i.e. along the waterfront) then look no further. This shows the road before reclamation and the creation of what is now Belcher Bay Park. The green-tinged building centre frame was demolished not long after filming and replaced by the  "Kennedy Town Centre" development.

Bullet in the Head - Tony Leung Chiu-wai (1990) - Sai Ning Street, Kennedy Town

There are at least two endings to Bullet in the Head. The version I watched is the shorter one that ends in the boardroom as Ben confronts Paul in front of his colleagues, but the far more spectacular and John Woo-esque ending involves the pair getting into a car chase. One of the streets used is Sai Ning Street in Kennedy Town. Dan Thomas did all the heavy lifting on this location when he tracked it down many years ago for his Hong Kong on Film blog.

To Be Number One - Ray Lui (1991) - Davis Street, Kennedy Town

Following the shooting at the restaurant, Little Sha (Frankie Chan) chases one of the kids down Hau Wo Street where he is promptly, and rather graphically, well-and-truly run over by a car. If anyone reading this lives at The Merton, this is what the street looked like before it was built. The tram is turning into Davis Street from Catchick Street.

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing - William Holden (1955) - Pok Fu Lam Road, Kennedy Town

Another mystery solved thanks to help from the HK Mapping services online aerial photo catalogue. Actually, I already updated the Gwulo thread on this because David Bellis had started with the locations from this film way back in 2009. As you have noticed the past few posts are mainly films I covered years ago but had various places that simply eluded me and this one was no different. The main reason (as is often the case) is because the area it was filmed has changed significantly and that is why the old aerial photos have been really helpful.

The location is one of those seen during the ambulance driving sequence that starts after the opening credits have finished. The scene starts on Queen's Road Central and finishes at The Fairview but there are a few brief snippets of other locations in between and one of them is this place in the image below.

What this shows is an old bend in Pok Fu Lam Road that has since been redeveloped. The road has been straightened so that it cuts straight across the gap on the left of the screen but the bend does still exist and contains the Pok Fu Lam bus terminus. You can see the area after development courtesy of  this Foxbat post. The original path of the road leads around the back of the terminus past the petrol station.

Well, anyway, mystery solved. If you click on my very first link above it takes you to the comments on Gwulo and David has subsequently posted to fill in some of the details of the area.

Dead or Alive: Final - Shô Aikawa (2002) - Catchick Street, Kennedy Town

There is a brief shot of the famous Hong Kong tram in the middle of the film. Honda is riding it to get to the police station. However, given that this strip of the tram track is located along Catchick Street in Kennedy Town. The tell tale sign here is the proximity of the track to the pavement (most other sections of the tram route along the whole of the island runs down the middle of the street rather than the side) and the presence of the latticed podium structure of Harbourview Garden in the distant background of the top image.

Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Pok Fu Lam Road Bus Terminus, Kennedy Town

The start of what has to be the film's action centre piece - a car versus bus chase through Hong Kong streets - kicks off at the bus terminus along Pok Fu Lam Road just opposite Pokfield Road. A-Cheung narrowly escapes being kidnapped by the baddies (led by Roy Chiao) and makes his escape in a hospital ambulance quickly followed by his captors, and Henry Silva steals a yellow double-decker bus and chases after them all.

The building on the opposite side of the road in the third image is 10-16 Pokfield Rd, a residential building that is still around. The terrace with the car parked on it is still a car park but the brick retaining wall looks to have been hacked away at the end and replaced by a covered walkway that loops down into Pokfield Road.

Shadow of China - John Lone (1989) - Lo Pan Temple, Kennedy Town

When Henry goes to see the fortune teller (played by Dennis Chan) we see him wander to an area that we are told in the movie is Temple Street. Actually it is Ching Lin Terrace in Kennedy Town and is where the famous Lo Pan Temple sits. We've seen this temple once before in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story when a young Bruce runs out to be confronted by a demon. Here is a reminder.

Although we can't see the famous angular roof top that makes this temple quite unique in Hong Kong, the front facade is recognisable as well as the nice terrace where the building has its home. Back in 1989 it looks as though there was still an older building next door that had an external wall decorated with round moon shaped windows but this place was demolished in the mid 90's to make way for the current residential development called "Jade Lotus Garden".

At the end of the sequence we also catch a glimpse of the building next door which, I believe is the administrative building of the Kwong Yuet Hong - the builders organisation that manages the temple.

 This wall has been replaced by Jade Garden Court.

Shanghai Surprise - Madonna (1986) - Catchick Street, Kennedy Town

The following screengrab seems to just be one of those very brief snippets that serve to illustrate the surrounding environment of the story. I'm sure there is a technical term for this type of thing but I am ignorant in those ways and so will just refer to it as an "establishing" shot. Feel free to enlighten me otherwise if you know.

Anyway, it's a brief look down a seemingly old road in old Shanghai. In fact it was also shot in Kennedy Town along Catchick Street close to the junction with North Street. In fact the modern Streetview capture shows us that a tram stop has since been built but the more observant of you should also see that the red signs above the shop on the right are still the same.

Update 2024: Joseph on Gwulo.com has recently started uploading his tram images and has a BTS image from this shoot, apparentlyit was filmed on 12th February 1986.So there you go. Gwulo thread is here (see secondimage down): https://gwulo.com/node/60319

The old block of buildings on the corner in the background have all been redeveloped into somewhere called the "Harbour View Garden". I'm guessing if you live on lower floors your harbour view may be more along the lines of "harbour no view".

Shanghai Surprise - Madonna (1986) - Kennedy Town Waterfront, Hong Kong

It's changed significantly over the past few decades, but back in 1986 Kennedy Town waterfront was still considered aged enough for the purpose of filming this period set comedy. Most of the old buildings seem to have gone and there has been a proliferation of high rise development making identification of the exact place quite difficult. However, the hills at the back as well as the appearance of Green Island in the background confirms where this was shot.

The hillside in the background of the top grab is actually the eastern flank of Mount Davis and the small hump in the back of the lower two pictures is Green Island. The modern view for comparison is below courtesy of Streetview. It shows the New Praya where I am fairly certain this was filmed, however, pretty much all of the waterfront property here has been redeveloped in the past 20 years.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - Jason Scott Lee (1993) - Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

A nice angle of Kennedy Town at the far west of Hong Kong Island taken from the harbour as a fishing junk sails by.

Some of the buildings we can see along what is Kennedy Town Praya are still around, but some have also been replaced since the film was made - to be replaced by even taller residential blocks.

One thing has has disappeared for good is the sight of these traditional fishing junks, however, our good friend wikipedia assures me that the one we can see above is in fact the Duk Ling, so you can still come here and actually get on board. Unlike its rather fake looking counterpart - the Aqua Luna - the Duk Ling does have an authentic history as a fishing junk before restoration.

I'm told (but can't confirm) that before the HK Tourist Board chartered the boat for actual cruises around the harbour, the Govt paid the owner a massive fee just to have the thing sail up and down the harbour front all week.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - Jason Scott Lee (1993) - Sands Street, Kennedy Town

Following on from our initial location post at Lo Pan Temple, another locale (very close to the temple) can be seen. It's a quick shot of Bruce running up some steps either on the way to (or from) the dance where he beats up the British sailors, I can't remember which but I guess it doesn't matter. Anyway, have a look.

What you can see is Sands Street and its steps that lead up to Ching Lin Terrace. I guess having two locations close by is handy from a logistical (and money) point of view so it wouldn't surprise me if these two scenes were filmed around the same time?

One thing I have noticed about this film is that Rob Cohen, the director, doesn't seem too fussed about including modern anachronisms in the film and, at many points, much more modern buildings can be seen in what is supposed to be 1970's Hong Kong. Still, it does mean that we see a lot more of Hong Kong than we would have otherwise. A good example of this is the building on the right (with the arched doorway) which was actually built in 1991 and was probably brand new when this film was made. I haven't got a matching angle, but this Streetview grab shows many of the same buildings are still around.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - Jason Scott Lee (1993) - Lo Pan Temple, Kennedy Town

Time for a new film and here is one I had forgotten all about until reminded a few months ago. To be honest, I'm still torn in my feelings about the film. I think Jason Scott Lee is a great Bruce Lee but the way this film portrays his life - mixing total fiction with a smattering of fact - disappoints me. I'm sure I'm not alone. What I had forgotten, or simply hadn't registered at the time, is how much of it was filmed in Hong Kong - quite a bit as it turns out.

So here is the first location taken from the opening credits when we see and young Bruce running from a temple door. The temple is a real one and is one of Hong Kong's quirkier ones in terms of its design and the object of its worship. Coincidentally (wink, wink), I just re-posted an old blog post over on my other blog - the photos in that post were taken around 8 years ago and I haven't managed to make it back since then. Here are the grabs.

Double Impact - Jean Claude Van Damme (1991) - North Street, Kennedy Town

Sometimes trying to locate certain streets in HK is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack and when so many places look the same having a small (but useful) knowledge of written Chinese can save a world of pain. A prime example was my efforts in tracking down the location of Chad's riff raff bar.

In the end it was a small sign for a noodle shop that gave the game away, so many thanks to Wing Hing Noodle (永興麵家) for at least still being registered on the English Version of Open Rice despite it being closed (for how long I don't know).

Anyway, here is a few screen grabs to jog your memory.

See the building above with the stop sign next to it? That's still there. Just to the left of the stop sign is a white/red horizontal sign with 4 chinese characters on it. That sign is for the noddle shop I just mentioned. here's the same(ish) view today.

Next we can now find out where JCVD was standing when he was accosted by a very seriously ugly Bolo Yeung.

I haven't quite managed to get the correct angle, but the place he was leaning is now a pet store called "Twinkles" (oh dear...). The alleyway by the side of the shop still has a metal cabinet parked in front - it's similar to the one that we see in the JCVD shot above and although I don't think it is the same one I am quite confident that it probably belongs to a hawker/street seller and is used as a street stall. This being HK it is very feasible that the person who runs it was the same dude running it back in 1991 (note to self: next time I am in Kennedy Town I will take a few pictures down and ask whoever is there is they remember the filming).

Oh Bolo, you IS ugleeeeeee

Next we see Corey Everson looking the worst I have ever seen her (must be the haircut) jumping out of a car just before the big showdown in the bar. See the white building opposite? Well, check out the streetview shot below. The building is still there (or at least was when Google sent there car around a couple of years back) and look carefully you can just make out the red Chinese characters that form the company name (of whoever was renting the place I guess). Look between the arm of the crane.

Finally, after all that running about down alleyways and markets streets, JCVD manages to get away from his pursuers by running around in circles and ending up back on North Street, but this time further up next to the stop sign and noodle bar sign (mentioned earlier).

Double Impact - Jean Claude Van Damme (1991) - Opening sequence, Various locations

The opening title sequence gives us a different view point though and takes us from west to east. First off we get to see the backside of High West (Lung Fu Shan) as the camera sweeps across and reveals Mount Davis and Kennedy town. Look carefully and you may be able to see the twin chimney stacks of what I believe was the Kennedy Town Abattoir, as well as Green Island and just to the distant hazy left is Kau Yi Chau (aka Han's Island from the B&W composite photo in Enter the Dragon).

Next we move over a little more to the east to just behind HK University and can see various buildings that are still around - not surprising seeing as this film is only a little over 20 years old. For example in the shot below the three buildings at the front bottom are on Po Shan Road and are called Piccadilly Mansion, Hamilton Court and (one block of) Po Shan Mansions, respectively. The tall building top left is Hong Kong Plaza and the three identical blocks on the right are the three blocks of a development called Connaught Garden.

Next as we move along we now look over the harbour. I like this shot because I can actually see where I live (although it's a wee bit blurry) in the far distance. But you can make out the transceiver on top of Beacon Hill (that tiny white splodge on the hill in the back centre and if you know your HK geography you should be able to guess that the next major bump in the ridgeline (to the right) is actually that of Lion Rock.

The camera keeps speeding east (to the right) and this time on the far right we can just make out the Ferry Point Estate a.k.a Man Buildings - they've been around since the early sixties and are fairly recognisable, however, this is a view that can no longer be found because the West Kowloon reclamation has blocked it all off and instead these days you will just be able to see the skyscraper development which has the new ICC as its centrepiece.

I was expecting the skyline to be a bit clearer on this DVD - but it seems as though even back in 1991 (well, actually I think the filming took place in 1990) there was a fair amount of haze over Kowloon. Not as much as today but more than I expected...