Hong Kong 73 - Yueh Hua (1974) - Lion Rock Tunnel Road, Shatin

After turning back on their journey to Stanley, the group then head back through the Lion Rock Tunnel towards Fanling. It's here where they are told there is also congestion in that direction as well!

The initial image below shows Lion Rock, but it's a view not many people are familiar with because it's from the Shatin-side of the hills. As the camera zooms out, you can see that we are at the tunnel toll booths. The booths are still marked on Google Maps but were removed circa 2023 when the Govt implemented a fully comprehensive electronic tagging system for vehicles entering/leaving the tunnel. The same system has been applied across Hong Kong which is why you no longer have to stop to pay a toll on the way to/from the airport.

This last image was taken on the Shatin-end of Lion Rock Tunnel Road where it intersected with Tai Po Road. Turn left and you head back to Kowloon, turn right and the road takes you past Shatin. The cars in the backgrpund are on the Tai Po Road, but behind them would be where the KCR rail line ran alongside the road. For modern context, this area is more or less the same one where Lion Rock Tunnel Road ends today, at the junction with Tai Po Road - Tai Wai section, but closer to the "Scenery Court" development. 

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon - Sonny Chiba (1977) - Lion Rock, Kowloon

Golgo finally gets his man as he attempts to flee his impenetrable fortress island. Golgo has sneakily climbed up to the top of a nearby hill and is dangling from ropes as he lines up a shot for the bad guy's fleeing helicopter.

In reality the peak is in fact, Lion Rock, and it really looks like Chiba went the whole distance and was personally hung up on there just for this scene. So, big props to the man from Japan. One of the last times we saw this rock was when Aussie stunt supremo, Grant Page, did an impressive forward facing rappel down it for Kung Fu Killers back in 1974.

Cracker: White Ghost - Robbie Coltrane (1996) - Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak

Fitz's side kick arrives in the shape of Ricky Tomlinson and we get a nice view over the airport area from the south. The low shaved hillside at the back is the hill behind where Kowloon Walled City was until just a couple of years before this was filmed.

Kung Fu Killers - Grant Page (1974) - Lion Rock, Kowloon

Long before democracy protesters were hanging banners from it, Grant Page thought it would be a good idea to free climb up the southern facing sheer face, then after having a quick break, throwing himself off the top again.

After his dry run on the neighbouring reservoir, ensuring there were no kinks in the rope that would leave him dangling in mid-air, Page takes it a stage further and does the same thing off Lion Rock. These days it's reasonably easy (if a little effort intensive) to hike up to the top of the mountain via a well-trodden hiking path, but Page decides that a bit too easy and goes straight up the front - without any safety equipment or climbing aids and wearing only a pair of jeans and a woolly singlet! I'm sure most of my Australian friends would say that was standard all-weather gear for hard-nosed Aussie blokes.

I did ask stunt maestro, Vic Armstrong, if he had ever worked with Grant Page and he told me unfortunately not, but he considered Page to be one of the toughest and most fearless guys he had ever met. True praise indeed coming from one of the movie industry's top men.

Anyway, the view from the bottom of the sheer face is quite spectacular although, to be honest, despite the amount of high-rises these days, I do prefer the greener-looking Hong Kong of the current time. Kowloon looked a bit bleak and dull back in the 1970's - maybe the film needs remastering?

 
The following picture shows us what Lok Fu and Wong Tai Sin used to look like as well. The big swipe in the middle of the housing estates is today's Morse Park.

Finally at the top we get to look down towards the curved exit/entry ramps for the Lion Rock tunnel immediately below the rock. The curved ramps feed traffic on and off Lung Cheung Road. Actually, look closely and you can see a building with a small tower just above Page's left arm/wrist. This is the old TVB studios on Broadcast Drive - now replaced by a development called Peninsula Heights. The road heading off into the distance (top picture which is actually south) is the Kowloon Tong section of Waterloo Road.

Anyway, once Page has secured himself to his zip line, he proceeds to launch himself into the abyss with his trusty bit of old carpet as his brake.

We're left with a nice view to the west that takes in the ridge line along to Beacon Hill in the distance. Note that the track that runs along the ridge is actually now part of the famous MacLehose Trail (stage 5 to be precise) mapped out by the Ghurkas in the late 1970's (it officially opened as a hiking trail in 1979).

If you look at the bottom of the second picture you can see the bare concrete surface of the reservoir where page did his test run featured in the previous post.

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...