Waterloo Road by Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market - Now and Then

I went for a wander last week and used the pedestrian bridge at the western end of Waterloo Road where it originates at the former waterfront (now Ferry Street). I was reminded that Tsui Hark shot an establishing shot for Knock Off here in 1997 so I took the opportunity to try and get a comparison.

It's been a little over twenty years since that film was made but there has still been a bit of change with the construction of a couple of new high rises (the taller one centre screen of my 2021 image is called "Waterloo Tower"). The building on the left is called the Wah Tak Building and has been given a new lick of paint, but other than that, the view remains fairly similar.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - To Kwa Wan Road, To Kwa Wan

Whoops! Another one I had skipped over without realising. It's just after the two escape the marauding hordes at the fruit market. They escape and find themselves all the way over the other side of Kowloon - quite an impressive feat!

Sadly, there is some scaffolding obscuring the view on the current Streetview picture of this location, however, look at the window under the tarpaulin and you can see it's the same pattern that can be seen behind the fruit vendor on the top screen grab. We haven't been out this way since Friends.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Behind the Scenes photos courtesy of Jude Poyer

Well, I think that's pretty much it for Knock Off. There were a few other miscellaneous screen shots that I didn't think were worth including but rather than end on that, how about finishing off the film with some great (and never seen before) behind-the scenes pictures courtesy of stunt maestro, Jude Poyer.

Jude of course worked on the film extensively and is the unfortunate recipient of a slash to the throat in the film's soaking wet finale (apparently, he is the 142nd enemy to have died at the hands of ol' JCVD) and when he wasn't having his throat cut he was going to the odd scene and taking some opportunistic snaps of the action. You can see Jude in action (quite literally) on his website: Reel Power Stunts.

Anyway, a big thank you to Jude for sharing these pictures with us. They were taken during two key scenes; the rickshaw race and the supermarket shootout scenes. The first two pictures show the junction with High Street and Eastern Street. The top picture looking (kinda) south east towards the old community complex and the lower picture looking west along High Street with the Eastern Street Methadone Clinic back left.

The next two shots show the area around Bonham Road and St Stephen's Lane where some of the action took place - it looks as though Todd Senofonte (JCVD's stunt double) is practicing his kick off the railings. The picture underneath it shows me that Jude was standing on Centre Street looking back up towards Bonham Road with the higher terrace of St Stephen's Lane at the back.

Next we head over to Kwun Tong Ferry Pier for the supermarket scene - proof if ever you needed it about where this was actually shot. Picture 2 shows Tsui Hark sitting with his assistant director, none other than Sammo Hung, whilst Todd Senofonte relaxes behind. Is that Mars in picture 1?

Next we have the van set up. Look closely and you can see the wire under the van that was used to pull it along the ground for the sequence. The set looks like it was filmed inside an enclosed area that sits to the side of the entrance passageway at the road side front of the pier. I did go past here the other day but forget to take a picture (argh!!) and I can tell you the pier is on its last legs. I am sure it will be closed down or rebuilt/downsized sometime in the future. It's a huge place with only a small portion of the space being used at all.

Anyway, once again many thanks to Jude for sharing his memories with us.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Kwun Tong Bypass, Kwun Tong

Kwun Tong seems to have been one of the favoured places for filming this movie, what with the supermarket crash scene, the wistful wanderings by the breakwaters and now this shot taken along the Kwun Tong Bypass - almost immediately above the area where the piers are.

It's a brief shot but it is a great example of how this part of New Kowloon has changed since the airport moved its operations over to Chek Lap Kok.

The building in the lower picture is the Kowloon Godown which is still around, but have a look at the skyline behind. It's now completely dominated by the new high rises springing up in place of old factories on the old Kowloon Bay industrial area. You can certainly no longer see Lion Rock as clearly as you could back in 1997.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Waterloo Road, Kowloon

Just before JCVD visits his buddy Eddie and the mass chase and fight ensue, there is a brief glimpse of the Yau Ma Tei fruit market as seen from Waterloo Road. Most of the action is supposed to be happening inside the various warehouses and cock lofts of the buildings inside the fruit market.

Despite the wholesale fruit market being a fairly well-established part of Kowloon life, we've only come across it once before on this blog (so far).

As you can see even since 1997 a new high rise has gone up down the road (at the junction with Shanghai Street), but there is still plenty other buildings around including the block on the left of both the screen grabs and the Streetview picture. It's the Wah Tak building built circa 1964.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Kwun Tong Ferry Pier, Kowloon

Another interesting tidbit from Jude Poyer is the fact that the supermarket van crash scene was actually filmed inside the ferry pier at Kwun Tong!

There are actually three piers along the Kwun Tong waterfront: a public pier for the general public to embark/disembark from private vessels, the vehicular ferry that is used for transporting dangerous goods across the harbour (too dangerous to be taken into any of the tunnels) and the ferry pier from where the scheduled cross harbour ferries run from. It's the latter that was used for the supermarket scene and here is the reminder.

If you look at the background in the second picture you can see the entrance to the pier. Also it looks as though the film crew had slapped some blue paint on a few of the columns of the pier to make it match the livery of the fake supermarket. More on this in a later post.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Shing Fung Studio Lot, Sai Kung

A couple of posts ago I said I thought that perhaps some of the 2nd Unit film work was done in the Philippines, including the large factory building explosion. However, it turns out I was completely wrong. I got an email from the man behind Reel Power Stunts, Jude Poyer, who worked extensively on Knock Off, who told me most of the action was filmed in HK after all...including the factory explosion!

It looks as though the Philippines reference in the credits was related to some of the helicopter sequences towards the end of the film. The aforementioned big explosion however was filmed locally at a place I only really found out about fairly recently: Shing Fung Studio.

Shing Fung is a large outdoor space situated in Ho Chung village in Sai Kung. In fact, I even walked past it earlier in the year on a hike from Pak Fa Lam to Ho Chung and grabbed a snap of the road sign as I passed, not realising it was a fairly well established company.

成豐片場 - Seng Fung Pin Cheung

Anyway, the studio lot is large enough to have erected the following set, and if you click on the company link I gave above you'll see they have several studio buildings as well as a pool for underwater filming and a host of other services.

Jude also told me the place has been used many time before including: Extreme Crisis (1998), Enter the Eagles (1998), King of Comedy (1999), Gorgeous (1999) and Zhang Ziyi's Dining Out Visa Card advert (2001?) and, no doubt, many many more.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Centre Street, Sai Ying Pun

Here's another missed post, this time from the rickshaw race, however this was deliberate because I was having a hard time matching it to anywhere. In the end my mistrust of movie geography has been my downfall because it turns out that this is the upper end of Centre Street in Sai Ying Pun and is pretty much where the race continues after the nifty turn at the bottom of St Stephen's Lane.

The reason why I was having a hard time matching it is because this part of Centre Street - between Bonham Road and Third Street - has been completely renovated to incorporate an escalator - stage 1 of a system that will rival the existing mid-level's escalator in Central. As far as I can tell (though the final verdict may well have to wait until a personal visit can be made) those steps that gave the street quite a bit of character have all gone.

If you ask me it's a really big shame and just I feel that streets like these should be protected as much as old buildings, but that's just me.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Big Buddha Statue, Lantau

The CIA, in the form of Paul Sorvino, have their headquarters in the Big Buddha statue on Lantau Island. A shot of the real statue is used as a establishing shot, and then a back projection (or maybe green screen) is used for a close up before Schneider and JCVD head into the bowels of the statue.

It's not so obvious from the screencap that the lower picture is superimposed, however, the lighting and focus is a bit off when you see it on screen. You'll just have to take my word for it :-)

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Tin Hau Temple, Repulse Bay

Whoops! I totally forgot to publish this post from the start of Knock Off when the police are conducting the operation to apprehend the bomb smugglers. There are lots of sweeping camera moves all over the Tin Hau Temple and grounds at the eastern end of Repulse Bay beach.

Of course we've seen this place several times previously including That Man Bolt, Flatfoot in Hong Kong and Noble House (and I'm sure there are more). Here are the screencaps.

And we finish with a quick shot of the baddies escaping in their car along South Bay Road, just behind the temple.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Yuen On Street, Shatin

According to the credits in the film, the 2nd Unit (that means the action unit who filmed all the spectacular stunts etc) was filming in the Philippines, and there are certainly some sequences that don't look like they were in HK - such as the night time factory explosion. However, the lorry chase and roof top fight that followed the explosion definitely had some scenes filmed in Hong Kong.

In particular, the end of that scene was shot on an industrial road in Shatin called Yuen On Street. The giveaway to the location is the building at the end of the road that shows us it's the "Ever Gain Building".

You can also see it in the Streetview picture below. The petrol station has changed hands since 1997 but the Ever Gain Building is still around.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - Kowloon Bay Breakwater, Kowloon Bay

As JCVD goes off soul-searching, he decides to wander down to the breakwaters that sit across Kowloon Bay near to Kai Tak airport runway. I'm quite certain that at least one of the following screen caps is actually the previously mentioned Todd Senofonte, Van Damme's long-term stunt double. Anyway, the second shot shows the uprights of the Kwun Tong Bypass that runs along the waterfront along Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong.

Knock Off - Jean Claude Van Damme (1997) - On Lok Factory Building, Ma Tau Kok

In a very bizarre turn of events, Lin Heung restaurant toilets seem to have a time and space continuum portal inside because when JCVD goes to try and find Schneider, he miraculously appears at the top of a factory building on the other side of the harbour!

Back in '97 the building had a massive Coke advert painted in the side (I'm sure they paid for it to be on film), these days the building has a more sober beige paint job.

I find the view back the other way a bit more interesting though. You can see quite a bit behind Paul Sorvino's head including the Cattle Depot - a former abattoir turned into artists village - it's the low rise brown buildings to the left of Sorvino's shoulder. You can also see the old airport at the back.

A quick look over JCVD's shoulder reveals and interesting old block occupying the corner of Ma Hang Chung Road and Kowloon City Road, but this place is now an empty site awaiting redevelopment as you can see from the Streetview picture below.